I have a theory if someone is willing to try I think this might give root not sure I'm not home to try it till tomorrow but if someone wants to try and post feedback let me know .. I have two ways I'm going to try this
1. Download one click root and try to root through that.
2. Do the temp root method then run one click root.. I'm thinking this will work not positive.
Also this is my first time on any incredible device...
Make sure after you do it restart and download terminal type Su and see if it stuck.
It won't work.
Sent from my thunderbolt
It does not work.
Elaboration: These one click systems are generally for gaining root. We have no problem gaining root. Our problem is disabling write protection on the eMMC controller. This has been broken on the Tbolt, but not yet on the I2.
Couldn't there be a way to temp root then remount internal sd r/w and edit permissions on system files from there? or when u reboot does it just undo everything?
Question the fascinate uses odin to reformat system. I know inc2 has write protection but could there be something like to modify or change system to gain perm root. I only ask because i'm coming to inc2 in couple days and right now on fascinate when you flash cm7 rom you have to use odin to repartition because cm7 changes to yaffs2 and have to go back to rfs. Also to gain root you flash recovery with odin the apply a s.u. Bussy box which once you flash a kernel it gains perm root if it didnt it reflashes its own recovery back to stock. Just throwing couple things out there.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
I personally hate odin..but if thats what it takes then so be it.
Sent from my ADR6350 using XDA Premium App
Just a suggestion. If any of the problems they are having are like the fascinate reflashing its self then a similar approach may work whether its gaining root then repartition or flash to gain perm root like fascinate. Sounds like the problem is gaining access to emmc so not sure if its similar or will work. I'm not a dev but sure someone could try something with this.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Weselers said:
Couldn't there be a way to temp root then remount internal sd r/w and edit permissions on system files from there? or when u reboot does it just undo everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The write protection is at the hardware level.
Have you noticed full size secure digital cards (SD) have a switch? If you set this switch to lock, and your card reader follows standards, then there is no amount of remounting that will make it writable.
In the case of the HTC eMMC, you can actually remount rw and it would appear you are making changes to the filesystems if you delete, add, or change files. However, with how this eMMC works, the changes are not written to the storage, they are buffered and then lost on reboot.
It is not reflashing the filesystems. It's simply just throwing out the changes.
The cool thing about the lock in the HTC eMMC is it is software controlled, not a hardware toggle switch. This means we just need to figure out how to flip this switch, which is being worked on. Once we can flip this switch, we can make more permanent changes, such as converting our temp root to a permanent root. This would, then, allow us to write bootloaders that don't do signature changes (ie: engineering hboot), and then load custom roms.
Gotcha now. The better explanation helps when I read some where it was write protected was sure exactly what was ment by that but when I get mine I will poke as much as I could. Not that experience but every little helps. I do know alot about electronics though went to school for it and know what emmc is so maybe I can help a little or I hope atleast. Good luck to all off us. Keep up the good work appreciate it.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
nimdae said:
The write protection is at the hardware level.
Have you noticed full size secure digital cards (SD) have a switch? If you set this switch to lock, and your card reader follows standards, then there is no amount of remounting that will make it writable.
In the case of the HTC eMMC, you can actually remount rw and it would appear you are making changes to the filesystems if you delete, add, or change files. However, with how this eMMC works, the changes are not written to the storage, they are buffered and then lost on reboot.
It is not reflashing the filesystems. It's simply just throwing out the changes.
The cool thing about the lock in the HTC eMMC is it is software controlled, not a hardware toggle switch. This means we just need to figure out how to flip this switch, which is being worked on. Once we can flip this switch, we can make more permanent changes, such as converting our temp root to a permanent root. This would, then, allow us to write bootloaders that don't do signature changes (ie: engineering hboot), and then load custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXCELLENT explanation. Thanks!
nimdae said:
The write protection is at the hardware level.
Have you noticed full size secure digital cards (SD) have a switch? If you set this switch to lock, and your card reader follows standards, then there is no amount of remounting that will make it writable.
