[Q] can't edit /system/app files. not enough space?? - Motorola Droid and Milestone Q&A, Help & Troublesh

hello everyone again!..today I have a puzzling question for you to help me with
today I rooted and flashed MIUI on my Gf's Droid 1 (Droid OG?). Since she came from an iPhone (and i successfully convinced her to go back to her old Android device)...I figured MIUI would be a good transition.
...Well..I have a problem...
I want to change the play store to a play store mod to where it's not device filtered a Google Play Store Modded apk...
....and change that broken and useless MIUI search and replace it with google search. And there is a way to do it.
my problem is that both of these processes require /system/app being edited...but when I copy or paste a file in /system is not enough space in the "/system" partition???
ROOT EXPLORER says: I have 2.15mb free of 138.22mb
SOLID EXPLORER says: I have 4kb left
I'VE SET ALL FOLDERS IN "SYSTEM" TO CHECK ALL PERMISSIONS AND SET SYSTEM TO R/W. and even used the R/W App in the play store...there is never enough space!...originally coming from Jelly Bean for Droid OG..I figured the ROM change would give me more space..it's all the same with any ROM I use...I even formatted everything individually in CWM..i'm not a noob or dummy with this and searched the forums first before requesting assistance
Is this just a internal memory limitation that comes with the phone?...if so...I'm very disappointed..but not surprised..due to it being one of the first Verizon android devices..(hell..I'm surprised I could get jelly bean on it!)
OR..is there a way where I can allocate more partition space so "system" won't be so cramped??...
EDIT: it says I need BUSYBOX. will install and report back. WON'T INSTALL.
Thanks for your concern = ]

guess nobody has a clue or doesn't care about the Droid OG anymore

I'm a Milestone user (europian version of Droid) so I'm not too familiar with the Droid, but on thing is common in these devices.
The free space on the internal memory is very limited. If you type in the Terminal Emulator the df command, you can check how much free space you actually have.
One other thing, maybe you should ask around in the droid development section. More people read those threads.

Erovia said:
I'm a Milestone user (europian version of Droid) so I'm not too familiar with the Droid, but on thing is common in these devices.
The free space on the internal memory is very limited. If you type in the Terminal Emulator the df command, you can check how much free space you actually have.
One other thing, maybe you should ask around in the droid development section. More people read those threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's against XDA policy to ask questions in the "Development" section. Or else I would have done that
Terminal emulator command "df' says that I have 98% used in the "system" partition...holy balls!..is there anyway to make that smaller??

You could delete stuff like LiveWallpapers.apk from /system/app or some ringtones from idontknowwhereexactly...

Eiertschik said:
You could delete stuff like LiveWallpapers.apk from /system/app or some ringtones from idontknowwhereexactly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks!...will do that..anything else that I can remove?

Basically you can remove everything you don't need - if you know that you don't...

Related

Root access with Astro?

