[Q] Bloatware respawns on factory reset, how to delete it? - Galaxy S III Mini Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, there are some games that gets reinstalled whenever I do a factory reset. Since I don't use them, they're bloatware to me and I uninstalled them. They are:
Bejeweled 2
com.eamobile.bejeweled2_adc
/data/app/com.eamobile.bejeweled2_adc-1.apk
Plants Vs Zombies
com.popcap.pvz
/data/app/com.popcap.pvz-1.apk
Shark Dash
com.gameloft.android.LATAM.GloftSRHP
/data/app/com.gameloft.android.LATAM.GloftSRHP-1.apk
How can I truly delete them so they won't get installed again on factory reset? There's a moment during the first boot up in which the phone says "Installing applications" and the icons of the applications being installed are of those three games. I believe they are in another system location, but I haven't been able to find them yet... Where should I look? My device is rooted. Thank you.

Found them in:
/preload/Common_app/
File names were:
Code:
Bejeweled2_Telcel_SamsungS3Mini_v1.8.4.apk
PlantsvsZombies_Telcel_SamsungS3Mini_v1.8.4.apk
SharkDash_Samsung_i8190L_NONIGP_LATAM_ML_GLLive_101.apk
I had to remount /preload as writable to delete them, and remount as read-only afterwards.
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /preload
mount -o remount,ro /preload
Hope this helps people with the same question in the future.

Related

Issue with market and apps

Hey guys...
I bought a new mini-SD card for my rooted G1. I have the latest CM on it. So now i decided to install my nandroid-backup.. but now i have a problem with downloading all of my old apps from android market. In the market it says that all of my apps are installed, though they aren't. In the app-list of my phone my old apps are still shown and when i click on them it says: This App is not installed on your phone (sorry i'm using a german g1, so i have to translate the messages). So as you can see, my problem is that I can't download any of my old apps from market and i can't delete those entries or like the "rest of the app thats still on my phone". Any ideas ? I don't want to factory reset my phone... cause i love the way it is now (except this issue haha)
Try this. There is a similar issue there the apps don't exist but the Market DB still does, which gives you the problem of not being able to install but cannot uninstall it, because it doesn't exist. Below should help you out.
Code:
Type - mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system (enter)
Type - rm /data/data/com.android.vending/databases/* (enter)
Type - reboot (enter)
Words in bracket are instructions and not to be typed.