In the case of the HTC eMMC, you can actually remount rw and it would appear you are making changes to the filesystems if you delete, add, or change files. However, with how this eMMC works, the changes are not written to the storage, they are buffered and then lost on reboot.
It is not reflashing the filesystems. It's simply just throwing out the changes.
The cool thing about the lock in the HTC eMMC is it is software controlled, not a hardware toggle switch. This means we just need to figure out how to flip this switch, which is being worked on. Once we can flip this switch, we can make more permanent changes, such as converting our temp root to a permanent root. This would, then, allow us to write bootloaders that don't do signature changes (ie: engineering hboot), and then load custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So where should we be looking for such a switch if we're looking to help?
Read the stickies, questions are posted...where ...yes...in general
Related
Can anyone with a rooted desire follow steps 4 and 5 and let me know if it works?
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1413313
If anything relies on write access to /system will need to be changed to point to somewhere else. But, other than that, it will run fine as this (apparently) works: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=672647
I haven't had a chance to test this myself, but I had Debian on my G1 which was chrooted from my sdcard so I'm pretty sure it'll work on the Desire, very sure in fact.
Not sure if it will work, I thought there was something about not havint root write access?
normally that work, if Archlinux from my howto work, i dont see why debian not work.
one thing to know is you need ext2 partition on SD (of course) and android mount it inside /system/sd/
You have RW in /system/rw, anytime.
You also need busybox, is bundled with a2sd (or another ?)
pympster said:
Not sure if it will work, I thought there was something about not havint root write access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only in /system.
Anyone succeeded ? Tried as described for Hero:
http://android.modaco.com/content-page/292093/debian-lenny-now-running-on-hero/page/40/
Couldn't get it work...
We should get that working! Imagine how fast it would run on our powerful devices...
I don't see why it can't be done (in my narrow mind), live cd's are read only, would something along that line work.
Also, has there been any progress with getting write access, that would make things so much easier.
Nope nothing. I haven't bothered trying again anyway, it's purely for novelty to be honest.
Hi! I managed to compile a bionic version of cryptsetup with libcrypto instead of gcrypt, and I put it inside Steam Kernel, so anyone can play with it. This is actually not new to android, as from Froyo, the APKs that can get installed on the external SD, are actually also uding dm-crypt, although they are doing through vold, and not via device-mapper. It is actually strange, that Android has filesystem encryption on inside the kernels by default, but they are using it to keep us out from the system, and not actually to make other people get inside the system more harder.
In Steam Kernel, you can now chose to apply filesystem encryption to any of the 3 main partitions (cache, data, dbdata). The password can be entered using the screen by one, or multiple Swypes (up to 255 elements). Each swype creates a word, and words will be separated by "_". This mechanism was invented, as with this one can potentially achieve a good-enough entropy (although I'm not a cryptoanalyst), than by for example a simple PIN code entry box.
If you worry about speed, quadrant scores are around 1400 if using ext4+crypt, so they're still better, than stock rfs. I can't say much about battery life yet.
This feature is beta however, so don't rely valuable data to it yet, as it hasn't been throughly tested yet. (ancrpytion should be fine, I'm actually worried about data corruption).
The way to secure android is not yet finished however. I'm trying to find a way to secure adb, even if it's running root mode. (as running adb in root mode is good for debugging, but bad for security).
Questions on this topic is welcome.
Very impressive stuff, and still opensource.
It's a real innovation, congrats!
sztupy said:
The way to secure android is not yet finished however. I'm trying to find a way to secure adb, even if it's running root mode. (as running adb in root mode is good for debugging, but bad for security).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First weak security point for the Galaxy S phones is definitely the ability to flash anything with Odin.
As you cannot trust, well... anything your Filesystem Encryption approach is definitely the good one!
