Database Develop

Droid and Milestone Differences

Obviously a radio difference, but what else prevents roms being easily ported to Milestone from Droid? Im not sure on the internals differences, but could we start porting.
NB do we even have root !?

we have root on both devices i think the exploit may be the same? forgive me if i am wrong.
(root guide for 2.1) the latest update at time of this post.
http://android.modaco.com/content/m...m/308422/milestone-2-1-update-and-root-guide/
the problem on the milestone as anyone will tell you, the LOCKED BOOT LOADER this isnt a problem for the Droid users, they got this for free. Hopefully with the power of the XDA super Dev team, we will have a solution for this, and start pumping out custom roms!
all of the accessories fit for each other, which maes it handy if you want some cheap bits from china, there isnt any carrier in the uk that has the milestone, what i am saying... carrier.. i mean mobile phone network!
i got my milestone from here. buymobilephones.net on a contract, but you can also get them from expansys, as far as i have researched, they are all unlocked. So you shouldnt even need to post about unlocking the sim.
there is another differnce i remember, if you are loading busybox on your device, this will not load if you use droid root helper from the market, you will need to manually do this via ADB and the loaction on the partition is different.

carphone warehouse sell the milestone on t-mobile and you can install busybox with droid root helper.

The kexec modules are nearly working. So there will be a 2nd bootloader in near future.
http://and-developers.com/motorola_milestone

I messed my first one up when I used droid root helper, but I have recently download titaium backup and that says it has installed busy box for me over the net. But terminal tells me no busy box found, the only way I have had it working was via the manual install.

iamdarren said:
I messed my first one up when I used droid root helper, but I have recently download titaium backup and that says it has installed busy box for me over the net. But terminal tells me no busy box found, the only way I have had it working was via the manual install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium installs busybox in its own data directory so that only it can access it.

Cool that answers that. I want to put busybox back on to use cachemate again. But can't find any instructions. So haven't yet

Main difference is the locked bootloader , there is a signature verification at boot time that prevents us from running custom Kernel .
Its unlikely that the bootloader signature will ever be cracked , other workaround like Kexec will most likely help achieve further mods to our device eventho it seem to be right around the corner there is still much work to be done

iamdarren said:
Cool that answers that. I want to put busybox back on to use cachemate again. But can't find any instructions. So haven't yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Busybox and use this to install it:
Code:
ADB push busybox /sdcard/busybox
ADB shell
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock6 /system
# cat /sdcard/busybox > /system/bin/busybox && chmod 700 /system/bin/busybox
# sync
# mount -o ro,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock6 /system

Its better to push it to xbin and not to bin, as the most apps search there for the busybox

After Titanium had installed busybox, I opened Root Explorer and moved it from Titanium's data folder to /system/xbin (had to temporarily mount R/W to do so, using the button up top). Titanium is still happy as it still finds busybox. Do I need to do anything else for other programs that require it?

cmstlist said:
After Titanium had installed busybox, I opened Root Explorer and moved it from Titanium's data folder to /system/xbin (had to temporarily mount R/W to do so, using the button up top). Titanium is still happy as it still finds busybox. Do I need to do anything else for other programs that require it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your good ..

Temp root for apps required root access (for s-on IS)

Psneuter exploit is working on IS, but because /system is locked on s-on phones, we can't copy su and superuser.apk into /system, apps required root access can't work.
The following procedure uses psenuter exploit to gain adb shell root, and then copy su (without privilege control ) and busybox into /sbin (which is on rootfs and in the global PATH list) to gain root access for apps.
The procedure:
1. Unzip the attached .zip into a directory (like c:\adb)
2. Open a command prompt and cd to the directory where you extracted the .zip (like cd \adb)
3. run pushroot.bat (simply type pushroot)
4. adb shell /data/local/tmp/getroot
5. adb shell
6. you are now in # prompt. Type /data/local/tmp/pushroot
You have to redo steps 4,5,6 once you reboot your phone.
The procedure will have all apps gaining root access.
!!USE ON YOUR OWN RISK!!
Known working programs: Root explorer, Titanium backup, gscript lite, trasproxy 2.04, ...
Some apps check existence of su in /system/xbin , and reject to proceed if the su binary is not exist (like transproxy 3.08). For this kind of apps, this procedure won't help.

