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Hello my name is P3Droid,
We (TBH) have a lot of experience in Motorola phones and hacking. This experience dates back to the Razr days.
Here is a word of caution. Do no delete apps from the System partition, I would suggest you only rename them to .bak. When Motorola pushes updates each of the files undergoes a hash check, if the file has been manipulated or is missing the entire update will fail.
Until a system only sbf or similar is released, unless you make a back up with bootstrap and recovery, you will eliminate your ability to take updates moving forward.
You can remove many of the stock apps without rooting just by using the built in app manager.
Those apps are in /data it is the apps that are in /system that count.
jimmydafish said:
Hello my name is P3Droid,
We (TBH) has a lot of experience in Motorola phones and hacking. The experience dates back to the Razr days.
Here is a word of caution. Do no delete apps from the System partition, I would suggest you only rename them to .bak. When Motorola pushes updates each of the files undergoes a hash check, if the file has been manipulated or is missing the entire update will fail.
Until a system only sbf or similar is released, unless you make a back up with bootstrap and recovery, you will eliminate your ability to take updates moving forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i take it that all the apps you can delete through app manager are on /data therefore are safe to delete right?
This should definitely be sticky'd.
franciscojavierleon said:
i take it that all the apps you can delete through app manager are on /data therefore are safe to delete right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes anything that you can delete through the application manager is okay to remove, those have no impact on the update process.
And to complete my thought above. When an update is released, and they are coming, then you need to just change the file names back to normal to take the update.
Sound to me like we ned an ap that lets toys select programs to rename and then can change then back when needed. Would make it alot easier. Ill look onto this...also if some one else can confirm this info I might stick it.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I can confirm that what p3droid is saying is true for all recent Motorola devices, but the point is really that you won't know until an OTA update is released how they have written the updater script in the zip file.
We have been through this with releases for every phone since the Droid X and many people got caught out by it and were stuck until we released SBF files that could safely restore the stock configuration and allow updating to official release versions.
This brings up another important point about modding your phone at this stage in the cycle. Without a full SBF to recover with in the event of a problem that renders the phone unbootable or unable to access recovery, or if you haven't made a complete nandroid, you will be again be stuck and have to return your phone to AT&T/Motorola for warranty replacement. This is never good for anyone.
When we mod our phones against the wishes of the carriers and manufacturers, we should really take responsibility for those actions and not produce a mountain of bricked phones whose cost is passed along to everyone in the form of higher ETFs for smartphones and other ways.
So, until a full SBF is released of the current build, people should be very careful what they change or remove from their phone's system and/or NVM and radio.
I also tried to warn users about this in another thread that was locked before p3droid started this thread. We have watched hundreds or even thousands of users destroy their phones in myriad ways and helped many of them recover them by providing SBF files as a safety net. It's not fun and if it can be avoided it is to everyone's benefit to do so and only requires care and forethought.
Is there anyway we could make a backup of this partition for later use? would each user need to make one or would one for all users suffice?
Assuming a bootstrapped custom recovery is possible, and we know Koush is already working on it, then a nandroid backup of at least the system, userdata and cache partitions would be the first and best step to take. Also assuming that the bootloader is locked/signed and true recovery is not possible, then the boot image and kernel will not be able to be backed up or written to by the bootstrapped recovery. It is always best to make your own backup for your device and store it on the sdcard where you have easy access, but users have also been able to use someone else's nandroid backup to restore their device in many cases as well. The recovery will give you the option to restore each partition separately in the advanced options so that you won't be restoring someone else's data to your phone.
We at TBH have also been able to create our own update.zip files and SBF files to help users recover from various mishaps.
This was because we had access to both official and unofficial files and tools to accomplish those things.
We have no idea if that will be the case here and we will not likely have the device ourselves to work with given we are VZW users primarily.
Again, there are many variables here that are yet to be determined and modes of access to the various partitions and radio baseband will be different with this phone as opposed to previous Qualcomm chipset devices.