Other current weak point is the adbd exploit (rageagainstthecage) - so easy to use. I guess you can replace adbd in your ramdisk by the Gingerbread one, which is not vulnerable, if not done already
Yes this is really impressive man...
You should be hired by samsung to set there software ass rite :-D
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
supercurio said:
First weak security point for the Galaxy S phones is definitely the ability to flash anything with Odin.
As you cannot trust, well... anything your Filesystem Encryption approach is definitely the good one!
Other current weak point is the adbd exploit (rageagainstthecage) - so easy to use. I guess you can replace adbd in your ramdisk by the Gingerbread one, which is not vulnerable, if not done already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would still lose the benefit of being secure + having the comfort of adb root. I'm more into the fact you have to login to the phone in order to use adb, just like you have to login to a real linux.
sztupy said:
You would still lose the benefit of being secure + having the comfort of adb root. I'm more into the fact you have to login to the phone in order to use adb, just like you have to login to a real linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant, for general security, we can replace the vulnerable adbd by a non vulnerable updated one - just that -
I feel your title could have security under [ ]. More noticiable.
AS I SEE IT NOW. supercurio's THANK's meter stands at 666. ROFL...
EVIL
Seems really great !
I'm not sure about a thing : Does this work when you power on the device (ie, you'll have to enter a pass to make it boot to Android), or before to be able entering into recovery ? Or none of these two things, and I totally misunderstood what you're saying ?
I was about to make a request to Koush if he could add some (basic?) security system to his recovery, as if you phone is stolen, they even won't be able to reflash a new rom.
This security layer + WaveSecure or any similar soft, and you would be sure that even if you phone is stolen / lost, nobody will be able to use it
Anyway thanks for your big stuff, will look deeper for sure when I'll get some free time, but your steam package seems amazing
Cheers
This works when you want to mount the partition. (eg at every boot). The partition can not be mounted wirhout a password ever
Amazing project. Good work.
Now wait just a moment...why would you encrypt those directories, when you alone (the user) are responsible for giving applications certain permissions. I mean...you agree to giving access to your Radio, messages and...whatever when you install applications, but then you want to encrypt certain directories. Why? You've already installed a trojan or a root kit and given it permission to do whatever it wants to do. That's the main security issue.
If your phone gets stolen they can't access your data.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
... But another issue! Great work, Great project!
Edit: to slow, I was referring the post 2 above
sztupy said:
This works when you want to mount the partition. (eg at every boot). The partition can not be mounted wirhout a password ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I guess the partition has to be mounted if you want to flash another rom (By recovery, Odin, Kies, whatever) ?
If it's the case, then it's really really great !!!
No, if you're flashing a new ROM, you don't have to mount the partition. But the point is that nobody can read your data from the partition - that's the security risk sztupy is trying to prevent.
kidoucorp said:
And I guess the partition has to be mounted if you want to flash another rom (By recovery, Odin, Kies, whatever) ?
If it's the case, then it's really really great !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you flash a new rom the data will be inaccessible (unless it's a steam rom and you know the password, or you can dump the partition AND know the password. Without the password the data can not be accessed, as it's AES encoded there).
This means that if you use all the security feautres inside Android (lockscreens, pin code, etc.), and use this too, and you don't allow adb to be run as root, there is actually no way of accessing your data (unless you can circumvent the security provided by Android, like the lockscreen), not even by flashing a new ROM.
Good work these kind of improvements make android better and better. I think the phones should be encrypted from the factory.
Great idea
If I might suggest though - can you make it so that it turns off decryption a couple of minutes after the screen is locked so that you have to enter the code again? Otherwise if the unit is on and stolen and never rebooted...
Being in Healthcare related IT I can say you'd have a product that is in severe need if any doctors really want to start using an Android tablet.
@sztupy
This is simply the best thing to happen to my SGS I've ever heard.
I can not test it right now (running 2.2.1 Darky's mod) but I have some questions about the security.
- What type of encryption is used? 128/256? weaker?