Is there anyway to start Astro as root so you can use it to edit system directories?
I had wished for the same thing.. but i didnt tell nobody.. soo maybe this will be more effective. prevents having to type in the terminal all the time.. not that its bad.. ive learned so much allready since ive had this phone...
I totally agree! That would be perfect! Maybe there a way of editing the code or smth...
If you can't work *MORE EFFICIENTLY* directly from the terminal, then you definitely should NOT have root access via GUI.
lbcoder said:
If you can't work *MORE EFFICIENTLY* directly from the terminal, then you definitely should NOT have root access via GUI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much this. It seems like most of the people having problems on this website just want root because it's "kewl" but really have no idea what it is or even have a clue on how Linux works.
I actually Emailed the Dev of Astro about this same question and here was his reply.
Here is the email copied and pasted from gmail.
My question
Are you able to make a version that requests root access to delete chmod rename move etc for the 100,000+ users from xda and other boards with root access?
His Reply
On Jan 21, 2009 10:57 AM, "Kevin Payne" <metago.inc[at]gmail> wrote:
This is a bit outside ASTRO's scope at the moment. Technically, ASTRO should work fine on files owned by root if it were run as a root process, but running applications as root is not advised in general. Someone really needs to create a sudo type command to let an individual application run as root.
lbcoder said:
If you can't work *MORE EFFICIENTLY* directly from the terminal, then you definitely should NOT have root access via GUI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
d00m said:
Pretty much this. It seems like most of the people having problems on this website just want root because it's "kewl" but really have no idea what it is or even have a clue on how Linux works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering the fact that I'm a Systems Administrator as my profession and work with hundreds of Linux/Unix/Windows servers a day, the whole reason why I bought the G1 was for development and tinkering, the fact that my home PC is running Vista x64 (i haven't gotten around to creating a VM or messing with the drivers), and that I do wipes frequently to test different configurations, I'm pretty sure I'll be ok with root access. I'm just tired of manually doing something on that tiny keyboard that can easily be done with a nice pretty GUI. I stare at consoles all day and thousands of lines of black and white text, when I come home I don't exactly want to be anywhere near a terminal.
Also, why bother doing anything on a phone, other than using it as a phone (or for email, texting, etc.), if you don't do it because it's "kewl". I mess with my phone because it's cool to have a mini-*nix based computer with several fun radios on it. If I do something stupid like type "rm -Rf /*" after logging in as root (never going to happen) then that's my own fault.
I don't care if you're a Unix purist and you write up your office reports, spreadsheets, and diagrams in vi. Good for you, you're wasting time that can be better spent on other things because of your stubborn prejudice against GUI's. I asked a question, because I have a reason for that question. If you don't have any answers to that question, then please don't bother replying.
diabolical28 said:
I actually Emailed the Dev of Astro about this same question and here was his reply.
Here is the email copied and pasted from gmail.
My question
Are you able to make a version that requests root access to delete chmod rename move etc for the 100,000+ users from xda and other boards with root access?
His Reply
On Jan 21, 2009 10:57 AM, "Kevin Payne" <metago.inc[at]gmail> wrote:
This is a bit outside ASTRO's scope at the moment. Technically, ASTRO should work fine on files owned by root if it were run as a root process, but running applications as root is not advised in general. Someone really needs to create a sudo type command to let an individual application run as root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked into the commands to launch an application from the CLI and found that Astro can be started using the following command:
am start -n com.metago.astro/.FileManagerActivity
However, this doesn't do us any good, since the dalvik VM will take that command and create a process as a sandbox user regardless of what user executes that command. There looks like there's a way to tell the VM to fork the process as a specific uid and gid, but that requires editing the AndroidManifest.xml.
I'm not too good with Java, and I don't know how strict Android's API is, so I don't know if running an apk application as root is even possible.
However, I do know that running commands from inside an application, like su, is possible.
~TM
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." ~Plato
Solved--Astro with root...(workaround)
kinda late, but in case anyone wants to know this is what I did.
This way technically doesnt allow astro to run with root, but its just as good.
I originally did this a few months back for my G1, and just mod it a little to work on my nexus
- created a script to mount system as rw
- created a script that gives r/w permission to all app directories (/data, /data/app, /data/app-private, /system, /system/app, /system/sd, ...) and all apps inside those directories
-then merged the 2 scripts and named it astro_root_perm
-installed GScript from the market
-created another script that
-first changes all permissions on apps back to what they started as(644, 640...)​-then changes permissions of directories back to what they were​-and finally remounts system back to ro, and named this script to astro_basic_perm​
-used Gscript to create shortcuts of the 2 scripts to my home screen.
-then with bettercut, I changed the scripts' icons to the astro icon. I just colored the astro stock icons "A" green for one script and red for the other
So anytime I want to use astro as root, I just click the shortcut I made with gscript off my home screen, open astro,
Then when Im done with astro, I just run the other script
I know its not the same as running astro AS root, but it works for me.
Im not really a linux guy......I'd really appreciate if someone could help me with this next step
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Does anyone know what I need to include in a script to have it call/open a program automatic?
My ultimate goal is to create one script that will
Mount system rw
Change needed permissions to rw
Automatically open up Astro
Then change all permissions back when astro is terminated
Possibly create a keyboard shortcut for the G1
What do ya think?? is it possible??
Estrongs has limited root file browsing on some ROMs and SU File Manager or Root File Manager will let you browse as root for a small price.
+1 recommendation on Estrongs File Explorer's root option if you want it for free, includes Windows shares browsing over lan.
Otherwise try SUFBS, also has built-in terminal.
Sent from my HTC Hero using Tapatalk
louieG1 said:
My ultimate goal is to create one script that will
Mount system rw
Change needed permissions to rw
Automatically open up Astro
Then change all permissions back when astro is terminated
Possibly create a keyboard shortcut for the G1
What do ya think?? is it possible??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure exactly how gscript handles things, but with a normal bash (shell) script, the lines are run sequentially. That is, the next line isn't run until the previous line is done. It would seem that you could put all that in one script, and the still-running script wouldn't change the permissions back until astro has ended. But then again, java adds complexity to it and I'm not sure if it works the same.
louieG1 said:
kinda late, but in case anyone wants to know this is what I did.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Does anyone know what I need to include in a script to have it call/open a program automatic?
My ultimate goal is to create one script that will
Mount system rw
Change needed permissions to rw
Automatically open up Astro
Then change all permissions back when astro is terminated
Possibly create a keyboard shortcut for the G1
What do ya think?? is it possible??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Love this idea! Unfortunatly I'm no coder but would love to see something like this created.
I created a "GodMode" script that does exactly this, email me if you want it, I can edit it to work for the G1.
Totally forgot I started this thread, then happened to find it on Google when looking for the same thing, again.
Went back to Windows Mobile for a little bit, missed Android, and now have a Samsung Vibrant.
Still want a way to use ASTRO with root priviledges, especially since I don't have a tactile keyboard anymore.
phaelox said:
+1 recommendation on Estrongs File Explorer's root option if you want it for free, includes Windows shares browsing over lan.
Otherwise try SUFBS, also has built-in terminal.
Sent from my HTC Hero using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you.
Estrongs File Explorer enabled me to flash Tamil font in my Rooted T-Mobile G2X mobile phone.
I know i am not answering the question directly. But, i use Linda Manager it gets the job done.
---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:14 PM ----------
raddy said:
Thank you.
Estrongs File Explorer enabled me to flash Tamil font in my Rooted T-Mobile G2X mobile phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi raddy,
I'm also from TN as well, i would love to get the Tamil fonts. Can you please guide me?
Not having tamil fonts on the browser is simply annoying
Hi
If your mobile is rooted, then follow this link.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=798380
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
raddy said:
Hi
If your mobile is rooted, then follow this link.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=798380
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, i got the tamil fonts on my G1, thanks for the help.