All of this means that at this stage extreme caution is advised and being overzealous with root access is very dangerous right now.
I suggest everyone that is rooted use TITANIUM BACKUP to deal with their bloatware issues. The pro version, which you will need, is only a few bucks and is worth it. TB allows you to 'freeze' bloatware apps, which to my knowledge just blocks it fro the system, but does not delete it. The apps you choose to freeze are also removed from the app tray - so no more clutter. This way when an update rolls around, you can run down the list and simply touch 'thaw' to bring those apps back to recognition. This seems like a much more efficient and easy way to go back and forth, rather than renaming the .apk's.
I apologize if someone already mentioned TB in this thread - I just skimmed quickly.
I deleted all the bloat apps using the app manager without root. They were gone!
I did a factory reset on the phone and *surprise* the apps were back!
The things that were not part of the system come back during reset. On the other hand, im ****ed because I went crazy and deleted some actual apps that the system will check. Yay me.
pwndrone said:
The things that were not part of the system come back during reset. On the other hand, im ****ed because I went crazy and deleted some actual apps that the system will check. Yay me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouch. Might not work, but have you tried a hard reset?
We should make a list of what's safe to remove like we did for the Captivate. Might be helpful.
I did a full factory reset and those apps that weren't part of the system came back but stuff like the help center are still missing.
Hopefully there will be a way to load the stock firmware sometime in the future.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Would an app like "Autostarts" work in this case?
Guys, I can't emphasize this enough: use Titanium Backup to freeze the apps rather than deleting them, it will make your life much easier.
does this apply to using different font files as well? I'd like to use a ttf font that's a little larger than DroidSans. if i rename and use a different font will that impact OTA updates or anything else for that matter? thanks!
before reading about "freezing" apps, i reset my atrix back to factory settings. i need help rooting my atrix again. it keeps me in "Waiting for Device" where before i had no problem rooting. and another thing, when i had reset back to factory settings...i still have superuser installed. do i uninstall superuser in order to gain root access again?
I have not rooted yet. My question is can we use freeze to turn off BlurAccounts or is it fully baked into the Rom?
Hi,
i've imported my photos from my internal memory via sony bridge for mac accidentally in Iphoto. I didn't see the app was faded and crossed. Turns out only the app Photos is still working. So after importing 2700 pics (big trip and behind with backup), the question popped if I wanted to delete the fils on my phone and I said yes. I tried to re install Iphoto, but nothing there, but older pics. I tried the temporary files from the Mac, but nothing.
So now I got my hopes up for a data recovery software thing. But although Windows (Im working on another laptop) did install the drivers correctly and I see my phone in the folder structure, no data recovery software recognises my phone although I switched to MSC and USB-debugging. I think because I haven't rooted it i suppose. Well, that's what all the forum members say
So I think rooting is my only option left? I am wondering if it works for my goal to get my data back. I read that unlocking the boot loader means everything will be erased, so then there would be no point for me to do this. Is it possible to root it without losing my (deleted) data on the internal memory? I know it is being overwritten now as we speak, but I'm sure I can save a few photos!
thanks a million!
First off, I don't fully understand the first bit involving iPhoto. But if I understand correctly, you need to recover files deleted from internal memory.
I think recognizing a phone's internal memory is indeed a steep expectation for general Windows file recovery software. However, there may be some specialized programs out there designed just for that purpose. I know for a fact they exist for iOS for example. Not that I'm a fan. Anyway, googling "recover Android files Windows" showed some interesting results, but as I have no experience I can make no recommendations. I did see Easeus among the results, and I personally would start there based on experience with other software by them: http://www.easeus.com/android-data-recovery-software/free-android-data-recovery.html
This would be your safest bet. As you probably know, your photos are still there as long as they are not overwritten. Being able to recover from an external device (PC) is therefore preferable to making changes to your internal memory. It's also far less complex than rooting
Another thought before getting into rooting: I don't suppose you had an app like Google+ making automated backups of your pictures? If so, you might find them on your Google Drive. This also might be a good idea to avoid trouble like this in the future
Third and last resort: you could try a data recovery app on your phone, like GT Data Recovery. That does requires root. The good news: you don't need to unlock your bootloader to be able to root. Locked bootloader means you're limited to stock roms, but they too can be rooted.