- Is it possible for you to figure how to use this encryption with different kernels/mods? We're talking about quite big a deal breaker for lots of people here. Perhaps even a separate app? I almost bought a blackberry as a second phone *kugh kugh* because android lacks encryption I so hardly need.
Sierra November said:
@sztupy
This is simply the best thing to happen to my SGS I've ever heard.
I can not test it right now (running 2.2.1 Darky's mod) but I have some questions about the security.
- What type of encryption is used? 128/256? weaker?
- Is it possible for you to figure how to use this encryption with different kernels/mods? We're talking about quite big a deal breaker for lots of people here. Perhaps even a separate app? I almost bought a blackberry as a second phone *kugh kugh* because android lacks encryption I so hardly need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As already stated Android already uses dm-crypt for encrypting the application data on the external sd card, so in theory any kernel can actually use dm-crypt. Originally Android kernels only support aes-plain (which is AES-128 I think), and that is what you can use on probably every 2.2+ android (and even on some 2.1 too). (You can get a stronger encryption if you compile a better kernel as aes-plain has some weaknesses).
The hard part is actually not the encryption therefore (You just have to run cryptsetup before init, which is very-very similar of the process of creating "lagfixes"), but the fact that you'll need a way to enter the password every run. The latter is problematic, as you'll need to access the framebuffer to show the user the pin code panel, then leave the framebuffer in a state, so Android can boot from it without problems. On SGS, and probably all SGS based devices (including the Nexus S), this is already accomplished (in steam kernel). On other devices it might work too, but the framebuffer support might need to be rewritten. On other devices the fact that they use yaffs2 might also pose problems (as yaffs is working on a block), but that can be circumvented using a few tricks (like creating loop devices, putting the /data partition on the sd card, etc.)
I just got my new Desire a few days before. It works like a charm. The only 2 things I feel unsatisfied are: battery life and ROM capacity.
There is not much I can do on the battery side. I can put it aside and get used to that. But the ROM is really painful for me -- When I get the device, it had around 150MB free memory. But it is only 22MB left now!
I noticed that the Android 2.2 supported to install application on SD card. I used adb shell to setup the default installation to SD, and moved most of the programs to the SD card. However, it seems that internal memory was not free up as much as I was expected. Indeed, I did not have many software installed. And I am very suspicious if the cache of software (like mail, google maps, etc.) might always stay on internal memory.
I think one solution to solve the problem is to root my device and partition the SD card to increase the program storage. But I am worrying if it might bring security risk from malwares, or make the phone run slower and have bigger power consumption when use SD card more frequently.
Do you root your device for the app2sd? What's the pros and cons? I want to take your opinion before make the decision. Any suggestion will be very appreciated!
w162 said:
I just got my new Desire a few days before. It works like a charm. The only 2 things I feel unsatisfied are: battery life and ROM capacity.
There is not much I can do on the battery side. I can put it aside and get used to that. But the ROM is really painful for me -- When I get the device, it had around 150MB free memory. But it is only 22MB left now!
I noticed that the Android 2.2 supported to install application on SD card. I used adb shell to setup the default installation to SD, and moved most of the programs to the SD card. However, it seems that internal memory was not free up as much as I was expected. Indeed, I did not have many software installed. And I am very suspicious if the cache of software (like mail, google maps, etc.) might always stay on internal memory.
I think one solution to solve the problem is to root my device and partition the SD card to increase the program storage. But I am worrying if it might bring security risk from malwares, or make the phone run slower and have bigger power consumption when use SD card more frequently.
Do you root your device for the app2sd? What's the pros and cons? I want to take your opinion before make the decision. Any suggestion will be very appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting , followed by alpha rev s-off n1 partitioning, is by far the best thing, so much fun.
I use defrost based on cyanogen mod, great support, and ota feature, with kernels galore, and the all important a2sd built in. As long as you have an ext partition on your sd card, all apps go straight into the ext partition with out you having to do anything.
