Develop Bugs

Android 7.0 & /etc/hosts

/etc/hosts blacklist entries seem to be ignored with Android 7.0 (e.g. adding 127.0.0.1 amazon.com still allows me to reach amazon.com). Is anyone else experiencing something similar or familiar with any gotchas around Android 7.0 and modifying /system/etc/hosts?
I'm running official Nexus 5X Android 7.0 build number NRD90R. I have an engineering build of android that I boot from as follows to modify my /system/etc/hosts file:
adb reboot-bootloader
fastboot boot my-recovery.img
<mount from phone menu>
adb remount
adb push my-hosts system/etc/hosts
adb shell
chmod 644 system/etc/hosts
exit
<reboot from phone menu>
I've been using this process after every OTA update since Android 6.0, and it's been working. I also noticed that I'm not getting the red warning on boot any more (the one you get after you modify anything on the system partition), just the yellow warning (the one you get from having phone unlocked). Maybe I did something wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but I could sure use a sanity check.

Could be related to java cache, after a modification to hosts file you should reboot to let the cache reload. Try it.

The OS is not booted when editing hosts since it's being edited from a recovery image with the system mounted into it. The last step is to reboot. I did reboot the phone again for good measure and it's still not working. If it is a cache related thing, it lives through reboot. I suspect it's not though as I was seeing ads in news websites that I do not frequent.
Any other thoughts?

Are you using chrome? Did you disable data saver option in chrome?
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk

Seems to be related to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...oid-nougat-t3445647/post68737720#post68737720 . Basically the files that one would modify by mounting /system are no longer used, afaict.
When I boot a live image, mount the system partition, and make a modification (i.e. /system/etc/hosts), that change is persisted through a reboot back to the live image and remount. However, it's not loaded by the OS when it boots. Instead both /etc/hosts and /system/etc/hosts are unmodified. Odd, and why is there even anything mounted at /system? I'm not sure if there are multiple system partitions or what's going on. I would love to find some information about Android 7.0 that explains.

crashenx said:
Seems to be related to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...oid-nougat-t3445647/post68737720#post68737720 . Basically the files that one would modify by mounting /system are no longer used, afaict.
When I boot a live image, mount the system partition, and make a modification (i.e. /system/etc/hosts), that change is persisted through a reboot back to the live image and remount. However, it's not loaded by the OS when it boots. Instead both /etc/hosts and /system/etc/hosts are unmodified. Odd, and why is there even anything mounted at /system? I'm not sure if there are multiple system partitions or what's going on. I would love to find some information about Android 7.0 that explains.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I responded to your post in the other thread. This is repost.
Android 7.0 introduced redundant bits for reed solomon forward error correction into the system and vendor partitions and code in the kernel to perform the error correction.
Your changes are being written to emmc but when you boot with 7.0 kernel with dm-verity enabled your changes are being treated as data corruption and on-the-fly error corrected back to original.
You can see your changes if you boot into twrp because it has dm-verity disabled. However if you boot into android with dm-verity enabled it will look like original image again even though your changes are technically still there.
It took me a day to figure out what was really going on because i initially had no idea they added this feature to Android N.
The simple way to disable dm-verity is to install SuperSU, but you can also accomplish the same patching your own kernel, installing pre-patched kernel, installing custom kernel, etc.

sfhub said:
I responded to your post in the other thread. This is repost.
Android 7.0 introduced redundant bits for reed solomon forward error correction into the system and vendor partitions and code in the kernel to perform the error correction.
Your changes are being written to emmc but when you boot with 7.0 kernel with dm-verity enabled your changes are being treated as data corruption and on-the-fly error corrected back to original.
You can see your changes if you boot into twrp because it has dm-verity disabled. However if you boot into android with dm-verity enabled it will look like original image again even though your changes are technically still there.
It took me a day to figure out what was really going on because i initially had no idea they added this feature to Android N.
The simple way to disable dm-verity is to install SuperSU, but you can also accomplish the same patching your own kernel, installing pre-patched kernel, installing custom kernel, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good info and makes total sense. Thanks! Pretty neat actually, just a bummer for me.
Yeah so SuperSU path is not really one I want to pursue. I could learn how to update the dm-verity shas used for verification. That'd probably be the most secure, but it's gonna be a PITA I bet. I imagine I'd need to compile my own image similar to how I made my live image and update a few things. Might have to deal with encryption which is probably an even bigger headache. Also, I bet it would break OTA and have to reflash to update, though that's true now.
I'm really curious what AdAway is doing. Maybe I should pursue reverse engineering that.
I really appreciate you pointing us in the right direction.

crashenx said:
I'm really curious what AdAway is doing. Maybe I should pursue reverse engineering that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use adaway but I believe there are 2 ways to install it with Android N. First is to install SuperSU (or otherwise disable dm-verity) and have it update as it always has. 2nd way is systemless where it piggybacks on some init scripts SuperSU has created to mount "over" the existing hosts file. Basically like symlinking but using a mount point on top of the existing file.

sfhub said:
I don't use adaway but I believe there are 2 ways to install it with Android N. First is to install SuperSU (or otherwise disable dm-verity) and have it update as it always has. 2nd way is systemless where it piggybacks on some init scripts SuperSU has created to mount "over" the existing hosts file. Basically like symlinking but using a mount point on top of the existing file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll probably try to go the route of updating init scripts to mount over the existing host file but without using SuperSU or AdAway.