Here's a useful thread describing in detail what you'd need to do:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/how-to-root-backup-drm-keys-t3013343
In your case, I'd run data recovery ASAP, meaning
Downgrade your firmware, leaving data in Flashtool unchecked (!!) (See thread's FAQ for detailed explanation)
Root
Install GT Data Recovery or similar from Google Play and run it
After you've recovered all photos you can and backed up all your other data, follow the procedure in the recommended way, which includes wiping data. Do note however, that the firmware mentioned there is outdated (March 2015). You can find up to date firmware here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/list-stock-firmwares-d5803-d5833-t2906706
Good luck!
(Thanks to @bilboa1 and @istux for their useful posts!)
Thanks!
I did try several data recovery software programs, including EaseUS, but none recognised my internal memory unfortunately. I switched all auto back up programs like Google Plus off, because it was just too much. I take so many pics of my kids and the selection process usually doesn't take place directly, so it backs up everything and I've got to many pics in my Google Plus account. But this was a wise lesson i should backup somehow.
So only option 3 is left. As i read it, when I root it, the data on my internal memory won't be deleted? Stock ROM is fine for me, I'm very happy with my standard software, if rooting is what it takes, that's what i should do.
If you're rooted, you can use the app DiskDigger. Worked for me
Sent from my D5833 using XDA Free mobile app
kjoz said:
Thanks!
I did try several data recovery software programs, including EaseUS, but none recognised my internal memory unfortunately. I switched all auto back up programs like Google Plus off, because it was just too much. I take so many pics of my kids and the selection process usually doesn't take place directly, so it backs up everything and I've got to many pics in my Google Plus account. But this was a wise lesson i should backup somehow.
So only option 3 is left. As i read it, when I root it, the data on my internal memory won't be deleted? Stock ROM is fine for me, I'm very happy with my standard software, if rooting is what it takes, that's what i should do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally speaking, wiping data is recommended when flashing a new ROM. Because Giefroot requires older firmware, you need to flash that firmware. Which means a data wipe comes recommended. Technically however, wiping data is optional. It is possible to downgrade without wiping data (by unchecking the respective option in Flashtool). So that is what I'd do in order to recover your pictures.
Once that has been accomplished, along with a backup of all other data you wish to keep, I would start the whole process again as described in the thread I linked to. Because this time, the objective would be not data recovery, but ending up with a stable phone. And that means wiping data. (Highly recommended.)
I don't want to complicate things further, but if you don't care about being rooted after data recovery, you could just upgrade to regular stock firmware instead of pre-rooted firmware. This would allow you to skip a few steps of the process, and also avoid being unable to apply Sony's OTA updates. (Significant updates can cause a loss of root.)
Personally, I would not want to give up root once I have put effort into getting it.
kjoz said:
Hi,
i've imported my photos from my internal memory via sony bridge for mac accidentally in Iphoto. I didn't see the app was faded and crossed. Turns out only the app Photos is still working. So after importing 2700 pics (big trip and behind with backup), the question popped if I wanted to delete the fils on my phone and I said yes. I tried to re install Iphoto, but nothing there, but older pics. I tried the temporary files from the Mac, but nothing.
So now I got my hopes up for a data recovery software thing. But although Windows (Im working on another laptop) did install the drivers correctly and I see my phone in the folder structure, no data recovery software recognises my phone although I switched to MSC and USB-debugging. I think because I haven't rooted it i suppose. Well, that's what all the forum members say
So I think rooting is my only option left? I am wondering if it works for my goal to get my data back. I read that unlocking the boot loader means everything will be erased, so then there would be no point for me to do this. Is it possible to root it without losing my (deleted) data on the internal memory? I know it is being overwritten now as we speak, but I'm sure I can save a few photos!
thanks a million!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have successfully imported from the phone into iPhoto, then you simply need to import your iPhoto Library into Photos in Mac.
