Develop Bugs

[REF] efrant's "Android for Galaxy Nexus" 101 & FAQs

The popularity of Nexus devices has increased significantly since the launch of the Nexus One in January 2010. Along with this popularity, forums such as xda-developers have also had an influx of new users, most of which are not developers, and are not well versed in the intricacies of Android.
After much thought (and some discussion on this thread), I’ve decided to create this thread as a compilation of FAQs, 101s, and “How-To’s” in the hopes that those coming to Android who want to learn will have another resource to help them learn. With that in mind, this thread is NOT meant to explain the quickest way to do things (you will NOT see toolkits or shortcuts discussed in this thread), nor is it meant to be a “fix-my-device” thread. It is created with for a purpose of learning, in order to expand users’ knowledge of Nexus devices and Android in general. See this post by kyphur for the general philosophy of this site, which I share.
I do not take myself to be an Android guru or developer. However, I do have a bit of knowledge to share. If you think things are missing or not accurate, I will be more than happy to add or revise anything. I will try to cover most of the basic topics related to Android, including drivers, ADB, fastboot, partitions, recoveries, bootloaders, root and reverting to stock. Again, I will not discuss toolkits, nor will I cover custom ROMs. Those have their own threads.
This will be an ongoing work-in-progress, as it takes considerable time to try and capture everything properly, and my time is limited. The order of the information will also change, as I haven't quite figured out the best way to present everything. (Currently there are some FAQs, including fastboot and ADB commands, followed by a list of reference and how-to threads.)
So, without further delay:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Android?
Android is an open-source operating system for mobile devices. It is basically a java virtual machine running on a Linux-based kernel.
What is the Android SDK and do I need it?
SDK stands for "software development kit. Do you need it? If you are developing, then yes (but then you probably would be reading this thread now would you... ). If you are not developing, then no, you do NOT need to install it. It is just a waste of space. The only files you need (to interface with your PC) that comes from the SDK are the fastboot and adb files, and they can be found here for Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
Why do I need a driver for my Windows PC to recognize my device?
As with all hardware, Windows requires device drivers for it to be able to interface with the OS. Drivers are not required if you are using Linux or MacOS.
Where do I get the driver for my PC?
For previous Nexus devices (the Nexus One and Nexus S) the driver included in the Android SDK was the one needed. However, with the Galaxy Nexus, that driver no longer works. The driver is now provided by Samsung, and can be found from various locations. However, I recommend using this package by 1wayjonny. It works perfectly and, unlike most other packages, 1wayjonny’s repack does not install any crapware along with it. That said, it doesn’t include an .exe file, so it needs to be installed manually from the .inf file. If you do not now how to do that, see here for instructions. Note: If you are using Windows 8, you will need to do this before you can install the driver.
Why do I need to install the driver twice?
Nexus devices use two main interfaces (there are actually a few more, but I will cover them later) to communicate with a PC. These are ADB (Android debug bridge) and fastboot, both of which will be covered later. The fastboot interface requires the GNex to be booted in fastboot (i.e., bootloader) mode. Thus, in order to install the fastboot driver, you need to boot your GNex into the bootloader. The ADB interface requires an Android kernel to be booted, i.e., your device needs to be booted normally, or in recovery (covered later). Additionally, if your device is booted normally, you need to have USB Debugging set to enabled in settings (i.e., Settings->Developer options->USB debugging).
How do I boot my device into the bootloader (i.e., fastboot mode)?
Turn off your device, hold volume up and volume down, and press and hold the power button.
What is a command prompt?
A command prompt in Windows (or terminal in Linux/MacOS) is a command line window in which you can enter commands. To open a command prompt in Windows, you can hold the shift key and right click in the directory in which you want your command prompt open. Or, in a Windows Explorer window you can go to File-><name-of-window>->Open command window here.
What is a bootloader?
Without getting into too many technicalities, the bootloader is essentially the program that gets loaded first when starting your device, and it is responsible for booting the Android kernel. Think of the bootloader as the BIOS of a computer.
What does it mean if my bootloader is locked/unlocked?
Most (if not all) devices are shipped from the manufacturer with locked bootloaders. This is for security reasons. A locked bootloader does not allow easy flashing of images, which means that it is difficult to change or modify the operating system. Unlocking a bootloader (using fastboot) on a most Galaxy Nexus devices results in a complete loss of all personal data from the device. Having a locked or unlocked bootloader has no bearing on the functioning of the device. Unlocking it gives you more options to play around with the OS. Additionally, an unlocked bootloader means that you can easily root your device no matter what -- unlike most non-Nexus devices, if you lose root, it is trivial to get it back.
What is “root”?
Root essentially means that you have root (or superuser) access to the file system on Android. It is similar to being “administrator” on a Windows PC. It has nothing to do with your device or the bootloader, it has to do with the Android OS (i.e., you cannot “root” your device – you root the Andoid build that you are running). To have root, you need to be booted into the Android OS that you have rooted. If you are in fastboot mode, root is irrelevant.
How do I get “root”?
If you are booted into a custom recovery (recoveries will be covered later), root is enabled by default. If you want root while booted into Android, you will need to place two files on your system partition: an “su” binary which grants root access, and a superuser app that manages that access. The two that are available are ChainsDD’s Superuser and Chainfire’s SuperSU. Usually these files are packaged up in a zip file that is flashable using a custom recovery, but they can be flashed manually using ADB. Both of these methods will be described below.
If I unlock my bootloader, is that the same as root?
No, as was mentioned above, unlocking the bootloader allows you to (among a few other things) flash images easily to the device when not booted into the Android OS. Root allows you access to manipulate the files WITHIN the Android OS.
If I unlock my bootloader, does that mean that I have to root?
No.
If I unlock my bootloader, do I have to flash a custom ROM?
No.
Do I need to root to flash a ROM?
No.
What is a ROM?
A ROM is slang for an mobile OS build.
What are the different versions of Android, and is there a difference between say 4.2 and JOP40C?
Have a look at this link for an explanation of what (for example) JOP40C means, and what version of Android that is.
What is the difference between a stock ROM and a custom ROM?
A stock ROM is a ROM that is either built by Google (like any yakju/takju/mysid build) or built by Samsung (like all the yakju** variants and mysidpr) and is signed by Google’s (or Samsung’s) platform keys. Everything else is a custom ROM.
What is this AOSP I keep hearing about?
AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project, and is a repository for the source code for Android. You can build your own ROM from AOSP. Details can be found on http://source.android.com/ or here.
What is fastboot?
Fastboot can refer to three things: the actual interface between your PC and phone; the fastboot.exe file; or the “mode” of your device. For you to be able to use fastboot commands: your device has to be booted in fastboot mode, the fastboot driver for your PC needs to be installed, and the fastboot.exe file needs to be on your PC.
What are the fastboot commands?
The list of fastboot commands can be seen by typing “fastboot” (without the quotes) in a command prompt opened in the directory where you fastboot.exe file is located. See below.
Code:
fastboot
usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>
commands:
update <filename> reflash device from update.zip
flashall flash boot + recovery + system
flash <partition> [ <filename> ] write a file to a flash partition
erase <partition> erase a flash partition
format <partition> format a flash partition
getvar <variable> display a bootloader variable
boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] download and boot kernel
flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] create bootimage and flash it
devices list all connected devices
continue continue with autoboot
reboot reboot device normally
reboot-bootloader reboot device into bootloader
help show this help message
options:
-w erase userdata and cache
-s <serial number> specify device serial number
-p <product> specify product name
-c <cmdline> override kernel commandline
-i <vendor id> specify a custom USB vendor id
-b <base_addr> specify a custom kernel base address
-n <page size> specify the nand page size. default: 2048
Along with these commands, there is an additional one: oem. For now, I will only cover the following commands: devices, flash, boot, erase, reboot, reboot-bootloader and oem.
These commands will work in fastboot mode, whether your bootloader is lock or unlocked:
oem: with a shipping bootloader (like what most of us have on our devices) there are two “oem” commands: “oem unlock” and “oem lock”. These commands are used to unlock and lock your bootloader, e.g., “fastboot oem unlock” will unlock your bootloader.
devices: this command checks to see if your device is properly connected to your PC in fastboot mode, e.g., “fastboot devices”
reboot: this command will reboot your device, e.g., “fastboot reboot”
reboot-bootloader: this command will reboot your device into fastboot mode, e.g., “fastboot reboot-bootloader”
These commands will only work in fastboot mode IFF your bootloader is unlocked:
flash: this command is used to flash images to partitions (partitions will be covered later) on your device. It cannot be used to “flash” individual files or .zips. For example, to flash the system partition, the command would be “fastboot flash system system.img”
boot: this command boots a kernel without flashing it to your device. For example, to boot an insecure kernel called “test.img”, the command would be “fastboot boot test.img”
erase: this command erases a specified partition. For example, to erase the cache partition, the command would be “fastboot erase cache”
The above mentioned commands are the basics for flashing your device. You should get familiar with them.
What is ADB?
ADB can refer to two things: the actual interface between your PC and phone, or the adb files (the .exe and two .dll files for Windows). For you to be able to use adb commands: the adb driver needs to be installed on your PC, the adb files need to be on your PC, and your device has to be booted either in recovery mode or booted normally into Android. Additionally, USB debugging needs to be enabled if booted into Android.
What are the ADB commands?
The list of ADB commands can be seen by typing “adb” (without the quotes) in a command prompt opened in the directory where your adb.exe file is located. See below.
Code:
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.29
-d - directs command to the only connected USB device
returns an error if more than one USB device is present.
-e - directs command to the only running emulator.
returns an error if more than one emulator is running.
-s <serial number> - directs command to the USB device or emulator with
the given serial number. Overrides ANDROID_SERIAL
environment variable.
-p <product name or path> - simple product name like 'sooner', or
a relative/absolute path to a product
out directory like 'out/target/product/sooner'.
If -p is not specified, the ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT
environment variable is used, which must
be an absolute path.
devices - list all connected devices
connect <host>[:<port>] - connect to a device via TCP/IP
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number is specified.
disconnect [<host>[:<port>]] - disconnect from a TCP/IP device.
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number is specified.
Using this command with no additional arguments
will disconnect from all connected TCP/IP devices.
device commands:
adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
adb pull <remote> [<local>] - copy file/dir from device
adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(-l means list but don't copy)
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections
forward specs are one of:
tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport
adb install [-l] [-r] [-s] <file> - push this package file to the device and install it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data)
('-s' means install on SD card instead of internal storage)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applications)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
system applications; the default is to include system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
list is optional. Applications explicitly given on the
command line will be included even if -nosystem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)
adb restore <file> - restore device contents from the <file> backup archive
adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num
scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specified device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device read-write
adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the bootloader or recovery program
adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on the specified port
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
[parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns
adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:
- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be updated.
- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition
is updated.
copkay has written up a great guide on the use of the “backup” and “restore” commands in this thread, so I will not cover those commands here.
For now, I will only cover the following commands: devices, reboot, reboot bootloader, push, pull and shell.
devices: this command checks to see if your device is properly connected to your PC in ADB mode, e.g., “adb devices”
reboot: this command will reboot your device, e.g., “adb reboot”
reboot-bootloader: this command will reboot your device into fastboot mode, e.g., “adb reboot bootloader”
push: this command copies a file (or directory) to your device from your PC. For example, say you wanted to copy to your /sdcard folder on your device a file called junk.jpg, which is stored on your PC in c:\. The command would be “adb push c:\junk.jpg /sdcard/” (assuming the folder is mounted – to be covered later). Petrovski80 has added more details on copying files to your device in his thread here.
pull: this command copies a file (or directory) to your PC from your device. For example, say you wanted to copy to your c:\ directory on your PC a file called junk.jpg, which is stored in the /sdcard folder on your device. The command would be “adb pull /sdcard/junk.jpg c:\” (assuming the folder is mounted – to be covered later).
shell: this command opens a “shell” to your device so you can issue commands directly to the Android OS. The command is “adb shell”. Your prompt will change to “$” which means that you are now issuing commands to Android, not to your PC. (At some point, I will try to put together a list of commonly used commands, but for anyone that has used Linux, they are essentially the same.)
What are the partitions on a Galaxy Nexus?
A Galaxy Nexus has the following 13 partitions:
boot <-- this is where the kernel and ramdisk are stored
cache <-- this is, well, the cache, i.e., a temporary storage area
dgs <-- I have no idea what this is for
efs <-- this is where your IMEI number is stored, among other things
metadata <-- I have no idea what this is for
misc <-- I have no idea what this is for
param <-- this is where the lock state of the bootloader is stored
radio <-- this is where the radio (i.e., baseband) is stored
recovery <-- this is where the recovery is stored
sbl <-- this is part of the bootloader, and is loaded by the xloader. This is what provides the odin and fastboot interfaces.
system <-- this is where the Android OS resides
userdata <-- this is where your data, including /sdcard resides
xloader <-- this is part of the bootloader, and loads up first.
See this thread or this one for the offsets and sizes.
What does mounting mean?
In order for a device to have access to files, the partition on which those files reside needs to be “mounted”. If you are in recovery, you can easily do this by going to the mounts menu and mounting the appropriate partition. If you are booted in Android, you will need to mount the partition yourself. The /sdcard folder is already mounted by default, however.
How do I mount the system partition?
In recovery: go to the mount menu and mount /system
In Android, on your device: you need root, and a file explorer with root access
In Android, connected via ADB (root required): you need to type the following command in a command prompt:
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 /system
To explain this a bit:
-o remount,rw <== this remounts a partition that is already mounted (as read-only), as read-write
-t ext4 <== this specifies to mount it as ext4
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 <== this is the system partition
/system <== this is what you are mounting it as
What is recovery?
Recovery is like a mini OS, which allows you to perform various functions, usually related to flashing files to your device, or updating files, or backing things up, etc. The stock image has a recovery included, but its functionality is very limited. There are a number of custom recoveries available, but the two most popular for the Galaxy Nexus are CWM and TWRP. There are various versions of each. More details to come in this section.
I see an Android lying on its back when I boot into recovery. Why?
What you see is the main screen of the Galaxy Nexus stock recovery. To access the menu, you need to push and hold power and press volume up.
I just flashed CWM, but every time I try to boot into CWM, I keep seeing the stock recovery. Why?
If you updated your Android build using an OTA update file (either manually or over-the-air), the update placed two files on your device that re-flash the stock recovery every time you reboot your device. These two files are:
/system/etc/install-recovery.sh <== this is the script that installs the patch file
/system/recovery-from-boot.p <== this is the patch
You have to rename (or delete) one or both of them, then re-flash your custom recovery. Now it will stick.
What is an insecure boot image?
An insecure boot image is one that has root enabled for the shell user (i.e, ADB) by default on boot. This means that if you have booted or flashed an insecure image, when you connect your device to a computer, and open a shell via ADB, you will be userid 0 (or root) without having to "request" root access via the su binary. This makes somethings easier -- for example, you can now use the "remount" command in ADB to mount /system without having to type the full mount command in a shell. (More to add later.)
How do I root?
As was mentioned earlier, you need to place the su binary and the superuser app into the right spots on your device. In order to do this, you need to already have root access. There are two ways: flash a root package in recovery (instructions here), or manually place the files in the appropriate spots (I will add instructions on how to do this at a later time).

