Develop Bugs

[Thinktank] Root

I know Paul over at MoDaCo announced he has root but I think that should not prevent us from trying to figure it out ourselves.
I have been fiddling around with the device and its filesystem and, as some might have tried, most commands are very restricted and you can't even list the /system folder.
Recently I found a directory which has write permissions and installed busybox there through adb, here are the instructions:
Download a precompiled busybox binary from http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/14/android-busybox
Push it using adb: adb push busybox /data/local/rights
Start a shell: adb shell
Change directory to the folder: cd /data/local/rights
Give it execution permissions: chmod 755 busybox
Play around with it: ./busybox ls /system
Figure out how we can use the new capabilities to root the phone
Any thoughts?

I was trying something also.. although I dont really know what I am doing mostly, I was trying to use some kernel exploits to get root access without luck. Good learning experiece though..
It would be nice if he gave a hint..

Busybox

I updated busybox in /system/xbin but still see the old busybox revision when I type busy box at the ADB shell prompt, I found:
/sbin # ls -l busybox
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Aug 17 01:35 busybox -> recovery
looks to be a link to busybox in recovery, I cannot get to recovery..
Any ideas if that actually belongs there?

Files from /sbin are not in the path for Android, just in recovery.
That particular recovery is a different version.
If you just type busybox from a terminal, it should give a correct version.
If not, check /system/xbin or /system/bin, because you have an old version somewhere...or never updated like you thought.

adrynalyne said:
Files from /sbin are not in the path for Android, just in recovery.
That particular recovery is a different version.
If you just type busybox from a terminal, it should give a correct version.
If not, check /system/xbin or /system/bin, because you have an old version somewhere...or never updated like you thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that our NAND is (relatively) unprotected, can I use Stericson's busybox installer to place a copy that will be accessible anytime I use ash via adb or terminal, or do I (can I) simply push busybox to /system/bin to make it a native part of android's command path? OR, do I have to use ~/xbin like the OP? It seems until we got S-OFF, busybox commands rarely pointed back to busybox automatically, I always had to spell-out "busybox" as a prefix, unlike my G1, where all ROMs after a while had busybox installed natively, from /system/bin, I assume.
thanks for advice in advance

Yep, you can use his installer on the market just fine.

adrynalyne said:
Files from /sbin are not in the path for Android, just in recovery.
That particular recovery is a different version.
If you just type busybox from a terminal, it should give a correct version.
If not, check /system/xbin or /system/bin, because you have an old version somewhere...or never updated like you thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, everything is working busybox 1.15.3 is loaded, for an added measure I ran permissions.

[Q] How to delete files/folders from /sdcard?

After rooting my Galaxy Nexus with Wug's Root Toolkit and sim unlocking with the Docomo hack, and then restoring my apps/data (can't recall if I restored from GN Toolkit or Root Toolkit), my camera app was messed up--could snap pix but they didn't save; and video always fc'ed. The solution turns out to be to rename or delete the DCIM folder. I couldn't delete--so I renamed. Now I am trying to delete that DCIM.old folder and contents (eating up 1+G on my storage), but cannot delete either individual files or the folder. I'm sure there is a simple solution, but I can't find it. Help (even with a condescending attitude ) much appreciated!
zzcat

If you use a file explorer, that has it's standard directory at / then all you need to do is navigate to /mnt/sdcard/ then make sure it's mounted as R/W and not R/O, if all that is the way I said it, you shouldn't have problems deleting anything, if so, use the ADB and type:
Code:
adb shell rm /mnt/sdcard/<Folder>
That should then do the trick

You could also try the following Apps:
- Rootexplorer (paid)
- Astro File Manager

familyguy59 said:
If you use a file explorer, that has it's standard directory at / then all you need to do is navigate to /mnt/sdcard/ then make sure it's mounted as R/W and not R/O, if all that is the way I said it, you shouldn't have problems deleting anything, if so, use the ADB and type:
Code:
adb shell rm /mnt/sdcard/<Folder>
That should then do the trick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FamilyGuy, thanks for the suggestion, the problem seems to be bad permissions and I can't figure out how to fix them. Tried the "fix permissions" from recovery, as well as when booted, to no avail.
Typing
adb shell rm -rf /[directory]
gives me "permission denied"
So tried
chmod 666 /sdcard/.../*
but get an "operation not permitted" message.
So I'm really stuck here...

familyguy59 said:
If you use a file explorer, that has it's standard directory at / then all you need to do is navigate to /mnt/sdcard/ then make sure it's mounted as R/W and not R/O, if all that is the way I said it, you shouldn't have problems deleting anything, if so, use the ADB and type:
Code:
adb shell rm /mnt/sdcard/<Folder>
That should then do the trick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: solved
boot into recovery mode
mount /data
adb shell
rm, rmdir etc. all work as expected from here, no need to chown or chmod anything
zz

I see you've solved this, but i thought i would throw this in anyway...
The easy way is to delete the files from /data/media
The sdcard directory is a symlink, so go to the true folder and you should have more success...