[DEBLOAT] Wileyfox Debloater - Quickly clean your Nougat-based Wileyfox device!

Hey all!
As you all know, Wileyfox has started rolling out Nougat for their devices, starting with the codenamed marmite family (Swift 2, 2 Plus and 2X models). With this new update, Wileyfox has also included a bunch of BLOATWARE I personally NEVER expected from them. I mean, I didn't request ads in my launcher, and why do I need to forcefully use Truecaller dialer instead of the cleaner, AOSP-based one? That's why I've created this Wileyfox Debloater tool, to keep the system apps as clean and stockish as possible.
App removals included:
- AndroidPay
- BasicDreams
- BookmarkProvider
- Google Books
- Chrome
- CMFileManager
- Drive
- Duo
- Gmail
- GooglePrintRecommendationService
- GoogleTTS
- Hangouts
- Keep
- Maps
- Google Music
- News and Weather
- PhotoTable
- talkback
- Google Videos
- WFChromeCustomization
- Youtube
- Contacts
- FoxHole
- Mms
- SnapdragonGallery
- TrueCaller
- All bundled-apps from /system/vendor/bundled-app
- Possibly more in the future.
(Note: All the moved Google Apps were removed for the sole reason that they can also be downloaded from the Play Store.)
App additons / other features included:
- Google Contacts, in replacement of the half-dummy, prebundled Contacts app (which was missing link with the Dialer).
- Google Dialer, in replacement of TrueCaller.
- Google Messages, in replacement of Wileyfox Mms app.
- AOSP's Launcher3, in replacement of FoxHole (Wileyfox's Launcher).
- Framework and permission files for Google Dialer to work.
- Small tweaks in the build.prop, including drop of min processors to work from 2 to 1, and rise of maximum processors to work from 4 to 8, as well as increasing the Android compiler default amount of processors from 4 to 6.
- Possibly more in the future, too.
Warning:
Code:
Your device's system partition [B]IS NOW [COLOR="Red"]TAMPERED[/COLOR][/B]. This implies two things:
1. You WILL NOT BE ABLE TO INSTALL ANY NEWER OTAs ON IT.
(To learn how to properly upgrade your device, kindly check post [URL="https://forum.xda-developers.com/swift-2/development/debloat-wileyfox-debloater-quickly-t3587536/post72258926#post72258926"]#25[/URL])
2. Your device MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BOOT UNLESS YOU DISABLE DM-VERITY.
(And to do so, the quickest way is to [B]install[/B] [B][URL="https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445"]Magisk[/URL][/B].)
Downloads:
- For the latest Wileyfox Swift 2, Swift 2 Plus and Swift 2X firmware: Wileyfox-TOS118C-Debloater--11-05-17.zip
(For version TOS089 check Wileyfox-TOS089-Debloater--10-04-17.zip)
- For more Wileyfox devices, coming soon
Installation instructions:
1. Update your device to Nougat
2. Unlock your bootloader and flash TWRP
3. Download the latest version zip
4. Boot into TWRP, make a backup if you wish (although is highly recommended), choose Install and locate and flash the ZIP.
5. Reboot and enjoy!
6. Are you missing missed calls notifications? Is the caller ID always showed as a number instead of a contact name during phone calls? Check post #16!
Uninstall instructions:
Check post #6
Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a Thanks if you loved it!

I'm also dissapointed that the OS is far from the pure AOSP.
But it is possible to tweak it without losing the future OTAs:
1. Install google launcher, google messenger
2. Install google phone from apk mirror - this version is working on my phone - http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google...-7-0-140861421-nonnexus-android-apk-download/
3. Deactivate truecaller, duo, news, ... - but be careful, some apps are needed for the system and remember to activate all apps before the OTA update...

rivierakid said:
I'm also dissapointed that the OS is far from the pure AOSP.
But it is possible to tweak it without losing the future OTAs:
1. Install google launcher, google messenger
2. Install google phone from apk mirror - this version is working on my phone - http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google...-7-0-140861421-nonnexus-android-apk-download/
3. Deactivate truecaller, duo, news, ... - but be careful, some apps are needed for the system and remember to activate all apps before the OTA update...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is also a possibility but:
1. Launcher3 conflicts with the already installed launcher, so it's impossible to get that out of the way
2. I got latest version working here using the required libraries (extracted from a Pixel), so yeah, probably both possibilities are just fine
And for the third one, just wanted to say there's no need to reactivate them (if you manage to deactivate them, ofc), and, all of the packages the script moves are stored in a safe place (/system/__bloat), so they can be restored from there

