Database Develop

Clockwork Recovery?

Hi,
I was curious if there is any way to replace the recovery with CWR (or something similar)? I would like to tinker, but i always feel better about having a backup in case something goes wrong.
Thanks,
Rich

while it is quite impressive that we have things such as angry birds and launcherpro, we dont seem to even have a system dump. i would think that a system dump would be required in order to better understand the rest of the system, including the nook launcher itself. then we could go after a recovery and custom roms. but i think it wont be long. like a week or two, it didnt take long to root it from initial release.

I would assume someone has noticed this, since it seems obvious, but I'll point it out just in case.
Partition 3 is an ext2 partition, which I mounted temporarily. On there are a few recovery files, including factory.zip, which appears to be a full firmware backup. What's puzzling is that factory.zip does NOT seem to be applied when I do a factory reset via Home+Vol Up, as my installed apps on /system are still there (and factory.zip has a script to format and rewrite the system partition).
So....anyone have ideas for how to trigger an update from this zip? It's not as nice as clockwork recovery, but at least we would be able to mess around and restore to factory easily.

clockworx said:
I would assume someone has noticed this, since it seems obvious, but I'll point it out just in case.
Partition 3 is an ext2 partition, which I mounted temporarily. On there are a few recovery files, including factory.zip, which appears to be a full firmware backup. What's puzzling is that factory.zip does NOT seem to be applied when I do a factory reset via Home+Vol Up, as my installed apps on /system are still there (and factory.zip has a script to format and rewrite the system partition).
So....anyone have ideas for how to trigger an update from this zip? It's not as nice as clockwork recovery, but at least we would be able to mess around and restore to factory easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to strings the u-boot.bin that's in that partition (or in p1). The u-boot environment variables are in there. When one of the recovery modes are triggered, a file called BCB is written with a string presumably instructing recovery on what to do. It's a little hard to follow since the envs have to write the string into memory and call fatsave to save the string into the file.
Here's what I can see is happening:
-up+home recovery writes "boot-recovery recovery --wipe-data-ui"
-some condition (dead battery + charger just plugged in?) writes "boot-recovery --update-package=BOOT:charging.zip"
-too many reboots (looks like >7) without devconf/BootCnt being written with 0 (don't know where this happens) writes "boot-recovery recovery --update_package=MISC:factory.zip"
If you were daring you could probably mount partition 2 and echo 8>devconf/BootCnt and I'd imagine it would force a complete factory.zip install.
edit: BootCnt seems to be binary valued, though ASCII '8' should still trigger it.
-if devconf/DeviceID doesn't exist (this is a copy of the serial number file) then it writes "boot-recovery recovery --update-package=BOOT:romrestore.zip". No ideas about this one.
-finally, if a plain FAT microSD is found with the file "encore_update.zip" then it writes "boot-recovery recovery --update_package=SDCARD:encore_update.zip". Guess how we'll get non-OTA upgrades?

Haha, I was just searching for the string .zip in the recovery binary. I found that, and googled "encore_binary.zip", and here I am again, full circle.
I'm guessing encore_binary.zip only gets flashed from VolUp+Home recovery, right?
I copied factory.zip to my SD and renamed it encore_binary.zip, just to try...Couldn't get it to activate, unfortunately.

clockworx said:
Haha, I was just searching for the string .zip in the recovery binary. I found that, and googled "encore_binary.zip", and here I am again, full circle.
I'm guessing encore_binary.zip only gets flashed from VolUp+Home recovery, right?
I copied factory.zip to my SD and renamed it encore_binary.zip, just to try...Couldn't get it to activate, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got one better for you:
I tried what I recommended about /rom/devconf/BootCnt and got the "Installing..." screen. Then a boot loop running through the installer over and over.
Then I broke in by putting a Nooter card in the slot. It seems that u-boot uses itest.l to test the boot count, where .l is for long and we wrote just one byte leaving whatever was in the remaining 3 bytes of ram to stick around. Why it bootloops I don't know. So in Nooter I mounted /dev/mmcblk1p2 /mnt then "echo -n -e "\000\000\000\000" > /mnt/devconf/BootCnt", removed the card, and rebooted. No more boot loop!
Then for the lulz: On my PC I did "echo -n -e "\008\000\000\000 > /tmp/foo" and "adb push /tmp/foo /rom/devconf/BootCnt; adb reboot". This (writing a (long)8 ) forced the reboot into recovery and then booted normally when done. After doing this, I noticed that adb is enabled (/data left alone), my user partition untouched, but my root is gone (ramdisk overwritten) and /system was wiped.
So if you wanted to remove all traces of your rooting, use the above to force recovery, then use up+home to force factory reset. The next question (which I'm too much of a wuss to explore) is if the recovery or factory reset will rebuild trashed /system or /data filesystems.

pokey9000 said:
I've got one better for you:
I tried what I recommended about /rom/devconf/BootCnt and got the "Installing..." screen. Then a boot loop running through the installer over and over.
Then I broke in by putting a Nooter card in the slot. It seems that u-boot uses itest.l to test the boot count, where .l is for long and we wrote just one byte leaving whatever was in the remaining 3 bytes of ram to stick around. Why it bootloops I don't know. So in Nooter I mounted /dev/mmcblk1p2 /mnt then "echo -n -e "\000\000\000\000" > /mnt/devconf/BootCnt", removed the card, and rebooted. No more boot loop!
Then for the lulz: On my PC I did "echo -n -e "\008\000\000\000 > /tmp/foo" and "adb push /tmp/foo /rom/devconf/BootCnt; adb reboot". This (writing a (long)8 ) forced the reboot into recovery and then booted normally when done. After doing this, I noticed that adb is enabled (/data left alone), my user partition untouched, but my root is gone (ramdisk overwritten) and /system was wiped.
So if you wanted to remove all traces of your rooting, use the above to force recovery, then use up+home to force factory reset. The next question (which I'm too much of a wuss to explore) is if the recovery or factory reset will rebuild trashed /system or /data filesystems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, factory.zip touches data, but all it does is kill packages.xml and wipe the dalvike cache.
Also, the factory.zip script will reformat mmcblk0p5, so it fixes it in that sense, but I doubt it could recover if you started killing partition layouts and stuff like that.