Useful Galaxy Nexus Guides and Reference Threads
Useful Galaxy Nexus Guides and Reference Threads
Galaxy Nexus drivers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1379875
Jubakuba Galaxy Nexus guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529058
Difference between yakju/takju and the other builds: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1728555
How to back up your device using ADB – no root needed: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420351
How to copy files to/from your device using ADB: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869380
How to return your device to Google’s stock images: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1626895
How to root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26328017&postcount=123
How to unlock the bootloader WITHOUT root and WITHOUT wiping data: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2016628
List of all OTA update files and links, including instructions on how to update: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1419170
List of all GSM radios: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20569003
List of most GSM RILs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27441945
List of all bootloaders: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1587498
List of all toro (i.e., Verizon) radios: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1890585
How to unlock your bootloader without wiping data and without being connected to a PC – root required: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1731993
How to root without unlocking your bootloader – for builds from 4.0.1 to 4.1.1, : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=31751966
How to root without unlocking your bootloader – for 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 builds only: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1531865
CWM recovery (latest for maguro, toro, toroplus): http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager/
CWM recovery (5.5.0.2 for maguro): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357642
CWM recovery (5.5.0.4 for toro): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392336
TWRP recovery (latest for maguro, toro, toroplus): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1592689
Edify scripting: How to create recovery-flashable zips: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29735133
Odin: How to flash your device if you cannot get into fastboot mode: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1586807
OMAP_Flash: How to flash your device if you cannot get into fastboot mode and you cannot get into download mode: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760787
How to compile your own ROM from source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1386615
How to remove a carrier SIM lock (proper method): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1606982
How to remove a carrier SIM lock (easy but you will lose you IMEI): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1548210
Information on bootloader security: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1898664
How to recovery deleted files: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34185439
How to nandroid directly to your computer: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1818321

reserved 2

reserved 3

purely awesome thread.

Added to bookmarks!
Good!:good::good:

Thanks man, voted 5stars on this. I hope this gets sticky.
:good:

Bravo!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

great stuff, wish i had such summary when jumped into android!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Good work man! I was thinking about doing something similar this weekend but this is much better.
Edit: This needs to be stickied ASAP
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

El Daddy said:
Good work man! I was thinking about doing something similar this weekend but this is much better.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks (to all).
It is far from complete though, and it will be an on-going work-in-progress. It's not as easy to write up general info as it is to write up a step-by-step guide...

Awesome post. This should see a few overwhelmed users right
Top work!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Incredibly useful and much needed thread, really well done, efrant. Information desk and referral center for new users. Wish it was here when I came onboard. You should make a "N00b Lighthouse" graphic for it. I think this will help reduce and untangle a lot of the repetitive new-user threads.

