Develop Bugs

[SOLVED?] Busybox causes /system to be read-only?

First, my Euro Desire Z is S-Off (using the gfree method) and perm-rooted.
I was messing with installing some new keyboard layouts to the /system folder, when I found and installed busybox from the market to use its cp command...
Then I discovered I could no longer write to /system -- I could before busybox
I booted to recovery, installed my nandroid backup (taken before installing busybox), and I still can't get write access to /system
I did a factory wipe (still have S-Off) ran visionary to root and permroot ( I get the # prompt just fine) and still no write access to /system.
I restored my nandroid to get my apps back and still can't seem to get write access.
Any ideas

Hmm -- I just found and installed "mount /system" from the market and that did it -- I can now write to /system.
Not sure why it stopped working before... Busybox may have been a red herring.

I think it was just that you still had /system mounted as read-only, and that app just mounted it as read-write (i.e. "mount /system -o rw, remount" )

steviewevie said:
I think it was just that you still had /system mounted as read-only, and that app just mounted it as read-write (i.e. "mount /system -o rw, remount" )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah -- I had it RW and something must have remounted it to RO --perhaps when I was doing an adb session...
Speaking of BusyBox -- whats the best version people are using for the DZ?

after the 1 click root - not able to mount some directories in root explorer?

I used the post to install the one click root for the samsung epic 4g (sprint), and it appears to have worked. However - after entering root explorer, only some of the directories allow me to edit files. I click the remount as r/w button but nothing happens. Any thoughts?

sedric1 said:
I used the post to install the one click root for the samsung epic 4g (sprint), and it appears to have worked. However - after entering root explorer, only some of the directories allow me to edit files. I click the remount as r/w button but nothing happens. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you granted root permissions to root explorer when it first ran? Run the superuser app from the app drawer and see if root explorer is on the list of apps that are allowed root permission.
I just tried v2.17.2 and it works fine. I tried changing the permissions on /system/xbin/busybox, it said filesystem mounted ro, then I press the mount rw button and redid the permission change, this time it worked no problem.

Thanks for your response-
yes, when i ran root explorer it asked if i wanted to grant superuser and i said yes. some folders allow it to remount, but - say the /system/bin folder - it doesnt allow it at all.

for further background, i used the automated instructions here for my root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342728
i did option A like 5 times and also did option C (as i have EK02).
When opening root explorer it tells me that i have super user permissions. one thing to note- if i go to /system/xbin, i do not see a busybox directory. is there something else i should be installing?
in fact, i cant mount anything under the system directory or sub directories, but above that, i was able to change to r/w mode. i could also mount the /vendor directory right beside the /system directory...

If you were able to remount "/" as r/w then the problem isn't with root. That is basicly an "I'm a little bit pregnant situation" Either you are or you aren't.
Now if you weren't able to get root in the first place, then I'd look at the root.
As to busybox, there is no directory. There should be a file /system/xbin/busybox Also there should be a bunch of symlinks from various apps it supports to busybox.

I see - yea i did validate that busybox is not allowing for a mount or any type of change on that file/directory including busybox but the file is present. any suggestions on what else may be locking down this system directory?

I don't know if root file explorer is implemented it's own concept of ro/rw to protect you from making mistakes or it is using the system facilities. If it is using the system facilities, then once you remount /system as rw, then everything under /system is automatically rw. It is all the same partition.
I would try it from "adb shell" (do not type $ or # symbols)
Code:
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw /system /system
# cd /system/xbin
# chmod 755 busybox
If it lets you do that with no errors, then you have remounted /system/xbin as rw and the problem is with root file explorer. For that, you'd have to check with them or someone more well-versed in why that might be failing.

i appreciate your help
I went off googling the adb stuff/installed it and java's jdk stuff. then figured out how to run that adb shell stuff and validated that it worked (permissions were changed in places that this app didnt allow). knowing that the problem is actually with root explorer helps a ton.. as I just assumed it was working

FYI CWM With latest .14 ICS release

I went throught the process to root and install unlocked bootloader after upgrading from stock hc to stock 14 ics build. Everything seemed to work well untill trying to install CWM.
EVerytime I rebooted to try to get into CWM I got the old recovery. It seems I had to rename install-recovery.sh. However when I tried to rename with term emu apparently the easy root method no longer works and system remained ro. In order to resolve I had to mount -o remount, rw /system/ then rename install-recovery, then re-run the cwm script.

paronowitz said:
I went throught the process to root and install unlocked bootloader after upgrading from stock hc to stock 14 ics build. Everything seemed to work well untill trying to install CWM.
EVerytime I rebooted to try to get into CWM I got the old recovery. It seems I had to rename install-recovery.sh. However when I tried to rename with term emu apparently the easy root method no longer works and system remained ro. In order to resolve I had to mount -o remount, rw /system/ then rename install-recovery, then re-run the cwm script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm confused. Even if the root script from ZN was installed successfully which I can confirm and many other members who have ran this rom have confirmed, you would still need to mount /system some how. Whether it is from rootexplorer, es file manager, or directly from the terminal emulator as you did. That script roots the tab and makes /system/ mountable in various apps it doesn't make /system/ RW constantly. I'm glad you got it taken care of though.