I was just looking through the updater-script in factory.zip and I noticed this:
Code:
mount("vfat", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p1", "/boot");
I just thought it was interesting that mmcblk0p1 is type vfat.

staulkor said:
I was just looking through the updater-script in factory.zip and I noticed this:
Code:
mount("vfat", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p1", "/boot");
I just thought it was interesting that mmcblk0p1 is type vfat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has to be, otherwise the OMAP won't find the bootloader.

clockworx said:
Actually, factory.zip touches data, but all it does is kill packages.xml and wipe the dalvike cache.
Also, the factory.zip script will reformat mmcblk0p5, so it fixes it in that sense, but I doubt it could recover if you started killing partition layouts and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been messing around with the monster root pack, and can confirm that doing a "Erase and Deregister" doesn't clean out the system; I was still at least half-rooted and nearly unusable. I wiped the transient partitions from CWR and then the eight-boots reset got me back to (what I think is) stock.
I re-applied the monster pack and am having stability issues, but that's another thread, somewhere, I hope...
Dennis

stolenmoment said:
I've been messing around with the monster root pack, and can confirm that doing a "Erase and Deregister" doesn't clean out the system; I was still at least half-rooted and nearly unusable. I wiped the transient partitions from CWR and then the eight-boots reset got me back to (what I think is) stock.
I re-applied the monster pack and am having stability issues, but that's another thread, somewhere, I hope...
Dennis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that actually fully restored a rooted (via auto-nooter) NC to stock for me besides using clockwork recovery to overwrite the sys, data and boot partitions is the 3 finger salute - power on while holding down N and Vol+. I manually erased the internal memory just in case auto-nooter put junk on there as well.
Stability issues here too. Can't decide whether to go back to stock, cm7 emmc or stock and sd cm7.

[Q] G1: Restore from a backup without recovery mode?.

I have a G1 htc dream (european variant = rogers 32a), and I'm slowly losing out. The thing is on CM-6.0, it never had enough memory, and eventually crashed it's way into a mess, and I'm pondering the next move.
What works: All phone features, root terminal, fastboot (r2d2s on skateboards), some programs. I can read/write the sdcards independently. I even have access with the old version of adb. It boots, & reboots.
I have a nandroid backup from late last year on the sdcard, which would do very nicely thank you if I could get it installed. Is there any way to install the backup without access to recovery mode? How are those image files cobbled together?
What doesn't work:
1. Recovery Mode(?) turn-on-with-home-pressed. I can't get off the (opening) blue screen. Remove the battery to restart.
2. /etc/fstab & /etc/mtab are no longer there :-/. /proc/mounts is. I don't know what else is missing, but it implies some essential daemon is awol. Amazingly it writes to the sdcard :-//.
3. Market - It says "starting download....." but it doesn't:-(
4. Memory control. I can start with a bit free, but as uptime continues, the memory vanishes, and anything you open crashes.
I do have linux, and a root terminal on the phone. But without /etc/fstab, all those crazy android device names are not to be seen :-//. ls /dev/block shows me loop0 - loop7; mmcblk0, mmcblk0p1 - mmcblk0p3; mtdblock0 - mtdblock5; vold.

If you have fastboot and a nandroid, you can flash all images separately, i.e.
fastboot flash system <system.img>
fastboot flash userdata <data.img>
...
In the Cyanogenmod Wiki you can find probably some additional hints
With fastboot you can also flash a new recovery ...

AndDiSa said:
If you have fastboot and a nandroid, you can flash all images separately, i.e.
fastboot flash system <system.img>
fastboot flash userdata <data.img>
...
In the Cyanogenmod Wiki you can find probably some additional hints
With fastboot you can also flash a new recovery ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
Image on pc, and fastboot on pc? I'll try that.
Ok. Not out of the woods, but I've made some progress. The obstacle is: recovery isn't mounted, and I only have /proc/mounts. In /dev/block
mtdblock3 is mounted on /system
mtdblock4 is mounted on /cache
mtdblock5 is mounted on /system/xbin
There is mtdblock 0-5. Where the $£%@! is recovery supposed to be mounted? what about the other ones? anyone got an /etc/fstab from a G1??
Actually, I probably have but it's archived. I had figured this on the android by using adb and dump_image, but that's restoring a system while it's running, and there should be laws against that sort of thing.

??? ... recovery is never mounted, it's like a second "mini" os.
Additionally: for using fastboot your phone must be in fastboot mode, i.e. boot with back+power. I suggest you to first read a bit more about fastboot, g1 partitions, etc. ...
Sent from my Gingerbread on Dream using XDA App

That worked after a fashion. I had the backup: system.img, boot.img, cache.img, recovery.img, data.img, & misc.img. Of these, I could flash recovery, cache, system, & boot. The data.img & misc.img threw errors, (me)not knowing where they should be put.
It wasn't enough. I had a trail of processes bailing out and a repeated crash in acore typical of memory being clogged. But I got back recovery mode, and I could apply the latest backup normally. I'm now back to the moments after my successful install of CM-6.0 - before I started civilising it. And I don't really have the ram for it.
Good good good, thank you very much. As I don't have the ram, I'll have to add swap, which I have my sdcard set up for. It's certainly less pain than looking for a lower level rom and going to a smaller OS.
I do have one hitch: I've lost root in the xterm (and I don't know where else).
$ su
permission denied
$
:-O?
EDIT:: I'm a twit. I forgot to run the fix_permissions script. Didn't know I backed up _THAT_ promptly. Permissions were AWOL. So are a few apps, but nothing I'm worried about. Now