Awesome source of information. This needs a sticky ASAP.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

this is one of the best guides i've seen. great work efrant. i hope this would be stickied for all

toro partitions
Great thread, efrant. Thanks for the effort. I'd love to see this stickied.
You mentioned toro/toroplus having a "radio-cdma" partition. I can't find it; perhaps it is a virtual partition that recovery and the fastboot know about that does not exist separately in storage. Perhaps it's hidden inside another one.
I'd like to contribute the partition list from my "toro" (Verizon Galaxy Nexus) in case is is useful. In addition to the named partitions listed in the OP, there 5 more unnamed ones. I don't know yet what they are used for.
Code:
mtdblock0 - (don't know)
mmcblk0 - (don't know but it looks big; like the entire eMMC)
mmcblk0p1 - xloader
mmcblk0p2 - sbl
mmcblk0p3 - efs
mmcblk0p4 - param
mmcblk0p5 - misc
mmcblk0p6 - dgs
mmcblk0p7 - boot
mmcblk0p8 - recovery
mmcblk0p9 - radio
mmcblk0p10 - system
mmcblk0p11 - cache
mmcblk0p12 - userdata
mmcblk0p13 - metadata
mmcblk0boot1 - (don't know - blank on Galaxy Nexus, but other devices use this)
mmcblk0boot0 - (don't know - blank on Galaxy Nexus, but other devices use this)
I would love to learn more about the bootchain, as I'm sure several of our unknown partitions are involved.

Great job on this efrant, thread has been stickied.
We have too many stickies in general as is so I just added a redirect for it in Q&A.

Damn man. This is fantastic.
Thanks for taking the time!

segv11 said:
Great thread, efrant. Thanks for the effort. I'd love to see this stickied.
You mentioned toro/toroplus having a "radio-cdma" partition. I can't find it; perhaps it is a virtual partition that recovery and the fastboot know about that does not exist separately in storage. Perhaps it's hidden inside another one.
I'd like to contribute the partition list from my "toro" (Verizon Galaxy Nexus) in case is is useful. In addition to the named partitions listed in the OP, there 5 more unnamed ones. I don't know yet what they are used for.
Code:
mtdblock0 - (don't know)
mmcblk0 - (don't know but it looks big; like the entire eMMC)
mmcblk0p1 - xloader
mmcblk0p2 - sbl
mmcblk0p3 - efs
mmcblk0p4 - param
mmcblk0p5 - misc
mmcblk0p6 - dgs
mmcblk0p7 - boot
mmcblk0p8 - recovery
mmcblk0p9 - radio
mmcblk0p10 - system
mmcblk0p11 - cache
mmcblk0p12 - userdata
mmcblk0p13 - metadata
mmcblk0boot1 - (don't know - blank on Galaxy Nexus, but other devices use this)
mmcblk0boot0 - (don't know - blank on Galaxy Nexus, but other devices use this)
I would love to learn more about the bootchain, as I'm sure several of our unknown partitions are involved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the correction. Post edited. I wasn't entirely sure (as I don't have a toro or toroplus devices). Based on what I've read, I'm gathering that the LTE radio likely resides on the radio partition, along with the 3G radio.
And yes, I'm pretty sure you are correct: the mmcblk0 is just the entire NAND. Not sure what mmcblk0boot0, mmcblk0boot1 and mtdblock0 are.
I would also like to know more about the boot chain. I will try to do some research as time permits. From what I've read so far (and most of it is from AdamOutler -- see this thread), there is a chip that is not flashable which contains the intial boot program, which then loads the xloader, which in turn loads the sbl (which provides the odin and fastboot interfaces), which then loads the kernel.

..great work efrant, as always.
If I had a dollar for every time this thread gets a link reference in answering questions...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

[Info] mmcblk* partitons reference of the P6 B107

Located in /dev/block, may be useful
Code:
mmcblk0p1 -> /xloader
mmcblk0p2 -> /round (-empty-)
mmcblk0p3 -> /nvme
mmcblk0p4 -> /misc
mmcblk0p5 -> /splash (-empty-)
mmcblk0p6 -> /oeminfo
mmcblk0p7 -> /reserved1 (-empty-)
mmcblk0p8 -> /reserved2 (-empty-)
mmcblk0p9 -> /splash2
mmcblk0p10 -> /recovery2 (-empty-)
mmcblk0p11 -> /recovery
mmcblk0p12 -> /boot
mmcblk0p13 -> /modemimage
mmcblk0p14 -> /modemnvm
mmcblk0p15 -> /modemnvm2
mmcblk0p16 -> /system
mmcblk0p17 -> /cache
mmcblk0p18 -> /cust
mmcblk0p19 -> /userdata
I took this info opening the direct accesses in /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name

To extract the boot or recovery img with dd:
Code:
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 of=/sdcard/recovery.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 of=/sdcard/boot.img

TheProd said:
To extract the boot or recovery img with dd:
Code:
adb shell
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 of=/sdcard/recovery.img
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 of=/sdcard/boot.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already extracted recovery.img But i can't unpack it, i use unyaffs.exe but i get "broken image file" D:
Same with the other *.img files

Code:
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE vmalloc=512M k3v2_pmem=1 mmcparts=mmcblk0:p1(xloader),p3(n
me),p4(misc),p5(splash),p6(oeminfo),p7(reserved1),p8(reserved2),p9(splash2),p10
recovery2),p11(recovery),p12(boot),p13(modemimage),p14(modemnvm1),p15(modemnvm2
,p16(system),p17(cache),p18(cust),p19(userdata);mmcblk1:p1(ext_sdcard)
BOARD_KERNEL_BASE 00000000
BOARD_PAGE_SIZE 2048
BOARD_RAMDISK_ADDR 01400000
Unpacking ramdisk to "/ramdisk/" . . .
Compression used: gzip
2085 blocks
Done!
Boot.img unpacked, K3V2 uses ARMv7 Instruction Set. Let's see if we can't get something cooking already

I unpacked recovery and boot too
Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using xda app-developers app

Good show, unless your planning on beginning work on a Custom Recovery what are you going to gain by unpacking the recovery.img?
I see your working on a CM port, so wish you all the best on that. I'll be porting MIUIv5 for the Ascend P6 as I did for a few other devices, also going to have another crack at porting Flyme OS since I already ported 90% to my previous device.
Best Regards,
s89

I unpacked boot and recovery to get info for BoardConfig.mk
Ty
Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using xda app-developers app

If you've already got a build environment setup you may aswel build CWM from CM sources, we have more then enough information here to proceed. Even more convenient considering you have the recovery.img unpacked. Google "Build CWM Cyanogenmod" for more info. Failing that i'll setup a build environment and do so myself tomorrow evening.
Best Regards,
s89

I'm setting up the enviroment to build CWM, i hope to get it done in a few hours, anyways, i got bad news. My laptop screen broke today, and i send it to repair tomorrow and i don't know how much time will take :/

S34Qu4K3 said:
I'm setting up the enviroment to build CWM, i hope to get it done in a few hours, anyways, i got bad news. My laptop screen broke today, and i send it to repair tomorrow and i don't know how much time will take :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww man that's unfortunate, wishing a speedy recovery for said laptop aha. Are you continuing the build on another machine or using an external monitor for the meantime?
Best Regards,
s89

Stickman89 said:
Aww man that's unfortunate, wishing a speedy recovery for said laptop aha. Are you continuing the build on another machine or using an external monitor for the meantime?
Best Regards,
s89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got an small laptop and a pc, i have to install linux and will continue working (i think) i expect to be at least 1 week without my laptop (maybe i got it with screen broken ultil i wait the new screen)
Dam git sync, so ****ing long

Just a question, if i have in my .fstabfile the partition routes this way:
Code:
/dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name/sdcard
I have to change it to
Code:
/dev/block/mcblk....
In BoardConfig.mk or can i let it original? Looks the same for me, /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name/ points the mcblk, i want to be sure

S34Qu4K3 said:
Just a question, if i have in my .fstabfile the partition routes this way:
Code:
/dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name/sdcard
I have to change it to
Code:
/dev/block/mcblk....
In BoardConfig.mk or can i let it original? Looks the same for me, /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name/ points the mcblk, i want to be sure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXT SDCard Mounts at:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1
so your recovery.fstab should be setup like...
Code:
/sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
So yup it needs to be changed to the second option.
I'm still syncing too... -.- ...zZzZzZzZz tired
Best Regards,
s89​

Stickman89 said:
EXT SDCard Mounts at:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1
so your recovery.fstab should be setup like...
Code:
/sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
So yup it needs to be changed to the second option.
I'm still syncing too... -.- ...zZzZzZzZz tired
Best Regards,
s89​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.1/by-name/sdcard points to /dev/block/mmcblk1p1, so it shouldn't be necessary (i'll use /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 style, to be sure anyway)
In 4 hours, i leave my lapton in the shop, in another hour, i got it repaired (115€ D

I've built CWM from CM sources. Haven't tried it as of yet though.
Flash at your OWN risk. I will not take responsibility for any actions taken by the user in combination with the provided file... By downloading this image your accepting full liability for any issues that should arise as a result of undergoing ANY flashing/modding on YOUR device.
Removed for the time being! Do not use...
Best Regards,
s89

Stickman89 said:
I've built CWM from CM sources. Haven't tried it as of yet though.
Flash at your OWN risk. I will not take responsibility for any actions taken by the user in combination with the provided file... By downloading this image your accepting full liability for any issues that should arise as a result of undergoing ANY flashing/modding of your device.
Best Regards,
s89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My repo still 93% ;___;
Why you don't make a thread posting it??
Good job bro
We can try recoverys without flash using fastboot? Like the kernel?

S34Qu4K3 said:
My repo still 93% ;___;
Why you don't make a thread posting it??
Good job bro
We can try recoverys without flash using fastboot? Like the kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried "fastboot boot recovery.img" to no avail. The output is as follows...
Output:
Code:
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.193s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: invalid command)
finished. total time: 0.194s
As you can see... It's expecting a boot.img so this command is only available for booting ramdisk & kernel.