remove stock apps

I am willing to pay someone if someone can figure out how to remove factory apps like
facebook
footprints
peep
quickoffice
stock
visual vm
stock massages
i never use them for some reason they run in the background
Just take a look at this thread from the android forums
http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-eris/53646-unwanted-apps.html
NOTE: you MUST have ROOT in order to remove those apps.
If the instructions in that thread about "adb" are too complicated for you, then go buy the Root Explorer app, navigate to the folders you were told to in the thread, click the "r/w" button at the top of the app, then long press on the files you are told to delete.
Deleting system apps is risky if you delete the wrong ones. As usual, you are responsible if anything happens.
As I see it, you must have root to modify system files on your ROM (anyone correct me if I'm wrong)
But I was able to use Titanium Back up (downloaded from the Android market, free) to see all installed programs and I successfully deleted Visual VM, Peep, and stock messages... I use the others...
now so far, my ROM that is installed [2.1 version .3] hasn't had any problems with the removal of these system programs, So I think it is a safe method.
I believe this is a good alternative to adb commands... since you know what you are deleting.
and of course, I am not responsible if you do happen to mess your phone up.
C:\Users\admin\Desktop>cd android-sdk-windows
C:\Users\admin\Desktop\android-sdk-windows>cd tools
C:\Users\admin\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb shell
$ mount -0 rw,remoun /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
mount -0 rw,remoun /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
mount: invalid option -- '0'
BusyBox v1.15.0 (2009-08-25 15:17:43 BST) multi-call binary
Usage: mount [flags] DEVICE NODE [-o OPT,OPT]
Mount a filesystem. Filesystem autodetection requires /proc be mounted.
Options:
-a Mount all filesystems in fstab
-f Dry run
-r Read-only mount
-w Read-write mount (default)
-t FSTYPE Filesystem type
-O OPT Mount only filesystems with option OPT (-a only)
-o OPT:
loop Ignored (loop devices are autodetected)
[a]sync Writes are [a]synchronous
[no]atime Disable/enable updates to inode access times
[no]diratime Disable/enable atime updates to directories
[no]relatime Disable/enable atime updates relative to modification ti
me
[no]dev (Dis)allow use of special device files
[no]exec (Dis)allow use of executable files
[no]suid (Dis)allow set-user-id-root programs
[r]shared Convert [recursively] to a shared subtree
[r]slave Convert [recursively] to a slave subtree
[r]private Convert [recursively] to a private subtree
[un]bindable Make mount point [un]able to be bind mounted
bind Bind a directory to an additional location
move Relocate an existing mount point
remount Remount a mounted filesystem, changing its flags
ro/rw Read-only/read-write mount
There are EVEN MORE flags that are specific to each filesystem
You'll have to see the written documentation for those filesystems
$ cd /system/app
cd /system/app
$ 1s
1s
1s: permission denied
$
this is what i get am i doing something wrong here
Type adb shell than su and tell me what happens.
binny1007 said:
Type adb shell than su and tell me what happens.[/QUOTE
never mind i got it to work i used different method i bought the titanium backup. show all the installed apps easy to uninstall it works great now my phone is running much faster thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, you were typing the commands wrong.
Right after you do "adb shell" you'll need to type "su" and the $ prompt should change to a # prompt. Check your phone as well after typing "su" as you should see a popup asking for permission.
$ mount -0 rw,remoun /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should be: mount -o rw,remoun /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
The -o is the letter o, not a zero.
$ 1s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be: ls
That's the letter l (lowercase L), not a one.
grdlock, I believe there is a "t" missing in your post:
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
Ahh, ya, you're right. I just copied/pasted what he wrote and didn't catch that.
ampinc said:
binny1007 said:
Type adb shell than su and tell me what happens.[/QUOTE
never mind i got it to work i used different method i bought the titanium backup. show all the installed apps easy to uninstall it works great now my phone is running much faster thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to know it works for someone else as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded Titanium Backup and deleted the "worldclock.apk" and I have to say it's a nice app, (Titanium that is)
So far, from the VanillaDroid ROM, I've deleted the following with no ill effects:
Stocks
Weather ( I use WBug)
Visual Voicemail
Browser ( I use Dolphin)
Quickoffice
MMS
Talk
Mail
Deskclock
I would like to delete the following but am having some difficulty finding the correct "apk"
Camcorder (I think it's built into the camera?)
Call History
People Search
Settings (just the app in the drawer, another NAND before I do this I guess)
Voice Dialer
Voice Search
Voice Record
NaviPanel ***Anyone know if this will mess with Maps?***
FACEBOOK !!!! I deleted the "Facebook.apk" but the FB app is still in the drawer and it still works fine. If anyone could help me with deleting this one I would be forever greatful! Trying to delete it using Titanium, it says: "cannot find Facebook.apk" But it's still friggin there......argh!
Edit: Woohoo! Facebook is gone.
Titanium tells me it needs root acess and that's out of question. Then again, I'm on the lg ally and it might be different... idk. Any other suggestions?

[Q] Removed apps come back - WHAT?

How do I avoid that built-in apps like Gallery re-appear after deletion??
When I try this on htc Hero with CM6 (and CM7) and my rooted Motorola Charm the removed apps don't re-appear - they nicely stay gone.
But in this case I run CM6.1 stable on my Wildfire and when remove apps Titanum says success but the apps still work and re-appear in Titanium after reboot. E.g. CMStats (CyanogenMod stats), Weather, Livewallpapers etc. My device is rooted but I simply can't get rid of any built-in app.
Titanum is in the SuperUser app and in Terminal su and id says I'm too allright. I've even tried
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3
chmod 777 /system
mount -o rw,remount -t rootfs /
chmod 777 /
But it still doesn't work even though filesystem says rw
Root Explorer says success when it deletes or renames APKs in /system/app - but the apps are still there later! VERY odd. But Root Explorer can't create dirs or copy files to system/app...
What am I missing here?
I got the same prob pal..both methods weren't working for me on CM 6.1 stable..try ADB it worked flawlessly..
Sent from my HTC Wildfire
read this thread will help u Creating your own Update Zip's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=917922
I think this is because wildfire doesn't have s-off. You could remove the apps from the rom before flashing, or remove using adb in recovery
boot into recovery
unmount /system (get r/w access )
adb shell rm /system/app/xxx.apk
ww231 said:
boot into recovery
unmount /system (get r/w access )
adb shell rm /system/app/xxx.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that takes for eva if u create a zip with all the files u wont gone u just flash and done no more apps very easy and simple no hazzle

