Database Develop

RECOVERY ROM Flash… thru USB from PC ?? (no SD)

I wound up with a non functioning SD card reader after downgrading to dreaIMG. I managed to get a USB connection, after much, fuss to my PC. I am running a program (Droid Explorer) on my P.C. which, among it’s many functions, appears to allow you to upgrade your ROM and install programs from its PC UI. any body gone this route? Would you recommend ?
NOTE: I messed with the SD and usb connection for days, new SD cards, reformatting them every which way, and fiddled with the setup on the android (once registered). I suspect the ROM was corrupt and recover process might just fix it. If it dosn't’t I certainly want to finish the whole process anyway.
The keyboard is the size of my shaky thumbs, I’m dyslexic, far sighted and can only hunt and peck on a regular keyboard. There is absolutely no way I could blindly pump the arcane commands I’ve seen around that might let me finish. (I tried typing “am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.Settings” 21 times and never got it right)
So, if some one can confirm this USB to PC flash is a valid method (DroidExplorer or other), I guess It would just be like using the PC as a gigantic SD card, I would be jazzed. Right now, cant’ use the keyboard, and can’t use the SD, I see no other way to finish the job. (unless I could install a command prompt thing on the phone to see what I’m doing…still no SD.
Thanks in advance
\PK

Questions in general belong in the Q&A forum, not the Development forum. Questions regarding Droid Explorer, being an app, belong in the Apps forum.
Repost there and you'll likely get help. Here, you're likely to get flamed.

You can definitely flash images directly to the device (without use of the SD card), however, you cannot use update packages, but instead images. You will need separate recovery, boot and system images, and either apply them with the flash_image tool through adb, or through fastboot.
The flash_image route is going to be a bit difficult, since you need to have enough room on the internal RAM to keep a copy of the image you are flashing. (Perhaps you can overwrite the existing backup version ...)
In either case, this is not the best forum to be posting these questions. Obviously, you best course would have been in the Q&A (rather self-explanatory), or as another posted recommended, under Apps.

[Removed as duplicate]

Now that this post has been moved to Q&A: To the OP --
Have you tried issuing the "mount" command via console while in recovery? I.e.;
Code:
#mount /sdcard
I've had it come up where the /sdcard itself wasn't mounting properly.
Otherwise you're stuck flashing a full .NBH file via Fastboot, insofar as I am aware.

IConrad01 said:
Questions in general belong in the Q&A forum, not the Development forum. Questions regarding Droid Explorer, being an app, belong in the Apps forum.
Repost there and you'll likely get help. Here, you're likely to get flamed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I've been obssed and frutrated for 3 days/ Total lack of responce here (Q&A) and elswhere. I did a new search and everything resembling my issue was wherever my origional post was on xda, not Q&A.
Any way, I'll stay away. pk

rpcameron said:
You can definitely flash images directly to the device (without use of the SD card), however, you cannot use update packages, but instead images. You will need separate recovery, boot and system images, and either apply them with the flash_image tool through adb, or through fastboot.
The flash_image route is going to be a bit difficult, since you need to have enough room on the internal RAM to keep a copy of the image you are flashing. (Perhaps you can overwrite the existing backup version ...)
In either case, this is not the best forum to be posting these questions. Obviously, you best course would have been in the Q&A (rather self-explanatory), or as another posted recommended, under Apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate your reply very informative
1)if I reconstruct a zip file and get 3 or4 bin or img files, how do I determine which goes first?
2) Do they need to be renamed? if so, to what?
3) "The flash_image route is going to be a bit difficult" . so your saying that my P.C will not be behaving like an SD card? but just a dump truck?
4)n Sorry for crashing the party. I bought this thing on Ebay 4 days ago "for parts" and knew zip about it. I Posted several times in the Q&A section and pretty much got "format SD to fat 32"...Very well meaning but page one of every g1 how to.
Without bugging you guys, I know I'm a noob, but in 3 days I took this 50 buck T-mobile with no usb, no wifi, no bluetooth, no-way to input through the keyboard, no SD and, nothing on the screen but a 3 page sign up sheet for to google...to a functioning AT&T phone with most of the perks working.
I just want to finish the job, I think with a proper flash, the remaining probs. might go away. All I was looking for was a morsel of direction, not "format fat32", and you gave it!!
Thank you, PK

IConrad01 said:
Now that this post has been moved to Q&A: To the OP --
Have you tried issuing the "mount" command via console while in recovery? I.e.;
Code:
#mount /sdcard
I've had it come up where the /sdcard itself wasn't mounting properly.
Otherwise you're stuck flashing a full .NBH file via Fastboot, insofar as I am aware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Ico...,
Yes, I have now. No luck. I resigned to the fact that I will have to install from my PC... for now. I tried out this little utility, Droid Explorer. It is the exactly what I think an interface should be. It's takes al these monstrous tasks an packs them m into a little windows type app. But, you have to heave a ROCK-SOLID connection.
I just have to think I had a bum DreaIMG rom. it loaded up from my SD card and installed swimmingly with a cheery concluding "SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED!!". After that the card(s) were never to be recognized again. I wonder if I could Just get a normal usb-to-mini usb adapter and plug a thumb drive in, install of that.
Last night I got it to be recognized by my PC a little better, but, I still can't really transfer anything. (I also managed to inadvertently run up $208.00 in "data fees"...no bloody clue").
I've been following a different wiki every day. It seems as though most of them are outdated by a week or so (history). I think my problem lies in usb drivers because installations seems always seem inconclusive as to weather there there or not and adb seems to misbehave.
Chow

[GUIDE] Turkeys' Ultimate Guide to Root Wildfire v42.1.2 (Easy & Safe!)