Also remember is not jail breaking
Desire is the source of all suffering.
nitrox1 said:
Rooting , followed by alpha rev s-off n1 partitioning, is by far the best thing, so much fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does alpha rev s-off allow you to do?
It basically provides full root access for your desire as opposed to soft root, where you could only r/w to the to the /system partition while in recovery mode.
What is S-OFF ? (Quotes from original AlphaRev website)
HTC implemented security on their new generation phones. This flag, called @secuflag, controls whether your phone has it's NAND or flash unlocked. Most noticibly S-ON (security on) will read-lock your /system and /recovery partition, to name a few. Also, controls whether zip files being flashed recovery or fastboot, are signed by HTC The now notorious S-OFF (security off) disable this NAND security. Since we are unable to access the Radio itself (where secuflag is stored), we turn attention to HBOOT.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
MasDroid said:
It basically provides full root access for your desire as opposed to soft root, where you could only r/w to the to the /system partition while in recovery mode.
What is S-OFF ? (Quotes from original AlphaRev website)
HTC implemented security on their new generation phones. This flag, called @secuflag, controls whether your phone has it's NAND or flash unlocked. Most noticibly S-ON (security on) will read-lock your /system and /recovery partition, to name a few. Also, controls whether zip files being flashed recovery or fastboot, are signed by HTC The now notorious S-OFF (security off) disable this NAND security. Since we are unable to access the Radio itself (where secuflag is stored), we turn attention to HBOOT.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does it allow you to do that you can't do without it?
stats101 said:
What does it allow you to do that you can't do without it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It unlocks NAND so that you can write into /system partition. You can also flash radio, custom kernel, custom recovery, any unsigned ROM directly via fastboot without ClockWorks Rom Manager.
When you can write to /system, MetaMorph, AdFree and other apps that require access to this partition will just work. You don't need to reboot into recovery in order to delete/change/add files. Superuser will be able to update su binary automatically, Busybox Installer from Market will have no problems installing the most recent version directly into /system/bin or /system/xbin, etc.
While most users probably don't need it, it's very useful for developers. You can change system configs on the fly, add and load custom kernel modules without reboot and so on.
Basically, it will make your phone fully unlocked, just like the Nexus One developer phone.
nitrox1 said:
Desire is the source of all suffering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't agree with that any more now
What I need...
Someone to repackage a boot.img for me. Specifically, I need a boot.img unpacked, replace the file "/init.inc.rc" with my version, and repack it. (I'm stuck on all Windows, and cygwin is not an option.)
Purpose/Goal
Fix the annoying fact that /emmc is not accessible to almost all market apps, without resorting to using the modified media scanner from CyanogenMod or anything else drastic.
Do not change fstab. /mnt/emmc and /mnt/sdcard will not change.
NOTE: I am not trying to create a symlink on the FAT32 of the SD card.
My idea
Modify /init.inc.rc to change the EMMC settings. (Changes made, need someone with tools. See above.)
Modify /system/etc/vold.fstab to relocate EMMC mount point.
Directory structure
/sdcard (unchanged)
/sdcard/emmc (new location of emmc)
/emmc (Retarget the symbolic link to new location.)
/mnt/emmc (Change to symlink for compatibility, just in case.)
What I want to know...
This arrangement makes /emmc redundant. Can it be safely removed?
When you connect to a PC, how/what does Android map to USB drives? (I assume it is the mount blocks, not the symlinks.)
What odd behaviors may occur? (e.g. will "Settings->SD & phone storage" freak out?)
Maybe, just maybe: How to bottle this into a flashable .zip? (I'll worry about that later.)
If anyone has any pull with the ROM devs (i.e. Koush, rmk40, et al.), I really want to hear from them.
+1. I'd love to make emmc usable in Winamp
Bzzzt... Sorry.
ARGH!
The internal storage is VFAT also. No symlinks allowed.
Blast you, HTC!
What??
