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.

[Q] "unknown user granted SU permission" causes reboot on 4G only

My e4gt rebooting constantly on 4g. "Unknown user granted su permission" pops up before reboot.
how do i know whats causing this?
just installed calkulins 1.5a rom and installed some apps with titanium(which is probably the culprit)

Run Superuser from the app drawer and clear all the permissions. Then when the offending app asks for permission a prompt will come on your screen and you can identify the offender.

sfhub said:
Run Superuser from the app drawer and clear all the permissions. Then when the offending app asks for permission a prompt will come on your screen and you can identify the offender.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried it...and no app shows up just the permission granted and then reboot. it seems to happen when i try using any app that uses the data service. the log in su has a permission granted but no description of offending app.

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable if an app I had no idea about started requesting root permissions on every startup. You probably do want to track it down. Worst case you can reinstall the base ROM and then put your apps back one at a time until you see the culprit.

Lettuce know what the app is too, it needs to be reported.

sfhub said:
Personally I wouldn't be comfortable if an app I had no idea about started requesting root permissions on every startup. You probably do want to track it down. Worst case you can reinstall the base ROM and then put your apps back one at a time until you see the culprit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just re flashed rom..ill try installing one by one, it will take forever but its necessary.
thanks

it turned out to be the viper mod los checker i flashed behind calkulins rom. reinstalled rom without los checker and everything works fine now. checker was a great fix to bad it didnt work on my phone.

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] Upgraded to 4.1.1 and lost rooting capability

I rooted my AT&T i747 with Android 4.0.4 a couple months ago and installed SuperSU as well and was working great. When I upgraded my phone to android 4.1.1 a few days ago I lost all rooting capabilities. My Titanium Backup Pro no longer has root access as well as my SuperSU and a couple of other apps that require it. I also have tried uninstalling SuperSU with no success.
Could I just reflash my i747 just like I did back on 4.0.4 to root it again or is there a way to correct the current root access? What would you recommend?
Thanks in advance!

If you took the official update then you have lost root. You just need to re root and you will be back in business.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app

jbradbury said:
If you took the official update then you have lost root. You just need to re root and you will be back in business.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to do it but this is what the app says on Google play...
"NOTICE: A SPECIAL PROCEDURE IS NEEDED FOR UNINSTALLATION. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE APP, DO *NOT* JUST UNINSTALL IT, YOU *WILL* LOSE ROOT.
Superuser access management runs through a so called "su binary". There can be only one of these at a time. So if you install SuperSU, your previous superuser access management solution will no longer operate. So if you want to switch back: (1) Open that application, and search for an option for it to install/update/replace the "su binary". (2) Confirm root-using apps are using the superuser solution you want. (3) Uninstall SuperSU."
Does that mean I will lose root for good if I just try to reroot it a second time without first uninstalling it? That is where I am having trouble as well. The app will not let me properly uninstall it from within the app.
Thanks.

SCADAman said:
I want to do it but this is what the app says on Google play...
"NOTICE: A SPECIAL PROCEDURE IS NEEDED FOR UNINSTALLATION. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE APP, DO *NOT* JUST UNINSTALL IT, YOU *WILL* LOSE ROOT.
Superuser access management runs through a so called "su binary". There can be only one of these at a time. So if you install SuperSU, your previous superuser access management solution will no longer operate. So if you want to switch back: (1) Open that application, and search for an option for it to install/update/replace the "su binary". (2) Confirm root-using apps are using the superuser solution you want. (3) Uninstall SuperSU."
Does that mean I will lose root for good if I just try to reroot it a second time without first uninstalling it? That is where I am having trouble as well. The app will not let me properly uninstall it from within the app.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That warning by Chainfire relates to the various other superuser shells out there (like superuser.apk, ROM-specific superuser shells). Wait, what's the shell? Let me explain:
OK, so having root means you have three folders/files available:
superSU.apk (the shell; it's an interface lets you allow certain apps access to the actual superuser files..think of it as the root gatekeeper..having it alone does not mean you're rooted...seems like you have this)
/system/xbin/su/ (folder with files SPECIFIC to SuperSU.apk...apps can ask superSU.apk to access these "root-enabling" files ...you lost this)
/system/bin/su (folder with files SPECIFIC to SuperSU.apk...apps can ask superSU.apk to access these "root-enabling" files...you lost this, too)
The latter two, the folders, are collectively referred as su binaries. His warning: if don't like using superSU.apk as your shell, do not simply uninstall superSU.apk. Why? I'm not totally sure, but I think it's because that will leave the su binaries, specific to his app! Then, when an app wants to ask for root, it doesn't know what the flip to do. It has to interact with the shell, but the shell is missing!
The special method to really remove root is:
creepyncrawly said:
You can remove root by using a root file explorer to remove /system/app/superuser, /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su. After you reboot, you'll not longer be rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, the "what is going on behind the scenes" is over. To get root back:
Basically, you need to replace the su binaries. But, the only way I know how is to replace all three of those parts. I'm pretty sure you're fine to "overwrite" the 1/3 of root you already have (SuperSU.apk). Thus, you have two main options:
1) Use CF AutoRoot (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1963790). It will temporarily flash a modified recovery, and then add those binaries and the SuperSU.apk, and then flash the stock recovery back, but it will trip the flash counter. Takes 30 seconds. Should be safe, because it will just overwrite the apk and add the su binaries. [I rooted this way; triangle away is cheap to reset the flash counter!]
2) Use Mr. Robinson's method (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426). This contain a /system image with all three aforementioned parts. Will take about 15 minutes, but will not trip the flash counter. As long as you're on stock firmware (which I think you are), this won't delete any apps/data.

I got it rooted again. Thanks for help guys. I just reinstalled the supersu.apk and the binary files and it's rooted once again. Whoo-hoo!

Superuser/SuperSu

Somehow i've ended up with both of these apps. I think superuser came from my ROM and SuperSu came from the root process. Both don't seem to be uninstallable (even via titanium backup). Does anyone know of a way to at least remove Superuser (as people seem to think it inferior to SuperSu)?
Thanks
Edit: I was able to disable Superuser after uninstalling the updates. But it is curious that Titanium doesn't list either app in the app the list.

The new SuperSU (v1.04) should have the option to convert it to system app in it's setting somewhere, do that then reboot, SuperSU will stay, superuser will be gone.

reysonance said:
The new SuperSU (v1.04) should have the option to convert it to system app in it's setting somewhere, do that then reboot, SuperSU will stay, superuser will be gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I found that option. Which would imply that I can uninstall it now. I think maybe it's cause the uninstall updates button overwrites the uninstall button - i've never quite understood why Android works that way as it seems to just be an unnecessary additional step. However that's not what I want to do anyway. I want to uninstall supersuser instead. There's also an option to switch superuser app but I don't want that either as again, I want to use supersu.
Edit: never mind. Looks like you were right. Apparently by converting it to a system app, it automatically removed superuser...there can only be one...lol

.DCCXVIII said:
There's an option to install/convert it to a system app. Which would imply that I can uninstall it now. I think maybe it's cause the uninstall updates button overwrites the uninstall button - i've never quite understood why Android works that way as it seems to just be an unnecessary additional step. However that's not what I want to do anyway. I want to uninstall supersuser instead. There's also an option to switch superuser app but I don't want that either as again, I want to use supersu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to uninstall anything, you click the button, and then both superuser app will vanish from the app drawer, then you reboot, which will leaves you SuperSu. Alternatively you can flash the CWM zip from the SuperSU's xda thread (Google is your friend), it'll take care both of the removal, and update the su binary automatically.