Stickman89 said:
I've tried "fastboot boot recovery.img" to no avail. The output is as follows...
Output:
Code:
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.193s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: invalid command)
finished. total time: 0.194s
As you can see... It's expecting a boot.img so this command is only available for booting ramdisk & kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, we have to flash it... Bad bad...D:

I tried fastboot boot recovery recovery.img but i get:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery recovery.img
cannot load 'recovery'

I don't think that command is applicable until post flash as according to cyanogenmod documentation:
Code:
Installing recovery using fastboot
You can use fastboot to install your recovery image to the device.
Installing ClockworkMod Recovery on the device
Connect the device to the computer via USB.
Make sure the fastboot binary is in your PATH or that you place the downloaded image in the same directory as fastboot.
Open a terminal on your PC and reboot the device into fastboot mode by typing adb reboot bootloader or by using the hardware key combination.
Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing fastboot devices
If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "<waiting for device>", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
Flash ClockworkMod Recovery onto your device by entering the following command: fastboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.img where the latter part is the name of the file you downloaded.
Once the flash completes successfully, reboot the device into recovery to verify the installation. This can be done by typing fastboot boot your_recovery_image.img.
Note: Some ROMs overwrite recovery at boot time so if you do not plan to immediately boot into recovery to install CyanogenMod, please be aware that this may overwrite your custom recovery with the stock one.

[Multi Boot] Boot Menu

Multiboot for Sony Xperia Z1
How to install boot menu
- download bootmenu_honami.rar, extract folder "bootmenu" to the your internal storage
- put boot.img or kernel.elf to the mainrom folder, make sure thats the same kernel like your primary rom (aka main rom)
- download bootmenu.img from attachment, flash bootmenu.img using fastboot commnd: fastboot flash boot bootmenu.img
Since your bootmenu folder not contain settings.ini (you runing bootmenu at a first time) that will be created easily. You need to complete main step aka main rom creation:
1. (mainrom creation) reboot into bootmenu, chose "patch...", navigate to bootmenu, navigate to mainrom, select mainrom.zip package (make sure boot.img or kernel.elf is the same like your current main rom kernel, and make sure boot.img is in folder mainrom), select mainrom.zip and click "yes". Main rom will be added into boot menu entry. Now reboot again into boot menu and you will see new menuentry, chose these menu to boot into your primary rom!
2. (other roms creation - you can do only if you completed main rom step) reboot into bootmenu, chose "patch...", principe is diferent (there is 2 steps):
- step 1: chose rom zip you want to patch, patch them
- step 2: reboot again into boot menu (new rom entry will be displayed), select these rom to boot, on led blinking press to boot into cwm, now you are in cwm of these rom, now navigate to the same folder where is your package, you will find zip with appended name "patched.zip", chose these patched zip to install trought these recovery, you are done!
If something fail, make sure look into bootmenu folder into main script aka "multiboot.sh", try to fix-improve something Enjoy!
WARNING:
- NEVER RENAME FOLDERS OR ZIP ARCHIVES TO HAVE SPACE IN NAME SINCE BOOTMENU WILL NOT WORK!!! INSTEAD OF WRITING SPACE " " WRITE "_" SOMETHING_LIKE_THIS" !
- there is possibility for your partitions of the main rom to get overwriten if multiboot.sh fail to patch these rom you going to patch, just to let you know! Two click solution is in testing stage so there is probably a lot of bugs! I am not responsible if you lost your private data! So guys if you willing to help, I am waiting. Things need to be improved in multiboot.sh !

Here is full source code of the my bootmenu project -> https://github.com/munjeni/bootmenu_z1_and_z1c
Public License for BOOTMENU and for my Auxiliary Work
You can Distribute my source without my Permissions. Distribution should include my XDA name 'munjeni' and Link to this 'BOOTMENU' thread in your Credits sections/About sections and Properly Visible to Human Eyes. If you use our source and have them modified, you need to make them public to everyone!!! If you not propertly use my source and you not give proper credit, and you not share your modified source code which is based on my source code, I will find you and I will report your post!
And... If You Like my BOOTMENU... Remember to Press...Thanks button

Credits
- @abbychauhan first one who helped me in testing boot menu, thanks!
- @krabappel2548 for kernel with kexec! I have used his kexec kernel in our boot menu for Z1, thanks!
- @HypoTurtle for sugestions, thanks!
- @DooMLoRD for opening my eyes since I had a wrong kernel on my local hard drive
- @SafiXS , @Chocolatetrain, @ntmohammad ...sory if I forgot someone, thanks to all for testing!

"Post Updated on 22/06/2014"
MultiBoot Totally Simplified (Noob Friendly)
Whole Multiboot Procedure for better understanding..
We will do this in two parts procedure as Follows -
Part 1 -
First we will do the mainrom creation. "Mainrom" - The ROM which is Currently installed on your phone.
1. First Download bootmenu_honami.rar, extract folder "bootmenu" to your Phone's Internal storage
2. Put boot.img or kernel.elf (Of the ROM which is Currently installed on your phone) to the mainrom folder (its in the bootmenu folder) of extracted rar file,
make sure thats the same kernel i.e, boot.img or kernel.elf like your primary rom of yours which is currently installed
boot.img - you can extract it from the ROM zip file or Custom Kernel zip file eg. ROM.zip or Doomloards Kernel zip
Kernel.elf - U ll have to convert kernel.sin from ROM zip file to kernel.elf via Flashtool (It has got option to do that)
3. Download bootmenu.img from attachment, flash bootmenu.img using fastboot commend: fastboot flash boot bootmenu.img
4. Reboot into bootmenu, choose "patch...", navigate to mainrom folder (it has to be in the internal memory, inside the folder bootmenu),
select mainrom.zip package (make sure boot.img or kernel.elf is the same like your current main rom kernel, and make sure boot.img or kernel.elf is in folder "mainrom" ),
select mainrom.zip and click "yes". Main rom will be added into boot menu entry.
Now reboot again into boot menu and you will see new Entry Mainrom and Mainrom - CWM, choose Mainrom from Multiboot Menu to boot into your primary rom or Choose mainrom - CWM to go into mainrom Recovery
Part 2 -
Other ROMs creation - You can do it only if you completed main rom step)
1. Reboot into bootmenu, chose "patch...",
2. Navigate to Second ROM ZIP file
(Keep it anywhere in External Memory Card Because you wont be able to access Internal Memory of your Phone via another ROM Recovery due to change of Partitions, All ROMs will be installed on Internal Memory),
Choose ROM zip you want to patch, patch them
3. Reboot again into boot menu (new ROM entry will be displayed), go into ROM - CWM to go into Recovery of the particular ROM,
Now you are in Recovery of New ROM, Go to install ZIP (Installation of ROM) and
navigate to the same folder where you kept the ROM ZIP file (on External Card Memory),
you will find a new zip with appended name "patched.zip",
chose these patched zip to install trough the Recovery,
4. Flash C6902 fix, if u have C6902 Device (keep it On External Memory too),
5. Boot into ROM then Do a REBOOT and again go to Secondary ROM - CWM
6. Flash Gapps (keep it On External Memory too)
7. Flash Any Mod or anything if you wanted to flash for Your ROM (keep it On External Memory too)
Except Custom Kernels or Something that will wipe bootmenu.img ( Its WIP you can check out the Conversations on Page 48/49/50 )
8. Do Reboot
9. In Bootmenu Select the Newly installed ROM.
You are done!
Enjoy!
Common Questions -
1. How many ROMs I can Install?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53236187&postcount=399
2. How to go from One ROM Partation to Another ROM Partation via File Explorer?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53318812&postcount=476
3. How to get kernel.elf?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53234909&postcount=384
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53234988&postcount=386
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53235075&postcount=387
4. How to take Screenshot of CWM?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53229901&postcount=358
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53230193&postcount=362
5. We get ROM updates now and then how do we do it? If we want to remove The Whole Multiboot Thing or a ROM from Bootmenu and to uninstall it completely from our phone then what is the procedure?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53076327&postcount=277
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53077937&postcount=281
6. Stock Based ROMs ask to flash the Stripped FTF via flashtools in the END, if we keep Stock based ROMs as Secondary ROMs then how will it work then, it will wipe other ROMs Kernal and bootmenu kernal?
Answ - Its Hard but http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53150024&postcount=325
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53150187&postcount=326
7. Power Off Charging?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53144286&postcount=322
8. The partition made by Multi Boot for other ROMs is very small, Why is that? Can it be increased?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53116039&postcount=313
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53118687&postcount=316
and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53118722&postcount=317
9. I want to change the name of "mainrom" and Secondary ROM names in boot menu?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53107296&postcount=307
10. Gapps on Primary ROM?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53027261&postcount=240
11. Main ROM Update / MainROM Kernal Change?
Answ - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=53565558&postcount=571

Complicated and not for noobs, but hope some one do it for you if you are confused! Seccond tut will be more complicated since all ramdisks need to be moded specialy for every each android which you going to boot. I will try to explain

munjeni said:
Complicated and not for noobs, but hope some one do it for you if you are confused! Seccond tut will be more complicated since all ramdisks need to be moded specialy for every each android which you going to boot. I will try to explain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya this thread really need a helpful Dev. Who will answer all questions.. And Of course not for noobs.. I think i ll scratch my head all night..
Sent from my Micromax A110Q using Tapatalk

@munjeni Is this same as XGo Muilti Boot?That is very harder to install.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Awesome work :good:
Could you please give me some instructions on how to add your multiboot to a host kernel when building from source?
I'm working on a kernel for the z1, and I have krabappel's kexec patch implemented.