[HOWTO] [GUIDE] Repairing corrupted /data partition

I had an experience the other night that I found rather frightening and enlightening, and felt the need to contribute my learning. I attempted to install a new ROM on my Nexus 5 and encountered a freeze during the /system write process. I waited 30 minutes and decided it wasn’t going to finish, so I powered off. As an avid and experienced ROM flasher I knew this could hurt, and knew it was an inevitable requirement.
Upon rebooting back to recovery (I had already wiped /system /data, etc. in preparation for a new ROM) I found that I was unable to mount /data and subsequently /sdcard. I received a few different errors depending on which recovery I attempted (fastboot flashed). I was given neat things like “Enter password to decrypt /data” – TWRP, or “E: Unable to mount /data, invalid argument”, “E: Error mounting /data”, “E: Error mounting /sdcard”.
During all of this I realized I could get an ADB shell going from within Philz recovery (I am not sure if TWRP or CWM do this, nor did I try). After much research, and very much to my dismay, I was unable to find a complete guide or walkthrough for how to go about recovering from this. This is the procedure I glued together from my own digging and manual learning of the commands required. This procedure may or may not work in all cases but is a viable step to recovering your /data partition before going the nuke & pave route with the factory image!
(NOTE: I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible. I am not a dev. I do this for fun/learning in the little free time I get and am not typically available to assist, so please use this only if you feel comfortable with the material. Flashing a ROM/Kernel/etc. is one thing. Digging in the innards of the Android partitions/file system is a whole other beast! To be VERY clear: I am not responsible for damages or loss incurred by the use or misuse of this information.) Also note, if you have an ADB enabled recovery, you can probably try this process against your devices partitions as well.
The following instructions assume you are unable to mount /data or /sdcard on the Nexus 5 and are receiving errors. This also assumes that the wipe /cache function is not resolving the issue for you (as this seems to work for some depending on the issue).
Prerequisites:
- Philz recovery for LGE Nexus 5 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565174)
- Android ADB interface drivers and software (Available from existing root toolkits and SDK)
- Fastboot executable (Also available from existing root toolkits and SDK)
***Note: I performed all of this from Windows 8. The toolkit I used was Wug’s Nexus Root Toolkit (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2517778). If you are a Windows user, read and follow the toolkit instructions to install the drivers. Use the Advanced Utilities[Launch]->Manual Input[Launch CMD Prompt] to bring up a Command prompt and perform the steps below.
- For simplicity, ensure that the ADB and Fastboot binaries are in the same location if you are gathering these binaries from the SDK or other source.
- Create a folder that you can later use to pull recovered files from your phone. (if so desired)​
Terminologies used:
- Terminal = Command Prompt (Windows), Bash/etc (Linux), Terminal (MacOSX)
- Fastboot = Application that interfaces with the Bootloader (flash/wipe partitions, etc)
- ADB = Android Debug Bridge (Provides an interface to interact with Android filesystem)
- Binaries = Files containing executable code (for this context, ADB and Fastboot applications)
- Bootloader = Think of it as the EFI or BIOS equivalent for your phone. (Accessed with VOLDN+PWR)
- Recovery = CWM/TWRP/Philz (We will be using Philz, as this was what I used to write this guide)​
Steps:
1. Install all required drivers and prerequisites listed above.
a. Use Wug’s toolkit or whatever method gets your drivers installed for your OS.​b. If you are not familiar with this process, then please research!​
2. Power off your phone and connect via USB to your PC.
3. Power your phone into the bootloader by holding the PWR+VOLDN keys
4. In a Terminal, browse to the location of your fastboot binaries. (See prerequisite note for Wug’s)
a. Enter ‘fastboot devices’ to verify that your phone is detected. If it returns a “<serialnumberofdevice> fastboot” then you may proceed. If it does not, please check your driver installation and start over.​
5. Flash and boot to Philz recovery:
a. Extract the ‘recovery.img’ file from Philz Recovery ZIP and place in the same location that fastboot and adb binaries are located.​b. Enter ‘fastboot flash recovery recovery.img’ (without quotes) in the Terminal. This will write the new recovery.​c. Once complete (takes a brief second usually), use the VOLUP/DN keys until the Bootloader shows “Recovery Mode” and press the power key. Your phone should now be booting into Philz recovery.​
6. Use ADB to launch a root shell from within Philz recovery
a. Ensure that the drivers are now detecting your device as an ADB ready device by entering: ‘adb devices’. If it returns “<serialnumberofdevice> recovery” then you are ready to proceed. If it does not, please verify your ADB driver installation and check again.​b. Enter: ‘adb shell’ to gain full root shell access to the Android file system. (You should see a “~#” prompt to show that you’re now in a root shell)​
7. Attempt repair of /data partition. This partition includes /sdcard and dalvik. (/sdcard is linked to /data/media) At the ~# prompt:
a. Enter: ‘e2fsck /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata’​b. You should now be prompted to repair or fix errors. Press [Enter] key to use the default answer of for yes. If you are not, then this fix may not apply to you.​c. Continue pressing [Enter] until the process completes.​d. Proceed to next step if you have gotten this far.​
8. Attempt to manually mount the data partition.
a. We are going to mount /data as read-only for now. To do this, enter: ‘mount /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data’​b. If mount is successful, it will simply drop down to the next blank shell prompt. If it fails, you will receive an error. If you receive an error, then the repair has failed.​c. If you did not receive an error, you can now browse to your /data and /sdcard partitions. This is accomplished by entering: ‘cd /data’ for /data, and ‘cd /data/media/0’ OR ‘cd /sdcard’ for your /sdcard (/sdcard is a link that will drop you directly to /data/media/0)​
9. BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE SDCARD TO YOUR COMPUTER!!! (Optional, but highly recommended)
a. Enter: ‘adb pull /data/media <path_on_computer>’​b. <path_on_computer> will be a folder you created in the prerequisites.​c. Wait for this process to complete.​
Congratulations! You may now proceed to launch recovery and flash at will. I highly recommend after making the backup in step 9 that you perform a full factory reset to correct any potential lingering issues with the partitions. You can then push the files back to your /sdcard by mounting /data as RW using ADB shell through Philz recovery (please reference the ‘mount’ and ‘adb’ command utilities for information about how to do this).
If you find yourself in the unfortunate position to have to use this, please share your results in the forum for others. If you find something does not work, please post it (I will check occasionally and update as I can). I do not frequent my PM’s, and again, I am not available to provide support. Please understand this and use at your own risk.
If this helped you, then my job here is done . Thanks for reading!
(I am not affiliated with any of the devs that provide these tools. Be sure to thank them if you used their tools, as they deserve all credit for enabling and teaching us to do these things – even when we do break our own stuff!)