Check if you can find the iPhoto library by going to Finder -> Home -> Pictures
There should be 2 libraries there - one for iPhoto, and one for the newer Photos app that came along in April. Double-click the iPhoto library and wait for Photos to launch, then follow the instructions to import the library into Photos.
Make sure you have enough disk space (on the Mac) to do this. You'll need at least as much free space as the size of the iPhotos library to import it into Photos and possibly more.
Hello, all! Just joined up to post a few questions. Every Android phone I have owned has been rooted and a custom ROM installed, so I am no stranger to all this. I'm finally getting around to replacing my ancient Motorola Triumph (Virgin Mobile USA) and for cost reasons I am seriously considering the Desire 510. I'd love to get the Desire 816 but that's out of my current price range Anyway, I have been reading the posts here and over at Android Forums dot com and I am confident that I will have no problems with the 510 should that be the phone I end up purchasing. But I've got several questions before I make a final decision.
1. Can anyone tell me (or how can I find out) if the 510 from Virgin Mobile USA is the 32-bit or 64-bit phone? I wasn't able to find much information except something online (unrelated to Virgin Mobile) that says the U.S. version is 32-bit while all other countries get the 64-bit. Since that information is now several months old can anyone confirm that it still holds true, or is there a possibility that 64-bit devices are now available in the U.S.?
2. If the Virgin Mobile USA version is indeed 32-bit, is there anywhere I can get a 32-bit ClockworkMod recovery? I see a post here for a 64-bit CWM but couldn't find mention of 32-bit anywhere. Nothing against TWRP, just that I have been using CWM since Day 1 of rooting and that's what I'm comfortable with. Also, before flashing a new recovery, how do I go about making a backup of the stock recovery.img? I imagine there's a way to rename it (i.e. recovery-stock.img) or copy it to my PC for safekeeping, but I'm not very familiar with Android SDK. (My current phone does not need SDK for anything. Simply plug in, copy new recovery where it needs to be, and reboot.)
3. What, exactly, is the write protection that I have seen mentioned all over the place? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it *SOUNDS* like rooting and/or installing a custom recovery and/or installing a custom ROM essentially cuts off SD card access until a "fix" is applied. So if anyone can offer a simple explanation or a link to some information, that would be fantastic.
4. Taking #4 into mind, what do I need to consider in choosing a kernel? If it matters, I have been looking mainly at CurbThePain's RevMod, but also LarryBoyG's RaptorRom GPE v2 and shinru2004's Unofficial CM11.
I know that's a lot of questions all in one place but I figured I'd start somewhere. Any and all answers are appreciated, and any questions for me will be answered in as timely a manner as I can. Thanks in advance for any info you guys are able to provide me.
EDIT:
5. Supposedly this phone has 8GB of internal memory but all the screenshots I see say it has 4GB, and most of that is taken up by the operating system. I was just reading the reviews on virginmobileusa.com and almost every single one of them is negative, focusing on the fact that nobody can download more than a few apps before the phone runs out of memory. What's the official internal storage for OS and apps, 4GB or 8GB, and how does the memory look after a custom ROM is installed?
Some answers before you purchase
GKNByNW said:
Hello, all! Just joined up to post a few questions. Every Android phone I have owned has been rooted and a custom ROM installed, so I am no stranger to all this. I'm finally getting around to replacing my ancient Motorola Triumph (Virgin Mobile USA) and for cost reasons I am seriously considering the Desire 510. I'd love to get the Desire 816 but that's out of my current price range Anyway, I have been reading the posts here and over at Android Forums dot com and I am confident that I will have no problems with the 510 should that be the phone I end up purchasing. But I've got several questions before I make a final decision.
