Develop Bugs

Are su/sudo available in android, can root be performed without rom flash?

Hello guys, seem like I will be moving to this part of xda in a couple of weeks
I have several questions though, mostly regarding roms and rooting. I have used linux for sometime and from what I understand su/sudo/gksu/gksudo etc. are not available in android? I mean I cannot gain root access in the same way as on the desktop. And if I root the device it will not lose warranty, as I can unroot it later on similar to SPL/HardSPL in winmo. The other question is, I think I am going to be OK with the stock rom, as the desire is some pretty fast hardware, so can I root it without installing rooted rom, again as HardSPL in winmo. I will probably need the root access for some applications, like task manager, otherwise I will probably only use the phone, browser, mp3, social stuff, gps, email, videos like I did in the past.
I am sorry if these questions were asked before, I read the tutorials in the first post, however things are still not quite clear for me

You don't have to install a custom ROM if you use unrevoked for root, it just adds the superuser app to your current ROM. However it will flash the recovery, so it voids your warranty anyway. There is no way to avoid this.
No idea about su/sudo though, I know nothing about linux

Well,I kinda have the same questions...First off,there is the su command in Android which is equal to the sudo command in Ubuntu etc.To give an example,I was trying out the ezHero rom on my Hero the other day and jit was enabled with this process:in terminal emulator you type in su,and then it asks for superuser permissions(probably only available through root?) and then you type jit-on and some other things happen that don't really matter here.I believe I answered half your question.Now,if root can be achieved through terminal...I don't think so!It's above my head though...

Thanks guys, that cleared up a lot
About this recovery, I guess if I can unroot and flash "stock recovery" if there is such a thing, it will not be a problem, is this the case? If I can't maybe I should buy a used device instead of a new one.
About the su/sudo, I have used mostly Ubuntu, and in the users menu I usually had 2 users - admin and root, once I set up a root password. Then I used the admin user and if I needed root access for something I did it with su or sudo + <command>, requiring password, or if it was software launcher requiring root access with a path gksudo + <regular parameters/command> in the launcher properties. For example, as far as I know you cannot change attributes like readable/writeable or edit files which are not personally belonging to your user without root access . It is a really neat and simple feature on the desktop and I am puzzled as to why they removed it from the stock rom. I didn't include this in the original post so that it is not too confusing.
Anyway thanks guys, having been with winmo for the last few years, I will finally give android a go and see if it works for me

Yeah it is relatively easy to flash to complete stock ROM and recovery. There's a guide somewhere in the developer board.

Invisible Elf said:
You don't have to install a custom ROM if you use unrevoked for root, it just adds the superuser app to your current ROM. However it will flash the recovery, so it voids your warranty anyway. There is no way to avoid this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Just no.
There's nothing in the warranty agreement to suggest that (there is a line that confirms that in the N1 agreement, though), and countless people have sent their rooted Desires back to HTC for repairs, and they've all been repaired. They just won't repair it if the ROM you flashed broke some hardware (ie overheated the LED and made it short-circuit).