Nice but old news mate...
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using XDA Premium App

Good job...thanks

Thanks for writing this up, might quell the thirst for S-OFF a little longer

/system/ is writeable btw, if you remount it, but after reboot everything u done will be changed to the way it were before.
so a temp root in xbin is possible also, only it will be gone afterwards (atleast i never tried this, but should work also...)

Yes. /system could be remount in rw with root. However, the files you wrote will be gone after you remount ro, and then you won't be able to copy the same filename into the same location again before next reboot ( I don't know why, actually!!). This is why I put su in sbin instead of /system/xbin.

thanks to your files 非常感谢你的工作。

Does anyone know whether steps 4, 5 and 6 can be run from the device itself?
Can I put these commands into some sort of script and run it everytime I need temp root or would I need to do this from a computer every time?

faf said:
Does anyone know whether steps 4, 5 and 6 can be run from the device itself?
Can I put these commands into some sort of script and run it everytime I need temp root or would I need to do this from a computer every time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you can do it from a terminal emulator but haven't got the chance to try it myself though.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk

pushroot error
c:/adb>adb shell ln /data/local/tem/busybox /data/local/tmp/cp
Link failed File exists
and
c:/adb>adb shell /data/local/tmp/getroot
mmap<> failed. operation not permitted
Why??THX....

itandy said:
I believe you can do it from a terminal emulator but haven't got the chance to try it myself though.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely, this is the way to go.
Unfortunately, the root exploit I know could run on device itself, including
rageagainstthecage (ratc) and local root exploit (hotplug) both failed on IS.
The solution will be nearly perfect if we can get temp root on IS without a computer link.
Any input will be welcome.

sky1212 said:
pushroot error
c:/adb>adb shell ln /data/local/tem/busybox /data/local/tmp/cp
Link failed File exists
and
c:/adb>adb shell /data/local/tmp/getroot
mmap<> failed. operation not permitted
Why??THX....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please then type adb shell.
If you see # but not $, do
cd /data/local/tmp
rm ./cp
ln busybox cp
./pushroot
Then you finished the install.
If you see $, please do all over again.

You can also add ShootMe (screen capture app) and SetCPU to the list of working apps. SetCPU will only allow you underclock for now due to the kernel, but it is a nice touch if you are worried about battery life. Adfree doesn't appear to work

l0st.prophet said:
You can also add ShootMe (screen capture app) and SetCPU to the list of working apps. SetCPU will only allow you underclock for now due to the kernel, but it is a nice touch if you are worried about battery life. Adfree doesn't appear to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adfree is working for me. Are you getting some type of error message?
MetaMorph, screenshot and MyBackup Root are also working.
I had to mount system, then push su to /system/xbin. Then install BusyBox Installer from Market.

No erro, still got the ads. I've tried rebooting & rerooting, still no luck

l0st.prophet said:
No erro, still got the ads. I've tried rebooting & rerooting, still no luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What site/app are you going to so I can see if I get the ads.

the anti-ads actually tries to modify the current host file... which is not allowed in your state as far as i know
what you can do is replace it by pushin it to the right spot
but after reboot gone,but sure u know

Adfee is working for me, you can also add Droidwall.

@eddycyf, did you test adfree with apps? Since it aint working for prophet...
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using XDA Premium App

Mhm AdFree isnt working for me. The App states that everything is okay, and that my hosts file is up to date, but I see ads everywhere.
But I am kinda happy now, because i can use Titanium Backup

Manually Root w/ Zerg after 893 OTA

I claim no credit for this but after the 893 OTA you wont have root and you will have to go this way to get it back.
Original post I robbed this from [HERE]
You will need adb to do this. You can get the download here depending on your operating system. ADB
Download the follow file: it contains the exploit, su, Superuser
Download exploit -->Exploit.zip
1) Unzip contents of folder to your Desktop
2) open a command terminal and navigate to the folder (cd Desktop/Exploit)
3) type the following commands
---> adb push zerg /data/local
---> adb push su /data/local
---> adb push Superuser.apk /data/local
---> adb shell
---> cd /data/local
---> chmod 777 zerg
---> ./zerg
4) Wait for the root to be gained
5) type the following commands
---> adb shell (only type this if you are no longer in [email protected])
---> mount -o rw,remount /dev/null /system
---> cat /data/local/su > /system/bin/su
---> cat /data/local/Superuser.apk > /system/app/Superuser.apk
---> chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
---> chmod 4755 /system/app/Superuser.apk
---> reboot
This is from P3Droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Worked like a charm. Thanks!

want to do this for my brother, you just connect the phone to the computer with usb debugging mode enabled right?