Turkeys' ULTIMATE Guide to Rooting v42.1.2
Note: It does not work on 2.2.1 Wildfire's (i.e. - Any bought after Feb - March 2011)
Like this guide? Hit the thanks button at the bottom left of this post
Before You Start
This is a new type of guide, an experiment if you like. The whole point is to get you with a fully functioning, rooted phone. But also to teach you something. Each step first tells you what you're going to do before you do it. By the end not only should you have a rooted phone but you will hopefully have priceless knowlege of how Android works.
Enjoy.
Need Help?
If at any point during this guide you need help, something's gone wrong or you need some extra clarification. Hit the help button.
The help button will link you to the #rootmydroid IRC help chat channel, where you can ask questions or get walked through the whole thing if you really need to. We have experts on hand to help you out.
PLEASE NOTE: At peak times our experts may be busy so please be patient.
So, Mr. Turkeys, what have you got for us today?
Root Guide
Post 1 - Intro
Post 2 - UnrEVOked (Rooting)
Post 3 - Flashing a ROM
Post 4 - Flashing a new Radio
Other Guides
Unroot
A2SD
More Coming Soon... Stay tuned!
So, click a link to the guide you want and get cracking, enjoy!
Donate
Should you feel the crazy need to donate to me, you can do so below.
GBP
EUR
USD

So, you wanna root?
Rooting is not easy like some people make it out to be. All these 1 click Noob-Proof tools can actually go wrong. And they do.
But lets get this clear, IT'S ALMOST impossible to brick. I'd put the odds on about a 99.9% chance you will not brick beyond repair. However, things probably will go wrong, which is why you will need to follow the instructions very carefully.
Pre-Root Info
I want to make sure the rooting process goes well for as many as you as possible, so get ready to read lots of information that will turn you from a Noob into a lean, mean rooting machine.
And for those of you who like to slack off and think "I cba to read all that crap", I've made it so you have to answer a question to get the download links. Aren't I nice. Seriously though, it really will be a lot easier for you if you read all of this, you will thank me for it one day.
Pro users who know what HBOOT is, how to flash a ROM and can use ADB can safely skip this step
Android Glossary
This page is probably the most valuble bit of information you will ever need during your rooted life. Behold, the VillainROM Android Glossary. (Cheers Pulser )
http://bit.ly/9HtICk
Read it. Read it ALL. No questions asking for these terms will be tolerated in this thread and you will be teased so much you will want to die. So please, read it carefully.
Downloads
Now, for the bit you've been dreading. 2 downloads. 2 questions. One answer will link you to the download. The other two will link you to a humorous fail picture. (And for all you sneaky cheaters out there, I've bit.ly'd the links. Take that.)
Question 1 - UnrEVOked download
What do you use to flash a ROM?
A) UnrEVOked
B) ADB
C) Recovery
Question 2 - Other Stuff Download (We may ask you to use this on the help channel)
What is a RUU?
A) A tool to root your phone
B) A tool to return your phone to 'stock' (unroot)
C) A tool to flash a ROM
You can also get countless lulz from adding a + to the end of those links and comparing the wrong answers to the correct ones. Yes people really don't read the information.
OK, I've talked enough now, let's get down to business...

So, hopefully you now know all the terms, which makes my life a lot easier as I don't have to explain everything. Let's begin.
Root Guide - Pt. 2 - UnrEVOked
1) Ensure you have downloaded and extracted the first download in the above post to somewhere you can remember and access easily. For the purpose of this guide, I will refer to that folder as the 'Root Pack'.
Next, we are going to prepare the UnrEVOked program to run. If you are a Windows user, this means installing the drivers, if you use Linux or Mac you just have to run the app as mentioned later. We have to install HTC Sync to get adb drivers and we have to uninstall it again as it interferes with UnrEVOked. The drivers however remain which is why you need to install it.
2) (Windows Only) If you have not already, download HTC Sync and install it. Then uninstall HTC Sync as well as any other software that may interfere such as doubletwist. Next, follow this guide to set up the hacked HBOOT drivers. Make sure you reboot your PC after doing this.
Next, we need to prepare your phone. We will make sure USB Debugging is on as UnrEVOked needs this to send adb commands to the phone. We also need to enable Unknown Sources so that UnrEVOked can push busybox and SuperUser Permissions apps to the phone.
3) With your phone go to Settings > Connect to PC > Default connection type > Charge Only and untick Ask Me. Then go to Settings > Applications > Development > Make sure USB Debugging is ticked. Then go back to Applications and make sure Unknown Sources is ticked.
Next, we're going to run UnrEVOked. What it does is reboot into HBOOT mode, and use an exploit to gain a temporary NAND unlock. Then it uses fastboot to flash a recovery image, and then pushes the su files required for root.
4) WINDOWS USERS: Right click on the 'unrevoked.exe' file (Or something similar) in the Root Pack and click 'Run as Admin' (Not required for XP)
LINUX USERS: Right click the 'ClickHereToRoot.sh' file and UnrEVOked will start. (Make sure you chmod 755'd it first)
MAC USERS:
mattbeef said:
Unrevoked, if your a mac user like myself then drag the app inside the dmg to the desktop and run it from there. Most mac users are lazy and will try to run it from the dmg.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GETTING A MISC RELATED ERROR? See post eight.
Your phone should now reboot and then congratulations! Your phone is rooted. However, the root that UnrEVOked gives you is basic. No ROMs or good stuff. So you must read on to the next post to flash a custom ROM...