Thanks guys, then I'll get a new device, great

[Q] Looking for some detailed explenations

First of all I would like to say this this is not the usual "How do i root?" question. I'm actually not looking for a HOWTO, but more for a detailed explanation about the process. I also wasn't sure if this thread should be posted in the developers or the general forums, so please move it to the general forum I you think it should be posted there.
I have an HTC Desire HD device, and I have seen countless tutorials about rooting, changing ROMs and changing other components which I actually don't know.
The problems with these tutorials:
1. They don't really explain what they are asking you to do. This actually may be convenient for most users, but I'm the kind of person that won't run any commands on his phone without actually realizing what they do.
2. These tutorials don't explain what can I do if something messes up.
I'm a programmer and I'm very familiar with Linux systems, but I am relatively new to Android. So after reading all sorts of tutorials, here are my questions:
About rooting in general
========================
1. How is obtaining root access in Android systems different from obtaining one in Unix systems?
2. Once I obtain root access, does that mean that all my applications runs as the root user? If so, isn't that a security risk?
3. Android have a different permissions system for applications than the classic Unix permissions system, since each applications must specify what does it want to do to the phone (Make phone calls, read the phone book, etc...), what happens to this permissions system once I obtain root access? Can any application use this root access to compromise my phone?
4. Is rooting my phone considered "hacking", or is it something legitimate like obtaining root access in a regular Unix system? Do all these rooting tools actually use exploits in the Android system to obtain root access?
Some questions about the downgrading process
=============================================
I read that in order to obtain root access on new HTC desire HD devices, I first my downgrade the phone's firmware. The questions below are based on the tutorial in addictivetips (I can't post a link since this is my first message)
1. Do I still have to do that, or maybe there's a new rooting method that doesn't require downgrading?
2. Once I downgrade and obtain root access, can I upgrade my ROM back to the new official ROM with root access, or does that mean that now I can only install custom ROMs?
3. Does downgrading the phone means I expose it to old security vulnerabilities?
4. My phone is branded. The tutorial suggest to prepare a "gold-card" by overwriting some bytes on the SD card, but none of them explained what does it mean. I would like to technically realize what does a gold card mean, and what does overwriting these specific bytes in the SD card mean.
5. What are the meaning of the commands that I should type before rebooting my phone in recovery mode?
Some HTC specifc questions
==========================
The rooting tutorial says that after rooting I should obtain S-OFF, again, without really explaining what does it mean. As far as I realize, this is an HTC specific security mechanism.
1. What is it there for? Is it actually there to make my phone safer or is it there just to prevent me from changing my ROM?
2. I realized that there is S-OFF and Eng S-OFF, and the latter means gaining "Complete control" on my phone. What can I do with this "Complete control" that I can't do with normal S-OFF?
Using different ROMs
====================
1. I saw that there are some custom ROMs with HTC Sense. How is that possible? Isn't HTC Sense a proprietary HTC piece of software?
2. When I decide to use a specific ROM, how do can I make sure I have the latest Android version? Do I get automatic updates like when using the stock ROM, or is it my responsibility to always check if there's a new version?
If something messes up
======================
1. How can I go back to the stock ROM if the downgrading/rooting process messes up?
2. What can I do if a custom ROM installation messes up? Can I go back to the downgraded ROM?
Thank you

Hey!
Here's a link that goes into detail about some of the things you asked about.
[REF] Ivo's Introductory Guide to this forum (READ ME FIRST)
Also, I think you would have been better off asking this in the Q&A section!

harrehk said:
Hey!
Here's a link that goes into detail about some of the things you asked about.
[REF] Ivo's Introductory Guide to this forum (READ ME FIRST)
Also, I think you would have been better off asking this in the Q&A section!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, this answered some of my questions

http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...sion#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD

No problem!
Sorry I wasn't a bigger help.
You could try checking the Android Development and Hacking for a few more non-HTC related answers!

Is There A Way To Unroot Back to ICS

I know there must be a developer at work trying to make it happen but i need to go back to normal stock from the latest epic touch update w/o losing data thanx...

Rooting/unrooting with adb
The safe way is to know exactly what was modified in your system to root the device, and carefully undo the changes in the proper order. IMO, an app that roots a device *should* have unrooting capability as well because the developer of the app knows how the rooting process works, and how to undo the changes. Of course, the rooting process should be done in a way that allows it to be undone.
If you try to guess the process, and you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could brick your device, so be careful. I am not saying that as a disclaimer, but as an actual warning. Please take it seriously.
I had to root my tablet (also running ICS) manually through adb from my desktop Linux system. The method I followed was to install a custom su command in both /system/xbin and /bin, and then a Superuser app. It is not very complicated. I honestly don't know much about this yet, and just followed instructions that were posted at this site. The tablet was new, and I was ready to just re-install Android if things went wrong.
Does anyone know more about this? I tried to find more technical information on rooting, but was flooded with search results on what app to use, and other "user-level" information. I would like a full technical explanation if anyone has bothered posting such a thing. Do the apps all do the same operations? Is the procedure always the same for a given version of Android? And is there a corresponding method of unrooting, that works on all devices? If not, then why not?

jayts said:
The safe way is to know exactly what was modified in your system to root the device, and carefully undo the changes in the proper order. IMO, an app that roots a device *should* have unrooting capability as well because the developer of the app knows how the rooting process works, and how to undo the changes. Of course, the rooting process should be done in a way that allows it to be undone.
If you try to guess the process, and you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could brick your device, so be careful. I am not saying that as a disclaimer, but as an actual warning. Please take it seriously.
I had to root my tablet (also running ICS) manually through adb from my desktop Linux system. The method I followed was to install a custom su command in both /system/xbin and /bin, and then a Superuser app. It is not very complicated. I honestly don't know much about this yet, and just followed instructions that were posted at this site. The tablet was new, and I was ready to just re-install Android if things went wrong.
Does anyone know more about this? I tried to find more technical information on rooting, but was flooded with search results on what app to use, and other "user-level" information. I would like a full technical explanation if anyone has bothered posting such a thing. Do the apps all do the same operations? Is the procedure always the same for a given version of Android? And is there a corresponding method of unrooting, that works on all devices? If not, then why not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fully agree a 100%, but thanx to SFHUB the problem was solved...