I don't remember if I had a problem with a previous OTA update for Wileyfox, but I was not able to install an update without reactivation a disabled app.
I'm not sure...
You could select a default launcher and the phone has really enough RAM, so I think it is not necessary to remove the FoxHole from the system.
But anyway, nice work! You could provide an uninstall instructions - if it is really possible. I hope that there can be an OTA update in the future...
The final solution for this is LineageOS, if they provide the source

Excellent! Thanks for providing this...such a stupid shame that Wileyfox decided to do this. I'm just hoping that they now release their sources so that we can start working on a proper release of Lineage!
*Edit: Nice! https://bitbucket.org/wileyfox/kernel-wileyfox-msm8937/commits/all*
JT

rivierakid said:
But anyway, nice work! You could provide an uninstall instructions - if it is really possible. I hope that there can be an OTA update in the future...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course. The debloater doesn't delete any of your system apps, but move them to /system/__bloat. There you'll find 3 folders, the app, the priv-app and the vendor one, just cut and paste them back to /system and the deleted apps will come back. Also, don't forget to remove the framework files and permissions the debloater installs, such as /system/framework/com.google.android.dialer.support.jar and /system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.dialer.support.xml. You can also remove the the GoogleContacts, GoogleDialer, GoogleMessages and Launcher3 folders from /system/priv-app, and revert the build.prop tweaks (lines 164 and 165, change values from 1 and 8 to 2 and 4, line 196, change value from 6 to 4).
Reverting all of that, your system will go back as it came with the Nougat OTA.

Hello,
thanks for your effort to the community.
I have a question.
How do I install this? I've tried it with twrp but everytime I install twrp my device won't boot.
To repair this I flashed the newest "system.img".
But I can't replace my stock recovery.

linuxct said:
Of course. The debloater doesn't delete any of your system apps, but move them to /system/__bloat. There you'll find 3 folders, the app, the priv-app and the vendor one, just cut and paste them back to /system and the deleted apps will come back. Also, don't forget to remove the framework files and permissions the debloater installs, such as /system/framework/com.google.android.dialer.support.jar and /system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.dialer.support.xml. You can also remove the the GoogleContacts, GoogleDialer, GoogleMessages and Launcher3 folders from /system/priv-app, and revert the build.prop tweaks (lines 164 and 165, change values from 1 and 8 to 2 and 4, line 196, change value from 6 to 4).
Reverting all of that, your system will go back as it came with the Nougat OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any chance of updating debloater to change the UI colour scheme from orange back to blue?
JT

MCPoppa said:
I have a question.
How do I install this? I've tried it with twrp but everytime I install twrp my device won't boot.
To repair this I flashed the newest "system.img".
But I can't replace my stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading version 3.0.2-0 from TWRP download website, and flash it via the command
Code:
fastboot flash recovery <name-of-the-file>.IMG
Replacing name of the file for the actual filename of it. To enter fastboot mode, you should see a warning when you boot up your device. Hit any volume keys, and, using them, choose the fastboot mode and select it with the power key. Now you should be able to use the fastboot commands.
jdtanner said:
Any chance of updating debloater to change the UI colour scheme from orange back to blue?
JT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already working on it... But it'll surely require substratum, which probably won't work out of the box just by flashing it from the recovery. I'm looking for solutions

linuxct said:
Try downloading version 3.0.2-0 from TWRP download website, and flash it via the command
Code:
fastboot flash recovery <name-of-the-file>.IMG
Replacing name of the file for the actual filename of it. To enter fastboot mode, you should see a warning when you boot up your device. Hit any volume keys, and, using them, choose the fastboot mode and select it with the power key. Now you should be able to use the fastboot commands.
I'm already working on it... But it'll surely require substratum, which probably won't work out of the box just by flashing it from the recovery. I'm looking for solutions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everytime i installed twrp i got stuck in a bootloop :/

MCPoppa said:
Everytime i installed twrp i got stuck in a bootloop :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, can you try doing "fastboot boot" and the name of the image instead of flashing it? It will avoid bootloops, since it just boots to the image. Keep me posted, please.

linuxct said:
Okay, can you try doing "fastboot boot" and the name of the image instead of flashing it? It will avoid bootloops, since it just boots to the image. Keep me posted, please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still doesnt let me boot up after I installed your debloat zip.
Everytime I install or boot to twrp 3.1.0 or 3.0.2 for marmite i get a boot loop and a "dm-verity .." screen.
I've tried different versions of twrp and different methods like "fastboot flash" and "fastboot boot" but everytime I flash something it gets stuck on booting up.
When I was on Marshmello I had this "dm-verity" message too but I could modify my system as I wanted and it booted up everytime, i had TWRP, your Speakermod, Magisk Mask etc installed no problem.
I think it has something todo with the update to Nougat.
How did you bring it run on your device?