Now you've rooted, let's flash a ROM. We will backup all your apps then flash a ROM then restore your apps. Ready?
Pt. 3 - Flashing Your First ROM
**NOTE: You can repeat Pt. 3 every time you want to flash a new ROM or update
Next we're going to download and use Titanium Backup to backup all your apps as we will have to wipe your phone to install the ROM. You can use the same method if you ever want to backup/restore in the future too.
1) Download & Install Titanium Backup from the market. Open it and hit the 'Problems' button to download busybox, a suite of commands for rooted phones.
Then hit menu then batch, and tap the button next to Backup All User Apps + System Data. Let it complete before moving on to the next step.
Next we're going to reboot into recovery mode to flash the ROM. You can use this if you ever need to get into recovery in the future.
2) Turn your phone off and turn it on again holding POWER + VOL DOWN to enter HBOOT mode. Wait a few seconds while it checks for images before using the VOLUME KEYS to scroll and POWER to select Recovery. Your phone will now vibrate and reboot into recovery mode!
Next we're going to do a full backup of your phone using Nandroid. This will backup the entire state of your phone in case you ever
want to go back. You should really do this every time you flash a new ROM.
3) Use the TRACKBALL to scroll down to where it says Backup or Nandroid or Backup / Restore. Then select Backup and wait for it to finish.
Now we need to wipe your phone. Whenever you flash a different ROM you should Always do this, when you are updating the ROM you should check on the release thread for information.
4) If you are not on the Main Menu in recovery, hit back a couple of times to get there. Then, use the TRACKBALL to navigate down to 'Wipe Data / Factory Reset' and accept the scary warning to wipe your phone.
Now we can flash the ROM! Ensure you have downloaded a ROM and it is on the root (Not in any folders) of your SD card. The flashing process may take a few minutes.
5) From the Main Menu, scroll down to and select Install zip from SD Card and then select Choose zip from SD Card then select where you put your ROM and wait for it to complete. Then, select Reboot System Now to reboot into your shiny new ROM!
Your phone will now reboot, it may take a while to reboot as it's rebuilding the Dalvik Cache. If it still doesn't boot up after 10mins, pull the battery and consult the ROM thread for troubleshooting.
Now we're going to restore that Titanium Backup you made before starting Pt. 3. It will restore all your apps back but not system data. (ie Settings) You can use Titanium Backup any time you want to backup/restore your phone.
6) Download & Install Titanium Backup again and tap Menu Button > Batch > Restore Missing apps + data. It should prompt you to reinstall every app again.
--------
Congratulations, you have qualified with a rooted phone from the Turkeh Root School!
(Unless you're reading this without having actually done any of this guide)
So, go off and ask questions, answer questions, and contribute to the community! We'd also really appreciate it if you could hang out in the help channel to help other people trying to root too.
Thanks for rooting! You can also follow some of the other guides to install all apps on the SD card, Unroot & S-OFF

Pt. 4 - Flashing a New Radio
Flashing a Radio
The radio is the lowest part of your phone. (ie It's the very first thing that loads when you turn your phone on.
Most ROMs will have a required radio version, but most will agree that it's best to be on the latest as they often improve battery life etc.
You can downgrade your radio and you can find your radio version by going to Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Baseband Version.
Your ROM should tell you on it's thread what the recommended radio version is, so download it, transfer it to the root of your SD card as you did in Pt. 3 then follow this.
Now we're going to reboot into recovery mode as we did in Pt. 3 to flash the new radio. There is also an app on the market called 'Quick Boot' which you can use to quickly get into recovery. The next step will assume you have this.
1) Open Quick Bootand tap Recovery then tap Allow on the SuperUser permissions prompt.
Note: The SuperUser Permissions app will prompt you whenever an app is requesting to use root. You should look over which app is requesting this before you allow it.
Next, we need to flash the radio. You do this exactly the same way as you flash a ROM, which you did in Pt. 3.
2) Use the same method you flashed the new ROM in Pt. 3 to flash the radio. You do not need to Nandroid backup or wipe to do this, just flash the zip.
Note: Your phone may reboot a couple of times and will show a picture of the Android Robot while it is flashing the radio. It has NOT crashed, it is flashing it. DO NOT pull the battery, it will reboot when it is done.
Your new radio has now flashed!

A2SD
Note: It has come to my attention that doing this with ROM Manager doesn't work most of the time. If you have problems please partition your card another way. (I recommend GParted - There is a Live CD if you don't have Linux)
First, we need to partition your SD card with ROM Manager. This will wipe all the data on your SD card so please backup before continuing.
1) Open ROM Manager (Download it from the Market if you don't have it - Although you will need the Market Mod to show all apps) and press Menu > Manually Override Recovery **Not sure exactly what it says, pls could someone help me out here** Then scroll down to Partition SD Card. Choose the ext size you want for your apps to be installed on, then tap 0 for swap size, then tap OK to reboot into recovery and start partitioning!
Note: While it's partitioning it will show a picture of an Android. You can press (Power?) to see what it's actually doing and if there's any errors.
Now, you need to check the ROM thread for info. Most ROMs activate it automatically when it detects an ext partition on your phone. On some others you need to flash a special update.zip. If you are unsure hit the help button on post 1 and we'll help you out.
Congratulations, you now have Apps2SD! Exactly what you will have (dalvik2sd etc) will vary between ROMs.

Unroot
These RUU programs that you use to unroot are Windows only, but fortunatley I wrote a tool for Linux called OpenRUU so you can flash them on there. If you are a Mac user, take a moment to ask yourself 'Why am I using a Steve Jobs product?' as there is no way for you to run the RUUs.
First, we are going to identify what RUU you need to download and flash then download it. (Bravo is the codename for Desire, all RUUs use this name)
1) Go to shipped-roms.com, click on the Android Robot then click on Buzz. Now, you need to recall what version of Android you were on before you rooted. If you had a carrier supplied device you should also get the one that is applicable, but if you are unsure or your carrier is not listed go for one that says WWE. (World Wide English - All Languages) Or come on our IRC channel for advice.
Note: HTC Sync must be installed before continuing. The next step will also wipe all your apps + settings!
Next we're going to run the RUU, this should take around 5-10mins. DO NOT touch your phone during the flashing process!
2) Double click on the RUU file you downloaded in step 1, read the readme, and click to start the flashing process.
After it's done! Your phone now should be completley back to stock status!
If you get an error during the flashing process, try again and then come on our IRC help channel for assistance if it persists.