[Q] Make 3rd party app uninstallable

I have a rooted G1 and wondering how i can keep from uninstalling certain 3rd party apps. I have SUFBS installed and thought there was a way to do this within.
Thanks for your help!
What exactly do you mean; you haven't given a scenario where they would be uninstalled, so from the information given, simply do not uninstall them, and they will stay on your phone.
Pardon the lack of detail included in my first post. I want to have certain 3rd party apps behave as system apps, where you are unable to uninstall from the Manage Applications screen. I am thinking that moving these files to the system/apps folder would do the trick. But I've been unsuccessful using SUFSB.
So, to sum it up:
How can I remove the Uninstall option of a 3rd party app from the Manage Applications screen.
I hope there's enough info for some helpful answers.
Thanks to all!
you can try in the recovery console
Code:
mount system
mv /system/sd/appname.apk (or whatever it is called) /system/app/
(if mv doesn't work try cp)
i do not know whether or not that will make them uninstallable or not, but it should do what you are asking about getting them into the /system partition.
Thanks David! Worked like a charm
just don't put to much in /system bc if you do and you flash a rom or theme that puts extra stuff into system it coud result in the rom not loading and you getting a black screen
(like the problem i am having right now of trying to make a theme fit into the confines of the hard spl, i even set one of my phones back to rc-29 and re-rooted so i could test it, ugh... long night)
Thanks once again for your educated response. I will keep that in mind for future use.
Best,
mark
no problem man, just remember if you need to delete anything from /system and don't have a file browser with root access you can do this in the recovery console
Code:
mount /system
rm /system/app/appname.apk
reboot
If you move them to system/app I don't think you'll recieve updates from the market.
AdrianK said:
If you move them to system/app I don't think you'll recieve updates from the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh yeah i forgot about that. thanks adriank
What if?
Hey guys, I noticed that the problem was solved, but I had a doubt. Will the app which has been moved to /system/apps still be there even if someone flashes another ROM?..
... if you think a bit about what's happening when you install a new ROM, you'll find the answer by yourself easily
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Droid Explorer not overwriting

