Develop Bugs

[Q] Bloatware Reappears on Restart

So I used Visionary to root my HTC Desire Z, checked that it was rooted with Android Terminal Emulator using su returning #
I then proceeded to delete all the .apk's of the bloatware in /system/app folder
Upon restart they reappeared. I've tried 3 different file managers and I also tried deleting their data folders in /data/data and now matter what I do they reappear on a restart.
Does this mean it is hard coded into the ROM? DO I have to wait for a permanent root and flash a new stock ROM minus the bloatware?
Anyone found a solution or maybe i'm doing it wrong...

This is another example of where we're miles behind the G2 forums. Check out the G2 ROM Dev forum, there is an app there to show how you can delete built-in apps and then they won't reappear.
But BE CAREFUL ! It will probably be the case that if you go down this road, you may have a problem with future OTA updates.
The reason it's not working with your current method is that you're not really deleting anything. Write access to the internal storage is not possible right now (it is being worked on intensively for the G2), so the phone is caching the file system and making it appear they've been deleted, but the internal storage hasn't been updated. So when you reboot, the app just comes back again. This is how come there's been a myth that the phone automatically "un-does" any changes and resets itself when you reboot - it's not really doing that, because you didn't make any permanent changes in the first place.

steviewevie said:
This is another example of where we're miles behind the G2 forums. Check out the G2 ROM Dev forum, there is an app there to show how you can delete built-in apps and then they won't reappear.
But BE CAREFUL ! It will probably be the case that if you go down this road, you may have a problem with future OTA updates.
The reason it's not working with your current method is that you're not really deleting anything. Write access to the internal storage is not possible right now (it is being worked on intensively for the G2), so the phone is caching the file system and making it appear they've been deleted, but the internal storage hasn't been updated. So when you reboot, the app just comes back again. This is how come there's been a myth that the phone automatically "un-does" any changes and resets itself when you reboot - it's not really doing that, because you didn't make any permanent changes in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the explanation! Hmm yeah, I don't know if I want to start flashing roms or leave it stock because it's pretty decent stock. And I did hear that updating/upgrading to new OS's have problems is you delete the bloatware programs...
Thanks again

st1n6r4y said:
So I used Visionary to root my HTC Desire Z, checked that it was rooted with Android Terminal Emulator using su returning #
I then proceeded to delete all the .apk's of the bloatware in /system/app folder
Upon restart they reappeared. I've tried 3 different file managers and I also tried deleting their data folders in /data/data and now matter what I do they reappear on a restart.
Does this mean it is hard coded into the ROM? DO I have to wait for a permanent root and flash a new stock ROM minus the bloatware?
Anyone found a solution or maybe i'm doing it wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this method:
1. install VISIONary
2. install busybox
3. install titanium backup
4. run VISIONary
5. Run BusyBox
6. install busybox through the installer
7. run Titanium Back-up
8. find the app you don't want
9. press and hold and an a contextual menu will pop up and select the last option
or check our this link: http://android.modaco.com/content/h...move-applications-using-the-recovery-exploit/
i did it this way and have master reset many times and all the Bell Bloatware is gone, BUT... i had to repeat the steps 4 - 9 after each time, but the crapware is gone!

seattleboi1982 said:
try this method:
1. install VISIONary
2. install busybox
3. install titanium backup
4. run VISIONary
5. Run BusyBox
6. install busybox through the installer
7. run Titanium Back-up
8. find the app you don't want
9. press and hold and an a contextual menu will pop up and select the last option
or check our this link: http://android.modaco.com/content/h...move-applications-using-the-recovery-exploit/
i did it this way and have master reset many times and all the Bell Bloatware is gone, BUT... i had to repeat the steps 4 - 9 after each time, but the crapware is gone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool thanks!

seattleboi1982 said:
try this method:
1. install VISIONary
2. install busybox
3. install titanium backup
4. run VISIONary
5. Run BusyBox
6. install busybox through the installer
7. run Titanium Back-up
8. find the app you don't want
9. press and hold and an a contextual menu will pop up and select the last option
or check our this link: http://android.modaco.com/content/h...move-applications-using-the-recovery-exploit/
i did it this way and have master reset many times and all the Bell Bloatware is gone, BUT... i had to repeat the steps 4 - 9 after each time, but the crapware is gone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried this method. Everything works fine (rooted, Busybox installed), but when I try to pick the option to "Force remove app (by recovery exploit)" I get the error message "Cannot remove system app, Failed to locate apk file".
What am I doing wrong?