Fixing the Annoying unrEVOked Backup CID Missing errors
NEW, EASY METHOD
I managed to find unrEVOked 3.2. If you want to use that as a fast-track then that's fine, but please read the following carefully:
Code:
[B]DISCLAIMER:[/B]
Please be aware that this build was pulled from unrevoked.com because it was not safe.
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
If it ****s up and you point the finger at me, I will laugh at you.
This is only for 'Backup CID Missing' errors. if you use this on any other type of misc error it might brick.
Download. Run in replace of unrEVOked 3.21 in the standard guide.
You can still use the old, misc editing guide below:
(Guide edited from http://home.kennynet.co.uk/~kenny/bcid-fix.txt to be more noob-friendly)
This fixes:
Backup CID Missing
Unfortunately, because a couple of people corrupted their misc partitions during the testing of unrEVOked 3.2, they brought in a load of stupid, annoying safety features that included checking the misc partition on your phone.
/rant
What is misc?
Misc is a partition on your phone. It holds various switches and stuff, such as your:
Official HTC ROM Version
Your CID (Which tells the phone what carrier/region your phone is)
However, sometimes, the CID is not in misc or your misc is corrupted. This process will add in the CID to misc and reflash misc. (which may fix other misc related errors but probably wont)
Warning! Misc is quite an important part of your phone. If it gets severely corrupted you may loose USB access. Me or anyone on our IRC help channel take no responsibility if you **** up somehow.
This guide is designed for Windoze, Linux users use common sense adapting the instructions and can use a Linux hex editor like ghex. (Works just the same)
Please ensure you have downloaded the other stuff file on the second post before continuing and have extracted it to C:\root.
First, we need to use adb to grab misc off your phone. We will get temporary root then grab misc.
1) Open a command prompt on your computer by going to Start > Run and typing cmd then pressing enter. Now type the following pressing enter on each line. (Make sure your phone is connected and you have the drivers installed.)
Code:
cd \
cd root\adb
adb-windows devices <---- Make sure it finds your phone before continuing
adb-windows shell <----- You should see a $
$ /system/__unrevoked_su <---- Getting temp root
# cat /dev/mtd/mtd0 > /sdcard/misc.img <---- Copying misc to your SD Card
# getprop ro.cid <----- This is your CID. Remember what this says, it should say something like HTC_000 or 1111111 if you have a goldcard
# exit
adb-windows pull /sdcard/misc.img misc.img <---- Getting the misc we copied before
You should now have a file called misc.img in the C:\root\adb folder.
Now come on to the IRC help channel here. We will stick the CID into the misc.img so you can carry on as it really is complicated. You can also post here if nobody is avalible and I will sort it ASAP.
(If you've done hex editing before, all you do is put the CID you got above in at position 0 then add a 00 at the end so the hex string looks something like "48 54 43 5F 5F 30 30 31 00")
Make sure you save the file that we give you back to C:\root\adb overwriting the original misc.img file.
Next we're going to push misc back on to the phone using a similar method to step 1. Have open a command prompt and cd to the correct directory as in step 1 before proceeding.
2) Type the following in the command prompt:
Code:
adb push misc.img /sdcard/new-misc.img <---- Pushing misc back to your SD card
adb-windows shell
$ /system/__unrevoked_su <---- getting temp root again
# /data/local/flash_image misc /sdcard/new-misc.img <---- Using flash_image to flash the new misc
# exit
Now rerun unrEVOked and everything should be as shiny as the plastic Samsung use to make their phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Reserved for good measure.

I'm sure this will help many people. Should be sticky'd

HCDR.Jacob said:
I'm sure this will help many people. Should be sticky'd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Idea!!!
For the rru you need to click on the windows mobile section and select buzz NOT bravo

Added A2SD guides, misc fix & unroot guide. Bump to v42.1.2

Many Thanks,
Helps loads confirm my thinking after a couple of days reading, I just have to grow some balls n take the plunge
My main concern is my WF is a UK Voda PAYG which I believe is locked n I'm unsure whether I should get n unlock code before doing anything.
I did read in a Desire thread that updating a stock rom without a sim could unlock, but haven't seen any other refs to unlocking WF other than code.
Note: Unroot section still refers to Desire Bravo not WF Buzz
Thanks agin

PanGalactic said:
Many Thanks,
Helps loads confirm my thinking after a couple of days reading, I just have to grow some balls n take the plunge
My main concern is my WF is a UK Voda PAYG which I believe is locked n I'm unsure whether I should get n unlock code before doing anything.
I did read in a Desire thread that updating a stock rom without a sim could unlock, but haven't seen any other refs to unlocking WF other than code.
Note: Unroot section still refers to Desire Bravo not WF Buzz
Thanks agin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't need to unlock or anything.
Thanks, I'll change that bit now

42turkeys said:
You shouldn't need to unlock or anything.
Thanks, I'll change that bit now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And buzz is under windows mobile for some reason

The guide really great....but the shipped rom website don't have RUU for Buzz

coltrain said:
The guide really great....but the shipped rom website don't have RUU for Buzz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look under windows mobile - who put it there? Those files do work.

This thread still not stickied?

Piece of art already. Should be stickied for sure.

I thought a bit about 'reporting' the thread to make a mod notice it but it said specifically what report was to be used for , so i didn't do it , i guess we'll have to bump it up so it gets stickied. Great post !!

[GUIDE] Changing your Bluetooth/Wi-Fi MAC Address

Hi guys
Well, I had an Atrix for a few days, but had some issues with AT&T and had to return it and deal with some customer service issues before I can re-purchase the device. I didn't let that slow me down though
While I had it, I made a few dumps of the NAND, and have been working on disassembling things. Thanks to the help from a number of great people on IRC (#xda-devs irc.freenode.net) I have been able to successfully change the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi MAC addresses, and discovered a way to write to the flash, bypassing the bootloader security.
The full writeup can be found at pocketnow.com
I will be posting more info about the bootloader bypass as soon as I get it 100% working, right now we are able to write data directly to the NAND, bypassing bootloader security, and also provide a false signature, allowing the device to boot. However there are some remaining issues (a custom kernel that was flashed to the device failed to boot properly) - stay tuned

You the man, thanks for the efforts !

Sweeeet!
Wonderful work!

Excellent, can't wait to see the end result. Hopefully custom kernels and ROMs will be coming soon.

Devs you guys are amazing! Thank you for the hard work that is put into all this! I know the challange is fun for you all, but it really helps us non dev ppl out a lot!
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

nicely done Da-G.... great work as always glad to see you again and i hope to continue using your work as i did back in old winmo cooking !!!
quick question, is there really a reason why to change the bluetooth/wifi MAC drivers??? are there any benefits or basically just the same exact reasons when you do it on pc's

Main reason to change MAC address is to be able to join Wi-Fi networks that have whitelisting.
You could also use it to simplify device administration on your network.
Beyond that I can also imagine a few black-hat reasons to do it
Atrix is one of the few smartphones that can pull it off easily though, others I am aware of are the LG Optimus One and the SGS series (although it's not so easy on SGS)
There are plenty of other interesting datas in /pds, it is the device provisioning partition (NVRAM) and is equivalent to /efs on the i9000/Captivate (which is the last device I used, so easy for me to compare with)
Careful messing with it though, on the Captivate changing the wrong bit would kill your cellular radio until you restored an EFS backup, I suspect the same danger is here with the Atrix too! And we don't have a quick way to restore a PDS backup yet like with odin on SGS (although I am hot on the heels of a method to do so)