Nice guide I'm sure this is going to be very useful for a lot of people. :thumbup::thumbup:
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Really helpful guide, I corrupted the data and cache partition while updating (via official OTA by sideload) to 4.4.1 (full stock Nexus 5), and I had to format all flashing then factory image and losing all the data...
Now if it does happens another time, I'll know what to do.
Thanks

Good write up but, I don't recommend tool kits. You can do all this with fastboot commands. You could just flash userdata image with fastboot

As a Linux admin, I'd wanna format /data after pulling off any files I wanted to keep rather than just rely on fsck . Is that an option? Is mkfs even on the recovery?
Sent from my BN NookHD+ using xda app-developers app

Thanks for sharing.
My nexus5 cant mount cache partition and i cant flash to stock factory，this maybe helpful.
Thank you again.

ywt474000158 said:
Thanks for sharing.
My nexus5 cant mount cache partition and i cant flash to stock factory，this maybe helpful.
Thank you again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you fastboot flash the cache.img?

razholio said:
As a Linux admin, I'd wanna format /data after pulling off any files I wanted to keep rather than just rely on fsck . Is that an option? Is mkfs even on the recovery?
Sent from my BN NookHD+ using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm no Linux admin but there's a wipe /data button which does that in TWRP and also probably in CWM.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Somehow it seems as though all of my partitions have been wiped/corrupted and I was directed to this thread as possible help. When trying to run step 7 command(had to do it with CWM v6.0.4.5 as it doesn't seem to want to keep philz when sideloading or fastboot flashing it), it gives me the following response:
e2fsck: 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
The super block could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock: e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
My phone was having freezes and shutdowns so I decided to flash a new ROM to freshen things up and it failed and aborted. After that I've got no android to boot into and I can't mount or access any of the partitions. I've got fastboot and adb, but no clue where to begin as it seems like I have to recreate my partition table but can't find any info on doing that for the nexus 5 itself

tidoubleger said:
Somehow it seems as though all of my partitions have been wiped/corrupted and I was directed to this thread as possible help. When trying to run step 7 command(had to do it with CWM v6.0.4.5 as it doesn't seem to want to keep philz when sideloading or fastboot flashing it), it gives me the following response:
e2fsck: 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
The super block could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock: e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
My phone was having freezes and shutdowns so I decided to flash a new ROM to freshen things up and it failed and aborted. After that I've got no android to boot into and I can't mount or access any of the partitions. I've got fastboot and adb, but no clue where to begin as it seems like I have to recreate my partition table but can't find any info on doing that for the nexus 5 itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried this yet http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47156064

jd1639 said:
Have you tried this yet http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47156064
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I tried it by using the flash-all.bat, flashing individually, and even Wug's toolkit as a last resort there but got nothing. When flashing the bootloader and radio it sends over fine but then gives me FAILED (remote: flash write failure) and finishes. When trying to flash the system or userdata it gives me FAILED (remote: failed to erase partition) and ends.

tidoubleger said:
Yes I tried it by using the flash-all.bat, flashing individually, and even Wug's toolkit as a last resort there but got nothing. When flashing the bootloader and radio it sends over fine but then gives me FAILED (remote: flash write failure) and finishes. When trying to flash the system or userdata it gives me FAILED (remote: failed to erase partition) and ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking your emmc went bad. Rma is probably your option right now

jd1639 said:
I'm thinking your emmc went bad. Rma is probably your option right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as far as Google knowing it, if I am able to successfully reset the tamper flag and lock the bootloader am I good to go or will they still find out?

tidoubleger said:
Well as far as Google knowing it, if I am able to successfully reset the tamper flag and lock the bootloader am I good to go or will they still find out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If all your positions are corrupted I doubt you'll be able to reset the tamper flag. But also, no one will be able to see the tamper flag. But try to reset it and try to relock the bootloader. I don't think anyone will be able to tell if you modified anything or not.

not know
Did not know this could be done

jd1639 said:
If all your positions are corrupted I doubt you'll be able to reset the tamper flag. But also, no one will be able to see the tamper flag. But try to reset it and try to relock the bootloader. I don't think anyone will be able to tell if you modified anything or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I can see that the tamper flag is still true even after running that zip because it still fails because it can't mount /cache. I'm getting the feeling that the partitions aren't corrupted but have just been wiped or something. When I booted into TWRP through fastboot I was able to adb push to the sdcard and it showed up in the list when trying to install a zip, however the Internal Storage still read 0MB. I won't be able to RMA it for a few more days so if any other ideas come about, I'm all for it as I'd rather not have to RMA this lol

tidoubleger said:
Hmm, I can see that the tamper flag is still true even after running that zip because it still fails because it can't mount /cache. I'm getting the feeling that the partitions aren't corrupted but have just been wiped or something. When I booted into TWRP through fastboot I was able to adb push to the sdcard and it showed up in the list when trying to install a zip, however the Internal Storage still read 0MB. I won't be able to RMA it for a few more days so if any other ideas come about, I'm all for it as I'd rather not have to RMA this lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In twrp 2.6.3.4 have you tried going into wipe and then format data?