Sometimes the file ownerships get messed up after a cycle of recovering the OS and restoring files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515291&page=2
If you have any other directories/files that you can't modify or delete, then boot into CWM recovery, plug in the USB cable, go into adb shell. Also make sure that /data is mounted in the CWM mounts menu. Then:
cd /data/media
chown -R media_rw.media_rw *
This fixed it for me and others.

cmstlist said:
Sometimes the file ownerships get messed up after a cycle of recovering the OS and restoring files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515291&page=2
If you have any other directories/files that you can't modify or delete, then boot into CWM recovery, plug in the USB cable, go into adb shell. Also make sure that /data is mounted in the CWM mounts menu. Then:
cd /data/media
chown -R media_rw.media_rw *
This fixed it for me and others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this and other suggestions--my solution was trial and error, thrashing around in the dark (my unix command line chops are really, really rusty), and these are far more elegant. It's good to understand the underlying problem, your wisdom is appreciated.
Yes, permissions were messed up after rooting and applying a sim unlock hack, wiping and restoring from pre-unlock backup set. I see it so clearly now...

Problem can somebody help me?
Hello. I have a problem with my motorola defy+ running on gb 2.3.6 and is not ROOTED. Still he has an annoyng problem. After installing an aplication (not from the market) i saw that it didn't save data on the sd card. I uninstalled it and after a data factory reset i install apps such as temple run and Brother in Arms 2. At temple run it gave me this mesage
"File Access Problem Caution, unable to write files. This means your game progress can't be saved! Reason: Access to the path "/mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.imangi.templerun/files/spaceholder.dat" is denied."
Also at Brother in Arms 2 the game didn't save. I rest the phone abouat 7-8 times.I changed the sd card. Note that the card was a 16 gb kingmax class 6 and put the 2 gb card that came with the phone. It all work smoothly. So what is the problem the sd card or the phone's software. Please answer i'm desparate and tired of wasting time.

This thread is about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which has no external SD and uses a very different storage structure. I'm afraid we can't really help you here. Try the Defy forum.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

zzcat said:
FamilyGuy, thanks for the suggestion, the problem seems to be bad permissions and I can't figure out how to fix them. Tried the "fix permissions" from recovery, as well as when booted, to no avail.
Typing
adb shell rm -rf /[directory]
gives me "permission denied"
So tried
chmod 666 /sdcard/.../*
but get an "operation not permitted" message.
So I'm really stuck here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before chmod the folder, you needed to be root by entering 'su' after 'adb shell' .
It worked from cwm, because cwm gives root access.
Linux/Android are all about permissions.
Sent from my i9250

cmstlist said:
Sometimes the file ownerships get messed up after a cycle of recovering the OS and restoring files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515291&page=2
If you have any other directories/files that you can't modify or delete, then boot into CWM recovery, plug in the USB cable, go into adb shell. Also make sure that /data is mounted in the CWM mounts menu. Then:
cd /data/media
chown -R media_rw.media_rw *
This fixed it for me and others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried your theory, and it didn't work, still get the message" unable to change ownership permission denied, in recovery mode.
we are still trying to find a solution, here is the discussion: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/32434-i-got-my-smartq-t20/page__st__260 on Post # 277

rocketero said:
I tried your theory, and it didn't work, still get the message" unable to change ownership permission denied, in recovery mode.
we are still trying to find a solution, here is the discussion: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/32434-i-got-my-smartq-t20/page__st__260 on Post # 277
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that. It sounds like the problem you are having is with a completely different device, so I can't really say why this may be occurring - I don't know how your device's file system is structured. This advice is specifically for the Galaxy Nexus. If a version of CWM exists for your smartQme device, I can't speak to whether it works properly and interprets commands the same way ours does.