Androguide.fr said:
Awesome work :good:
Could you please give me some instructions on how to add your multiboot to a host kernel when building from source?
I'm working on a kernel for the z1, and I have krabappel's kexec patch implemented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple extract ramdisk and make boot.img with your kernel! I will upload new version now, version v1.1 (support for booting from booth internal and external sdcard)! Since booting from extrernal sdcard sause some lags if sd cards is not "best speed", recomended is booting from internal sdcard since performance is the same like booting from regular boot! Wait a moment, going to upload new version in next 10 minutes! When I get more free time I will give you preconfigured menu entry with installed CM11 into file partitions so you can multiboot them without needs for lookig into our tutorials, you will simple extract them and boot

New version of the bootmenu is out, enjoy!
Changelog:
- support for booting from booth internal or external sdcard
- fixed bug with reboot timer when there is no rom in settings ini or when there is no bootmenu folder

I'll try to release the multiboot I was working on. It is a lot easier for users then all this editing probably
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

krabappel2548 said:
I'll try to release the multiboot I was working on. It is a lot easier for users then all this editing probably
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We all will be very thankful to u
Sent from my Xperia Z1 using Tapatalk

krabappel2548 said:
I'll try to release the multiboot I was working on. It is a lot easier for users then all this editing probably
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How you think to make that simple? Since external partitions is needed, allso since standard flashable zips will allso need to be modified in updater-script, allso since ramdisks need to be modified, all fstabs need to be modified, DTB need to be appended propertly to the zImage in order to boot them with kexec... a lot of other things, I think easy method is not possible definitely! Maybe a am wrong?
I have 2 ideas now for my boot menu:
- create 3 partitions (probably will open a new thread for sharing diferent partitions layout, for example cache 50mb, cache 100mb, cache 150mb, cache 200mb, system 500mb, system 1gb, system 1.6gb, data 500mb, data 1gb, data 2gb...) so after compresing them to rar size of the archive will be ~100mb
- or maybe we can implement on the fly partitions creation by the updter-script
Problem will be kernel and ramdisk since it need modification. Maybe we can ask devs to include ramdisk and kernel for multiboot in his posts.
I am out of ideas, but I think we need to make automated tool for these things. If you guys have idea please comment!
Tool needed:
- tool for extracting boot image and making zImage-dtb
- tool for extracting ramdisk, making changes needed for boot from loop device, compresing modified ramdisk
- tool for partitions creation with defined size and defined path for puting them to defined folder
- tool for entry in settings.ini creation

Partition creation is easy. There is few steps to create file based partition:
1. first of all - how to calculate size of the partition:
Simple using calculator. Formula is: (size * 1024 * 1024) / 4096
Foe example: you want 500mb partition, ok, formula is: (500 * 1024 * 1024) / 4096
So command for making them with adb will be:
adb shell
mkdir /data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/system.ext4 bs=4096 count=count_from_your_calculation
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/data.ext4 bs=4096 count=count_from_your_calculation
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/cache.ext4 bs=4096 count=count_from_your_calculation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. get UUID of the system partition (need for step 3):
blkid /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. format created partiton:
losetup /dev/block/loop1 /data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/system.ext4
losetup /dev/block/loop2 /data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/data.ext4
losetup /dev/block/loop3 /data/media/0/bootmenu/folder_you_want/cache.ext4
mke2fs -T ext4 -O has_journal,ext_attr,resize_inode,filetype,extent,sparse_super,large_file,uninit_bg -U paste here your UUID -I 256 /dev/block/loop1
mke2fs -T ext4 -O has_journal,ext_attr,resize_inode,filetype,extent,sparse_super,large_file,uninit_bg -U paste here your UUID -I 256 /dev/block/loop2
mke2fs -T ext4 -O has_journal,ext_attr,resize_inode,filetype,extent,sparse_super,large_file,uninit_bg -U paste here your UUID -I 256 /dev/block/loop3
tune2fs -o journal_data_writeback /dev/block/loop2
tune2fs -o journal_data_writeback /dev/block/loop3
losetup -d /dev/block/loop1
losetup -d /dev/block/loop2
losetup -d /dev/block/loop3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partitions created easily
Note:
These things must be done while you are in bootmenu since I am not sure if mke2fs, blkid and tune2fs tool is available while you are on android! So you can done that in bootmenu via adb!

CWM ramdisk modifications
all fstabs need to be modified, for example fstab.qcom:
Code:
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot /boot emmc defaults recoveryonly
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system ext4 ro,barrier=1 wait
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache /cache ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic wait,check
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic wait,check,encryptable=footer,length=-16384
remove line:
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot /boot emmc defaults recoveryonly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
changed:
Code:
/dev/block/loop1 /system ext4 ro,barrier=1 wait
/dev/block/loop3 /cache ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic wait,check
/dev/block/loop2 /data ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic wait,check,encryptable=footer,length=-16384
In etc you can see another recovery.fstab, change them like you done for qcom.fstab!
init.rc:
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable 0
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idVendor 18D1
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idProduct D001
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions adb
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iManufacturer ${ro.product.manufacturer}
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iProduct ${ro.product.model}
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iSerial ${ro.serialno}
on boot
ifup lo
hostname localhost
domainname localdomain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
add:
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable 0
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idVendor 18D1
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/idProduct D001
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions adb
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iManufacturer ${ro.product.manufacturer}
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iProduct ${ro.product.model}
write /sys/class/android_usb/android0/iSerial ${ro.serialno}
on fs
wait /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
mkdir /sde
mount ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /sde rw wait
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop1 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/system.ext4
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop2 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/data.ext4
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop3 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/cache.ext4
on boot
ifup lo
hostname localhost
domainname localdomain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
red line "cm11" mean that you have created cm11 folder in boot menu and use these folder for example for booting into cm11! On these "cm11" folder you have created partitons, ramdisks, kernel...etc!

munjeni said:
Problem will be kernel and ramdisk since it need modification. Maybe we can ask devs to include ramdisk and kernel for multiboot in his posts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that will do some work for the people.. Atleast Custom Kernal Devs can include it.
Sent from my Xperia Z1 using Tapatalk

ROM ramdisk modifications
For example CM11 ramdisk.
when you unpack cm11 boot.img, when you unpack ramdisk you will notice 2 ramdisks, one is rom ramdisk and one is recovery ramdisk (ramdisk.cpio and ramdisk.recovery.cpio). Look into previous post for CWM ramdisk modification.
Modification for ROM ramdisk (ramdisk.cpio):
init.rc file:
look for line "mkdir /system", added one line before these line: "mkdir /sde"
fstab.qcom:
the same like you done on CWM ramdisk!
init.qcom.rc:
look for lines:
on fs
mount_all ./fstab.qcom
setprop ro.crypto.fuse_sdcard true
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
add:
on fs
wait /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
mkdir /sde
mount ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /sde rw wait
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop1 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/system.ext4
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop2 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/data.ext4
exec /sbin/losetup /dev/block/loop3 /sde/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/cache.ext4
exec /sbin/e2fsck -y /dev/block/loop2
exec /sbin/e2fsck -y /dev/block/loop3
mount_all ./fstab.qcom
setprop ro.crypto.fuse_sdcard true
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
red line "cm11" mean that you have created cm11 folder in boot menu and use these folder for example for booting into cm11! On these "cm11" folder you have created partitons, ramdisks, kernel...etc!

updater script in rom zip modification
For example you want to install cm11 in multiboot, ok, download an rom, for example download CM11 by FXP or one by Cyanogenmod, open zip, find, open and modify updater-script and change all lines:
1. for system:
Code:
.........."/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system"............
change to:
Code:
.............."/dev/block/loop1"..............
2. for userdata:
Code:
............."/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata"............
change to:
Code:
..........."/dev/block/loop2"................
3. for cache:
Code:
........"/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache"..........
change to:
Code:
..........."/dev/block/loop3"...........
4. for boot:
Code:
.........."/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot".........
change to:
Code:
............"/dev/null"...........
Note:
To understand this step. You doing these modifications since you going to install rom to partitions which you created on your internal sdcard! For example: if you not modify ramdisk, your rom will be installed to your phone partitions instead of one created by you! So to install rom to partitions which you have created, you must modify updater script to point installation to install rom into partitions which you created earlier instead of intalling them to regular partition! If you install rom to regular partitions that mean you will overwrite your main rom and bootmenu, so you will boot into cm11 on reboot instead of buting into multiboot! Hope thing clear?