Fyi if you correctly root and forever root prior to the ota you will retain root. The update does not remove root if it was forever rooted.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App

I used this method on a used Bionic I bought that has 5.7.893. It worked perfectly.

Why do you guys make it so difficult? All you need to do is use R3L3AS3DRoot to restore, root, and forever root your Bionic. And, POW! You will have a rooted Bionic once again, without D/L unnecessary software and typing commands. Props to DHacker.

charlie310 said:
Why do you guys make it so difficult? All you need to do is use R3L3AS3DRoot to restore, root, and forever root your Bionic. And, POW! You will have a rooted Bionic once again, without D/L unnecessary software and typing commands. Props to DHacker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because R3L3AS3DRoot restores a 886 system and not an 893 system, which is the reason you would "D/L unnecessary software."
So, sure you'll be rooted with an 886 system which isn't current.

you forgot last step....then update and youll still have forever root

I restored and forever rooted my bionic, then did OTA, and still have root. I was on rooted stock previously, but restored because I wasn't able to get or pull the OTA update due to "error try again later".
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Terror_1 said:
Because R3L3AS3DRoot restores a 886 system and not an 893 system, which is the reason you would "D/L unnecessary software."
So, sure you'll be rooted with an 886 system which isn't current.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's think about this logically:
D/L and unzip R3L3AS3DRoot and use 3 clicks to restore/forever root your phone, then D/L the update using a 3 clicks.
Or, D/L and install ADB, D/L and install Java SE, and D/L & unzip the Exploit Zip and type in 15 command lines to root your phone.
It's pretty obvious what is considered easier and requires less unnecessary software.
BTW, if you are flashing a ROM, then option 1 is always the best way to go since you don't have to D/L the OTA update since most ROMs have the update built in (and you already have the updated radio).

getting replacement bionic for radio issues tomorrow hopefully. will i have to use this most likely or will it unrootable? any info would be great thanks!

charlie310 said:
D/L and unzip R3L3AS3DRoot and use 3 clicks to restore/forever root your phone, then D/L the update using a 3 clicks.
It's pretty obvious what is considered easier and requires less unnecessary software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forget that some of us already have all the prerequisites. I personally can't say if your method works or not. It failed several times for me, so I gave up and zerg worked.
luke1333 said:
getting replacement bionic for radio issues tomorrow hopefully. will i have to use this most likely or will it unrootable? any info would be great thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am partial to doing things manually myself but I guess 43v3r does it too.
I personally had no luck with it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App

what version could you not root?

Does zerg work on 5.9.901 ?

luke1333 said:
what version could you not root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
893 43v3r doesn't work on, if you restore the 886 then root you should be fine. Just doing the update then trying to gain root isn't going to work.
kris7778 said:
Does zerg work on 5.9.901 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know for sure but I am pretty confident that it would.

THANKS!
Flawless victory!
Binarality!

Has anyone rooted a previously unrooted device running version 5.9.901? Who's process?

This method worked for me, but I notice that my 3g service was weak and my 4g was gone. Even if i restarted the phone I couldn't get my 4g to work. This was after the 4g issue with VW braking it. Has anyone else had this problem?

1 click method
is there any 1 click method out there that can be used to do this ,,i used 4ever root a couple of time to restore my phone after screwing it up .. but now even that wont work .. so yeah i have the update but no root ...no matter how i try to do it before or after ..
and i unfortunately do not know how to connect to adb to push anything to my phone .. im not that technical with it ....dont have a clue .ive tried but not easy for me that is thanking you in advance Robb

One question, if I update and then for any reason I can't get root can I go back to stock rom you know the one before ota and start over? ???
Sorry for my english lol
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App