Omfg I'm excited! If this device gets real ROMs an even custom kernels, its going to be an even more amazing device
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

i'm exited about the bootloader bypass, i thought the firmware would do a complete checksum of it, so if it's partial then we should be able to find out exactly what gets checked.
i'm curious to see if you have been able to find something regarding sim unlock, just like the sgs was holding the lock very easily changeable with a simple hex editor. i bought the code already but maybe other people will get lucky

I've asked for a backup of /pds prior to and after locking over in the general forum, hopefully a few people can send those my way. I suspect a good hard look at that will reveal the location and provide an easy unlock method (I think I located it already, but as /pds is not restored via flashing the leaked SBF, i'm loathe to have someone else try it in fear of brickage)
I'll hammer it out once I get my device back in hand, whenever AT&T decides to allow me to purcahse

Da_G said:
I've asked for a backup of /pds prior and after locking over in the general forum, hopefully a few people can send those my way. I suspect a good hard look at that will reveal the location and provide an easy unlock method (I think I located it already, but as /pds is not restored via flashing the leaked SBF, i'm loathe to have someone else try it in fear of brickage)
I'll hammer it out once I get my device back in hand, whenever AT&T decides to allow me to purcahse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i will do it, but i am getting a permission denied.
Code:
C:\Users\fjleon\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools>adb shell tar zcvpf /
sdcard-ext/pds-backup.tar.gz /pds/
tar: can't open '/sdcard-ext/pds-backup.tar.gz': Permission denied
i tried adb shell su and accepted super user on the phone, but i still cannot do it

wow bypass= custom roms...... this would be ingenious hope u get it working....
how does rsd lite 5 flashing work??? it seems to create an image and then re sign it.... would backtracking and try to use the same method work?

@franciscojavierleon:
Make sure you don't have usb internal/sd storage mounted when you issue the command, or the sd card will be unaccessible from device
@ahjdmarchi:
I didn't study the program too much yet. I'll look to that if the current method i'm working on proves to be a failure

Da_G said:
@franciscojavierleon:
Make sure you don't have usb internal/sd storage mounted when you issue the command, or the sd card will be unaccessible from device
@ahjdmarchi:
I didn't study the program too much yet. I'll look to that if the current method i'm working on proves to be a failure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heres a tattoo that i have on my chest
"failure is not an option" good luck brudda hope all turns well

Da_G said:
@franciscojavierleon:
Make sure you don't have usb internal/sd storage mounted when you issue the command, or the sd card will be unaccessible from device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i unmounted it and tried again and still get the same error. i killed root explorer first since i had it open and no dice

@franciscojavierleon:
Try this instead.
Code:
adb shell tar zcvpf /data/local/tmp/pds-backup.tar.gz /pds/
adb pull /data/local/tmp/pds-backup.tar.gz
adb shell rm /data/local/tmp/pds-backup.tar.gz

RadioComm
You really need to take a look at RadioComm if you haven't yet.
The BT MAC address can be edited directly in the NVM on all Motorola devices.
On CDMA chipset devices it is located in seem 01bf record 0001 bytes 0006 and there is also a module and special set of TCI commands for managing this called HOB restore.
There are also flags set in the firmware for whether the HOB is verified during the flash cycle or not.
just an FYI!

@cellzealot:
Checked out RadioComm already, but none of the commands work for Atrix. Have you tried it? Perhaps you have a more updated version?

Edited. Nevermind just saw you needed it before unlock as well. I've got my PDS folder from my unlocked phone if you need it (not sure)

i should get my unlock between today and tomorrow, so with my locked pds backup i will do a diff to see if anything gets changed at all.

[HOW-TO/INFO] Bell FAQ [9-25-2011]