MCPoppa said:
Still doesnt let me boot up after I installed your debloat zip.
Everytime I install or boot to twrp 3.1.0 or 3.0.2 for marmite i get a boot loop and a "dm-verity .." screen.
I've tried different versions of twrp and different methods like "fastboot flash" and "fastboot boot" but everytime I flash something it gets stuck on booting up.
When I was on Marshmello I had this "dm-verity" message too but I could modify my system as I wanted and it booted up everytime, i had TWRP, your Speakermod, Magisk Mask etc installed no problem.
I think it has something todo with the update to Nougat.
How did you bring it run on your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I explained it last night here, but I also stated it in the OP:
linuxct said:
Warning:
Code:
Your device's system partition [B]IS NOW [COLOR="Red"]TAMPERED[/COLOR][/B]. This implies two things:
1. You WILL NOT BE ABLE TO INSTALL ANY NEWER OTAs ON IT.
[B]2. Your device MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BOOT UNLESS YOU DISABLE DM-VERITY.[/B]
(And to do so, the quickest way is to [B]install[/B] [B][URL="https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445"]Magisk[/URL][/B].)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

linuxct said:
I explained it last night here, but I also stated it in the OP:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i've installed magisk mask again and the message didn't appeared.
I've also flashed your debloater and everything works fine.
Can I now flash TWRP or do I have to boot it up via fastboot everytime?

MCPoppa said:
Thanks, i've installed magisk mask again and the message didn't appeared.
I've also flashed your debloater and everything works fine.
Can I now flash TWRP or do I have to boot it up via fastboot everytime?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try flashing it to your recovery partition, my guess is that now that DM-verity is disabled everything should work fine
Cheers!

Quick update post after two days of usage, yesterday I noticed I didn't receive any notifications on missed calls, and that the caller ID always showed as a number although I had it added as a contact.
I realised that I didn't have any "Phone" app chosen as default in Android settings, so I was missing those notifications until I opened the Google Dialer app.
In case it happens to you, to sort it out go into Settings > Apps, then hit the gear in the top right corner and make sure you've a config similar to this one (Launcher3, Google's "Phone" and Google's "Messages" chosen as default Home, Phone and Messaging apps).
I hope this is clear for everyone, since it's not something I can fix on my side/requires the user to do the change

I have TWRP, SuperSU, and Magisk. Marshmallow boots with no problem, but I get the dm-verity screen on boot with the message "dm-verity is not started in enforcing mode".
Does this mean dm-verity is disabled because it is not enforcing, or do I need to do something to stop the whole dm-verity screen appearing before I can successfully upgrade, debloater, and boot Nougat?

Ianharding said:
I have TWRP, SuperSU, and Magisk. Marshmallow boots with no problem, but I get the dm-verity screen on boot with the message "dm-verity is not started in enforcing mode".
Does this mean dm-verity is disabled because it is not enforcing, or do I need to do something to stop the whole dm-verity screen appearing before I can successfully upgrade, debloater, and boot Nougat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firsts things first: After heavily modding the system like you did on Marshmallow, make sure not to update your device through the regular OTA but using a recovery image like the ones posted in this device's forum.
For magisk: are you sure you flashed it correctly? Magisk disables that dmverity message you are mentioning, so maybe you installed an old version or wasn't properly flashed.
My advice is: download everything: the recovery image, the debloater and Magisk. Boot into TWRP, wipe EVERYTHING if possible, including Data cache dalvik cache and system partitions. Once done, flash the recovery image zip, and right after that, without rebooting, flash the debloater and magisk. Reboot and everything should work perfectly

If I use this to debloat my WileyFox does it mean I won't be able to use Android Pay?

digidude512 said:
If I use this to debloat my WileyFox does it mean I won't be able to use Android Pay?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As soon as you root any Marshmallow/Nougat phone Android Pay will not work, according to this article
I have never used Android Pay so it doesn't make any difference to me. My phone is much better now that I have debloated it. I also installed Evie Launcher and Halo Browser, both small minimalist apps and everything is really smooth.
Instead of a Debloater, could the Stock ROM not be debloated and rezipped as a custom 'Lite' version?

touching files in recovery mode results in factory reset

A week ago I flashed the current (lineage-14.1-20170504-nightly-oneplus3-signed.zip) lineage os nightly to my phone. I did not pay that much attention til I realize the impact, so no guarantee for the temporal order. I am pretty shure, that in the first place, I tried to flash the image via the update menu (is this called OTA update?). The previous update two weeks ago already results in partial data los. By this I mean some (maybe all) apps disappears after the update, but after installing them again, all of them provided the pre-update data - only exception was signal. This time the phone was like in factory state. But when I try to reinstall the telegram app - the app store refuses to install the app because of the presence of a identical named app.
Using adb shell shows me, that all apps and data where still present in the /data subdirectories. Even those I didn't had reinstalled til that time . So I took advantage of momentum and backed up some files and decided to perform a full pre factory reset formatting everything twrp let me format. After flashing the lineage update, another full format because things seems still weird, second lineage nightly flash, realizing I have to first flash OOS-x.y.z and a final third lineage flash, I thought I finally obtain a running system. After initial configuration I decided to only copy my previous wpa_supplicant.conf file back to the system. Since overwriting this file while running android didn't led to anything, I tried to replace this file in recovery mode. Instead of remembering my password, goatish oneplus 3 desides to perform factory reset.
After what seems to be a lower six digit number of flashing attemps I came to the conclusion that performing any modification to the file system while the native kernel is not running results in factory reseting the device. In the mean time I also figured out what dm-verity means - an error message I got used to and maybe a nice feature as long as you don't try to take your old config files to a new system. And I know I am the millionth person facing that problem in a dedicated thread, but I found nothing which links this annoying boot loader message to my reset problem.
I made my previous recovery attemps between the toilet and my bed, so I hadn't any strategy at all. But thank god its friday! I read: dm-verity is a feature of the device mapper which guarantees data integrity. When I alter the data using any other than the native system, the device mapper notices the integrity violation and reports to the system. I am only guessing that this makes the system to reset itself - Am I right? Even if I appreciate this concept, I think this might be a little too ambitious. Can I alter androids behaviour in this point? In the best case I want to temporary disable this feature, do some root stuff and turn it on again. Is this possible?
I could follow one of that numerous tutorials to remove that dm-verity message, but I am not confortable with flashing zip files from dubious file hosters as well as copy-pasting commands without any idea of what I am doing. So maybe someone could provide a little more information than the seven step recipe of getting rid of that error message blog posts.
I really appreciate material which explains my problem. I am quite new to android and I didn't figured out how to maneuver around all these google results which tells me to install a specific app which may will hide my problem. So thank you in advance.