OTA Update! SW Version: 98.72.18-8

Hi, everybody!
Several days ago i've got OTA update from VERIZON. You can download it from attach.
Changelog from official Motorola site
I agreed and installed this update. After it i had 98.72.18-8 SW version.
So, i have had the trouble: i couldn't got root rights by Dan Rosenberg exploit - Motorola fixed the way, we had root on previous JB 98.72.18 and 98.72.18-2 !
After analysing install-script file from OTA update and thinking around it i decided to downgrade with RSDLite to 98.72.18 and do some manipulations with SU binary:
Start point: 98.72.18-2 installed, rooted
Code:
adb kill-server
adb start-server
sleep 5
adb shell su -c "mount -o remount,rw /system"
adb shell su -c "cd /system/bin/ && mv run-as run-as2 && mv /system/xbin/su run-as" #because of script do chmod on this file
adb reboot recovery
#turn on Sideload manually in recovery
adb sideload Blur_Version.98.72.182.XT894.Verizon.en.US.zip
sleep 400
adb kill-server
adb start-serversleep 5
adb shell run-as -c "mount -o remount,rw /system" #i used RUN-AS instead SU =)
adb shell run-as -c "cd /system/bin/ && mv run-as /system/xbin/su && mv run-as2 run-as"
adb shell su -c "chmod 6755 /system/bin/su"
this way gave me root rights for adb Shell, but applications still not getting root.
Any ideas, how to fix?))
Sorry for mistakes, i've tryed to avoid it)

way to fix
So, i fixed it!
1. At the start, we have 98.72.182 system, rooted by Dan Rosenberg exploit
2. Installing Safestrap recovery
3. Downloading on sdcard-ext latest SuperSU
4. Under Safestrap, installing UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.89.zip
5. Reboot to stock Android, bying SuperSu pro key, installing
6. Going to settings, and uncheck Screen block (set NONE)
7. Going to Superuser -> settings, install checkboxes: Survival mode, Enable su during boot, Trust system user
8. Reboot to the stock recovery, installing OTA update
9. Booting to OS.... (After booting you can return screen block )
10. Enjoy!

Orrrrrrrr update su binaries and back up root with voodoo. Temp disable root install update then voodoo. Restore root and enjoy... now I can only say because this is what worked for me without all the extra hoopla
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

rruleford said:
Orrrrrrrr update su binaries and back up root with voodoo. Temp disable root install update then voodoo. Restore root and enjoy... now I can only say because this is what worked for me without all the extra hoopla
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can take a video with Vodoo, which will fail with restoring root.
Before posting, i've tryed voodo ota keeper, and ota keeper function in another superuser software)

Thanks for the heads up on the update breaking root. I'll have to wipe my phone and start fresh before I do the update......unless I go kitkat.
Update.....
I tried voodoo and the OTA would not come through for me. It looks like the update will be more complicated than it's worth so the kitkat rom's will be in my near future.

Voodooo worked for me on latest O.T.A
karlsdroids said:
Thanks for the heads up on the update breaking root. I'll have to wipe my phone and start fresh before I do the update......unless I go kitkat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Voodooo worked for me on latest O.T.A

rruleford said:
Orrrrrrrr update su binaries and back up root with voodoo. Temp disable root install update then voodoo. Restore root and enjoy... now I can only say because this is what worked for me without all the extra hoopla
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mercermtn said:
Voodooo worked for me on latest O.T.A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Voodoo worked for me too. Just got the OTA notice today from VZW. Followed rruleford's steps and it worked.
This was my first time using Voodoo, and possibly my imagination or possibly not - but something funky happned where I needed to reboot the phone and re-check enable in SuperSU, which was obscured by the fact Voodoo was stating it ~had~ root...

So, is there anything besides these bugfixes in the update? Any Android version updates or maybe a fix for the Shift key behaving like a lunatic?

Dang.
My wife already applied the update to her D4 and now I've lost root on that device. Can anyone advise me what to do? Should I use RSDLite like OP states? I am confused because Moto SBF page says "never flash an older version"...

tried using voodoo and the update wouldn't work...dono what to do.

svrnmnd said:
tried using voodoo and the update wouldn't work...dono what to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you disable SuperSU after you backed up w/ Voodoo?