how to permanent disable all data connections from galaxy s4 phone

I’m new to this forum, and I’m new to android, with the minimum knowledge in developing or modifying anything in an android phone. So, I’m asking if someone has solution on my issue, should he please explain it with all the details.
I just bought 3 phones, SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 MINI VERIZON SCH-I435 - ANDROID VERSION IS 4.4.2 [maybe just 1 that I selected on the phone to update the software, and the others (I still didn’t opened it also no line on it) are maybe 4.2]; I need it for 3 employees that I want to use it with a specific program for my business that it not needed to be updated continuously, and its suppose to getting updated daily with a direct USB connection to our server.
My issue is, that for many reasons I want that the internet and any type of data connection should be fully disabled, no browser, no e-mail, no data apps, no in apps purchases, no MMS messaging, and also no video. Just Talk & Text and. So I’m wondering if it’s possible on an android phone to disable all data apps and block all data connections, in a way that it shouldn’t be able to restore it back.
Before I came here, someone told me that I can do it if I first root the phone (he also didn’t know what I need to do after rooting) he gave me to try a few programs to root the phone, Super User, TowelRoot, Kingo ROOT ,Super SU but as I see nothing worked for my phone. The SuperSU gives a message that it cannot find the SU binary, and the others don’t work for other reasons – I tried to search somewhat on the internet about this kind of problems with rooting this model phone, and I found some complicated guidance with a combination of a few downloads, what I even didn’t understand the instructions how to do it, and I’m also definitely afraid of damaging the phone, and maybe after all it will still not work for me to root the phone – and the main thing is that my goal is not rooting the phone, but to totally disable any internet and data connections from this phones.
So I’m asking if someone can please give me a step by step solution for this kind of modification on this model phones, to permanent disable all data connection from the phone, and if 1 of the steps is to root the phone, then I also need detailed information from someone who has the experience with rooting this model phone with this android version.
I will appreciate everyone’s time and effort to help me.
Thanks
P.S. if my issue can only be solved by a paid android developer, maybe… I’m willing to pay some amount to do this. So if u see this for the only solution, then please direct me to a reliable developer. depends on price, experience, and more, to decide if willing to pay

solb said:
I’m new to this forum, and I’m new to android, with the minimum knowledge in developing or modifying anything in an android phone. So, I’m asking if someone has solution on my issue, should he please explain it with all the details.
I just bought 3 phones, SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 MINI VERIZON SCH-I435 - ANDROID VERSION IS 4.4.2 [maybe just 1 that I selected on the phone to update the software, and the others (I still didn’t opened it also no line on it) are maybe 4.2]; I need it for 3 employees that I want to use it with a specific program for my business that it not needed to be updated continuously, and its suppose to getting updated daily with a direct USB connection to our server.
My issue is, that for many reasons I want that the internet and any type of data connection should be fully disabled, no browser, no e-mail, no data apps, no in apps purchases, no MMS messaging, and also no video. Just Talk & Text and. So I’m wondering if it’s possible on an android phone to disable all data apps and block all data connections, in a way that it shouldn’t be able to restore it back.
Before I came here, someone told me that I can do it if I first root the phone (he also didn’t know what I need to do after rooting) he gave me to try a few programs to root the phone, Super User, TowelRoot, Kingo ROOT ,Super SU but as I see nothing worked for my phone. The SuperSU gives a message that it cannot find the SU binary, and the others don’t work for other reasons – I tried to search somewhat on the internet about this kind of problems with rooting this model phone, and I found some complicated guidance with a combination of a few downloads, what I even didn’t understand the instructions how to do it, and I’m also definitely afraid of damaging the phone, and maybe after all it will still not work for me to root the phone – and the main thing is that my goal is not rooting the phone, but to totally disable any internet and data connections from this phones.
So I’m asking if someone can please give me a step by step solution for this kind of modification on this model phones, to permanent disable all data connection from the phone, and if 1 of the steps is to root the phone, then I also need detailed information from someone who has the experience with rooting this model phone with this android version.
I will appreciate everyone’s time and effort to help me.
Thanks
P.S. if my issue can only be solved by a paid android developer, maybe… I’m willing to pay some amount to do this. So if u see this for the only solution, then please direct me to a reliable developer. depends on price, experience, and more, to decide if willing to pay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, i think to achive this someone have to create a modified rom(maybe based on samsung's stock or even cyanogenMod). I dont think its pretty difficult, but i dont have the wright knowledge to accomplish this.
But i can help you for rooting the phones. S4 mini s running 4.4.2(lets call it v1). But samsung pushed an update again on 4.4.2 after some months(call it v2).The v1 is easy to update with towelroot.
But the v2's kernel cant be rooted with that way. I follow some instructions from a post here on xda and i rooted mine. If you are on v2 you have to flash v1's kernel with odin, root it and then flash the v2's kernel.That's the way i did to my phone and i successfully root it.
You can download from sammobile all the stuff you need(kernels). I think it will gonna work for you too. To check if you are on the old(v1) or on the new(v2) rom, try towelroot and if it fails you are on v2, else on v1.