redpoint73 said:
Tried this method. Everything works fine (rooted, Busybox installed), but when I try to pick the option to "Force remove app (by recovery exploit)" I get the error message "Cannot remove system app, Failed to locate apk file".
What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never mind, I figured it out. You need to have either S-OFF or CID unlock in order for this method to work. I was only rooted, and intentionally not S-OFF and SuperCID. I used the gfree method to S-OFF and SuperCID, and the above method of removing the bloatware seems to be working perfectly now.

redpoint73 said:
Never mind, I figured it out. You need to have either S-OFF or CID unlock in order for this method to work. I was only rooted, and intentionally not S-OFF and SuperCID. I used the gfree method to S-OFF and SuperCID, and the above method of removing the bloatware seems to be working perfectly now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was the S-OFF. Unless you have S-OFF, you still have write protection on the system and recovery partitions. So apps will appear to get deleted as the information is written to cache. But they'll come back on a reboot because the information was never written to (deleted from) permanent storage.

So if I'm rooted using Visionary and have S off using the gfree method but I never installed busybox.. What would be the best method? Can I just install busybox and install or would I need to do another method?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Rickroller said:
So if I'm rooted using Visionary and have S off using the gfree method but I never installed busybox.. What would be the best method? Can I just install busybox and install or would I need to do another method?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install Busybox.
The above method worked great EXCEPT for one app: Kobo (e-reader). I've tried to force remove in Titanium Backup three times now, and also tried using the "regular" un-install option in Titanium Backup. Every time the phone reboots, Kobo is still there.
Any ideas?

I used an app called system app remover i think thats the name...not 100% suree...but i got it to get rid of wifi calling cuz im on roger and tmobile wifi calling wouldnt work so i tried the titanium back up method and it didnt work so i looked around and android underground had a download for the app and it removed the app and it went into an fc loop so i pulled the battery and it is gone and rom runs perfectly fine
Sent from my HTC DesireZed

SN4K3B1T3 said:
I used an app called system app remover i think thats the name...not 100% suree...but i got it to get rid of wifi calling cuz im on roger and tmobile wifi calling wouldnt work so i tried the titanium back up method and it didnt work so i looked around and android underground had a download for the app and it removed the app and it went into an fc loop so i pulled the battery and it is gone and rom runs perfectly fine
Sent from my HTC DesireZed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using an app called Absolute System Root Tool has the feature to uninstall system apps, and this worked for me to remove Kobo.

Rooted Desire keeps asking for Superuser permissions

I've searched high and low for a solution to this that works for me, both here and everywhere else Google would point me, but I have yet to find one that works, so I hope someone can help me.
I've an original Desire running a rooted Froyo ROM, which was rooted using unrevoked ages ago (probably a year or so no). When I originally rooted it, everything worked perfectly. A few months ago I ran the newest version of unrevoked over it again to update the recovery to the latest clockwork and it appeared to work fine, but ever since I did this the superuser app will continually pop up asking for permissions every time any app that needs root is run (sometimes MANY times, as when Titanium backup is run).
I've tried different things to see if I could fix it - clearing the data for the Superuser app, clearing the Dalvik cache, even reflashing the older clockwork recovery back onto my phone with the older version of unrevoked which originally worked, but with no luck. The phone is still S-ON, but I don't see why that would matter when I had no problems with the original rooting of the phone.
I'm stuck and am not sure where to go from here, so any advice would be very appreciated.