This is my attempt at a Bell FAQ, it is a work in progress.
Q. Why don't the instructions I found on how to do X not work?A. This is a development forum, sometimes things are written in shorthand assuming you know things you don't. At lot of things are specific to one carrier's phone or another. Sometimes things change and are now obsolete, something new was found, a better way of doing things, if you were not following it all along you are likely to be lost. Read between the lines, you are a human being with reasoning abilities, figure it out. ​Q. What should I do first?
A. Backup your phone. That means everything, especially your pds partition. Nandroid won't cut it and you have already modified your phone beyond the ability to get back if you can run it.
Ex. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/sdcard/backup/mmcblk0p3
Save your backup on your computer, create a zip of all the files, burn it off on cd/dvd, put it in a safety deposit box at your bank. Be prepared for bricking your phone. A lot of things mentioned in threads here are developed and tested for ATT phones, they may not work 100% on your phone.​Q. What is ADB?A. It stands for Android Debug Bridge or something like that. It is a program that runs on your computer that lets you talk to your phone using special commands. Your phone has to have adb enabled, it's a setting under application/development.
Ex. adb shell
This opens a linux shell connected to your phone. Linux is an operating system for computers, it is also used as the base for android phones.
Ex. adb install file.apk
Ex. adb push file /tmp
Ex. adb pull /tmp/file .​
Q. What is CWM recovery?A. Android phones come with a special boot configuration that allows for changes to the android system from a place outside the system. It is very corporate and does the job for official signed updates, but only Motorola and it's oems can sign the updates. Not much fun for us. CWM recovery is a replacement for the official recovery system that doesn't require signed updates.
You install CWM recovery using fastboot or moto-fastboot.​Q. What is unlocking the bootloader all about?A. It is the means of putting CWM recovery on your phone so you can install roms and other packages. It allows you to flash a partition with mods and have the phone not soft brick when you reboot. When the unlocked versions of the atrix bootloader were found it started a new round of mods. A lot of the threads prior to that are now obsolete.​Q. How do I unlock the bootloader?A. There is a huge thread already about this, see here.
WARNING: this is a permanent change to your phone.
Summary:
1. Download the archive
2. Extract the sbf inside, whatever it's called, that is the one to use.
3. Use linux sbf_flash or rsdlite from windows to install it.
3. fastboot oem unlock
4. Copy code fastboot spits out.
5. fastboot oem unlock code
6. fastboot reboot
You will see unlocked while booting and when you get into android you will have ~300MB of ram. This will need to be fixed. Also, you will lose all your data during the process, do a backup first.​Q. What is fastboot/moto-fastboot?A. It's a program to access the phone and do stuff, write phone partition images mostly. The stock one can only handle tiny system images, pretty useless for the Atrix, xda member eval- compiled the motorola version for us that can handle larger system images, do a search for moto-fastboot.
Ex. moto-fastboot flash recovery recovery.img.​Q. How do I fix the ram problem?A. I did up a CWM recovery zip to update the boot and recovery partitions to contain a kernel command line with the missing bit "[email protected]" added. See here.
There are other means of doing this, some boot images come prepackaged with the command line already embedded. There are ATT compiled kernels with a patch inside the kernel itself to do the same thing. You can search for those when you are ready to try things like custom ATT kernels on your phone.​Q. How do I root the phone?A. If you are unlocked and you have fastboot flashed a version of CWM recovery, it is trivial. By that I mean almost impossible for newbies to figure out.
It would go something like this:
1. Boot into CWM recovery.
2. use adb shell
3. adb push a su binary to the phone.
4. mount system as read write as /system
5. copy su binary to /system/bin
6. make sure it has the right permissions, 06755 mode , user root, group root.
7. unmount -l /system
8. when in android look on the market for Superuser.apk, install.
Every rooting method out there is all about putting su into /system/bin with 06755 permissions, most don't work anymore since Gingerbread. If you are looking for a simple, no brain involved solution, you are likely to get something working and also something else you didn't want like a replaced preinstall partition or an installed busybox with different functionality for some important system commands. (Busybox may be more up to date even, but if it doesn't do what is expected of the older version, it's still not good.)
Another way would be to create a CWM zip that simply puts the linux su binary in system with the correct permissions. Some info about creating your own can be found here. Doing this is more involved that just doing it manually, but it would be a good practice for getting into creating CWM updates.
Here is a link to a exploit someone did up to root the phone when running GB. Haven't tested it, and with an unlocked phone it is totally redundant, but it's nice that some found yet another security hole in the OS, seems similar in result to psneuter, so be sure to reboot the phone to fix the exploited system.
Seriously, if you are going to be reading or posting in the development section of xda for an android phone, take the 5 minutes to become familiar with adb and a few linux shell commands, it will save you hours of confusion and aggravation. If you fly blind trying things on your phone without understanding what you are doing you are eventually going to get into a place you can't get out of and need a new phone or REALLY have to struggle to understand things. You were warned. ​Q. How do I get back to stock?
A. You can't unless you have a backup of all your phone partitions and can update your radio and bootloader to be stock. Once you unlock your phone, it is recorded that you did so by blowing a physical fuse on the phone. This cannot be restored, you will need a new phone.
What does stock mean to you? When I bought my phone it had a certain radio, the bootloader couldn't be unlocked, the android system files had certain versions, etc. Beyond the android system there are 18 partitions that I know of on the phone, most phones do with 5-6. Every ota update or sbf files take the normal files and change them to something else, non android partitions get modified or replaced.
I have some solutions for getting close to stock, do a search for Gobstopper. There is one for Bell 2.2.2 and Bell 2.3.4, use one or the other. These attempt a full back to stock operation, that means the radio and bootloader will be stock, recovery will be stock as well. (All the partitions that are on the phone are written over with the ones that were on my phone when I bought it, with the exception of partitions 3 (pds), 15 (cache), 16 (data), and 18 (userdata or internal memory), factory reset clears cache and data, you don't want pds touched or internal memory.) Unlocked will no longer be displayed when you boot and you will no longer have CWM recovery installed. You will need to install the unlocked bootloader again and fastboot flash recovery again if stock is not what you wanted. (Your pds partition is not involved in this operation, so if you made changes to it, either directly or indirectly via a sbf this will not restore it, your pds partition contains individual phone information.)
More about sbf format here.​Q. What does the pds partition taste like?A. It's not really fit to eat. Now you know.
It is mmcblk0p3, a partition on your phone, it is mounted as /pds when android boots and contains a bunch of folders and files that nobody really understands fully but Motorola. Having a look at some of the files you will see things like your network physical address, bluetooth physical address. You will find threads where the display is all arsed up, cpu running at half speed, touch screen not working right, etc, all due to something going wrong with /pds. It is best to back it up and not mess with it. Restore it in an emergency. Maybe one day everything in there will be figured out, take a stab at it yourself.
See this thread by edgan for how to back up your pds partition.
See this thread by KeRmiT80 about attempting to fix your pds partition. Good motivation to see previous link.
​Q. I lost network data access after flashing X.
A. Check your APN list, if it's not a Bell firmware you are using, it probably doesn't have Bell's APN list. Scratch that, you don't know what that is or how to check it.
It stands for Access Point Name and a big list of them is stored on your phone in one big file (/system/etc/apns-conf.xml), each firmware has it's own version of it. Your phone will get two numbers from your carrier's phone network to do a look up in this list to figure out what configuration to use. So say it gets mcc 302, mcn 610, it will check the phone and look up 302, 610 in the file and read what it says there and use that config to try to connect. Now, another thing is that the phone knows what the home network is by these two numbers, embedded somewhere in the system. A foreign, non Bell carrier won't have Bell's numbers in there so your phone will think it's roaming. If you have roaming disabled, guess what, no data connection. Your carrier should be smart enough not to charge you for roaming, never had a problem with that, but you never know.
Here are the apn settings you can enter manually for your phone, see Bell's support link.
​Q. How do I get webtop over HDMI to work?
A. There are several threads on getting this to work on ATT phones and others, they are specific to the firmware being run on the phone. They involve copying two deodexed files to your system/app folder and replacing the ones already there. You will also need to clear your dalvik cache to get the new code recognized. They are DockService.apk and PortalApp.apk. If you are not deodexed then you also have to remove the .odex files for both.
Here is one thread for Gingerbread, in the zip there is one for ORFR that will get you to viewing the webtop on Bell GB, but applications don't load.
Here is another thread for Froyo that works, see the Bell specific bit in the OP. This does not work from Bell Gingerbread.​ To be continued...

Hoping the Mods sticky this
A link should be attached to the wiki as well. I will try to when I get home if it isn't done already.

shouldn't this be in general? or q&a?