@tidoubleger I am going to call in some RCs that were having this problem on an N7. They eventually got it sorted and up and running. They might be able to help.
@demkantor @MameTozhio @kilometers4
Fellas, would you be able to help this person out the same way you did here.

jd1639 said:
In twrp 2.6.3.4 have you tried going into wipe and then format data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it fails due to being unable to mount /cache.
Woody said:
@tidoubleger I am going to call in some RCs that were having this problem on an N7. They eventually got it sorted and up and running. They might be able to help.
@demkantor @MameTozhio @kilometers4
Fellas, would you be able to help this person out the same way you did here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Woody, I appreciate the call to arms I'm currently at Disneyworld, so I won't be able to test anything until this evening but will do my best to answer questions until then

tidoubleger said:
Somehow it seems as though all of my partitions have been wiped/corrupted and I was directed to this thread as possible help. When trying to run step 7 command(had to do it with CWM v6.0.4.5 as it doesn't seem to want to keep philz when sideloading or fastboot flashing it), it gives me the following response:
e2fsck: 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
e2fsck: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
The super block could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock: e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
My phone was having freezes and shutdowns so I decided to flash a new ROM to freshen things up and it failed and aborted. After that I've got no android to boot into and I can't mount or access any of the partitions. I've got fastboot and adb, but no clue where to begin as it seems like I have to recreate my partition table but can't find any info on doing that for the nexus 5 itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem. This is how I got it sorted.
follow these steps and you should get it sorted
fastboot erase system -w
fastboot erase boot
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
once it flashes, boot into recovery.
format sdcard (i believe it is)
Now adb sideload ROM and gapps
I have class until this afternoon, but that should get it fixed
If you have any hangups post it here and I'll help you when I'm free.
Good Luck

[HOW-TO][ROOT][4NOOBS] Resize sdcard0 and internal storage to maximize space for apps