Negative, how do I disable? NOTE I use superuser not superuserSU
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app

svrnmnd said:
Negative, how do I disable? NOTE I use superuser not superuserSU
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not 100% sure w/Superuser - its probably similar: in settings uncheck 'Enable Superuser'
Also - if anyone out there has info on helping me w/ my wifes D4 here (a couple posts up) I would appreciate it...

bigmatty said:
Im not 100% sure w/Superuser - its probably similar: in settings uncheck 'Enable Superuser'
Also - if anyone out there has info on helping me w/ my wifes D4 here (a couple posts up) I would appreciate it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you'll have to wait for a new method to be released orrrrr if another d4 is available that's rooted try downloading voodoo on both devices and backup root on rooted device then copy backup file to unrooted phones voodoo directory and try to restore that way and don't forget to update su binaries
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk

rruleford said:
Looks like you'll have to wait for a new method to be released orrrrr if another d4 is available that's rooted try downloading voodoo on both devices and backup root on rooted device then copy backup file to unrooted phones voodoo directory and try to restore that way and don't forget to update su binaries
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome - thanks for the reply! Yes, I have my D4 same as hers, working well and w/ a Voodoo backup... I had considered this, but couldn't find the Voodoo file backup location. Do you by chance know where it is?

Why are y'all struggling so much with this.
1. You don't need to unroot.
2. You don't need to unfreeze anything.
3. RAZR_BLADE root method still works. You have to clear cache and data and force close Smart Actions before re-rooting.
I've done three Droid 4's already. All had different apps/services frozen via Titanium Backup and all were of course rooted. One (mine) got the SOAK at version .188 and the other two got the roll out at version .189.
Install update, clear Smart Actions and re-root with the razr_blade method .bat files.
Simple, works and reauthorizing Titanium Backup will refreeze all the apps you had frozen before the update.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

bigmatty said:
Awesome - thanks for the reply! Yes, I have my D4 same as hers, working well and w/ a Voodoo backup... I had considered this, but couldn't find the Voodoo file backup location. Do you by chance know where it is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to sure as I deleted all mine when installing cm11 on stock ROM slot. Try above method with RAZR blade?
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk

tcrews said:
Why are y'all struggling so much with this.
1. You don't need to unroot.
2. You don't need to unfreeze anything.
3. RAZR_BLADE root method still works. You have to clear cache and data and force close Smart Actions before re-rooting.
I've done three Droid 4's already. All had different apps/services frozen via Titanium Backup and all were of course rooted. One (mine) got the SOAK at version .188 and the other two got the roll out at version .189.
Install update, clear Smart Actions and re-root with the razr_blade method .bat files.
Simple, works and reauthorizing Titanium Backup will refreeze all the apps you had frozen before the update.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On 1 & 2 - not entirely sure anyone said to unroot or unfreeze, but I did read where it was advised to 'temp disable root', and when I followed that step voodoo did work great to allow me to update and restore root.
THANK YOU for 3!! I assumed based on some of the other comments that it didn't work. I just tried it on the other phone, and it DID restore root. VERY MUCH appreciated!!

So I use voodoo to unroot I disabled superuser but the update starts and fails everytime, I don't know why, the little android starts to update, then just gets a red x through it...
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app

I have quite a few apps frozen, but apparently nothing that prevented the install from being downloaded automatically. I unrooted with Voodoo, installed the update, restored root and all is well.

S-off with Firewater

Another S-Off script that was sent to me by coremark. Successfully s-off my device and supercid.
http://firewater-soff.com/
Thanks to @coremark.

After gaining S-off on a fully stock device using Firewater + temproot, what is the easiest method for permanent rooting?
Since due to S-off full access is granted to all partitions, is it possible to install the su binary and superuser / superSu apk to the /system partition without flashing a custom recovery? For example by using "adb push" or a root file manager?
Where can I get a su binary? Should I extract it from superSu / superuser recovery ZIP package?
Could anyone walk me through the steps?

edorner said:
After gaining S-off on a fully stock device using Firewater + temproot, what is the easiest method for permanent rooting?
Since due to S-off full access is granted to all partitions, is it possible to install the su binary and superuser / superSu apk to the /system partition without flashing a custom recovery? For example by using "adb push" or a root file manager?
Where can I get a su binary? Should I extract it from superSu / superuser recovery ZIP package?
Could anyone walk me through the steps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid you'll need a custom recovery for this. The /system write protection is implemented in kernel (the kernel doesn't sync changes to the actual block device and keeps them in RAM) and S-OFF is completely orthogonal to this. To work around it, you'd need a custom kernel (which is not feasible at the moment since HTC haven't released the full source tree yet, unfortunately) or the wp-mod hack (which I would be afraid of using, to be honest).
Also, why avoid custom recovery when you're already S-OFF and you can flash the stock recovey anytime?