hinerk0815 said:
A week ago I flashed the current (lineage-14.1-20170504-nightly-oneplus3-signed.zip) lineage os nightly to my phone. I did not pay that much attention til I realize the impact, so no guarantee for the temporal order. I am pretty shure, that in the first place, I tried to flash the image via the update menu (is this called OTA update?). The previous update two weeks ago already results in partial data los. By this I mean some (maybe all) apps disappears after the update, but after installing them again, all of them provided the pre-update data - only exception was signal. This time the phone was like in factory state. But when I try to reinstall the telegram app - the app store refuses to install the app because of the presence of a identical named app.
Using adb shell shows me, that all apps and data where still present in the /data subdirectories. Even those I didn't had reinstalled til that time . So I took advantage of momentum and backed up some files and decided to perform a full pre factory reset formatting everything twrp let me format. After flashing the lineage update, another full format because things seems still weird, second lineage nightly flash, realizing I have to first flash OOS-x.y.z and a final third lineage flash, I thought I finally obtain a running system. After initial configuration I decided to only copy my previous wpa_supplicant.conf file back to the system. Since overwriting this file while running android didn't led to anything, I tried to replace this file in recovery mode. Instead of remembering my password, goatish oneplus 3 desides to perform factory reset.
After what seems to be a lower six digit number of flashing attemps I came to the conclusion that performing any modification to the file system while the native kernel is not running results in factory reseting the device. In the mean time I also figured out what dm-verity means - an error message I got used to and maybe a nice feature as long as you don't try to take your old config files to a new system. And I know I am the millionth person facing that problem in a dedicated thread, but I found nothing which links this annoying boot loader message to my reset problem.
I made my previous recovery attemps between the toilet and my bed, so I hadn't any strategy at all. But thank god its friday! I read: dm-verity is a feature of the device mapper which guarantees data integrity. When I alter the data using any other than the native system, the device mapper notices the integrity violation and reports to the system. I am only guessing that this makes the system to reset itself - Am I right? Even if I appreciate this concept, I think this might be a little too ambitious. Can I alter androids behaviour in this point? In the best case I want to temporary disable this feature, do some root stuff and turn it on again. Is this possible?
I could follow one of that numerous tutorials to remove that dm-verity message, but I am not confortable with flashing zip files from dubious file hosters as well as copy-pasting commands without any idea of what I am doing. So maybe someone could provide a little more information than the seven step recipe of getting rid of that error message blog posts.
I really appreciate material which explains my problem. I am quite new to android and I didn't figured out how to maneuver around all these google results which tells me to install a specific app which may will hide my problem. So thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your story is too long to go through. But most likely your issue will be solved if you install blue sparks twrp. Check his thread in the unified section

Rom Access or advice for TAB S4

My device was fine before Rooting importantly the Bluetooth stack was was also fine. However, after rooting all BT Pairings are lost across reboots etc. Just turning BT off then on again causes the issue making it necessary to delete and re-pair every time the device starts. over the last week i've ran various tests, and concluded the issue lies with either the hardware or the stock image i got from Sammobile.com. Being a noob, during my experimentation i have had to flashback to the stock image on several occasions. Only discovering the Bluetooth issue when putting my work to good use and using the device.
Yesterday i tested the theory. Flashed it to stock, booted to OS and skipped all the config disabled WI-FI and DATA so it couldn't pull updates. Tested Bluetooth and the issue is present. The Bluetooth did work correctly before i started rooting it. This is unlikely a hardware issue so can only assume its an issue in the build i have from Sammobile. If any of you have access to a stock pre-installed rom that works that they could give me access to, so i can do some testing or indeed any advice it would be very much appreciated.
Device = Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 (SM-T835 on EE)
PDA = T835XXU2ARJ3
CSC = T835OXM2ARJ3
Many thanks
Colin