Creating menuentry for new rom in multiboot (boot menu) settings.ini
Since you created partitions, since you modified ramdsiks, since you created kernel (sorry I removed post entry related to kernel modification... I will instruct you later!), since you modified rom zip which you want to install... you are ready for flashing! Before flashing rom to partitions, you need to add menu entry in settings.ini of the bootmenu!
How to add new rom entry to boot menu:
For example you created all partitons in .../bootmenu/cm11 folder
For example you have system.ext4, data.ext4, cache.ext.4, initrd.gz (modified cm11 ramdisk), and Zimage-dtb (modified CM11 zImage) in cm11 folder
Ok now you can add menuentry to setting.ini:
[rom-1]
menutitle=CM11
kernel=/data/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/zImage-dtb
ramdisk=/data/media/0/bootmenu/cm11/initrd.gz
cmdline=no_need_anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are done! Title you have defined in "menutitle" will be displayed in boot menu!
Now you need to boot into cm11. When you boot into cm11 you will get "timing for recovery boot, led light!", if everything is propertly modified in all of the things you will get lucky to see led light where you need to pres volume button to get into recovery! If you enter into cm11 recovery that mean that you are in sucess , Ok now install your modified rom zip package (in these step cm11 will be installed to partitions which you have created earlier) and you are done! Reboot and enjoy cm11 in multiboot! The same steps is for all roms which you want in multi boot! Max roms is 10!

Not for noobs but hope our things is clear now for experienced users?

[HowTO] Get rid of annoying "Kernel is not seandroid enforcing" message....

Hi,
I started to play with kernel hacking/configuration and I found the annoying red message
After a lot of research i found that we can get rid of it by adding at the end of boot.img file the SEANDROIDENFORCE text string, as following
echo SEANDROIDENFORCE >> boot.img
Best regards,
Marc

serdeliuk said:
Hi,
I started to play with kernel hacking/configuration and I found the annoying red message
After a lot of research i found that we can get rid of it by adding at the end of boot.img file the SEANDROIDENFORCE text string, as following
echo SEANDROIDENFORCE >> boot.img
Best regards,
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. Work bro..

diphons said:
Thanks.. Work bro..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'd like recommend to find a solution to get also rid of "set warranty bit kernel/recovery", the yellow warning is really annoying!

I was able to append the boot.img file with SEANDROIDENFORCE text string.
But how do you exactly write it back?
I'm on samsung note 4.
Code:
adb reboot recovery
adb shell
dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT of=/sdcard/boot.img
echo SEANDROIDENFORCE >> /sdcard/boot.img
If i try to switch if and of path, I get an error
Code:
dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT
dd: writing '/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT': No space left on device

UnknownPlanet said:
I was able to append the boot.img file with SEANDROIDENFORCE text string.
But how do you exactly write it back?
Code:
adb reboot recovery
adb shell
dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT of=/sdcard/boot.img
echo SEANDROIDENFORCE >> /sdcard/boot.img
If i try to switch if and of path, I get an error
Code:
dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT
dd: writing '/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT': No space left on device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to write the boot.img you need to use fastboot/bootloader mode of your device, adb reboot bootloader, then use `fastboot flash boot boot.img`
Alternatively, you can put the boot.img on your /sdcard boot to twrp then `cat boot.img > /dev/your/boot/partition`
The no space left on the device means that your file is bigger than the destination which is unusual if you built that boot img, from your example it seems that you save your partition and do not use a built boot.img

serdeliuk said:
In order to write the boot.img you need to use fastboot/bootloader mode of your device, adb reboot bootloader, then use `fastboot flash boot boot.img`
Alternatively, you can put the boot.img on your /sdcard boot to twrp then `cat boot.img > /dev/your/boot/partition`
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't work, I'm on samsung note 4. I also have latest TWRP installed.
fastboot device keep saying:
< waiting for any device >

UnknownPlanet said:
It doesn't work, I'm on samsung note 4. I also have latest TWRP installed.
fastboot device keep saying:
< waiting for any device >
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to find how to boot your device in bootloader mode, usually volDOWN+power together

serdeliuk said:
Alternatively, you can put the boot.img on your /sdcard boot to twrp then `cat boot.img > /dev/your/boot/partition`
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still error
Code:
~ # cat /sdcard/boot.img > /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT
cat: write error: No space left on device
serdeliuk said:
The no space left on the device means that your file is bigger than the destination which is unusual if you built that boot img, from your example it seems that you save your partition and do not use a built boot.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Custom ROM of Hani Base v1.01 here:
[ROM][6.0.1][TW][N910C/H/U] Hani Base v1.01 [18-04-2016][Deodexed][PreRooted]
Welcome to Hani Base ROM thread! Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N910C N910CXXU2DPCB TW 6.0.1 THREAD INDEX: I. INTRODUCTION II. FEATURES III. DOWNLOADS IV. HOW TO FLASH #_____________________________# #include ...
forum.xda-developers.com
I have succcessfuly get and edit the boot.img but I don't know how to flash it back. Forking to make another whole custom ROM is not an option. I won't learn anything.
It's just a tiny append why so difficult.
serdeliuk said:
you need to find how to boot your device in bootloader mode, usually volDOWN+power together
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no bootloader in my samsung note 4, adb reboot bootloader goes to system instead.
Home+Power+VolumeDown enters the download mode, but even then fastboot device still doesn't respond.
Do I need to use Odin or what?

You may need to ask questions about your boot options on the dedicated channel for your device, i do not own such device, but download mode is the fastboot mode as far as can remember, "fastboot devices" should show your device listed when in download mode.
Your steps to flash the boot.img fail because the file is bigger than your boot partition, does not fit there, you may need to seek for help form the img developers to see what to do. You can try to flash the boot.img on recovery partitions which is usually bigger and reboot to recovery, but pay attention, if you don't know how to go back to fastboot mode you are stuck with a bricked device

I was able to flash it without any change in the boot partition size by editing it manually using hex editor.
These are my steps
Code:
adb reboot recovery
adb shell "dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT of=/sdcard/boot.img"
adb pull /sdcard/boot.img
I use Frhed hex editor to edit the last 16 bytes of boot.img into SEANDROIDENFORCE
Code:
adb push boot.img /sdcard/boot.img
adb shell "dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT"
The problem right now is that, the red text is still there. What should be my next step?

UnknownPlanet said:
I was able to flash it without any change in the boot partition size by editing it manually using hex editor.
These are my steps
Code:
adb reboot recovery
adb shell "dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT of=/sdcard/boot.img"
adb pull /sdcard/boot.img
I use Frhed hex editor to edit the last 16 bytes of boot.img into SEANDROIDENFORCE
Code:
adb push boot.img /sdcard/boot.img
adb shell "dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/BOOT"
The problem right now is that, the red text is still there. What should be my next step?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if editing the boot.img works, probably should do, however, i found this solution poking around with third party device trees and worked for my samsung galaxy tab, if do not work on your phone then you may need to dig a bit deeper, however, if you use a third party image maybe you ask them why you have that on your screen, maybe they have another fix. Probably a bit of more info can be found here https://github.com/osm0sis/dhtbsign but i didn't spent time to read it. You can ask the developer about more info.

Your solution of device tree / dhtb is impressive on it's own, that's another big learning curve.
But I think I know the problem, because the Custom ROM Hani Base above is using H-Vitamin Kernal which is SELinux Permissive. No matter how I edit the boot.img file the red text message will always appears, unless I flash it with another kernel which is SELinux Enforcing.
UPDATE
This is even weirder.
By updating SuperSU into the latest version, the red text is missing from system mode. It still persist in recovery mode tough, because, well twrp need full access to begin with.
No Magisk here, it was an old custom ROM.
All official app from playstore is now gone but the official xda thread still remain:
[STABLE][2017.05.27] SuperSU v2.82
*** Urgent Update Notice *** We are deeply sorry about the installation errors and failures happened in v2.80. The new update v2.81 has rolled out on XDA and Play Store to fix the problem occured in v2.80. Chainfire has also...
forum.xda-developers.com
From reading the last pages of the thread, I got the official site of chainfire to download it.
SuperSU Download
The file name is
sr5-supersu-v2.82-sr5-20171001224502.zip
Just flash it with latest TWRP and you're done.
I still don't understand how could updating SuperSU could fix the problem.
But what a long journey, thank you so much @serdiluk , I learn so much things.

LG G4 fails to complete LOS 14.1 boot after battery drained to zero [Fixed]