cmstlist said:
Sorry to hear that. It sounds like the problem you are having is with a completely different device, so I can't really say why this may be occurring - I don't know how your device's file system is structured. This advice is specifically for the Galaxy Nexus. If a version of CWM exists for your smartQme device, I can't speak to whether it works properly and interprets commands the same way ours does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's a 9.8 inches tablet branded named called "LePanII'. it has ICS now, before we had Honeycomb 3.2.1.
The manufacture of this tablet did such a bad partitioning that the /system partition was left only with merely 4MB of free space in it.

rocketero said:
it's a 9.8 inches tablet branded named called "LePanII'. it has ICS now, before we had Honeycomb 3.2.1.
The manufacture of this tablet did such a bad partitioning that the /system partition was left only with merely 4MB of free space in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck with your issue. I doubt it's related to the one we were having on the GNex though.

cmstlist said:
Sometimes the file ownerships get messed up after a cycle of recovering the OS and restoring files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515291&page=2
If you have any other directories/files that you can't modify or delete, then boot into CWM recovery, plug in the USB cable, go into adb shell. Also make sure that /data is mounted in the CWM mounts menu. Then:
cd /data/media
chown -R media_rw.media_rw *
This fixed it for me and others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if my question is dumb.
Does this command solve the problem for all the folders and sub-folders in sdcard? Thank you for your help!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

/data/media # chown -R media_rw.media_rw*
BusyBox v1.20.2-jb static (2012-10-25 21:29 +0100) multi-call binary.
Usage: chown [-RhLHP]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP
-R Recurse
-h Affect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-L Traverse all symlinks to directories
-H Traverse symlinks on command line only
-P Don't traverse symlinks (default)
I got this after giving the commands from recovery in adb shell.
What does that mean?

Jar3112 said:
/data/media # chown -R media_rw.media_rw*
BusyBox v1.20.2-jb static (2012-10-25 21:29 +0100) multi-call binary.
Usage: chown [-RhLHP]... OWNER[<.|:>[GROUP]] FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP
-RRecurse
-hAffect symlinks instead of symlink targets
-LTraverse all symlinks to directories
-HTraverse symlinks on command line only
-PDon't traverse symlinks (default)
I got this after giving the commands from recovery in adb shell.
What does that mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK solved, I forgot the space before the *!
Worked like a charm!!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

[Q] Why can't I mount 'System' on Nexus 7 (2013) ?

Hi,
A few days ago, I did unlock and root my N7 (2013) using "Nexus Root Toolkit (v.1.6.8)" by WugFresh. I followed the instructions to the letter and everything went OK, it seemed. My N7 (JSS15J) is unlocked and I have root access, as confirmed by "Titanium Backup" and "Root Checker Pro" app.
However, my N7 cannot mount "System" - which is why I cannot delete any system app bloatware (also confirmed by "System App Remover" & Root Checker Pro app). When rooting my N7 (2012) and my SGS3, everything worked just perfectly and I never had these kind of issues...
I did factory-reset a number of times, went through the unlock/root process again, rooted again via UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.51.zip etc etc. - no dice. TWRP v2.6.0.0 is installed and working. I also installed & updated BusyBox, and I wiped of Dalvik - but still no root access to "System", or "mount".
As I just found out, "Root Checker Pro" actually explains why I can't mount "System" and/or don't have root access... I just don't know what to do about it:
Congratulations! You have root access!
Super User Application Status:
SuperSU application - version 1.51 - is installed!
System File Properties for Root Access:
Standard Location
Check Command: ls -l /system/bin/su:
Result: /system/bin/su: No such file or directory
Analysis: File /system/bin/su does not exist.
Standard Location
Check Command: ls -l /system/xbin/su:
Result: -rwsr-sr-x root root 112164 2008-08-01 07:00 su
Analysis: Setuid attribute is present and root user ownership is present. Root access is correctly configured for this file! Executing this file can grant root access!
Alternative Location
Check Command: ls -l /sbin/su:
Result: /sbin/su: Permission denied
Analysis: File system permissions restricted and denied access.
Alternative Location
Check Command: ls -l /system/xbin/sudo:
Result: /system/xbin/sudo: No such file or directory
Analysis: File /system/xbin/sudo does not exist.
Root User ID and Group ID Status:
Root user id:
uid=0(root)
Root group id:
gid=0(root)
System Environment PATH: /sbin /vendor/bin /system/sbin /system/bin /system/xbin
ADB Shell Default User:
ADB shell setting for standard access, stored in default.prop, is configured as: shell (non root) user - ro.secure=1
Results provided on your Nexus 7 device by Root Checker Pro version 1.3.4 from joeykrim in the Android Market - http://goo.gl/NcnHn
What did I miss?
Can someone please help me to install whatever is needed to gain root access to "System"? "System App Remover" app shows that "System" is not mounted but downloading a separate "mount app" did not do the trick either...
Thanks for your help & suggestions, guys!