Yup that what I'm saying. I started with a freshly clean install. I tried running the an method several times. I was able to install unlocked boot loader howver I had no rw access to /system unless I manually remounted. Every time I reboot I have to remount again

Well I would think BEFORE updating to .014 you should remove bootloader.blob and anything else that relates to changing recovery from the .014 update before attempting to flash. Otherwise you would end up with a stock bootloader again.

don't forget to remove the installrecovery script from the etc folder too just a fyi

@paronowitz
You might want to try rooting again. I'm currently on Zeronull's release, and I can mount /system fine from root explorer without having to mount it first through terminal emu. I've gotten into the habit of re-rooting roms on the tab.

I had not problem accessing /system. I could not change or delete anything in is specifically the install_recovery.sh without remounting it rw

if memory serves me right the install package for twrp removed the install recoveryinstall script.

paronowitz said:
I had not problem accessing /system. I could not change or delete anything in is specifically the install_recovery.sh without remounting it rw
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Click to collapse
Well I apparently had no problems with root, until I tried to edit anything in /system. After re-rooting I could mount /system, AND edit/delete install_recovery.sh.

The OP had said he was renaming install-recovery.sh from the terminal emulator. Like I said in my post earlier the root script doesn't make /system/ rw constantly and the terminal emulator does not auto mount /system/ rw. So even if the script is working, you would have to use the same commands if you are using the termnal to rename. Also, by making /system/ rw you are making /system/etc rw, and this allows you to edit the file you were attempting to edit. So when I am referring to mounting /system/ as rw, we are talking about the same thing. /etc/ is a shortcut to /system/etc.

paronowitz said:
I went throught the process to root and install unlocked bootloader after upgrading from stock hc to stock 14 ics build. Everything seemed to work well untill trying to install CWM.
EVerytime I rebooted to try to get into CWM I got the old recovery. It seems I had to rename install-recovery.sh. However when I tried to rename with term emu apparently the easy root method no longer works and system remained ro. In order to resolve I had to mount -o remount, rw /system/ then rename install-recovery, then re-run the cwm script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you may want to just execute the commands by hand. The script will make assumptions that may not hold true for your current configuration.
Look HERE
Check out the Eew245's root method. It give you the most control since you do it by hand. If you don't have adb you can use the one supplied in the ZeroNull easy unlock package(careful to not run the scripts at the wrong time and such though). Anyway Im out of time today. It sounds like as others have said you probably just need to
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.BAK
Then reflash cwm if you overwrote recovery when you updated.

NoSudo said:
It sounds like you may want to just execute the commands by hand. The script will make assumptions that may not hold true for your current configuration.
Look HERE
Check out the Eew245's root method. It give you the most control since you do it by hand. If you don't have adb you can use the one supplied in the ZeroNull easy unlock package(careful to not run the scripts at the wrong time and such though). Anyway Im out of time today. It sounds like as others have said you probably just need to
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.BAK
Then reflash cwm if you overwrote recovery when you updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I had to do.

edit - miss-post

remount with wr privileges. How?

Hello everyone, I've been using android since Eclair and I had a couple of different brands under my ownership. Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Alcatel...
I've always been rooting my phones. After that, each time I needed rw privileges in order to be able to delete files (like built-in apps), place ringtones, alarms and notifications sounds directly into /system/media/audio, rename or backup system files etc., I was using a simple command from a terminal app or via ssh from a desktop giving this syntax:
mount -o remount, rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
Then, until next reboot I could write in /system.
Unfortunately since I got G3 this command won't work. Apparently, either lollipop's or LG's partitions are a bit different that the usual...
After looking around for a while, I came up with a page which shows that this command "ls -al /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name", lists all partitions' paths by label and that according to the list, /system corresponds to mmcblk0p40. So I was thinking of trying the command a bit altered, like this:
mount -o remount, rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p40 /system
Since I don't have good knowledge of linux -I can't even tell if the old syntax is not working because of LG's implementation or of android's new version (lollipop)- I'd just like someone who has already done this to confirm that I'm right and it works. I'd really not like to brick the phone atm. I feel too old for this s...
Thanks, George...
P.S.: Now, if someone would be kind enough to provide an in-depth explanation of how I could always find by myself (in any newer version of android and any different android implementation), which partition is the appropriate one to use in this command in order to obtain rw for /system, that would be more than welcome!
Edit: I should have mentioned this to avoid getting answers about 3rd party apps which do those stuff like root explorer: I'm looking for a solution, not a workaround. I need the syntax of the command, not a list with apps which do what I'm trying to do using terminal. But thanks adamzki anyway...

Use root explorer pro. That's it.

This command is enough to mount /system as rw;
Code:
mount - o rw,remount /system

forumber2 said:
This command is enough to mount /system as rw;
Code:
mount - o rw,remount /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really strange, I had used "mount -o remount,rw /system /system" and it didn't work
I now used "mount -o remount,rw /system" and it works! I'll never understand Linux...
Thanks anyway man!
Thread can be locked.

Mounting /system as r/w

i'm trying to mount /system as r/w to put apps in /system/priv-app.
However i can't seem to find a way that works on my phone (oneplus 6 running android 8.1).
if you have any suggestions please leave a reply
Things i can think of i have tried:
TWRP
Root explorer
mount -o rw,remount /system

i have found a way to put apps in priv-app i just used systemizer