Ommadawn said:
I've searched high and low for a solution to this that works for me, both here and everywhere else Google would point me, but I have yet to find one that works, so I hope someone can help me.
I've an original Desire running a rooted Froyo ROM, which was rooted using unrevoked ages ago (probably a year or so no). When I originally rooted it, everything worked perfectly. A few months ago I ran the newest version of unrevoked over it again to update the recovery to the latest clockwork and it appeared to work fine, but ever since I did this the superuser app will continually pop up asking for permissions every time any app that needs root is run (sometimes MANY times, as when Titanium backup is run).
I've tried different things to see if I could fix it - clearing the data for the Superuser app, clearing the Dalvik cache, even reflashing the older clockwork recovery back onto my phone with the older version of unrevoked which originally worked, but with no luck. The phone is still S-ON, but I don't see why that would matter when I had no problems with the original rooting of the phone.
I'm stuck and am not sure where to go from here, so any advice would be very appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you're on Superuser app, do you see your apps with green button on the rigth ?
Witch version of Superuser app do you use ? Mine is v2.3.6.3 with cmd su v2.3.1-ef

Also, when being asked for permission, is "Remember" checked?

why not just re-root?

punky.mtp said:
When you're on Superuser app, do you see your apps with green button on the rigth ?
Witch version of Superuser app do you use ? Mine is v2.3.6.3 with cmd su v2.3.1-ef
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you should have a list of allowed apps on opening the su app itself - click apps on top left. The allowed apps shouldn't keep requesting permission each time.
You coukkd uninstall su app then reinstall from market?
Nandroid backup first!

Thanks for the all the replies, much appreciated!
@punky.mtp & @stringer7: Yes, I can see the apps I've granted permissions to in the Superuser app, each has a green button against it. I'm not sure of the current version of SU I'm running, but I know it's not the latest version. I've tried to update it from the Market but it won't over-write the existing installed SU. I'm doing a nandroid as I type and will try uninstalling and reinstalling to see if that helps.
@HiVoltage85: Yes, I've set the remember checkbox as well for each app when granting permission.
@BigMrB: I've already re-rooted with different versions of unrevoked, several times, which hasn't fixed the problem.
I'll let you know how I go.

Sorry, I'm giving away my ignorance, but how do I uninstall my current Superuser app? The uninstall button is disabled in the manage applications part of the phone's setup.
Edit - Never mind, I found how to do it.

Looks like I have it fixed. I was able to remove the old Superuser app and install a new one from recovery (v2.3.6.3) which works properly and doesn't keep asking for permissions repeatedly. Thanks for the suggestions and help!

only half rooted?

I attempted to root my phone using 1-click root app and it looked like everything went well. I was able to tether, titanium backup could access what it needed to, etc. As I continued to try new apps I started to see an error message more and more "<app name> as been denied super user permissions". At first I thought nothing of it but now Im starting to question it my phone is fully rooted.
I down loaded Root check basic which tells me that my SPH-710 is not rooted as I once thought. Now Im not sure what I should do?
It should be noted that when I go into recovery mode sometimes I have issues when attempting to boot. (I know this isnt much to go on but I havent exactly documented whats happening and Im paranoid to try it right now).
So here I am looking to you phone gurus for advice. I should have the correct drivers and development kit installed, but again this isnt something I do on a daily basis and would rather not go into this blind and brick my phone. The last phone I rooted was my EVO 4G and once I got that configured where I wanted it I never touched it again.
Anway.. any links, apps, sites, etc, that you could provide would be appreciated.
Thank you.

The easiest way is to flash a rooted kernel in odin, download a ROM and install it through the recovery if you want to after that.

ryedunn said:
I attempted to root my phone using 1-click root app and it looked like everything went well. I was able to tether, titanium backup could access what it needed to, etc. As I continued to try new apps I started to see an error message more and more "<app name> as been denied super user permissions". At first I thought nothing of it but now Im starting to question it my phone is fully rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were able to run Titanium you were rooted. You probably got an OTA update recently which disables your root. Just re-run the rooting package and you'll have it back.

Re-root Post OTA
+1, got the update a couple nights ago and also lost root even though I still had the Superuser app and could run the allowed programs there as root.
I used sfhub's method to root again and it was a snap:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342728
Bonus is s/he now supports a way to turn off CIQ!

Why do I keep losing root?