I hate doing this, but editing the original post doesn't bump the thread.
I did not want to create a new thread, but what I need has completely changed.
So. BUMP.
Why HTC, WHY?!
Would there be a way to format emmc to NOT be VFAT?
Progress!!!!
I'm close to getting a boot.img ready to test out on my phone.
I spent yesterday hacking away. I've made a Windows tool for handling boot images. I'm about 80% done with the required features. I have all the unpacking finished. I've repacked the ramdisk. I can generate the SHA hash to sign the image. It's just a matter to gluing the last stages together.
ppd0526 said:
Why HTC, WHY?!
Would there be a way to format emmc to NOT be VFAT?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure it could be done, but this is way more work/hassle that I want to deal with. Major obstacle here is that ALL data on emmc is wiped, and I'm not willing to that.
Assuming there are no hidden "features," my approach should be invisible to the Android layer (i.e. will not break any HTC software). HOWEVER... I'm pretty much Senseless, so I'm not too concerned (for my own use) about HTC's apps.
My biggest concern is that the media scanner will generate duplicates of all files found on emmc. But a/the big motivator for this work is to use Winamp, so I don't really give a whoop.
This was tried by koush when we couldn't get cm6 to scan emmc. It didn't work.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
distINCtINC said:
This was tried by koush when we couldn't get cm6 to scan emmc. It didn't work.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What didn't work? Or how did it not work?
I'm not sure. I wasn't involved in the effort. Koush would be the person to talk to but island how to get a hold of him. I just think the OS rejected mounting a physical drive within a physical drive. But don't let that discourage you. It might be still be possible.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Any progress on this? I really would love to have /emmc accessible as /sdcard.
Why HTC decided to make /data/data so small and put the rest of the space as /emmc is still a mystery to me. This is my only gripe with this phone.
Progress update
I made my first attempt on Friday, which resulted in a boot loop. So, obviously, I'm missing something important. (Battery pull and recover boot fixed the problem.)
I couldn't work on it this weekend. But I'm going to start digging into it some today.
More info:
It didn't get past the slash screen. Since I'm flashing a boot image, this is obviously where the problem is located. I just don't have any error logging to read over. Since I'm cooking on Windows, I'm wondering if my file permissions and ownership are messed up.
Also, while running my update, I observed that the boot image flashing did not seem to take long at all. So, I'm concerned that I didn't even get a complete flash.
weareallkosh said:
I made my first attempt on Friday, which resulted in a boot loop. So, obviously, I'm missing something important. (Battery pull and recover boot fixed the problem.)
I couldn't work on it this weekend. But I'm going to start digging into it some today.
More info:
It didn't get past the slash screen. Since I'm flashing a boot image, this is obviously where the problem is located. I just don't have any error logging to read over. Since I'm cooking on Windows, I'm wondering if my file permissions and ownership are messed up.
Also, while running my update, I observed that the boot image flashing did not seem to take long at all. So, I'm concerned that I didn't even get a complete flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't bode well so far.
just some info
i'm not sure if this will help any of you, but i read before that it said koush tried to get the emmc mounting.. etc... and it didn't work. but - i'm running cm 6.1 stable and winamp can and does read my music found on the internal memory. so it seems to work for me. however - i cannot take picture and have them stored on the internal memory. anyway, good luck.
OK.... I got the ramdisk sorted out. The boot loop is gone. But it doesn't progress past the splash1. sigh.
I need to see the kernel messages, and typically ADB is not available.
drwndphish said:
just some info
i'm not sure if this will help any of you, but i read before that it said koush tried to get the emmc mounting.. etc... and it didn't work. but - i'm running cm 6.1 stable and winamp can and does read my music found on the internal memory. so it seems to work for me. however - i cannot take picture and have them stored on the internal memory. anyway, good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM6 uses a modified media scanner (Android layer) that uses '/mnt' as its base directory, instead of '/mnt/sdcard.' And, as you say, it has its own problems.