[Q] ADB "No space left on device"

Hey guys
So I am currently running 2.3.3 on my N1. I manually flashed the update from Here. I used the "Modified GRI40".
So after update, I noticed that my adfree wasn't working. Running the app, it tells me my host file is up to date. However, no ads are being blocked. Same after uninstalling and re-installing the app. So then I decided to try to copy the host file over manually using adb.
I run adb and get root prompt. Then I mount /system as rw using
Code:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
It appears to work. So then I try copying the host file to /system/etc using
Code:
cp hosts /system/etc
Then I get the following error.
"write error: No space left on device"
But i do, over 30mb of free space.
So I don't know what the issue is. Im thinking that maybe /system isn't being mounted as RW so it is giving the error??
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Did you check the /system free space, or /data?
Try doing a df -h from the terminal to verify that you do, indeed, have free space on /system as well as /data, as Jack_R1 mentioned.
codesplice said:
Try doing a df -h from the terminal to verify that you do, indeed, have free space on /system as well as /data, as Jack_R1 mentioned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well looks like somehow I don't have any space left. I went to go download a terminal application from the market but it errored saying no space left.
So now I can't even install new apps.
However, under settings->storage it says I have 28MB of free space left.
Any ideas?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Reboot, wipe Dalvik cache.
Go to Manage Applications, clear browser cache.
If it restores you some space - great, proceed with what codesplice suggested above.
If it doesn't - backup, wipe and reflash.
If no backup installed - you're out of luck.
Since you seem to have adb functioning, you can run adb shell df -h to get a readout of your available space on your different file systems. This could help troubleshoot the issue.
Additionally, rather than doing a long manual "mount" command, you could simply do an adb remount to automagically remount all file systems in read/write mode.
The indication under Settings --> Storage indicates free space on /data, I believe, and gives no indication of /system (where you're trying to copy the hosts file).
Another thought (sorry this isn't really coherent at this point...): What if you were to remove your default hosts file and then push the new one?
Code:
> adb remount
Remount succeeded
> adb shell rm /system/etc/hosts
> adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
> adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts
codesplice said:
Another thought (sorry this isn't really coherent at this point...): What if you were to remove your default hosts file and then push the new one?
Code:
> adb remount
Remount succeeded
> adb shell rm /system/etc/hosts
> adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
> adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's thing, that is why I started this thread because I was trying to use ADB to push a new hosts file but got the no space error. So I already tried that.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I was asking if you had specifically tried removing the old one and replacing it rather than just overwriting.
Oh I see what you mean. But no I have not, let me give it a shot.
**Nope didn't work. I still got the same error, no space left on device.
Have you had the opportunity to do adb shell df -h yet?
codesplice said:
Since you seem to have adb functioning, you can run adb shell df -h to get a readout of your available space on your different file systems. This could help troubleshoot the issue.
Additionally, rather than doing a long manual "mount" command, you could simply do an adb remount to automagically remount all file systems in read/write mode.
The indication under Settings --> Storage indicates free space on /data, I believe, and gives no indication of /system (where you're trying to copy the hosts file).
Another thought (sorry this isn't really coherent at this point...): What if you were to remove your default hosts file and then push the new one?
Code:
> adb remount
Remount succeeded
> adb shell rm /system/etc/hosts
> adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
> adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No to hijack this thread, but I just wanted to ask, does "adb remount" require root?
Brownbay said:
No to hijack this thread, but I just wanted to ask, does "adb remount" require root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, without root access to the filesystem, adb remount will fail.
So when I try adb shell df -h, I get:
"-h: No such filesystem or directory"
You don't have busybox. Try running "adb shell df", maybe it'll still give some info.
Ok when I ran adb shell df I got a listing of filesystems. /system says size 145M and used 145M. So apparently it is full.
How could that be though?
It could be that you have some bad blocks on your /system partition (you can generally only check by doing a wipe operation in recovery and then viewing the log). These bad blocks could take up space that would otherwise store your system data, and could push you over capacity.
Or you could just have some extra bloat related to that ROM. You could drive to remove some of the applications on /system that you don't have use for (the Amazon MP3 thing, for instance). I'd suggest using Titanium Backup to do this, but you can also do it by manually using the adb shell.
Alternatively, a full wipe and clean reinstall may help make sure you don't have anything left over taking up space.
I'm thinking about just flashing a new ROM altogether as I am also having issues with the battery. Under usage, Android OS now shows somewhere around 35% of the usage. This only started happening after updating to 2.3.3.
I've always ran stock ROMs, so I haven't played with any of the custom ROMs out there. Are there any ROMs you recommend for a first timer?
*Sidenote* So a nandroid backup is a complete backup of the system state correct?
So after flashing a ROM, I can just restore the nandroid backup and my phone will be exactly as it was with the old ROM and user data?
decoyjoe said:
I'm thinking about just flashing a new ROM altogether as I am also having issues with the battery. Under usage, Android OS now shows somewhere around 35% of the usage. This only started happening after updating to 2.3.3.
I've always ran stock ROMs, so I haven't played with any of the custom ROMs out there. Are there any ROMs you recommend for a first timer?
*Sidenote* So a nandroid backup is a complete backup of the system state correct?
So after flashing a ROM, I can just restore the nandroid backup and my phone will be exactly as it was with the old ROM and user data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been really impressed with the Kang-o-rama ROMs. Basically prettied-up versions of Cyanogen. The latest release is a beta based on CM7, so still has a few issues. The prior release (KOR 1.1Final) is still quite solid.
And yes, a nandroid backup creates a copy of your current disk image, which can then be restored at any time to revert back to a previously-working configuration (great for when you break stuff!).
decoyjoe said:
I'm thinking about just flashing a new ROM altogether as I am also having issues with the battery. Under usage, Android OS now shows somewhere around 35% of the usage. This only started happening after updating to 2.3.3.
I've always ran stock ROMs, so I haven't played with any of the custom ROMs out there. Are there any ROMs you recommend for a first timer?
*Sidenote* So a nandroid backup is a complete backup of the system state correct?
So after flashing a ROM, I can just restore the nandroid backup and my phone will be exactly as it was with the old ROM and user data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly Remember to wipe before restoring
Oh and that brings up another thought.
So if before I flash a new ROM, I do a Titanium Backup and then flash the ROM...
Would I then be able to restore that Titanium Backup made on the previous stock ROM to restore all my apps and user data?