Thanks.
First, how do i get such kind modified rom?
second, about rooting. I tried already Towelroot and its not working, so maybe this means that i have already the update that you call V2. how could i know if i have V1 or V2?
also can you please explain me in detail your solution. Sory Im a novice in the android language. what "odin"?, how do i get it, how do i use it?, what means flash? how do i flash v1's kernel? and how do i flash V2's kernel?
Thanks again

solb said:
Thanks.
First, how do i get such kind modified rom?
second, about rooting. I tried already Towelroot and its not working, so maybe this means that i have already the update that you call V2. how could i know if i have V1 or V2?
also can you please explain me in detail your solution. Sory Im a novice in the android language. what "odin"?, how do i get it, how do i use it?, what means flash? how do i flash v1's kernel? and how do i flash V2's kernel?
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About the 'modified rom' you have to wait for a response from someone with the knowledge to do this. There is no reason talking about root from now.
You can pm some developers and ask for help.

Maybe try something like LBE Security think you can deny access to things like that and maybe have a master app password. Maybe try looking under Android development forum under software or general. You may get a better response to your question, as it's pretty much just a device topic here. But I would think on Android such things should be possible.

Samsung SM-J320FN | Advice on rooting?

Hi, i have a Samsung J3 and want to get root access to the device. I keep finding all of these dodgy apps that are think are pretty much recommended malware and come with loads of unauthorised apps for Bitcoin and other undesirable apps.
I attempted root on another device and although I didn't do it, I found something that could root via PC which didn't require these dodgy apps, but I can't recall what it was and I can't find anything else in a quick search which seems remotely helpful.
I have enabled developer mode and put it into debugging mode, tried Kingroot, but the device immediately recomends I unistall it and one click root wants me to pay, which i don't think I have to in order to root the device.
Any hints and tips would be great, thanks in advance.

Ontical said:
Hi, i have a Samsung J3 and want to get root access to the device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this device but, I believe that one or both of the following threads should be helpful for what you are looking for that's specific to your device. Don't be afraid to ask for some member guidance within one of them.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3625601
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3572083
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.

That all looks much more familiar, I had actually tried using Odin, TWRP and Supersu but keep getting fails in Odin - mainly because of several details missing from tutorials, but that one you just shared seems to have a few filled holes for other tutorials, so I am hopeful.

Short advice on rooting.
All da rooting apps I know are not malware!
KingRoot
Towelroot
One Click Root
KingoRoot
I know the J 3 can be rooted soo...
If one rooting app does not work don't get frustrated.
(Try some more or look up a tut for your exact phone)
Do not just rush and install a bunch of crap.
Be careful the apps you install, are compatible and would not brick your device.
When you root be sure to install a Custom recovery like twrp or cwm (Clock Work Mod)
If you manage to some how screw up your device please search a unbrick tool or guide
or use custom recovery to reset device and restore it to a previous version.
Use titanium backup to serve as a backup maker on your device to restore when something goes down.
If you root your phone, a good thing to have (not needed) is an SD card.
They can be used with the features of rooting.
Farewell Friend, If you need anymore help contact me at [email protected]