I am trying to modify the underlying file system to make hopefully all software work (e.g. HTC stock, Winamp and other media players, 90% of the apps I've played with).
It "works!"
Alright... I have all the tools made, and bugs squashed. So, I can correctly mod a boot image. (Tip: The boot process has a zero warning or error tolerance.)
It fully booted. BUT... A permanent notification "Preparing phone storage.../Checking for errors." did not go away. All emmc directories were absent.
So, I've found a problem. Google didn't return any useful information... Especially annoying is the face that I don't even get a link to the Android source to even get a hint where this notification comes from.
AHA! Fixed that problem. Now, emmc is visible on the sdcard.
NEXT problem (this one I expected):
Media scanner picked up 2 copies of my pictures (I have them on emmc). So, my thought is to start removing links (and references) to emmc in its new location until things clear up.
weareallkosh said:
Alright... I have all the tools made, and bugs squashed. So, I can correctly mod a boot image. (Tip: The boot process has a zero warning or error tolerance.)
It fully booted. BUT... A permanent notification "Preparing phone storage.../Checking for errors." did not go away. All emmc directories were absent.
So, I've found a problem. Google didn't return any useful information... Especially annoying is the face that I don't even get a link to the Android source to even get a hint where this notification comes from.
AHA! Fixed that problem. Now, emmc is visible on the sdcard.
NEXT problem (this one I expected):
Media scanner picked up 2 copies of my pictures (I have them on emmc). So, my thought is to start removing links (and references) to emmc in its new location until things clear up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The double items in media scanner seems like a small issue compared to what it fixes.
More problems created than fixed. (And WHY this is a mess to begin with.)
Postmortem thus far...
Touching ANY code related to where emmc appears will cause Setting to FC if you view the SD & phone storage usage.
Makes media visible to "other" applications, but shows duplicates in HTC's music and gallery apps.
I didn't look too closely at it, but I question that the camera was playing nice with the new config.
ppd0526 said:
The double items in media scanner seems like a small issue compared to what it fixes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO... I took some time to understand the double items, and why EMMC is such a problem to begin with.
HTC did not modify the media scanner/provider to support EMMC. They modified their APPS. Do a dump of HTC's music and gallery apps. You'll find a LOT of extra code, and a lot of added symbols/strings for handling the phone storage.
In other words, they didn't create a "public" solution. They just made their own private patch, and brushed it under the rug. (How dare we not use THEIR apps???)
Media Scanner/Provider:
I looked at Koush's code changes. I don't understand his changes. I'm not sure how/why it "works." I don't know why it reportedly breaks the HTC apps. I am also not sure that their is a way to mod it to actually fix the issue... Google's code was not written to be extensible. But, I think it may be the way to go in the long run.
What other phones have EMMC? Do they have a fix?
My tools...
There is a lot of code duplication, no GUI, or options. It ain't exactly pretty, but it works.
I'm posting this here for future reference by others wishing to work with boot.img.
Note: This specifically targets 1 file on the ramdisk (init.inc.rc), but with some changes this could do almost anything you would want.
License... Oh. GPL. If you make changes, please send me a patch.
REQUIRES: AutoHotkey (Hey.... it's all I had available, but the code should be easy for anyone to follow and port to another language.)
Runs on Windows (XP). Does not require cygwin. Native GZIP included.
Alright, I'm running CyanogenMod 11 with TWRP as my recovery. When I try to change my build.prop it tells me that the action is not allowed because the system folder is mounted as Read only and not as R/W. I have tried using the chmod syntax 755 while in recovery but, after rebooting nothing has changed. Using my file manager (Solid Explorer) I have tried changing the permissions to be R/W by using the same chmod syntax. What have I done or am I doing wrong? I have never crossed this issue before with any other ROM or phone and I would like to add some additional speed and smoothness tweaks to the ROM build.prop. Have I tried another ROM to see if the same thing continues to happen? Nope, I sure haven't. If I did though and something magically changes to where it would begin working using another ROM, I still would not know how to fix the issue that I'm faced with now. Will ya please help? Thank you for your time in advance as well!