1. Can anyone tell me (or how can I find out) if the 510 from Virgin Mobile USA is the 32-bit or 64-bit phone? I wasn't able to find much information except something online (unrelated to Virgin Mobile) that says the U.S. version is 32-bit while all other countries get the 64-bit. Since that information is now several months old can anyone confirm that it still holds true, or is there a possibility that 64-bit devices are now available in the U.S.?
2. If the Virgin Mobile USA version is indeed 32-bit, is there anywhere I can get a 32-bit ClockworkMod recovery? I see a post here for a 64-bit CWM but couldn't find mention of 32-bit anywhere. Nothing against TWRP, just that I have been using CWM since Day 1 of rooting and that's what I'm comfortable with. Also, before flashing a new recovery, how do I go about making a backup of the stock recovery.img? I imagine there's a way to rename it (i.e. recovery-stock.img) or copy it to my PC for safekeeping, but I'm not very familiar with Android SDK. (My current phone does not need SDK for anything. Simply plug in, copy new recovery where it needs to be, and reboot.)
3. What, exactly, is the write protection that I have seen mentioned all over the place? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it *SOUNDS* like rooting and/or installing a custom recovery and/or installing a custom ROM essentially cuts off SD card access until a "fix" is applied. So if anyone can offer a simple explanation or a link to some information, that would be fantastic.
4. Taking #4 into mind, what do I need to consider in choosing a kernel? If it matters, I have been looking mainly at CurbThePain's RevMod, but also LarryBoyG's RaptorRom GPE v2 and shinru2004's Unofficial CM11.
I know that's a lot of questions all in one place but I figured I'd start somewhere. Any and all answers are appreciated, and any questions for me will be answered in as timely a manner as I can. Thanks in advance for any info you guys are able to provide me.
EDIT:
5. Supposedly this phone has 8GB of internal memory but all the screenshots I see say it has 4GB, and most of that is taken up by the operating system. I was just reading the reviews on virginmobileusa.com and almost every single one of them is negative, focusing on the fact that nobody can download more than a few apps before the phone runs out of memory. What's the official internal storage for OS and apps, 4GB or 8GB, and how does the memory look after a custom ROM is installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello GKNByNW,
1. Only one person on here said they have a 64-bit model that they bought in the U.S. from Cricket. You can probably ask the salesperson when you purchase it, but I think it's highly likely that the device you are going to buy will be 32-bit.
2. I don't know of a CWM for the 32-bit model. I was the same way. CWM was the only recovery I was used to. The first time I used TWRP was with this phone. I think you should try TWRP. I like it a lot. I have never used CWM Touch, but I'm sure TWRP may be like that. It is very user friendly. I don't know how you would go about making a backup of your stock recovery, but you should be able to use this one. It works great for my Boost phone. You may need to get familiar with adb and fastboot if you are not already. I don't know if we can just copy the recovery to where it needs to be, but most of us have been fastboot flashing it.
3. Write protection was included with Android KitKat. It has nothing to do with modding the phone. Google restricted some access to the sdcard, I believe for security reasons. When you flash a write-protect removed kernel, you can delete system apps, make changes to build.prop and make other changes. If you do not have a write-protect removed kernel, you can delete system apps, but when you restart the phone, they will return. You can also make changes to build.prop but when you restart they will not stick. I'm not sure of all of the things that will not stick if you have the stock kernel but those are a couple. Here is some more information: http://www.androidcentral.com/kitkat-sdcard-changes and https://source.android.com/devices/storage/index.html.
4. There are currently 2 kernels that most people use: Modded Desire 510 Kernel v2.6.1, which is tuned more for stability and Rhinstone-kernel, which is tuned more for performance. I haven't tried RevKernel and it hasn't been updated in a while, but you can check it out. Definitely check out the ROMs we have available and read through some threads to see which you like best.