My Verizon GNex is rooted, I have CWM, superuser etc, even installed this rom, but I keep losing root after an hour or so. I use root explorer, open a terminal, su, do things, do it again in a few minutes and it suddenly won't log in as root.
When this happens, my wifi also craps out. It shows signal strength too low to connect when I'm standing next to the router. Reflashing CWM or superuser does nothing. Last night I wiped and went back to stock and it worked for a while, but I've found I can also flash that rom and it will work for a while and that is easier. Root survives multiple reboots but just stops working for no reason after a while.
Example: I flashed that rom this morning and rebooted 2-3 times, went to the mall and kept opening root explorer to see if root was working. I sat and watched my daughter play at the mall for nearly an hour. When she wanted something to drink, I checked and root was still working. I went to the store nearby, got a water, sat back down and no longer had root.
I'm not getting any OTA notification or anything, it just stops being rooted out of the blue.
Any ideas?

Darn, halfway down page two already and no replies...

same issue here

I'm glad I'm not the only one. How did you root?

followed this until step 5 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392310

Me too. I used a different guide, but it looks like it was exactly same.

Do you use root explorer? I was only using it to check if I had root yesterday -it opens when rooted, doesn't when root is lost- and after losing root I noticed its battery usage was nearly as high as the displays although I had only opened it for 2 seconds several times.
Last night I rerouted before bed and didn't touch root explorer and im still rooted ten hours later. May not be related, and I could lose root at and time, but I was losing it every hour or two, so I'm starting to get optimistic that root explorer may have had something to do with it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

fubaya said:
Do you use root explorer? I was only using it to check if I had root yesterday -it opens when rooted, doesn't when root is lost- and after losing root I noticed its battery usage was nearly as high as the displays although I had only opened it for 2 seconds several times.
Last night I rerouted before bed and didn't touch root explorer and im still rooted ten hours later. May not be related, and I could lose root at and time, but I was losing it every hour or two, so I'm starting to get optimistic that root explorer may have had something to do with it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't seen this specific issue much with the Galaxy Nexus yet. I had this problem 1.5 yrs ago with an older Samsung Android device though. Solution was a bit complex, but haven't seen this issue in a long while.
I know root can be a bit hidden from Android unless adb is connect or using a terminal application. For this reason, m root check application is generally a good program to run a simple diagnostic of the root configuration on the device.
The Pro version, 99 cents in the Market and free on XDA has a widget which will update at the interval you pick, 1-24 hrs with the root status and gives a more thoroughly diagnostic output of the system su binaries and their properties.
Hope that helps!

Try putting the su binary in /system/xbin. I lost root after the OTA update to ITL41F, but busybox in /system/xbin survived.

I have root checker and when I lose root, it still says everything is OK. Superuser logs also show that apps have been allowed, but the apps just don't get root. When it happens, everything loses root, terminals root explorer, titanium backup etc. even the superuser app can't update the su binary.
I still have root after 11+ hours (crossing fingers)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

motopig said:
Try putting the su binary in /system/xbin. I lost root after the OTA update to ITL41F, but busybox in /system/xbin survived.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The su binary will have also remained after an OTA, same as busybox. The difference is their permissions. Every OTA re-sets the binary direction permissions as 755 stripping out the setuid attribute required by su, but not required by busybox.
This would explain why after using an OTA the user will lose "root" access but maintain busybox access. Both binaries persist, but the su binary loses the setuid attribute required to elevate access for root.
fubaya said:
I have root checker and when I lose root, it still says everything is OK. Superuser logs also show that apps have been allowed, but the apps just don't get root. When it happens, everything loses root, terminals root explorer, titanium backup etc. even the superuser app can't update the su binary.
I still have root after 11+ hours (crossing fingers)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the key here, as I stated above, would be to see whether or not the su binary still has the setuid attribute and UID/GID set as root.
Any of those changes could remove the ability of the su binary to esclate permissions as root. In theory, any application which has been granted root access through Superuser, could remove root access for the whole system.
I can't imagine any reason why a developer would intentionally write an application to do that under a different title which you would be using.
Hope the technical details help!

I never had an OTA update after rooting, at least there were no notifications or anything. I do agree it acted as if the binary permissions got screwed up somehow, I don't know why I didn't check. Reflashing the su.zip didn't help. I assume flashing would set the permissions.
Well, nearly 24 hours and I still have root so, whatever it was, I'm happy now.