Ever since I bought my Xperia TL (LT30at), I've been upset at the ridiculous allocation of onboard memory: only 1.97GB were available for apps. The rest was allocated to an emulated external SD card, which meant that any app installed on it would lose widgets and suffer from other weird glitches on reboot. I've searched all over the place and couldn't find a solution until @teidus shared his method (per my research, it has been used on older devices from other manufacturers as well). I tried it and adjusted the steps to ensure 100% compatibility with my phone (and added explanations so that other devices could be tested).
See proof in the attached screenshots.
WARNING: You will lose a lot of data if you don't follow this guide!
WARNING: These operations require a rooted device. If you are running unrooted Android 4.3 or newer, you cannot proceed.
NOTE: All of these changes will be reversed if you flash an FTF that includes partition-image.sin.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible for bricked devices and data loss from power surges, hardware damage, or changes to the linked software. Always check the native manuals for all the tools listed here!
Required Downloads:
1. Flashtool, which includes ADB (got questions about it? - ask them here) - requires installation
2. @[NUT]'s dual XZDualRecovery. I'm linking to v2.7.94 BETA installer. If you wish to check for a more recent version, go to his download page and do a page search (CTRL+F) for XT-lockeddualrecovery[version-goes-here].installer.zip. (got questions about it? - ask them here) - unzip to a location you'll remember (say, C:\xperia-resize\recovery\)
3. FTF with your phone's 4.1.2 firmware - save it to the default Flashtool firmware directory (C:\flashtool\firmwares\)
4. File system utilities (attached) - unzip to a location on your phone's physical SD card you'll remember (say, fs-utils\)​
The Guide (skip all the way to the bottom for the short guide if you know how to backup and flash FTFs):
1. Back up all data stored on internal storage:
Option 1: Connect your phone to the computer and save it to a computer drive.
Option 2: Open a file manager on the phone and copy it to a physical SD card (/sdcard1).​2. Back up your current installation with either Online Nandroid or your current recovery and remove the SD card for safety.
3. Flash your phone with basic 4.1.2 install.
3.1 Turn off the phone.
3.2 Launch Flashtool.
3.3 Click the thunderbolt icon on the left and select Flashmode.
3.4 Select the appropriate 4.1.2 FTF from the list (it'll be there if you saved it to c:\Flashtool\firmwares\).
3.5 Tick "No final verification" checkbox on the right, click Flash, and when prompted, hold the VOLUME DOWN button, and connect the phone to the computer. The operation will take about 10 minutes. DISREGARD THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANIMATION. Xperia T/TL doesn't have a hardware Back button.
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3.6 When flashing is complete, boot the phone.​
4. Connect your phone to the computer and let the computer recognize it.
5. Enable USB debugging.
5.1 Go to (System) Settings -> Developer options and flip the switch in the top-right corner of the screen.
5.2 Look a bit down (toward the middle of the screen) and check USB debugging.​6. Install the dual recovery.
6.1 Go to the location on your computer where you extracted dual recovery (e.g., C:\xperia-resize\recovery\).
6.2 Double-click install.bat.
6.3 Press 3 on your keyboard for the option 3. Installation on unrooted ROM.
6.4 Follow the instructions on your computer's screen.
6.5 When you will try to reboot the phone back into Android, the recovery will prompt you to root the OS. Do that.​
7. Boot into PhilZ Touch recovery by opening App Drawer, starting NDR Utils, and selecting the appropriate option.
8. When the phone boots into recovery, connect it to the computer.
9. Start ADB.
If you don't know where ADB is, press WIN + R on your computer keyboard, type cmd in the pop-up window, hit ENTER, then copy & paste this command (paste by right-clicking the command prompt window): cd C:\Flashtool\x10flasher_lib. Then type adb shell and hit ENTER again.​10. Execute the following commands one-by-one (you can copy & paste, hit enter, and wait for the output):
Code:
umount /storage
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
print
These commands unmount all drives, launch parted utility for mmcblk0 (onboard flash storage), and show the partition table.​11. Record the beginning of the partition Userdata and the end of the partitionSDCard. These are the limits of your new partitions The numbers are in megabytes (MB) unless specified.
For Xperia T/TL, Userdata begins at 1621 and SDCard ends at 15.6GB. Xperia V (and any other device with less than 16GB of storage) will definitely have a different value.​
12. Remove the last 2 partitions by executing the following commands:
Code:
rm 14
rm 15
13. Calculate the new end point for Userdata, which is also the new start point for SDCard:
1621 (or another number you recorded in step 11) + additional space = new end. I added 4GB (4 ×1024MB = 4096MB) so my new end point was 7865. I advise to add at least 2GB (2048MB) to feel safe about having enough storage for apps. DON'T TRY TO REMOVE SDCARD ALTOGETHER BY ALLOCATING ALL OF THE AVAILABLE SPACE TO USERDATA! Emulated storage is coded into OS environment and requires additional modifications to work properly.​14. Create and name new partitions by executing the following commands (don't copy the text in parentheses):
The system might throw several errors in the process. When prompted, just type ignore and hit ENTER.​
Code:
mkpartfs logical ext2 1621 7865 (change the numbers as appropriate for your device)
name 14 Userdata
mkpartfs logical ext2 7865 15.6GB (change the numbers as appropriate for your device and notice the GB to make sure the partition extends to the end of the onboard storage)
name 15 SDCard
quit
These commands create the partitions with ext2 file system and given beginning and end parameters, rename them as required, and close parted.​15. "Damage" the internal, emulated SD card so that it could be formatted properly later.
Tap Mounts and storage -> Format /storage/sdcard0 -> default and confirm the operation.​16. Insert the physical SD card (sdcard1) that you removed in step 2 back into the device.
Make sure it's mounted by tapping Mounts and storage and checking its status (it should say unmount /storage/sdcard1/). If not, mount it by tapping on the appropriate option.​17. Execute the following commands one-by-one in the ADB command prompt:
Code:
cd /storage/sdcard1/fs-utils (the directory name will be different if you didn't follow my conventions)
tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
e2fsck -fpDC0 /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
These commands convert Userdata partition into the appropriate ext4 filesystem, which is not supported natively in the recovery environment.​18. Reboot the device into full Android.
18.1 Remove the physical SD card for safety.
18.2 Tap Back until you make it to the top level of recovery. Then tap the top option Reboot the device.​19. When Android loads fully, you'll notice a notification about storage file system. Tap it and follow the prompts to format it.
20. Insert the physical SD card and reboot into the recovery you used to create the backup in step 2 to restore it.
In PhilZ, that's Backup and Restore -> Restore from /storage/sdcard1.​21. Reboot back into full Android and copy the files saved from internal storage back into it. Then reboot again so that apps recognize the data.
DONE!​
Short guide/list of ADB commands and other events (*enclosed in asterisks*) if you know the safety drill:
Code:
*flash 4.1.2 & install dual recovery*
*boot into PhilZ Touch*
adb shell
umount /storage
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
print
*record start point of Userdata and end point of SDCard*
rm 15
rm 14
mkpartfs logical ext2 1621 7865
name 14 Userdata
mkpartfs logical ext2 7865 15.6GB
name 15 SDCard
*Mounts and storage -> Format /storage/sdcard0 -> default -> confirm*
*insert physical SD card*
*Mounts and storage -> Mount /storage/sdcard1*
cd /storage/sdcard1/fs-utils
tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
e2fsck -fpDC0 /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
*remove physical SD card*
*reboot*
*format emulated SD card*
*reboot recovery*
*restore backup*
*reboot*
*restore sdcard0/*
*reboot*

nice, i was looking for a way to increase the /data after switching to Omni and ART
Will try ASAP..
PS: i think this thread should be added in ALL IN ONE THREAD Section:good::victory::victory::victory:

raghulrr said:
PS: i think this thread should be added in ALL IN ONE THREAD Section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a request to @gregbradley.

#6 would be the most welcomed way to resize partitions, but unfortunately it's not so easy as it was e.g. with ZTE Blade. But altogether it's good to know that you can resize them now! Thanks!

nice tutorial brother... i'll be trying tommorow
Sent from S5J using Tapatalk

Thanks
Thank you I was definetly looking for it
Thanks

@TO: I couldn't test ist but I think made a little mistake:
I think you want want to execute the programms wich are in the Directory in wich you made the cd. So you have to add ./ before each command.
I don't have such a device, to test it by myself: You said you have to make a new virtual SD. Some ROMes have a vold.fstab in /etc. Mayby it't enough to change this file to be able to remove the SD Partition completly.

Partitionator said:
@TO: I couldn't test ist but I think made a little mistake:
I think you want want to execute the programms wich are in the Directory in wich you made the cd. So you have to add ./ before each command.
I don't have such a device, to test it by myself: You said you have to make a new virtual SD. Some ROMes have a vold.fstab in /etc. Mayby it't enough to change this file to be able to remove the SD Partition completly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was writing the guide as I was executing commands so everything is exactly as I entered it. I obviously removed all steps that turned out to redundant and wrong.