5. The phone has 8GB internal, but we can only use ~1GB in the /data partition. I guess ~5GB is used for Android and Sense, since ~2GB is used for the /system partition. Check out this Storage Truth: https://goo.gl/photos/tCD1P26QTXM7my2r7
It's kind of weird, but this is the Storage Truth from my wife's phone, which has never been modded, and she has Cricket:
https://goo.gl/photos/uijoVA8Bk8tCtwe3A
She can still only use ~1GB, but I wonder why it shows ~4GB for the /data partition and only ~1GB for me.
After app updates and after you download a couple of apps the storage gets full, quick. The custom ROMS free up a lot of space. On a Jelly Bean based phone I had, without the sdcard restriction, I was able to integrate pretty much all of my apps on /system and have tons of room left over in /data. So I had so much space for apps and that phone didn't have as much "space" as this one has. On this one we're not so lucky. If you integrate the Google Play Store, Google Play Services, and the Gallery you will get force closes. There are more apps that will cause force closes if you integrate and delete them, but those are the main ones. You can delete the lockscreen with no issues, if you prefer the AOSP one. You can use Aparted and Link2SD to free up space. This method will allow you to download apps to your heart's content. Check out this thread to find out how to do that.
honestly,id skip the 510 and go for the 816 any day of the week. even if its more expensive,if i would have checked this thing out before i bought it after breaking my moto g,i would have bought a new moto (cricket dosent carry the 816)
blaqueknight said:
Hello GKNByNW,
1. Only one person on here said they have a 64-bit model that they bought in the U.S. from Cricket. You can probably ask the salesperson when you purchase it, but I think it's highly likely that the device you are going to buy will be 32-bit.
2. I don't know of a CWM for the 32-bit model. I was the same way. CWM was the only recovery I was used to. The first time I used TWRP was with this phone. I think you should try TWRP. I like it a lot. I have never used CWM Touch, but I'm sure TWRP may be like that. It is very user friendly. I don't know how you would go about making a backup of your stock recovery, but you should be able to use this one. It works great for my Boost phone. You may need to get familiar with adb and fastboot if you are not already. I don't know if we can just copy the recovery to where it needs to be, but most of us have been fastboot flashing it.
3. Write protection was included with Android KitKat. It has nothing to do with modding the phone. Google restricted some access to the sdcard, I believe for security reasons. When you flash a write-protect removed kernel, you can delete system apps, make changes to build.prop and make other changes. If you do not have a write-protect removed kernel, you can delete system apps, but when you restart the phone, they will return. You can also make changes to build.prop but when you restart they will not stick. I'm not sure of all of the things that will not stick if you have the stock kernel but those are a couple. Here is some more information: http://www.androidcentral.com/kitkat-sdcard-changes and https://source.android.com/devices/storage/index.html.
4. There are currently 2 kernels that most people use: Modded Desire 510 Kernel v2.6.1, which is tuned more for stability and Rhinstone-kernel, which is tuned more for performance. I haven't tried RevKernel and it hasn't been updated in a while, but you can check it out. Definitely check out the ROMs we have available and read through some threads to see which you like best.
5. The phone has 8GB internal, but we can only use ~1GB in the /data partition. I guess ~5GB is used for Android and Sense, since ~2GB is used for the /system partition. Check out this Storage Truth: https://goo.gl/photos/tCD1P26QTXM7my2r7
It's kind of weird, but this is the Storage Truth from my wife's phone, which has never been modded, and she has Cricket:
https://goo.gl/photos/uijoVA8Bk8tCtwe3A
She can still only use ~1GB, but I wonder why it shows ~4GB for the /data partition and only ~1GB for me.