Magnetox said:
shouldn't this be in general? or q&a?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably both. Most things referenced are in development.
Cheers!
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

y2whisper said:
Hoping the Mods sticky this
A link should be attached to the wiki as well. I will try to when I get home if it isn't done already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 this should be a sticky on either or both general or development...
cheers for this...this thread is going to help me with my youtube viewers BIG TIME!!

Very nice!
Keep it up NFHimself!

NFHimself said:
This is my attempt at a Bell FAQ, it is a work in progress.
Q. How do I root the phone?A. If you are unlocked and you have fastboot flashed a version of CWM recovery, it is trivial. By that I mean almost impossible for newbies to figure out.
It would go something like this:
1. Boot into CWM recovery.
2. use adb shell
3. adb push a su binary to the phone.
4. mount system as read write as /system
5. copy su binary to /system/bin
6. make sure it has the right permissions, 06755 mode , user root, group root.
7. unmount -l /system
8. when in android look on the market for Superuser.apk, install.
Every rooting method out there is all about putting su into /system/bin with 06755 permissions, most don't work anymore since Gingerbread. If you are looking for a simple, no brain involved solution, you are likely to get something working and also something else you didn't want like a replaced preinstall partition or an installed busybox with different functionality for some important system commands. (Busybox may be more up to date even, but if it doesn't do what is expected of the older version, it's still not good.)​ To be continued...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used this method to root the stock Bell Gingerbread ROM. Works on an Atrix too. It's a quick download and easy for those people who may not be comfortable with the adb command line.
http://www.psouza4.com/Bionic/

thx
useful for newbies
but can you put some more details about returning to stock and explain the pds partition in details plz?

papakilo10 said:
I used this method to root the stock Bell Gingerbread ROM. Works on an Atrix too. It's a quick download and easy for those people who may not be comfortable with the adb command line.
http://www.psouza4.com/Bionic/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a look at the script in that one, should be fine, doesn't install a busybox or anything like that. I don't care for Superuser.apk in /system/app myself, but it won't harm anything having it there.
Cheers!

ytwytw said:
thx
useful for newbies
but can you put some more details about returning to stock and explain the pds partition in details plz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added a few things, anything in particular you wanted?
I am trying to avoid step by step tutorials or spoon feeding everything, so people who are lazy/careless will have to attempt to think for themselves. It just leads to more questions, more laziness, and bricked phones, and I don't have the time these days.
Cheers!

[Q] Unlocking / Rooting Nexus 7 without having to Wipe it

Hello Everyone,
So I have had a Nexus 7 for about a few months now and I love it! I have done some research and I am getting mixed answers.
My question is: Is it possible to Unlock a Nexus 7 without having to wipe the data.
Thanks so much in advance.

No.
The tablet can now be rooted without unlocking the boot loader, however.
There is a third method for re-locking & unlocking without touching the data - but it requires at least one prior unlock which does destroy all data.

bftb0 said:
No.
The tablet can now be rooted without unlocking the boot loader, however.
There is a third method for re-locking & unlocking without touching the data - but it requires at least one prior unlock which does destroy all data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am checking this out now.
Just wanted to say thanks ahead of time

@handy
If you were asking about this because you were contemplating rooting, please be advised about the importance of making full nandroid backups. Perversely, the rooting guides fail to mention how important this is... especially if you are averse to wiping the tablet.
The reason? If you are rooted and you wedge your O/S somehow with a "mod gone bad", the only means of rescue will be unlocking the boot loader (to be able to use the advanced capabilities of fastboot), which wipes the tablet.
The way to do this with a locked bootloader is to flash a custom recovery to the recovery partition (from a root shell command line) after you have rooted.
That way if something goes wrong with booting the regular OS, you have a custom recovery to fall back on - and hopefully you used it to create a Nandroid backup before modding your lightly rooted stock ROM.
good luck

I agree with @bftb0
Just make it clear, I't possible to root without wipping. But you are still locked. Not possible to Unlock without wipping yet. If your data and OS is important for you (not for me) you must keep a backup first. Don't rely on the words I'll be successfully rooted with my OS and data anything can go wrong at any moment.

I just want to thank you all very very much!
I was successful using the method linked in the original post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2233852
I have been researching for ways to root my Nexus 7 without having to unlock it since unlocking would mean losing all my data and the sole purpose of wanting to root my nexus 7 was to gain access to good backup programs and methods like titanium backup and full bit by bit NAND backups. Which I am still not sure I can use full bit by bit nand yet but hey this is a start in the right direction. And I didn't lose any data doing this.
Thanks so much and I will keep in touch with how it goes.

HandyAndyXDA said:
I just want to thank you all very very much!
I was successful using the method linked in the original post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2233852
I have been researching for ways to root my Nexus 7 without having to unlock it since unlocking would mean losing all my data and the sole purpose of wanting to root my nexus 7 was to gain access to good backup programs and methods like titanium backup and full bit by bit NAND backups. Which I am still not sure I can use full bit by bit nand yet but hey this is a start in the right direction. And I didn't lose any data doing this.
Thanks so much and I will keep in touch with how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get started on installing a custom recovery (either CWM or TWRP) immediately so that you can make a Nandroid backup.
And then get a copy of that off the tablet for safe keeping.
Note (here I am reading between the lines of your post) that on the N7, Nandroid backups exclude /data/media !! - Basically, everything that you see in "/sdcard" is NOT BACKED UP by Nandroid.
You need a full Nandroid backup in the event of some kind of disaster (rooting experiment or mod gone wrong), but you also do need to backup stuff you feel is worth keeping from your /sdcard. You can use MTP for that if you want.
good luck and be careful.

Thanks for the backup tips! I was not aware that it won't backup sdcard directory.
Not to get off the thread topic because the whole purpose of rooting for me was to gain the best backup possible and being able to use USB flash drives now is nice too.
Anyway, I would like to know what you recommend for backup and how it works / how to use it. I would love to have something that works like acronis. I am really interested in making a bit by bit image that I can store on my desktop or flash drive that I can recover from.
I am researching on my own but I'd love to get input from you guys if you don't mind.
PS: Thanks again! You have been great help!
And now that I see the thanks button, everyone of you is getting a thanks!:good:

Forget my last question asking about backup. That would go in another thread anyway and besides I ventured into using TWRP that I installed using GooManager and its just awesome. Thanks again everyone and be well.