This is known issue once rooted, however it has already been fixed. There is a module that you need to load via Magisk. Search for: libsecure_storage companion for rooted Samsung devices. Load that up and you'll be good to go.

cbb77 said:
This is known issue once rooted, however it has already been fixed. There is a module that you need to load via Magisk. Search for: libsecure_storage companion for rooted Samsung devices. Load that up and you'll be good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the info, i saw a few threads a few days ago about secure storage and did it manually which didn't help with the issue. similarly neither does the module for Majisk . a case of keep looking i guess. any other suggestions will be very much appreciated

Hmm, I would try uninstalling and reinstalling again via Magisk to confirm. I have rebooted multiple times and the bluetooth pairings stick for me. I do have T830 vs. the T835 that you have but I wouldn't think that it should matter. Worth another shot anyway.

cbb77 said:
Hmm, I would try uninstalling and reinstalling again via Magisk to confirm. I have rebooted multiple times and the bluetooth pairings stick for me. I do have T830 vs. the T835 that you have but I wouldn't think that it should matter. Worth another shot anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers will give it a go - at this point i have nothing to lose, just taken a fresh backup so nothing ventured nothing gained

its stuck no boot while removing secure_storrage module from majisk
Oddly having tried the suggestion above of removing the majisk module the device no longer boots it gets stuck on the Samsung logo. For some reason the vendor partition is no longer able to mount.. Completed a restore eventually to get it to boot. Disabling the module yields the same result. no vendor partition and no boot. Going back to an earlier backup prior to the module being installed

The plot thickens
Today i'm still trying to find a fix for disappearing Bluetooth devices. Using the Magisc module cases my Tab to stall during boot on the Samsung logo similarly trying to replace the /vendor/lib and /vendor/lib64 binaries manually also causes the system to freeze on the Samsung logo. looking at the binaries and some path file references there in. It would appear as though my tablet is missing some key files or folder so far the following are missing
/data/system/secure_storage/ls_data.db
/dev/.ashem.secure_storage_ashem
/dev/.secure_storage/sd_socket.ro
any of you have any thoughts

c6pea said:
Today i'm still trying to find a fix for disappearing Bluetooth devices. Using the Magisc module cases my Tab to stall during boot on the Samsung logo similarly trying to replace the /vendor/lib and /vendor/lib64 binaries manually also causes the system to freeze on the Samsung logo. looking at the binaries and some path file references there in. It would appear as though my tablet is missing some key files or folder so far the following are missing
/data/system/secure_storage/ls_data.db
/dev/.ashem.secure_storage_ashem
/dev/.secure_storage/sd_socket.ro
any of you have any thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You actually only need to replace the libsecure_storage.so libs and set the correct permissions.
Add the following to the build.prop:
ro.securestorage.support=false

Boot failure when LIbs replaced
ashyx said:
You actually only need to replace the libsecure_storage.so libs and set the correct permissions.
Add the following to the build.prop:
ro.securestorage.support=false
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No matter how i do this, the device failes to boot and gets stuck on the samsung logo.
Install the majsik module through majisk reoot when prompted = device brick
making all the changes manually including the changes to the build.prop in the /vendor partition = device brick on reboot.
Tried Using instructions and librarys from the following post
https://forum.xda-developers.com/sa.../guide-fix-bluetooth-losing-pairings-t3798262
Although, the above post says to replaces the libs in the system folder which serves no purpose but replacing them in the vendor partition causes the device to brick at next boot.
Thanks far the suggestions, Still looking

c6pea said:
No matter how i do this, the device failes to boot and gets stuck on the samsung logo.
Install the majsik module through majisk reoot when prompted = device brick
making all the changes manually including the changes to the build.prop in the /vendor partition = device brick on reboot.
Tried Using instructions and librarys from the following post
https://forum.xda-developers.com/sa.../guide-fix-bluetooth-losing-pairings-t3798262
Although, the above post says to replaces the libs in the system folder which serves no purpose but replacing them in the vendor partition causes the device to brick at next boot.
Thanks far the suggestions, Still looking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this happening with only the storage libs or does it happen if you make any other changes to vendor?

ashyx said:
Is this happening with only the storage libs or does it happen if you make any other changes to vendor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the assist
It occurs only when the Libs are changed.
Originally using the majsic module to install the libs it couldn't overwrite the files as they are in use. modifying the build.prop seemed to resolve that but as soon as those libs are change either manually through terminal or via the installer i end up with a soft brick LOL
its Bugging me!!!