System is already mounted or you wouldn't be running android.
What you probably want to do is "remount"
mount -o remount,rw /system /system
But if all you want is to remove apps, perhaps it is easier if you just use Titanium to freeze them first and once you are sure you don't need them you can delete them, but I would just leave them frozen.

sfhub said:
System is already mounted or you wouldn't be running android.
What you probably want to do is "remount"
mount -o remount,rw /system /system
But if all you want is to remove apps, perhaps it is easier if you just use Titanium to freeze them first and once you are sure you don't need them you can delete them, but I would just leave them frozen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, sfhub... I'll give that a try!

Doesn't look good, I'm afraid:
C:\platform-tools>mount -o remount,rw /system /system
'mount' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any further suggestions, please?

androidarmin said:
Doesn't look good, I'm afraid:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like I tried in the wrong place... I'll give it another try; sorry

Well... downloaded a Terminal Emulator from Google Play..
But now I'm getting a "mount: Operation not permitted" error...

Googled a ton and found a lot of good advice... and even figured things out using ADB (hint: adb shell) - but nothing worked in the end.
Seems like my "SU" may be the culprit, but I'll figure things out when I have more time... meaning, on the weekend. Probably go back to stock and then start over. Seems to be the simplest way right now.
Thanks so far, guys!

androidarmin said:
Well... downloaded a Terminal Emulator from Google Play..
But now I'm getting a "mount: Operation not permitted" error...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In adb, you need to type su first to give yourself root privileges before you can mount /system

You need to mount system as read/write in order to remove apps from it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 (2013)

Thanks, sfhub & Muikkuman... I know/I did. Still doesn't work.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

androidarmin said:
Thanks, sfhub & Muikkuman... I know/I did. Still doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what happens if you do in a command prompt in your adb directory
adb shell
su

Yes this seem strange.
Sent from my Nexus 7 (2013)

My suggestion would be to update TWRP, back-up important data, format data in recovery, look for decent rom, flash rom/gapps/latest supersu.
Then go to 'advanced' in recovery and fix permissions. Reboot recovery and tick 'mount' 'system', respectively install root file explorer of your liking.
No quick solution but should do the trick..

My suggestion is DO NOT delete anything, period. Nurse disable from settings or use pm disable.
Deleting stuff is completely pointless and WILL cause you problems in the future.

androidarmin said:
Thanks, sfhub & Muikkuman... I know/I did. Still doesn't work.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont know if you got this sorted. i was having the same problem with my son's Nexus 7 and came across this tutorial for Total Commander
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ns-remount-rw-in-total-commander-for-android/
Great little short cut to get the job done and can now get Total Commander free on Google Play.

Unable to change permissions of /system on LOS14.1

Hello, I am using the unofficial Lineage OS 7.1.2, with SuperSU 2.82 and a 3.1.1 TWRP & .160 FW
I'm trying to add some files like sony SoundEnhancement, some lib's files, Walkman, build.prop and stuff from Sony to /system
But I always encounter a problem like "system is read-only" or "you don't have permissions blaaah"
I tried at least 2 days with ADB (haven't tried ADB Sideload yet)
Or the app Mount / System RO/RW from play store
I also tried with Root Browser to change the file but no success
If someone would take some time to explain to me even if I've browse a lot of website I still don't understand why it doesn't work -.-
Thanks in advance
N_A

Use terminal app.
write down below commands
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
Now u can change permissions.
You have to use this command after every reboot if u r going to play with system.

debbuger said:
Use terminal app.
write down below commands
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
Now u can change permissions.
You have to use this command after every reboot if u r going to play with system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, i tried and it failed
I don't have my phone now but I'll try again, thanx for your time

Tried this command on the android command prompt, continuously gives me message that the /system is being used by another resources.
Is there a way to add this statement in some sort of init.d component? Can anyone provide the location of this script file?