The battery of a rooted, UsUed LG G4 running LineageOS 14.1 was accidentally allowed to drain to zero. After re-charging above 50%, the device failed to boot. The LOS boot screen "bubble on a string" animation would continue indefinitely.
The phone still booted to TWRP, download mode, and fastboot mode.
Originally, it was suspected that this was ILAPO. However, this suspicion was incorrect.
After extensive work creating a boot sector that would allow logging and a ton of help from @steadfasterX, it was discovered that various files in /data/system had been corrupted and had sizes of zero. Android would try to read values from these files, fail, and repeat.
First, a full TWRP backup of the phone was made and copied off-device. Then, I made a second backup of /data/system. Next, I deleted the following zero-byte files from /data/system using TWRP (or ADB after launching TWRP).
packages.list
packages.xml
profiles.xml
netpolicy.xml
notification_policy.xml
If this doesn't work, I would have considered deleting other zero-byte files in /data/system. I used "ls -laS" to get a size-ordered list of files in my current directory.
After a reboot, android re-created the files and booted to the lockscreen.
All of the apps in /data/data had already been cleared. Otherwise, Android would probably have choked on the differences between the user IDs that it wanted to assign to apps and the ownership of the various app folders.
The following links suggest ways to restore some apps from previously created backups
GitHub - joshuabragge/twrp-manual-restore: Automate individual app restores from an android TWRP backup
Automate individual app restores from an android TWRP backup - GitHub - joshuabragge/twrp-manual-restore: Automate individual app restores from an android TWRP backup
github.com
https://www.semipol.de/posts/2016/07/android-manually-restoring-apps-from-a-twrp-backup/
(Permanent archive: https://web.archive.org/web/2019083.../android-restoring-apps-from-twrp-backup.html)
There is no warranty on this solution. It was a makeshift effort created by an amateur. If you choose to duplicate it, you do so at your own risk. You may permanently destroy your phone.
Old post below:
I'm trying to understand whether a particular G4 (H815) has ILAPO. Its been sneezing, has a sore throat, and now can't taste anything^H^H oops, I mean:
- Previously, the phone would get hot during use.
- The phone has been UsUed.
- The battery was accidentally allowed to discharge to zero.
- After the battery was recharged, the phone was unable to boot past the Lineageos "bubble on a string" animation. The animation simply continues forever.
- The phone can boot to TWRP, fasboot, download mode, etc.
Attempts to fix:
- Tried renaming /sdcard/Android to /sdcard/Android.old but this had no effect.
- Tried clearing cache and dalvik cache but this had no effect
- (NEW) Tried attaching to computer and launching "adb logcat" during animation. Device is never found. If I remember correctly, "USB debugging" was off when the device died. (ADB does work in TWRP.)
- (NEW) Tried creating a custom 4-core (2 core for boot) boot image using the instructions here https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...tom-x-cores-boot-image-ilapo-tempfix.3718389/ and used "fastboot flash boot boot.img" to flash it. This doesn't seem to work.
-- If I reboot into TWRP after a long period of waiting for the lineageos splash screen, I get a CPU temperature of 46 C. I don't know what temperature was generated in the same situation the modified boot image was installed.
Most of the info on ILAPO suggests that phones with it can't get past the LG logo. That is not the case here. Is this ILAPO or something different? Does anyone have ideas as to what might be an appropriate fix?
Is it possible to retrieve boot logs using TWRP in order to figure out when/where/why the boot hangs?

electricfield said:
I'm trying to understand whether a particular G4 (H815) has ILAPO. Its been sneezing, has a sore throat, and now can't taste anything^H^H oops, I mean:
- Previously, the phone would get hot during use.
- The phone has been UsUed.
- The battery was accidentally allowed to discharge to zero.
- After the battery was recharged, the phone was unable to boot past the Lineageos "bubble on a string" animation. The animation simply continues forever.
- The phone can boot to TWRP, fasboot, download mode, etc.
Attempts to fix:
- Tried renaming /sdcard/Android to /sdcard/Android.old but this had no effect.
- Tried clearing cache and dalvik cache but this had no effect
- (NEW) Tried attaching to computer and launching "adb logcat" during animation. Device is never found. If I remember correctly, "USB debugging" was off when the device died. (ADB does work in TWRP.)
- (NEW) Tried creating a custom 4-core (2 core for boot) boot image using the instructions here https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...tom-x-cores-boot-image-ilapo-tempfix.3718389/ and used "fastboot flash boot boot.img" to flash it. This doesn't seem to work.
-- If I reboot into TWRP after a long period of waiting for the lineageos splash screen, I get a CPU temperature of 46 C. I don't know what temperature was generated in the same situation the modified boot image was installed.
Most of the info on ILAPO suggests that phones with it can't get past the LG logo. That is not the case here. Is this ILAPO or something different? Does anyone have ideas as to what might be an appropriate fix?
Is it possible to retrieve boot logs using TWRP in order to figure out when/where/why the boot hangs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the ilapo. Is the battery charged now? I don't know which LOS version you have installed but if you use mine:
follow FAQ #7 of my LOS thread

steadfasterX said:
Sounds like the ilapo. Is the battery charged now? I don't know which LOS version you have installed but if you use mine:
follow FAQ #7 of my LOS thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply. You seem to know more about G4 issues than anyone. I really appreciate your help.
The battery is charged now.
Unfortunately, I am using the microg version of LOS 14.1, rather than your 16.0.
I tried following the instructions in your FAQ #7, but I can't do step 1 (boot android). The only way for me to exit the bootloop is by removing the battery. There is no "debug" in /cache after I mount cache in TWRP.
I also looked at FAQ #1. ADB never finishes waiting for the device. In fact "lsusb" doesn't show the phone during OS boot (ADB is fine when TWRP is loaded).
Any other ideas?

electricfield said:
Thank you for your reply. You seem to know more about G4 issues than anyone. I really appreciate your help.
The battery is charged now.
Unfortunately, I am using the microg version of LOS 14.1, rather than your 16.0.
I tried following the instructions in your FAQ #7, but I can't do step 1 (boot android). The only way for me to exit the bootloop is by removing the battery. There is no "debug" in /cache after I mount cache in TWRP.
I also looked at FAQ #1. ADB never finishes waiting for the device. In fact "lsusb" doesn't show the phone during OS boot (ADB is fine when TWRP is loaded).
Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As written in my mentioned FAQ taken battery out is needed in your case. Step 2 iirc.
If you dont use my LOS then no way. The cache/debug is something I've added and no one else has.
Option1:
You can just flash my LOS 16 or /e/ ROM (take a full backup before in TWRP) and use that for debugging your current issue. Why using microg btw? /e/ is great
Option2:
The other option would be pulling the boot img of your current LOS (in TWRP: adb pull /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot ) and rebuilding it as insecure (i.e. usb debug on and adb root ) but if you never did that before it it will be hard i guess. AiK might work here or using mAid which includes bootimgtool.
Option3:
Also you can attach that boot img here and if i ever find the time i can do option2 for you but don't expext that this happens soon .

Thank you again for your help.
I'm a little afraid that installing a new & different ROM will increase the level of complexity. I'll do it if I must, though.
I started looking at option #2. Retrieving the boot image was fine, but unpacking presents a problem.
$ ./unpack-bootimg.sh boot.img.original
Found a secondary file after the ramdisk image. According to the spec (mkbootimg.h) this file can exist, but this script is not designed to deal with this scenario.
Is there a guide anywhere?

electricfield said:
Thank you again for your help.
I'm a little afraid that installing a new & different ROM will increase the level of complexity. I'll do it if I must, though.
I started looking at option #2. Retrieving the boot image was fine, but unpacking presents a problem.
$ ./unpack-bootimg.sh boot.img.original
Found a secondary file after the ramdisk image. According to the spec (mkbootimg.h) this file can exist, but this script is not designed to deal with this scenario.
Is there a guide anywhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thousands.. But the problem is that our device is sensitive when it comes to packaging the boot.img again. Bootimgtool is working in 9 of 10 times though.
Boot mAid . Open a terminal. Type bootimgtool --help .important is to use "-v qcom". Then extract the ramdisk with gzip and cpio, then modding the default.prop to make it insecure , then using gzip and cpio again to rebuild the ramdisk, finally using bootimgtool to construct the boot.img again. Sounds harder than it is but i have no access to my pc until monday so i cannot give all the needed cmds atm. There are plenty of guides out there and tools ofc which allow unpack,repack etc. That's why i mentioned AIK which does exactly the above but it fails sometimes to build a correct working boot.img.
So my suggestion is try your luck with one of the tools or wait until I've access to my pc. Consider joining my TG group then for easier support (see my sig)

steadfasterX said:
thousands.. But the problem is that our device is sensitive when it comes to packaging the boot.img again. Bootimgtool is working in 9 of 10 times though.
Boot mAid . Open a terminal. Type bootimgtool --help .important is to use "-v qcom". Then extract the ramdisk with gzip and cpio, then modding the default.prop to make it insecure , then using gzip and cpio again to rebuild the ramdisk, finally using bootimgtool to construct the boot.img again. Sounds harder than it is but i have no access to my pc until monday so i cannot give all the needed cmds atm. There are plenty of guides out there and tools ofc which allow unpack,repack etc. That's why i mentioned AIK which does exactly the above but it fails sometimes to build a correct working boot.img.
So my suggestion is try your luck with one of the tools or wait until I've access to my pc. Consider joining my TG group then for easier support (see my sig)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you once again. I'm really impressed by how much help you have been able to give so far.
Unfortunately, I have no phone with which to join the Telegram group.
I made the modified boot image, but adb is still unable to speak to the phone during boot. I note that lsusb does not show the phone during boot -- maybe the system hangs before USB is activated. However, I could have made the boot image incorrectly.
Here is what I did:
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -i boot
Image size: 41943040
Page size: 4096
Kernel size: 22456976
Ramdisk size: 1672742
Second stage size: 0
Device tree size: 0
Kernel load address: 0x00008000
Ramdisk load address: 0x01000000
Second stage load address: 0x00f00000
Device tree load address: 0x00000000
Tags load address: 0x00000100
Product name:
Command line: maxcpus=4 boot_cpus=0-1 console=ttyHSL0,115200,n8 androidboot.console=ttyHSL0 androidboot.hardware=qcom user_debug=31 ehci-hcd.park=3 lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 msm_rtb.filter=0x37 boot_cpus=0-1 buildvariant=userdebug
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -x boot -v qcom
[[email protected] extract]$ gunzip ramdisk
[[email protected] ex]$ cpio -i < ../ramdisk
In default.prop, I changed:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
security.perf_harden=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
In default.prop, I added:
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
[[email protected] ex]$ find > /tmp/filelist
[[email protected] ex]$ cpio -o < /tmp/filelist > ../ramdisk.modified
This produces
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 4166400 Jan 2 17:29 ramdisk.gunzip.original
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 4162048 Jan 2 17:31 ramdisk.modified
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 1672742 Jan 2 17:16 ramdisk.img.original
I don't understand why the "modified" gunzipped file is slightly smaller than the original.
[[email protected] extract]$ mv ramdisk.modified.gz ramdisk.img
[[email protected] extract]$ cp boot boot.original
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -v qcom -c boot
Overwrite 'boot'? [y/N] y
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 25370624 Jan 2 17:38 boot
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 41943040 Jan 2 17:37 boot.original
I am wary because I don't understand why the new file is so much smaller than the original. However, I decided to proceed. Uploaded modified boot to /sdcard/boot.modified
Inside adb:
/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name # ls -al boot
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jan 1 04:16 boot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name # cp /sdcard/boot.modified /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
Plugged in device. On computer "adb wait-for-device". Reboot device.
Unfortunately, no action from adb.