HandyAndyXDA said:
Forget my last question asking about backup. That would go in another thread anyway and besides I ventured into using TWRP that I installed using GooManager and its just awesome. Thanks again everyone and be well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP does exactly what you want with backups

Unfortunately TWRP does not backup everything! Luckily I didn't do a hard factory reset when I was testing it out so I didn't lose any data.
It seems to me that TWRP does not backup internal storage. On another note these android directory names and aliases are really making me crazy lol.
I would really like to be able to recover from a hard factory reset including all data on the nexus 7. Is there any way possible to do this with TWRP or anything else?
Thanks so much.

HandyAndyXDA said:
Unfortunately TWRP does not backup everything! Luckily I didn't do a hard factory reset when I was testing it out so I didn't lose any data.
It seems to me that TWRP does not backup internal storage. On another note these android directory names and aliases are really making me crazy lol.
I would really like to be able to recover from a hard factory reset including all data on the nexus 7. Is there any way possible to do this with TWRP or anything else?
Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so, if TWRP were to back up the internal storage, where would it store that backup? It wouldnt be able to store a backup of itself ON itself...
if you want a backup of the internal storage, just copy it to a usb thumb drive over OTG or to your computer, nandroids are not meant to back up 'sdcard' storage and never have been
want to recover from a complete loss of everything?
make TWRP backup
copy /sdcard contents to USB OTG or computer, your TWRP is on that directory so you would be copying EVERYTHING

Pirateghost said:
so, if TWRP were to back up the internal storage, where would it store that backup? It wouldnt be able to store a backup of itself ON itself...
if you want a backup of the internal storage, just copy it to a usb thumb drive over OTG or to your computer, nandroids are not meant to back up 'sdcard' storage and never have been
want to recover from a complete loss of everything?
make TWRP backup
copy /sdcard contents to USB OTG or computer, your TWRP is on that directory so you would be copying EVERYTHING
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks and sorry I didn't mention that I was backing up using TWRP to a usb flash drive all along. I am having trouble copying /sdcard now for 2 reasons:
1) Sometimes its called "Storage", sometimes its a directory within others, sometimes its called "internal".......I am just not sure what the actual directory is anymore.
2) I have tried copying as much as i could manually to my desktop via usb. but does windows see all that i need to copy and each time i select all and copy it, windows explorer lags and eventually crashes lol.
As of now I am trying to copy one fold at a time to windows. .....no I don't know what I am doing. Just getting frustrated so I am trying to copy it all on my own as well as useing TWRP lol

since MTP came about copying using windows explorer or any file browser, just plain sucks.
you have a couple of options here,
1. Use AIRDroid and copy it over your wifi
2. Use ADB and simply do 'adb pull /data/media C:\path\to\your\backup\folder
personally i prefer adb, i make regular backups of my phone and tablet and keep them on USB thumbdrive or sdcard on my laptop

Pirateghost said:
since MTP came about copying using windows explorer or any file browser, just plain sucks.
you have a couple of options here,
1. Use AIRDroid and copy it over your wifi
2. Use ADB and simply do 'adb pull /data/media C:\path\to\your\backup\folder
personally i prefer adb, i make regular backups of my phone and tablet and keep them on USB thumbdrive or sdcard on my laptop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already tried Airdroid which was working great until about 20 minutes later when it just stopped. Guess its just too much for airdroid too.
Yeah MTP isnt great lol.
And thanks again, I will give the adb method a try.

HandyAndyXDA said:
Already tried Airdroid which was working great until about 20 minutes later when it just stopped. Guess its just too much for airdroid too.
Yeah MTP isnt great lol.
And thanks again, I will give the adb method a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, one more thing:
Am I correct in saying that all that Windows sees is the total internal storage? In other words every file that I can explore using Windows is what TWRP doesn't backup?

I got the adb command line tool. I have it running, but how do i direct it to the nexus? I mean there is no drive letter for the tablet.
Sorry to be a pest.

HandyAndyXDA said:
Oh, one more thing:
Am I correct in saying that all that Windows sees is the total internal storage? In other words every file that I can explore using Windows is what TWRP doesn't backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. Pretty sure.
HandyAndyXDA said:
I got the adb command line tool. I have it running, but how do i direct it to the nexus? I mean there is no drive letter for the tablet.
Sorry to be a pest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the command that i posted. You don't use a drive letter.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Pirateghost said:
Yeah. Pretty sure.
Look at the command that i posted. You don't use a drive letter.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that exact command aside from changing the save destination and no luck.
I don't know what I am doing wrong lol

HandyAndyXDA said:
Oh, one more thing:
Am I correct in saying that all that Windows sees is the total internal storage? In other words every file that I can explore using Windows is what TWRP doesn't backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not been able to convince myself that the MTP implementation is deterministic, although in theory it is impossible for it not to be. (Translation: I don't trust it at all)
"adb pull" will work best when the remote shell automatically acquires root privileges, but that requires a modified boot image (the /default.prop file in the boot ramdisk) for rooted-stock ROMs, but this shouldn't be needed for "adb pull /sdcard/" - it is needed for pulling files from other areas of /data, or /system, etc though.
You previously mentioned "bit for bit", and that won't happen for adb or MTP as all timestamps, ownership, and file mode info will be lost when files are transferred to a Windows filesystem. The latter two are not particularly important for /sdcard, and I suppose that a lot of people won't care too much about timestamps either. You might feel differently though.
Actually attempting to do something closer to "bit-for-bit" brings it's own set of problems. You could use a (busybox version of) "tar" program in either the recovery or the OS, but you probably need to write the output to a mounted NTFS filesystem because of large-file ( > 2Gb) limitations of FAT filesystems. That's a non-starter with a stock kernel (for the regular OS, anyway) and it is my impression that TWRP's kernel isn't mounting NTFS in rw mode yet (I don't know about CWM)
To date when I've needed to wipe the tablet and restore it I've just used Nandroid backup/restore plus adb pull/push for /sdcard. (I wish adb was faster - it seems to be 3x-5x slower than MTP)
I suppose there are other alternatives (network mounting of CIFS shares using compatible kernels, etc) but I haven't tried them so far.
good luck