Will that work with the Xperia Arc S?!
What is the difference between your method and the [MOD]{CM10.1}{CM10.2}{CM11}{AOSP}Working Int2Ext for Xperia 2011 [ART-compatible]?

metaljoker said:
Will that work with the Xperia Arc S?!
What is the difference between your method and the [MOD]{CM10.1}{CM10.2}{CM11}{AOSP}Working Int2Ext for Xperia 2011 [ART-compatible]?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are some great questions! This approach is very different from all Int2Ext scripts:
HUGE NOTE: This works only for devices where the onboard NAND capacity is at least 8GB. That means that 2011 devices with 1-4GB of onboard memory are better off with mounting the physical SD card as /data.
This is a semi-permanent modification to the partition table (it'll work fine if you do factory reset and flash a new ROM .zip but the allocation will be reset every time you flash FTF, possibly even if you exclude partition-image because each .sin contains its offset and size bits).
This approach is compatible with locked bootloaders because support of init.d comes from the kernel.
This approach allows you to allocate as much or as little of onboard NAND storage to each of the 2 partitions (/data and /storage/sdcard0) used for storing apps and their data instead of just allocating the entire physical SD card.
This approach allows you to live a life independent of your physical SD card (i.e., your apps still work and your phone boots up just fine even if the physical SD card dies).

bsined said:
These are some great questions! This approach is very different from all Int2Ext scripts:
HUGE NOTE: This works only for devices where the onboard NAND capacity is at least 8GB. That means that 2011 devices with 1-4GB of onboard memory are better off with mounting the physical SD card as /data.
This is a semi-permanent modification to the partition table (it'll work fine if you do factory reset and flash a new ROM .zip but the allocation will be reset every time you flash FTF, possibly even if you exclude partition-image because each .sin contains its offset and size bits).
This approach is compatible with locked bootloaders because support of init.d comes from the kernel.
This approach allows you to allocate as much or as little of onboard NAND storage to each of the 2 partitions (/data and /storage/sdcard0) used for storing apps and their data instead of just allocating the entire physical SD card.
This approach allows you to live a life independent of your physical SD card (i.e., your apps still work and your phone boots up just fine even if the physical SD card dies).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a great info! There are steps in the thread that aren't clear enough not only for me but also for others, that's for sure.
For those who have partitioned their SDcard, unlocked BL & rooted phones, should have their own line of steps, however I feel like I might mistake something in case I use it.
P.S.:
01. You didn't answer my question whether this is compatible with my phone, did you?!
02. There should be a video demonstration for this method for it is new in this website, don't you think?!
03. unzip to a location on your phone's physical SD card you'll remember (say, fs-utils\) what do you mean by remember "say, fs-utils\" ??

@up
It depend on your partition scheme, which ones are on the end of memory (physical).
Wysłane z mojego GT-I8160 przy użyciu Tapatalka

batlin said:
@up
It depend on your partition scheme, which ones are on the end of memory (physical).
Wysłane z mojego GT-I8160 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 1GB partitioned SDcard for the apps! Does this info help?!
How the heck could I install the TeamWin Recovery Project (TWRP) ??!!

metaljoker said:
That's a great info! There are steps in the thread that aren't clear enough not only for me but also for others, that's for sure.
For those who have partitioned their SDcard, unlocked BL & rooted phones, should have their own line of steps, however I feel like I might mistake something in case I use it.
P.S.:
01. You didn't answer my question whether this is compatible with my phone, did you?!
02. There should be a video demonstration for this method for it is new in this website, don't you think?!
03. unzip to a location on your phone's physical SD card you'll remember (say, fs-utils\) what do you mean by remember "say, fs-utils\" ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD partitioning and status of the bootloader should not have any effect on the process. However, root is required in order to install recovery.
1. Theoretically, this mod is compatible with any device that has the latest version of CWM or TWRP. I've tested it with Xperia TL and Nook Tablet 16GB. However, if your device's total available user storage (/data + /storage/sdcard0) is 4GB or less, you will likely require a physical SD card for storing your apps, user data, and whatever is written to sdcard0 by default.
2. Although I realize that some people learn best by watching instead of reading, this procedure is very quick when your device's recovery supports all the required commands. I repartitioned Nook Tablet in barely 10 minutes. If I were to make a screen cast of it, 90% of the video would be just moving the mouse around or waiting for the phone to boot. The longest operation is to create the journal, which takes about 10 seconds by the phone.
3. "Say" = "for example". Create a folder on the physical SD card and call it "fs-utils".

bsined said:
SD partitioning and status of the bootloader should not have any effect on the process. However, root is required in order to install recovery.
1. Theoretically, this mod is compatible with any device that has the latest version of CWM or TWRP. I've tested it with Xperia TL and Nook Tablet 16GB. However, if your device's total available user storage (/data + /storage/sdcard0) is 4GB or less, you will likely require a physical SD card for storing your apps, user data, and whatever is written to sdcard0 by default.
2. Although I realize that some people learn best by watching instead of reading, this procedure is very quick when your device's recovery supports all the required commands. I repartitioned Nook Tablet in barely 10 minutes. If I were to make a screen cast of it, 90% of the video would be just moving the mouse around or waiting for the phone to boot. The longest operation is to create the journal, which takes about 10 seconds by the phone.
3. "Say" = "for example". Create a folder on the physical SD card and call it "fs-utils".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW! I am very impressed for answering each question in an informative way! W E L L D O N E! ! :good:
I'll take my chances since I've read your lines. Wish me luck!
I'll get back to you once I encounter the unexpected, or maybe not. We'll see! Here goes nothing...