electricfield said:
Thank you once again. I'm really impressed by how much help you have been able to give so far.
Unfortunately, I have no phone with which to join the Telegram group.
I made the modified boot image, but adb is still unable to speak to the phone during boot. I note that lsusb does not show the phone during boot -- maybe the system hangs before USB is activated. However, I could have made the boot image incorrectly.
Here is what I did:
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -i boot
Image size: 41943040
Page size: 4096
Kernel size: 22456976
Ramdisk size: 1672742
Second stage size: 0
Device tree size: 0
Kernel load address: 0x00008000
Ramdisk load address: 0x01000000
Second stage load address: 0x00f00000
Device tree load address: 0x00000000
Tags load address: 0x00000100
Product name:
Command line: maxcpus=4 boot_cpus=0-1 console=ttyHSL0,115200,n8 androidboot.console=ttyHSL0 androidboot.hardware=qcom user_debug=31 ehci-hcd.park=3 lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 msm_rtb.filter=0x37 boot_cpus=0-1 buildvariant=userdebug
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -x boot -v qcom
[[email protected] extract]$ gunzip ramdisk
[[email protected] ex]$ cpio -i < ../ramdisk
In default.prop, I changed:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
security.perf_harden=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
In default.prop, I added:
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
[[email protected] ex]$ find > /tmp/filelist
[[email protected] ex]$ cpio -o < /tmp/filelist > ../ramdisk.modified
This produces
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 4166400 Jan 2 17:29 ramdisk.gunzip.original
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 4162048 Jan 2 17:31 ramdisk.modified
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 1672742 Jan 2 17:16 ramdisk.img.original
I don't understand why the "modified" gunzipped file is slightly smaller than the original.
[[email protected] extract]$ mv ramdisk.modified.gz ramdisk.img
[[email protected] extract]$ cp boot boot.original
[[email protected] extract]$ bootimgtool -v qcom -c boot
Overwrite 'boot'? [y/N] y
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 25370624 Jan 2 17:38 boot
-rw-r--r-- 1 android users 41943040 Jan 2 17:37 boot.original
I am wary because I don't understand why the new file is so much smaller than the original. However, I decided to proceed. Uploaded modified boot to /sdcard/boot.modified
Inside adb:
/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name # ls -al boot
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jan 1 04:16 boot -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name # cp /sdcard/boot.modified /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
Plugged in device. On computer "adb wait-for-device". Reboot device.
Unfortunately, no action from adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i haven't followed every step bc I'm in half sleep mode already but you did one step wrong : you cant use cp like you did to copy the boot img. Either use the IMG button within TWRP flash menu or use fastboot flash boot boot.img to actually flash the modded boot img

Thank you, once again.
I think that something must be wrong with the boot image.
After "fastboot flash boot boot.modified", I get a blue light. The screen is blank with a cursor in the upper-left hand corner.
"fastboot flash boot boot.original" restores it to its previous state. i.e., it gets to the first lineageos splash screen bubble.
I'm suspicious of the difference between the file sizes of the original and modified boot images.

electricfield said:
Thank you, once again.
I think that something must be wrong with the boot image.
After "fastboot flash boot boot.modified", I get a blue light. The screen is blank with a cursor in the upper-left hand corner.
"fastboot flash boot boot.original" restores it to its previous state. i.e., it gets to the first lineageos splash screen bubble.
I'm suspicious of the difference between the file sizes of the original and modified boot images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ignore the size diff. That's bc of diff compressing tools but does not matter. Your cpio cmd is unusual . Cpio has switches to create directories and that is not used in yours above . Thats likely the reason why it does not boot at all. Again sorry that i can't help better atm but without my pc..

Thanks.
I changed the ramdisk extraction command to:
gzip -dc ../ramdisk.img | cpio -imd
and the creation command to:
find . ! -name . | LC_ALL=C sort | cpio -o -H newc -R root:root | gzip > ../new-boot.img-ramdisk.gz
Bootimgtool then produced a boot image that booted. After fastboot flash, the device is in the same state as before (splash screen).
Unfortunately, "adb wait-for-device" produces nothing. "lsusb" does not show the phone.
Can you confirm the lines to change in default.prop?
In default.prop, I changed:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
security.perf_harden=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
I added:
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1

electricfield said:
Thanks.
I changed the ramdisk extraction command to:
gzip -dc ../ramdisk.img | cpio -imd
and the creation command to:
find . ! -name . | LC_ALL=C sort | cpio -o -H newc -R root:root | gzip > ../new-boot.img-ramdisk.gz
Bootimgtool then produced a boot image that booted. After fastboot flash, the device is in the same state as before (splash screen).
Unfortunately, "adb wait-for-device" produces nothing. "lsusb" does not show the phone.
Can you confirm the lines to change in default.prop?
In default.prop, I changed:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
security.perf_harden=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
I added:
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ro.debuggable=1 is better (allows adb root)
security.perf_harden shouldn't be added (or.changed if it was there)
Rest looks ok. At least as long as you really changed these values directly or added them at the top (ro. values can be set only once)
Otherwise you should wait until tomorrow then i can share a 100% working way

electricfield said:
Thanks.
I changed the ramdisk extraction command to:
gzip -dc ../ramdisk.img | cpio -imd
and the creation command to:
find . ! -name . | LC_ALL=C sort | cpio -o -H newc -R root:root | gzip > ../new-boot.img-ramdisk.gz
Bootimgtool then produced a boot image that booted. After fastboot flash, the device is in the same state as before (splash screen).
Unfortunately, "adb wait-for-device" produces nothing. "lsusb" does not show the phone.
Can you confirm the lines to change in default.prop?
In default.prop, I changed:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
security.perf_harden=0
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
I added:
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wait! Pls share the bootimgtool command you are using to create the new boot.img

Thank you, again.
The bootimgtool command is the same one as I used before (no change). Before running it, I renamed the new ramdisk to ramdisk.img.
bootimgtool -v qcom -c boot.modified3
Followed by bringing the phone into fastboot mode and running
fastboot flash boot boot.modified3
The phone boots to the lineageos splash screen but no response to "adb wait-for-device".
I'll try ro.debuggable=1 and get rid of security.perf_harden in a few minutes, but I wonder if they are unlikely to change anything given that the device does not show up in (linux) lsusb.

electricfield said:
Thank you, again.
The bootimgtool command is the same one as I used before (no change). Before running it, I renamed the new ramdisk to ramdisk.img.
bootimgtool -v qcom -c boot.modified3
Followed by bringing the phone into fastboot mode and running
fastboot flash boot boot.modified3
The phone boots to the lineageos splash screen but no response to "adb wait-for-device".
I'll try ro.debuggable=1 and get rid of security.perf_harden in a few minutes, but I wonder if they are unlikely to change anything given that the device does not show up in (linux) lsusb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That wont change anything if adb does not come up. Just for completeness.
Ok so if you renamed it to ramdisk.img then all.good that was the thing i had in mind (that you didn't and not.used the -r switch). Well ok then without my pc the only thing i can think of might be the USB cable but thats very unlikely

Thanks again for your help.
The boot image that was flashed is definitely the correct one. I extracted it to another folder and checked it before flashing.
I re-made the boot image, but the result is the same (no adb, no device in lsusb).
What "-r switch" are you referring to in your previous message?
The USB cable works fine for ADB in TWRP, so I doubt it is the problem.

electricfield said:
Thanks again for your help.
The boot image that was flashed is definitely the correct one. I extracted it to another folder and checked it before flashing.
I re-made the boot image, but the result is the same (no adb, no device in lsusb).
What "-r switch" are you referring to in your previous message?
The USB cable works fine for ADB in TWRP, so I doubt it is the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The -r (iirc) switch was related to bootimgtool. That way you can choose your newly created ramdisk.img but when you renamed it to ramdisk.img it works without.

Thanks.
I would deeply appreciate if you were able to guide me in making the boot image correctly when you have your computer on Monday.
On the other hand, if this method won't work, its best if I know that so that I can try the next thing....

electricfield said:
Thanks.
I would deeply appreciate if you were able to guide me in making the boot image correctly when you have your computer on Monday.
On the other hand, if this method won't work, its best if I know that so that I can try the next thing....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok here you go, this must be added /changed in default.prop:
Code:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
ro.debuggable=1
persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
persist.sys.usb.config=adb
thumbs pressed

Thank you.
I rebuilt the boot image with these entries, but "adb wait-for-device" still does not work during boot.
Any other ideas?