I recently downloaded droid explorer and a loving it. But one problem i have been encountering is that i can copy from my phone to my PC but copying from my PC to the phone on anything but the sd card doesn't work. Also deleting doesn't work either on all but the sd card.
Now i know i could use adb in cmd but droid explorer is so much easier.
I don't think he ever made it change the folders to read/write. I would ask this question in the Droid explorer in the apps and games section.
ok will do. thanks
This is coming, honest. I have been working on a "side project" that is basically ADB for .net. It is a modified port of the original java version of the Android Debug Bridge, for .net. Actually it is the DDMS library.
I am going to start the change over to that library in Droid Explorer, and when I do, it has the stuff built in to it to make a partition RW/RO, and check the current state of the partition. Also, once it is implemented in Droid Explorer, the "Root + busybox" will be dropped, unless you want to do things that would require root. But you will be able to browse and copy from the device and such with out the need for root, or busybox...
If you have any questions, honestly, your best bet is to ask them in the Apps thread. I very rarely visit the Q&A forum.

Help: Firefox for android stuck in memory

Tried firefox for android beta2 today and it freezed my phone, so I uninstall it only to realise that it locked 13MB of my internal memory permanently probably due to bad uninstall. Tried to reinstall it so that I can uninstall it again but it didn't allow me to install again saying that I don't have enough memory (though i still have ~45 MB free internal memory).
Anyone knows where does firefox install to? I couldn't find it in any of the app directory (not in data\app or system\app, nothing in dalvik cache and data\data as well). having 14MB memory locked is really a paint considering how small our milestone memory is.
Please help.
Thanks
en0203 said:
Tried firefox for android beta2 today and it freezed my phone, so I uninstall it only to realise that it locked 13MB of my internal memory permanently probably due to bad uninstall. Tried to reinstall it so that I can uninstall it again but it didn't allow me to install again saying that I don't have enough memory (though i still have ~45 MB free internal memory).
Anyone knows where does firefox install to? I couldn't find it in any of the app directory (not in data\app or system\app, nothing in dalvik cache and data\data as well). having 14MB memory locked is really a paint considering how small our milestone memory is.
Please help.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bump. please can someone help. thanks
en0203 said:
bump. please can someone help. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.Do you have a recent nandroid backup? that would be a simple fix?
2. What rom and kernel are you using?
3. Is your phone rooted? Probably yes...All the apps go to /system/app, unless you have apps2sd installed
4. If it's not there and it's not in "manage applications" then probably it's a an error of your rom showing erroneous available space.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
1) I am using XT720, we don't have nandroid backup tools yet
2) Stock EU rom and kernel for XT720
3) yes, rooted. I am sure it's not in /system/app (mine has got apps2sd)
4) I guess I'll probably need to reflash the rom to get rid of it then. a bit troublesome but no choice I guess.
Something about the firefox is that if you install it you'll find that the space taken up by the firefox is much bigger than the .apk+dalvik cache+data in the normal app installation path. some portion gets installed into somewhere else which nobody knows where. My friend with a Nexus one try to move it to sd but it simply won't move the whole thing because part of it does not install to the /app.
Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll wait another day or two before I flash it to stock again.
Many thanks
en0203 said:
Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
1) I am using XT720, we don't have nandroid backup tools yet
2) Stock EU rom and kernel for XT720
3) yes, rooted. I am sure it's not in /system/app (mine has got apps2sd)
4) I guess I'll probably need to reflash the rom to get rid of it then. a bit troublesome but no choice I guess.
Something about the firefox is that if you install it you'll find that the space taken up by the firefox is much bigger than the .apk+dalvik cache+data in the normal app installation path. some portion gets installed into somewhere else which nobody knows where. My friend with a Nexus one try to move it to sd but it simply won't move the whole thing because part of it does not install to the /app.
Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll wait another day or two before I flash it to stock again.
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you go into recovery? ADB commands actually work as root there.
You also said you have app2sd - I'm guessing the ext version. You can browse around the ext partition if you have something that can read it (like Ubuntu) and delete it from the card as well.
- Look into your /cache partition and delete every download*.apk
- Look into /data/app and look if there is still an apk left
- Look into /data/data and see if a Firefox-folder is located there - delete it!
You can do all this with RootExplorer
Then you should be fixed
Milestone isn't supported. I think I read it somewhere on the mozilla site. There's some known issue logged somewhere
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Check if there is any "*.tmp" files under /data/app ?
I was locked some memory due to unsuccessful install of "Pocket Legends", and found out that the apks were stored in both "/cache/downloadfile.apk" and "/data/app/vmxyzxyz.tmp".