I just realized i no longer have root and i did the ota update recently. Problem is i cant get root back no matter what i try. I reinstalled the latest superuser from market with no luck. Any advice?
I forgot to mention i am completly stock on 4.0.1 and ITL41F. All i did with this phone is unlock the bootloader and the guide i used i think pdanet put SU apk automatically installed. My apps like root explorer all showed they did have root access. But now i tried to use root explorer and it claimed it had access, but couldnt get root.
My SU apk was updated to latest from the market. I just uninstalled the update and still no luck. Reinstall update and still no luck..

When it happened to me, the only thing that worked was to reflash the rom and go through the rooting process again. There is a thread in the development section about going back to stock where you can find the stock rom. you'll lose apps and things and may want to back them up first.
You could probably flash a new rom instead. I don't remember which one it was, but I was using a 4.0 rom that had su and didn't require wiping anything so reflashing was painless.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Crap ok thanks. I cant backup anything with titanium cause it cant get root, so i guess i jyst have to lose everything. Might as well go with one of the roms i guess. I kinda was just enjoying stock with root.
Oh the other problem i have is i'm getting a fastboot error. Boot into bootloader and at the bottom of the screen says "fastboot FAILstatus" below. Any idea what thats about?

Some apps can export their settings the sdcard so don't forget to check them. I know when I lose everything there's really only 4-5 apps that require much setup while the others just require a login, but luckily those 4-5 apps can export their settings.
I don't know about the error, I'm not very good with fastboot. I use it when I get a new phone then go a couple of years without using it.

i finally got rooted again. For some reason it just wouldnt take. I had to use superboot over and over and over again and then finally it just took successfully even though i didnt anything differently. Very strange.

[Q] Lost Super User in App Drawer

I used the Casual.Jar to gain Root and it worked. I also installed Voodoo's Rootkeeper and backuped up the S.U.
I then came to find out that Time/Warner was offering live T.V. on my Galaxy Nexus , but would not work if the phone was rooted. Well I used Rootkeeper to temporarily remove root so I could try the Time Warner app. Well it still would not work. So I read some posts in a different threads and followed instructions... I deleted the S.U. App from my phone thinking that because I backed it up thru rootkeeper , I would be safe.... I was wrong! Something is not right!
When I invoke Rootkeeper and tell it to restore S,.U., it does not work.(I have to force close it) When I try to re-install S.U. from the playstore, it shows installed. I also downloaded S.U. update fixer and that does not work, it runs in a 1/4 window on my nexus and i cant tap anything. So I figured Why not run Casual.Jar again and it would fix everything. Nope! When I run rootkeeper it shows every boxed checked except Device Rooted in the status window. It also gives me the option to Delete S.U, back up AND below that ....Temp. un-root (keeps backup) But When I try either of those 2 options nothing happens and I have to force close it.
Please help. I would like to restore Root and I guess another back up of S. U. before I run the update 4.04 that Verizon pushed to my phone (I just keep tapping install later. HELP!

laserbiz said:
I used the Casual.Jar to gain Root and it worked. I also installed Voodoo's Rootkeeper and backuped up the S.U.
I then came to find out that Time/Warner was offering live T.V. on my Galaxy Nexus , but would not work if the phone was rooted. Well I used Rootkeeper to temporarily remove root so I could try the Time Warner app. Well it still would not work. So I read some posts in a different threads and followed instructions... I deleted the S.U. App from my phone thinking that because I backed it up thru rootkeeper , I would be safe.... I was wrong! Something is not right!
When I invoke Rootkeeper and tell it to restore S,.U., it does not work.(I have to force close it) When I try to re-install S.U. from the playstore, it shows installed. I also downloaded S.U. update fixer and that does not work, it runs in a 1/4 window on my nexus and i cant tap anything. So I figured Why not run Casual.Jar again and it would fix everything. Nope! When I run rootkeeper it shows every boxed checked except Device Rooted in the status window. It also gives me the option to Delete S.U, back up AND below that ....Temp. un-root (keeps backup) But When I try either of those 2 options nothing happens and I have to force close it.
Please help. I would like to restore Root and I guess another back up of S. U. before I run the update 4.04 that Verizon pushed to my phone (I just keep tapping install later. HELP!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CASUAL is just a fancy script that does this. Do it manually yourself, and you will be fine.

Thank you for your reply! But no way can I do this manually I do not have any idea of most of whats going on in that thread you directed me too! That looks way too involved. Thanks again.