Interestingly
Once the device hangs.
Simply restoring the vendor partition doesn't fix the boot issue.
In order to get the device to boot I have to restore /data (you don't need to restore /vendor just /data)
oddly restoring the /data partition restores the 2 library files in /vendor to their respective originals

Majisk zip extraction issue
so I have resolved the Bluetooth issue, Rather having majisk install the module i just downloaded it and extracted the contents and discovered that upon zip extraction the contents of each file were appended to themselves. see screenshot "confused.jpg" of the readme.md - so in relation to the library files, the files being installed were double in size hence corrupt.
ie /vendor/lib/secure_storage.so should =308kb the file being insatalled in my /vendor/lib partition was 616kb the 64 bit library was also double the size it should have been.
infarct all the files within the Zip had the same issue.
so i extracted the Zip contents on my pc and transferred the library files via usb. made the relevant changes to build.prop and stopped the secure_storage deamon. Machine now boots and Bluetooth pairings are retained across reboots.
Small Wins
Any one have a clue why the files would double up on content??????

built in zip extractor
the issue i have is with the stock zip extraction tool.
extracting the zip file content on the tablet with winzip. the files are as they should be

c6pea said:
the issue i have is with the stock zip extraction tool.
extracting the zip file content on the tablet with winzip. the files are as they should be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
7zip is the extraction utility you want. Winzip is pants.

ashyx said:
7zip is the extraction utility you want. Winzip is pants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use winrar on the PC used it for a 15 year haha
only installed winzip to test another extraction tool on the tablet, low and behold the extracted content of the file is as it should be. Unlike the tablets stock zip extractor utility

c6pea said:
Use winrar on the PC used it for a 15 year haha
only installed winzip to test another extraction tool on the tablet, low and behold the extracted content of the file is as it should be. Unlike the tablets stock zip extractor utility
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for winrar, closed source bloated rubbish.
7zip supports practically every format and totally ad free.

Need a little help, please ....

I rebooted in to recovery (B partition) from custom ROM , ran Migrator Magisk module twice (as directions say-second run does FDR), booted into A partition of my Pixel XLto flash new ROM and for some reason EVERYTHING is encrpyted (do not have screen lock or pin applied) ..... I remember seeing something like this when I first got the device but cant recall how to deal with it.
Every attempt to adb sideload, adb push , etc not working ....

C.Hatfield said:
I rebooted in to recovery (B partition) from custom ROM , ran Migrator Magisk module twice (as directions say-second run does FDR), booted into A partition of my Pixel XLto flash new ROM and for some reason EVERYTHING is encrpyted (do not have screen lock or pin applied) ..... I remember seeing something like this when I first got the device but cant recall how to deal with it.
Every attempt to adb sideload, adb push , etc not working ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I take it you were trying to 'migrate' to another ROM?
My suggestion is this, use this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-xl/how-to/guide-pixel-xl-android-9-0-pie-unlock-t3825866/
- Start fresh
- Do #4 'wipe data'

was just using the magisk migrator module - it backed up all my files on 1st run, then 2nd run it did FDR .... I would REALLY prefer not wiping my internal/sdcard ..... everything is still there but encrypted, unusable for the moment - hoping there is a workaround bc Ihave sooo much data that I havent backed up externally/cloud for a month or 3 .... got nothing I can boot from as well as no access to ALL the tons of stuff stored on my phone to flash .... was thinking to use Factory image but removing the [-w] from the bat file ..... would that work to keep my data integrity ?

Honestly, im wondering how things got encrypted when the process (xc for what im unsure the mod did extra besides FDR) is practically, if not identical, to the normal protocol for wiping>flashing for PIXEL XL

C.Hatfield said:
was just using the magisk migrator module - it backed up all my files on 1st run, then 2nd run it did FDR .... I would REALLY prefer not wiping my internal/sdcard ..... everything is still there but encrypted, unusable for the moment - hoping there is a workaround bc Ihave sooo much data that I havent backed up externally/cloud for a month or 3 .... got nothing I can boot from as well as no access to ALL the tons of stuff stored on my phone to flash .... was thinking to use Factory image but removing the [-w] from the bat file ..... would that work to keep my data integrity ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...would that work to keep my data integrity ? Yes

will the modded flash-all.bat actually work with all the contents of the internal drive being encrypted?
I only ask bc of all the research Ive been doing for the last 4 hours, I had no idea that the current TWRP [3.2.3.1] made decryption on PIe possible .... I not ref to the PIN/lockscreen/Fingerprint decrypt either > more like decrypting the System partition like with Shamu/N6
**Also** found this during my harried research:
Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult.

C.Hatfield said:
will the modded flash-all.bat actually work with all the contents of the internal drive being encrypted?
I only ask bc of all the research Ive been doing for the last 4 hours, I had no idea that the current TWRP [3.2.3.1] made decryption on PIe possible .... I not ref to the PIN/lockscreen/Fingerprint decrypt either > more like decrypting the System partition like with Shamu/N6
**Also** found this during my harried research:
Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes!
Yes, twrp-3.2.3-1 decrypts.
"**Also** found this during my harried research:
Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult."
Where did you find that? Link please.

Homeboy76 -
Very much appreciate the feedback !! This is the longest downtime I've experienced, likely-ever but I just couldn't make another move until I was certain it was the correct one.
Here is the link where I found the above info you asked about:
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/149219/android-decrypt-sd-card-after-factory-reset?rq=1

C.Hatfield said:
Homeboy76 -
Very much appreciate the feedback !! This is the longest downtime I've experienced, likely-ever but I just couldn't make another move until I was certain it was the correct one.
Here is the link where I found the above info you asked about:
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/149219/android-decrypt-sd-card-after-factory-reset?rq=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: Wrong link, it happens.

this is what it shows me:
It is in the default factory reset state ( like a new device ). You can't decrypt the device even if you wish to as the encryption password (generated from a combination of user lock screen PIN and encryption algorithm ) is lost
From Android's Factory Reset Does Not Wipe Your Data: Here's The Solution
Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult.