Getting rid of PKG's

I understand that the solution to this question may already exist in the forums, however, I did check high and low for it, and was unable to locate one.
Here goes:
I like (as I'm sure others do) to install apps2sd, something I'm able to do thanks to the actively-rooted and cyanogen-modded N1 that I use.
Unfortunately, the actual *install* files *themselves* from all Market-downloaded apps seem to remain in the phone's internal memory, clogging up preciously limited space. How do I get rid of these install files? I tried using a file manager to go into the mnt/asec directory to get rid of *.pkg's, but these seem to be uninstall-protected (I'm not even sure if I'm making a mistake from the get-go in trying to purge the *.pkg's), so I'm kind of back to the drawing board on this one.
Any help on this would be pretty invaluable folks.
Thanks,
Eli
If you've installed a lot, your dalvik cache will grow pretty big. That's found in /data/dalvik-cache.
Thanks Rusty - but my /data dir is completely empty (unless there are invisible folders; if there are, who you know how I can make them visible?).
Best,
Eli
You need SU access to view /data, make sure what you're using to browse it supports that.
Ahh, thanks Rusty - will do that
Your DATA folder is inaccessible, unless you use Root Explorer or other file explorer with root privileges (ES Explorer, for example - but it doesn't work with all ROMs).
There are no PKGs. There are APKs. And you're wrong in your assumption that they aren't used. This is no PC, this is Android, forget what you used to know, you need to learn again. APKs are the actual applications being ran, without them you can't execute anything, and using old Apps2SD, AKA Apps2EXT, you can move your /data/data to SD (EXT partition) and /data/dalvik-cache to /cache. CM doesn't support Apps2EXT, but it can be easily installed and used, following the guide in DarkTremor's thread. Read Wiki in my sig, it'll point you in the right direction. You can start by reading FAQ, question 9.
seekingandroid said:
I understand that the solution to this question may already exist in the forums, however, I did check high and low for it, and was unable to locate one.
Here goes:
I like (as I'm sure others do) to install apps2sd, something I'm able to do thanks to the actively-rooted and cyanogen-modded N1 that I use.
Unfortunately, the actual *install* files *themselves* from all Market-downloaded apps seem to remain in the phone's internal memory, clogging up preciously limited space. How do I get rid of these install files? I tried using a file manager to go into the mnt/asec directory to get rid of *.pkg's, but these seem to be uninstall-protected (I'm not even sure if I'm making a mistake from the get-go in trying to purge the *.pkg's), so I'm kind of back to the drawing board on this one.
Any help on this would be pretty invaluable folks.
Thanks,
Eli
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The .apk isn't the install file it _is_ the application. The are no "install only" parts to an android app
2) Anything on /mnt/asec is already on your sdcard using froyo-style a2sd
3) .so files in /data/data/xxx/lib and /data/dalvik-cache are the primary causes of full /data partitions

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