metaljoker said:
WOW! I am very impressed for answering each question in an informative way! W E L L D O N E! ! :good:
I'll take my chances since I've read your lines. Wish me luck!
I'll get back to you once I encounter the unexpected, or maybe not. We'll see! Here goes nothing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realized that I've forgotten to include roll-back instructions if anything goes wrong. Here's the short version:
1. You better have made Nandroid backup of your system and have copied the content of your /storage/sdcard0
2. Find a stock, rootable FTF on the forums, download it, and flash it using Flashtool
3. Install recovery on the reflashed device
4. Restore backup from recovery and copy the content back to /storage/sdcard0

ADB Shell
Sorry if this silly questions
I want use your mod on my XV, but I've some problem (on Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit)
1. When I reboot from PhilZ Touch recovery for a first time, i don't get root question
2. Cause i don't get about root question, so i try root from PhilZ Touch recovery menu
3. When I try run adb shell on TWRP recovery, there no device notif (I already install Windows Update : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2917929 and use Flashtool Driver 1.5)
So, am i mis something? Where i got wrong? Thanks before

thunder888 said:
Sorry if this silly questions
I want use your mod on my XV, but I've some problem (on Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit)
1. When I reboot from PhilZ Touch recovery for a first time, i don't get root question
2. Cause i don't get about root question, so i try root from PhilZ Touch recovery menu
3. When I try run adb shell on TWRP recovery, there no device notif (I already install Windows Update : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2917929 and use Flashtool Driver 1.5)
So, am i mis something? Where i got wrong? Thanks before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess is the problem is with Win8 and ADB drivers. However, just to be sure, try attaching the phone to the computer to test ADB when it's booted to PhilZ and full Android. If the phone is not recognized, search the forum for a fix (there should be one). Unfortunately, my only Win8 machine is Surface RT, which doesn't accept ADB drivers, so I can't test anything myself.

bsined said:
I guess is the problem is with Win8 and ADB drivers. However, just to be sure, try attaching the phone to the computer to test ADB when it's booted to PhilZ and full Android. If the phone is not recognized, search the forum for a fix (there should be one). Unfortunately, my only Win8 machine is Surface RT, which doesn't accept ADB drivers, so I can't test anything myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i agree. But if I attach phone at full Android and run ADB, it can be recognized. I'll reinstall my windows and will give a report later. Thanks :good:

My dearest friend...
My phone was revered back to original. In order to have it rooted it took me 17 hours
1] Regarding the "Flash your phone with basic" my phone's already rooted which means that I do not need to flash an FTF file. In case I need to, which version?! Would that harm anyhow?
2] I'm stopped at 6.5. Because I do not have the TWRP installed on my phone.
3] My Recovery is CWM-based Recovery v6.0.4.7, if no problem then how can I Start ADB?!!!
Obviously, I'm not even half way. I need your help my friend!
* Xperia Arc S

Bootloop after installing Xposed framework

Hello,
I am hoping someone can assist with interpreting my log file or provide suggestions on how to convert my backups into a usable format that can be flashed back to the phone thus recovering it to a usable state. I have a logcat and dmesg in a text log file. I have put the file up on Google drive, the link is here-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9e...ew?usp=sharing
I also spent time reading and studying the post about using logcat and dmesg posted here-
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2274119
I believe the last operation I tried before softbricking was installing the Xposed framework module for my device (running Lollipop 5.1.1).
I have tried one solution so far, go into recovery, clear cache and reboot.
To recover from this issue I think I have two basic options-
#1 restore from backup
#2 locate the problem that is causing the system to hang at startup in the first place
At the end of the day I am trying to find the simplest, quickest method to get back up and running. Both methods are acceptable to me. I am not worried about losing any data.
My phone is a BLU Studio C 5+5 LTE and therefore can't use TWRP or CWM (At least that is my assumption, maybe someone knows different). Before getting into the softbrick state I took 3 different types of backups in the hopes that one of them could be used in case it was needed. (like this)
Type 1 - I did an ADB shell backup from a completely stock device (unrooted). I used this command-
adb backup -apk -all -f fullbackup.adb
For this method I followed this guide here-
https://linuxiswonderful.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/full-backup-of-nonrooted-android/
Type 2 - I used Titanium backup and performed a complete system and application backup
Type 3 - I rooted the phone and backed up all partitions using dd after reviewing the partition layout of the device. For example, to backup the system partition I did the following at an ADB shell-
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p21 of=/storage/sdcard1/firmware-img/system.img
I am able to still communicate to my device using ADB and I can get an ADB shell or enter fastboot mode.
My challenge/sticking point is how to turn my backups into a usable format to get me back on track or understand the boot process enough to get out of the boot loop. I am familiar with how Linux boots as I am a SysAdmin. I know Android is similar but just different enough to make me research this further.
The first thing I tried was mounting my raw image files created from the dd process. I followed this guide-
https://samindaw.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/mounting-a-file-as-a-file-system-in-linux/
I ran these commands-
#losetup /dev/loop0 /path/to/my/system.img
# mkfs -t ext3 -m 1 -v /dev/loop0
# mount -t ext3 /dev/loop0 /mnt
# cd /mnt
# ls
The various image files I created all seemed to mount "ok" OK meaning that the loopback mount process worked but it appears there is nothing but a lost+found folder in the mounted image. (I'm not sure why that is.)
I am still researching methods to turn my other backups into something usable for recovery purposes.
For using the adb backup file I created, this is what my understanding is-
Adb backup uses a type of compression (don’t remember what kind). I would need to uncompress the file first. After uncompressing and being able to view the file contents I would think I should be able to put together a flashable zip file of some sort.
I think the process for Titanium backup would generally be the same- uncompress/convert file format, create/assemble a flashable zip file
If there is any other info you need to see, please let me know. I made a lot of notes about the system architecture, partition layout, etc.
Many Thanks in Advance for your Advice!

Found my answer. Used ADB shell and mounted /system in RW mode. Changed /system/bin/dex2oat filename and the device booted normally. Issue solved!