C.Hatfield said:
this is what it shows me:
It is in the default factory reset state ( like a new device ). You can't decrypt the device even if you wish to as the encryption password (generated from a combination of user lock screen PIN and encryption algorithm ) is lost
From Android's Factory Reset Does Not Wipe Your Data: Here's The Solution
Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you use this url: https://www.techtimes.com/amp/artic...oes-not-wipe-your-data-heres-the-solution.htm but that is not the url that was in your previous post. This is, https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/149219/android-decrypt-sd-card-after-factory-reset?rq=1
I think it is out dated: Android's Factory Reset Does Not Wipe Your Data: Here's The Solution By Anu Passary | May 27, 2015 11:07 PM EDT

hey homeboy76 tried the flash-all bat [-w removed] and the process went through w/o any issues but it immediately rebooted itself and within 30 seconds landed on the stock recovery & it said file may be corrrupt, TRY AGAIN or FDR ....
Do I have any other recourse to save my 100 GBs of data ??? or do I onlly have the unmoddded flash-all -w to do at this point ?

C.Hatfield said:
hey homeboy76 tried the flash-all bat [-w removed] and the process went through w/o any issues but it immediately rebooted itself and within 30 seconds landed on the stock recovery & it said file may be corrrupt, TRY AGAIN or FDR ....
Do I have any other recourse to save my 100 GBs of data ??? or do I onlly have the unmoddded flash-all -w to do at this point ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you check the SHA256 of the March 2019 factory image?
I don't think it would hurt to try again. If it doesn't work you can try FDR or flash-all with [ -w] both will erase your internal storage.

Homeboy76 said:
Did you check the SHA256 of the March 2019 factory image?
I don't think it would hurt to try again. If it doesn't work you can try FDR or flash-all with [ -w] both will erase your internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soooo, check this out .... I finally got a flash-all {no -w] to work and my phone booted - buuuuut it is STILL ENCRYPTED .... opening the root//file explorer I was horrified to see that everything is still encrypted .... it's soooo bizarre. apps from PS are restoring but I cannot get screenshots to save nor can I move any files from my laptop to my Pixel Xl. I wanted screeenshots so bad to show/post this bizarreness but -no- ....
I havent tried to boot into recovery yet or anything else .... so I dont even have root to look any deeper into the partitions. I was wondering if Titanium Backup would run and populate with proper app names, etc
Any more ideas from this unprecedented point bro >? BTW, the SHA256 was good/clean/proper.
BTW, when you flash a factory image, which facking partition (A or B) -should it- be flashed to or flashed "from" - I've let myself get quite confused >???? I have researched & read sooo much, my brain hurts (& is literally fried) .... I figured I would ask you so I could possibly get some firsthand clarification.

C.Hatfield said:
Soooo, check this out .... I finally got a flash-all {no -w] to work and my phone booted - buuuuut it is STILL ENCRYPTED .... opening the root//file explorer I was horrified to see that everything is still encrypted .... it's soooo bizarre. apps from PS are restoring but I cannot get screenshots to save nor can I move any files from my laptop to my Pixel Xl. I wanted screeenshots so bad to show/post this bizarreness but -no- ....
I havent tried to boot into recovery yet or anything else .... so I dont even have root to look any deeper into the partitions. I was wondering if Titanium Backup would run and populate with proper app names, etc
Any more ideas from this unprecedented point bro >? BTW, the SHA256 was good/clean/proper.
BTW, when you flash a factory image, which facking partition (A or B) -should it- be flashed to or flashed "from" - I've let myself get quite confused >???? I have researched & read sooo much, my brain hurts (& is literally fried) .... I figured I would ask you so I could possibly get some firsthand clarification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't help you with the file encrypted problem. I've never read about anything like the problem you're having with encryption. TB might work. If your files are backed up on your computer, FDR.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79273902&postcount=481
@C.Hatfield, continuing the discussion...
Topics
1) Forced encryption
2) Output of ls /data/misc/vold/*
3) Advanced approach

VR25-
First, I'll start with a sincere Thank You - I know you're busy with school & life, so I appreciate that you take the time to create such beneficial tools like Migrator. Having used Android OS since it's inception, I've learned a whole lot & seen a whole lot buuut not this craziness. I was unable to get any actionable help within the 2 weeks that I held out doing a full FDR ....
alas, I finally relented & did a full FDR with a full on flash-all.bat & ironically, it was only a couple hours before your response. I didn't read the response until now because I was afraid you'd posted an A, B, C unencryption method for me - in a small way, I'm glad it isn't that lol ....
As for the "did you..." questions you asked in Migrator thread, I followed my usual protocol & did not vary at all, except running the Migrator script 2x's before trying to install new ROM.