After app updates and after you download a couple of apps the storage gets full, quick. The custom ROMS free up a lot of space. On a Jelly Bean based phone I had, without the sdcard restriction, I was able to integrate pretty much all of my apps on /system and have tons of room left over in /data. So I had so much space for apps and that phone didn't have as much "space" as this one has. On this one we're not so lucky. If you integrate the Google Play Store, Google Play Services, and the Gallery you will get force closes. There are more apps that will cause force closes if you integrate and delete them, but those are the main ones. You can delete the lockscreen with no issues, if you prefer the AOSP one. You can use Aparted and Link2SD to free up space. This method will allow you to download apps to your heart's content. Check out this thread to find out how to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pattyboi:) said:
honestly,id skip the 510 and go for the 816 any day of the week. even if its more expensive,if i would have checked this thing out before i bought it after breaking my moto g,i would have bought a new moto (cricket dosent carry the 816)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm sorry for taking so long to get back and respond. Anyway... Yes, pattyboi, I am in total agreement. After reading reviews on Virgin Mobile USA's website and Amazon, I am definitely NOT going for this phone. Virgin no longer carries the 816 though it is still available new through retailers on Amazon, but the $180 price tag is a bit more than I want to spend on a phone right now. The other phone I had considered was the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime but it looks like that is only available for their Data Done Right plans, unless I am misunderstanding something. I don't really get what the whole Data Done Right thing is. It looks to be cheaper than my current plan ($45/mo. for unlimited talk/talk/1GB data) but I think Data Done Right is only for multiple lines. Also, I looked up the Galaxy Core Prime a couple weeks ago and it doesn't look like there's much information yet in regards to rooting and custom ROMs for that particular phone, so I might want to wait a while.
Hello,
I'm a beginner lost in reading all the useful information on this forum.
I started with the idea to reduce the permissions of applications of my Razr I.
Google pointed to this http://www.xda-developers.com/protecting-your-privacy-app-ops-privacy-guard-and-xprivacy/
And I'm really happy and surprised about all information I can find here, thank you that much for
making this possible to all of you!
As today I feel ready to start playing around with my phone I wanted to ensure I understood the items right.
May be for you it takes only some seconds to verify my guess and can give a short notice
about Step 2 or 3 is easier to become implemented.
Step 1.) I wanted to do a full backup before I start, following this thread:
So I'll install ADB on my PC and run "adb backup -f FullBackup.ab -apk -all"
This works on a Razr I with 990.43.74.xt890.Retail.en.EU - of the shelf and is not risky at all - or?
Could you pls. tell whether it is really true I can switch back to my backup if I'm not happy with my System?
Step 2.) My first intention was to root my device and install Xposed framework
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2299428
http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer
And to use Permission Master out from google play store
First of all I wanted to ask you whether this is feasible technicaly and esp. for a beginner?
Alternative to Step 2 Step 3?
Step 3.) In general I'm happy with my Razr I Android 4.4.2 (990.43.74.xt890.Retail.en.EU)
But I'm wondering whether it would be easier or has less risk to use a custom ROM instead of implementing Step 2.
By reading in this forum I found out there is a planty of features FM-Radio, enhanced stand-by current ,
to get rid of preinstalled aps and so on.
I'm an embedded developer but do not have the overview about the architecture of Android devices, what I got so far is:
There is a bootloader which needs to be changed from OEM closed to open.
There is a boot partition I flash ROMs in.
I need some tools on my PC combined with SDK and Motorola drivers to allow a USB-Debuging and flashing.
And sure as always once your bootloader is damaged you are lost, so I understand even backup will not help here.
So I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Thanking you in anticipation and pls accept my excuses about my english and stupid beginners questions.
Best Regards
gonso
PS:
As I main entry point I used the
http://forum.xda-developers.com/razr-i/general/index-razr-t2832722
from there I'll try to get ADB, drivers etc.
Hi GonsoXDA,
Step 1: I have never used it. Didn't even know that it existed. On the internet there are numerous people who uses it and it seems to work. Maybe someone else can give some info about this or just try it. U can try it with a non-important app and see if it works. Just backup it, delete it and restore it.
Step 2: This works just fine. But do know 3 things:
1. First root: To get root on stock rom, u need to use kingsdroot methode afaik. And that one sends your IMEI to some rare ip adress. I personnaly don't trust this and stay away from it, but there are many people who use it.