The drive isn't being mounted by solid Explorer as read/write. I'm not familiar with the app so can't explain how to do it but it may be in the options somewhere or a button on the screen.
You could try es file Explorer. It's free and works for me.
-> Sent from my mind to your screen.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Well, I just tried ES File Explorer and it said that I'm mounted as R/W on my system folder, same as it did on Solid Explorer, yet once I try to alter anything I still receive the same "Operation Failed......System Mounted as Read Only" message. I have even switched ROM's to see if maybe, just maybe, it was some sort of CM 11 bug. Everywhere I look online says to correct it through my recovery and since that doesn't work..........? I'm at a bit of a loss now! I have granted both file managers Superuser rights. Hell my Superuser auto-response is always set to grant all apps that permission. And as far as the form of Superuser I'm using goes, I'm just sticking with the CM stock Superuser because whenever I attempt to use SuperSU all sorts of stuff begins to fail.
Is your SD card formatted as FAT32....or EXFAT...???
Needs a possible format again it sounds like....IMHO..g
Sent from my NOTE 2.750...
Courtesy of our amazing developers...
Haven't thought about it possibly being my SD's format being that I am trying to access my systems files (i.e.- build.prop, system apps, etc.) and not the external SD Card, but what the hell?! I reckon I can always give it a shot. Could very well be that simple since I just dropped $100.00 on a stupid Lexar 64 Gig. Micro SD about the same time this issue arose. Hope so even if i do end up feeling like a dumb ass later on. It's getting annoying! I've tried several different ROM's, file managers, running syntax in the emulator, and anything else I could dig up now and this isn't quite my first Android experience, still relatively new though, so I know I'm not flashing anything wrong or outta the ordinary. Give me bit to take care of some every day life crap and I'll report my findings back to ya.
Dead serious, I did not do anything different whatsoever and it began to allow me to change permissions on my system files or whatever else I wished to do to it......?! No Earthly idea what was/did go on for it not to allow me to for the time it didn't, but outta nowhere, as I said, it is working again. I did wipe and flash numerous ROM's without any luck and even had flashed the one that it is working on now, but it didn't work the first or second time I flashed it. Never even got the chance to reformat my SD Card. Hell, I don't know.....!
countryboy092782 said:
Dead serious, I did not do anything different whatsoever and it began to allow me to change permissions on my system files or whatever else I wished to do to it......?! No Earthly idea what was/did go on for it not to allow me to for the time it didn't, but outta nowhere, as I said, it is working again. I did wipe and flash numerous ROM's without any luck and even had flashed the one that it is working on now, but it didn't work the first or second time I flashed it. Never even got the chance to reformat my SD Card. Hell, I don't know.....!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Running Jellywiz Extreme Rom 4.3 for my Note 2 on Verizon, and ever since i updated it to 4.3 on an unstable original ROM (Davidson3680's OG 4.3 ROM pre-2014), i havent been able to mount system as R/W.
I keep coming back to the possibility that in both of these recent cases that the file structure is somehow corrupted...
A possible 4.3 return to stock using Zen Arcades 4.3 stock rom may correct the file issues and restore the external functionality...
I'm still perplexed about the differences in flashing success based on whether or not a user has taken an official 4.3 update versus a user who has not...and the variables in function using the exact same software's...
The Zen thread method seems to be the stable and reliable way back to full function...or at least the best way to build the file structures back within their respective partitions...
We are playing very near the partition level...but I don't think it's a partition/pit issue....rather the broken file structure inside...
I'd be interested in the results of that test using Zen's files in the attempt to repair the files...and path to the SD...
If you are willing to try that...and meet success...it would solve a good half dozen device issues across different users in one pass....g
Sent from my NOTE 2.750...
Courtesy of our amazing developers...