koniiiik said:
The /system write protection is implemented in kernel (the kernel doesn't sync changes to the actual block device and keeps them in RAM) and S-OFF is completely orthogonal to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, that makes sense.
But then how is this possible (if it is at all)? -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2339056
(Pls check out the 2nd post from member "Indirect".)
AFAIK the One has the exact same kind of /system write protection as the 901s. Doesn't it?
Just out of curiosity, why would you be afraid to use wp-mod? Unknown / unpublished source? Bad feedback from users?

edorner said:
You are right, that makes sense.
But then how is this possible (if it is at all)? -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2339056
(Pls check out the 2nd post from member "Indirect".)
AFAIK the One has the exact same kind of /system write protection as the 901s. Doesn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, no idea. All I do know is that on my phone the write protection works the way it does and I don't really see a feasible way around it. Also, I haven't tried these exact steps. It's possible that adb remount does some extra work or something. Moreover, I'm not sure about the adb shell chmod ... command – that would require root, wouldn't it? But since I haven't tried it, I can only guess.
If you don't mind trying it, I'd be interested in the results.
edorner said:
Just out of curiosity, why would you be afraid to use wp-mod? Unknown / unpublished source? Bad feedback from users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way I understand wp_mod works is that it monkey-patches the running kernel's filesystem driver to skip the check for the /system partition. In other words, it rewrites the code of the running kernel in-memory. This by itself is reason enough to be extremely careful around such code as it has potential for a major disaster. Missing the right memory location by any nonzero number of bytes can result in the kernel doing practically anything (most likely a crash).
Now, to make matters worse, these seem to be only a few binary versions of the kernel module and people seem to just take a binary compiled for one kernel, modify the version information within the file to make it match other kernels and load it on a completely different kernel. This, to me, is borderline insane, considering that the kernel binaries depend on the version of the kernel, used compiler and even compiler flags used when building.
Again, though, I haven't actually looked at the module's source code; can't say I'm suffering from a surplus of free time and I'm also not *that* interested in it. Most likely it's written in a robust enough way to have a high chance of success. (This seems to be backed up by anecdotal evidence – the thing appears to work for people, which is a small wonder for me.) All of the above is actually just my interpretation of stuff I read in some threads here on XDA-developers and I haven't even tried to confirm it myself.
Still, for me, using the recovery for any such changes is a sufficient and acceptable workaround, since I don't need to modify /system that often.

Wow! Thanks for the exhaustive expanation about WP-mod!
If you don't mind trying it, I'd be interested in the results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I am also a bit skeptical about this solution. So I am not sure I will be brave enough to try it
But if I do decide to give it a try, I will post the results here, I promise.

edorner said:
Well I am also a bit skeptical about this solution. So I am not sure I will be brave enough to try it
But if I do decide to give it a try, I will post the results here, I promise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as @Indirect's post goes, that should be risk-free – either it does work, or it doesn't do anything. I don't see how it could harm your phone. Worst case, you end up with a /system/xbin/su binary that doesn't work due to wrong privileges (or owner information), in which case you should be able to just remove it and start over.

koniiiik said:
As far as @Indirect's post goes, that should be risk-free – either it does work, or it doesn't do anything. I don't see how it could harm your phone. Worst case, you end up with a /system/xbin/su binary that doesn't work due to wrong privileges (or owner information), in which case you should be able to just remove it and start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I see. In that case I will definitely try it!
Truth is I am still an Android noob, I used ADB maybe on two occasions so far, and did not have the time yet to properly check out the documentation for these particular commands.
One more question:
If I understand correctly, Firewater (when used together with the temproot) will also unlock your bootloader. Do you think the apps in /data/preloadwill be deleted in this case too? (I.e. does it do a factory wipe like the unlock process via HTCDev?)
If so, how do I restore the apps? Do I simply copy the APK's back to /data/preload with a root file manager, and that's it?
IIRC Helium backup is not really perfect for the purpose, because it is unable to restore those apps to /data/preload, and puts them to the standard app path. Is this what you remember, too?