[Q] installing .apk files

trying to install the DSPmanager apk i got here.
i've tried in ADB, and it gives an invalid install location error, tried in OI file manager and it gives me a big, happy green arrow and says "application not installed"
running GinSense 0.9
any help would be appreciated.
(sorry if this is the wrong thread)
(and i did search and will continue to do so until/unless i hear back)
EDIT to say - also tried app installer - same happy arrow and not installed as OI manager.
Most likely on your default install location there is no more space left to install the application. You can try to modify that by
Code:
adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2
from your PC having connected your phone in debugging mode.
The different locations are described in more details in this post.
i managed to get it installed with
Code:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cp /sdcard/DSPManager.apk /system/app
i don't understand why neither of my app installers were doing this, but i'm new to this, so maybe i'm missing something. that link looks like some useful info, though. thanks!
Ok, in that way you installed DSPManager on your /system partition. Generally this is read only and there is no space left. Applications normally will be installed on /data, /sdcard or (if supported by to ROM) on /sd-ext.
AndDiSa said:
Ok, in that way you installed DSPManager on your /system partition. Generally this is read only and there is no space left. Applications normally will be installed on /data, /sdcard or (if supported by to ROM) on /sd-ext.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm running ginsense with S2E, so i assume normally would be on sd-ext.
i tried both using the install feature and just manually placing the .apk in /sd-ext to no avail. i also tried placing it in /data with no luck.
what are the practical differences with putting it in /system? FWIW, it's running fine with it there (both the rom and the app)
i don't know if it makes a difference, but the app is DSP manager
i removed it from /system/app then used ADB shell. i *think* i figured out what i was doing wrong, the command line wanted me to specify an install location, which i wasn't doing. is this a "cleaner" install method?
Code:
adb shell
install /sdcard/DSPManager.apk /sd-ext/app
app shows up in the launcher again.
Typically just doing an
adb install /locationofapkonyourcomputer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do the trick. You don't need to copy the .apk onto your phone just to install it.
As mentioned previously, it may be that your default install location is NOT set to /sd-ext/app and that /data is full.

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