edorner said:
One more question:
If I understand correctly, Firewater (when used together with the temproot) will also unlock your bootloader. Do you think the apps in /data/preloadwill be deleted in this case too? (I.e. does it do a factory wipe like the unlock process via HTCDev?)
If so, how do I restore the apps? Do I simply copy the APK's back to /data/preload with a root file manager, and that's it?
IIRC Helium backup is not really perfect for the purpose, because it is unable to restore those apps to /data/preload, and puts them to the standard app path. Is this what you remember, too?
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Click to collapse
No idea, I haven't used firewater, but my guess would be that it won't wipe anything…
As for backing up /data/preload, you can for example use temproot to get access to the directory, copy it somewhere on your sdcard and adb pull it. In case it gets wiped, you can just push it back again and voilà. It's going to require some shell-fu, however.
Alternately, you can just download my ZIP of the latest stock ROM and extract it, it contains the latest /data/preload.
And yes, just copying the APK files into /data/preload should suffice *– Dalvik and its package manager is intelligent enough to detect something has changed in there and perform any installation steps necessary. If it doesn't work right away, a reboot should fix things.

Edorner. It won't wipe. I tried it already.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

koniiiik said:
As far as @Indirect's post goes, that should be risk-free – either it does work, or it doesn't do anything. I don't see how it could harm your phone. Worst case, you end up with a /system/xbin/su binary that doesn't work due to wrong privileges (or owner information), in which case you should be able to just remove it and start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, as promised, I tried the "adb remount" command on my device and it did not work.
Code:
adb remount
remount failed: Operation not permitted
However "mount -o remount,rw -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p38 /system" in root shell (acquired by temproot) worked like a charm And the modifications to /system performed afterwards turned out to be permanent. So in the end I was able to gain root without using a custom recovery.
Based on my experiences, I created a guide which summarizes all the steps necessary to S-OFF and root a completely stock device without using HTCDev unlock and custom recoveries.
I investigated a bit as to why "adb remount" would not work, and found two interesting topics on XDA about the issue:
[2013.05.24][ROOT] adbd Insecure v1.30
Can't get ADB Root Access in certain ROMs?
In short, "adb remount" is only available if the ADB daemon is run in "insecure" mode in a particular ROM. And unfortunately our stock ROMs seem to use secure ADB.

edorner said:
So, as promised, I tried the "adb remount" command on my device and it did not work.
Code:
adb remount
remount failed: Operation not permitted
However "mount -o remount,rw -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p38 /system" in root shell (acquired by temproot) worked like a charm And the modifications to /system performed afterwards turned out to be permanent. So in the end I was able to gain root without using a custom recovery.
Based on my experiences, I created a guide which summarizes all the steps necessary to S-OFF and root a completely stock device without using HTCDev unlock and custom recoveries.
I investigated a bit as to why "adb remount" would not work, and found two interesting topics on XDA about the issue:
[2013.05.24][ROOT] adbd Insecure v1.30
Can't get ADB Root Access in certain ROMs?
In short, "adb remount" is only available if the ADB daemon is run in "insecure" mode in a particular ROM. And unfortunately our stock ROMs seem to use secure ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic guide, I just read it and wow.
Also, good to know that particular procedure disables the write protection. I'll have to investigate this sometime, because just now I tried and found out that on my device, the changes to /system are rolled back as soon as I remount /system read-only again. Maybe if I left it read-write all the time, they would persist as well...? I'll have a closer look at this later.

koniiiik said:
Fantastic guide, I just read it and wow.
Also, good to know that particular procedure disables the write protection. I'll have to investigate this sometime, because just now I tried and found out that on my device, the changes to /system are rolled back as soon as I remount /system read-only again. Maybe if I left it read-write all the time, they would persist as well...? I'll have a closer look at this later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
Hm... Strange...
Instead of manually remounting /system as "ro", I simply rebooted the device. (What can I say, I am hopelessly lazy ) After the reboot I checked the permissions of /system by issuing the "mount" command without any parameters. It showed that it was remounted using the original settings:
Code:
/dev/block/mmcblk0p38 /system ext4 ro,noatime,data=ordered 0 0
So in theory, rebooting instead of manually remounting as "ro" should not make any difference. But who knows
After the reboot, I checked the changes I made to /system previously, and fortunately they did not disappear. (su was still there, I could successfully copy it, and execute it.)
Since then, I've performed a couple more reboots and at least one full shutdown-startup cycle as well. And I still have not lost any changes.
Please let me know if you find something out! I am very interested.