2. Xposed requires a recovery to install the framework. It can be done mannually or by the app i suppose. With only root u don't have a recovery on your device that can perform such action.
3. If something goes wrong only a full restore with RSD-Lite can most of the time help u out. Because u don't have a recovery that works than.
Step 3: We only have 2 full roms. 1 for JB (stock) and a working CM11 rom (kitkat).
Only the Jellybean roms support fm-radio, on every newer rom fm-radio is cut out of the audio firmwares. The risk of going to this is even less as Step 2, because u can do a full backup and restore of ur phone. ( I would chose for this if u want to play a bit with the phone and ur warranty is already out of years)
The gereneral idea about the android architecture is this (it is different for almost every device and the Razr I has many more thing to hold into account, but if u are here only for the roms and xposed, there is no more to know):
Bootloader: Is like an uefi bios for PC, but then for android. It also contains fastboot
Bootimage(boot): Has all the info like kernel and ramdisk to boot the system
Recovery: Is like 'boot', but boots into the recovery partition that lets u change every aspect of the device if u know how. Its mainly used to flash a custom recovery to, backup and restore a nandroid backup and flash/wipe roms, mods, (all/specific) data and packages.
Systempartition: Is the system the boot boots into. It's android.
Datapartition: Where all the user data is stored.
Cachepartition(dalvik): Where all cache is stored and in earlier android versions also dalvik. But not now anymore.
Fastboot: To flash/wipe the above partitions and many more (needs drivers)
Adb: To push, pull, command things in system or recovery (needs drivers)
Sdk: contain the abd and fastboot packages, but aren't needed for adb and fastboot because with the right drivers can work on there own (see the internet)
If u have a custom recovery and only change things on the system, data and cache partition there is almost no way to damage the phone. There is always a backup through recovery. As long as u stick to the things u can do in recovery.
The only thing tha can mesh up your phone beyond repair is doing wrong stuff withint the bootloader and other inner parts in the phone(like i did to get newer kernel working) or u are in bad luck and you internal memory blocks. See 'Super brick samsung phones' (emmc error).
I suggest:
- Unlock your bootloader
- Install custom recovery
- Make a backup with the recovery
- Do what u want, xposed on stock rom, try CM11?
- If things won't boot, restore through recovery
And always, read up before doing anything. There are thousands of articles about android, flashing things, repairing android, using adb and fastboot. AND ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN!
Hello,
always having a backup seems not to be that easy.
So I unlocked my boot loader and tried to install twrp2850 and twrp2860 via mfastboot.
The mfastboot with 533.353kB caused the following "(bootloader) Variable not supported!"
I rebooted into bootloader and tried recovery -> horizontal Android man with a red !-rectangle
After reboot to normal power up my phone seems to be in factory reset, all my data is gone :crying:
ok crying dosn't help so I looked around and tried with another mfastboot 186.178kB and recoverycwm6.0.5.1.4.img.zip
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2441224
The twrp I tooked from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2278483 seems not to work.
I did a backup with cwm is there a change to get back my data? I think I know the answer.
In the meanwhile I installed
http://forum.xda-developers.com/razr-i/development/rom-unofficial-cyanogenmod-11-t2966855
And will try to install
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/tool-installer-xposed-installer-zenfones-t2983589
Thank you for the help, work and excuse the stupid beginner posts.
Regards
gonso
gonsoXDA said:
Hello,
always having a backup seems not to be that easy.
So I unlocked my boot loader and tried to install twrp2850 and twrp2860 via mfastboot.
The mfastboot with 533.353kB caused the following "(bootloader) Variable not supported!"
I rebooted into bootloader and tried recovery -> horizontal Android man with a red !-rectangle
After reboot to normal power up my phone seems to be in factory reset, all my data is gone :crying:
ok crying dosn't help so I looked around and tried with another mfastboot 186.178kB and recoverycwm6.0.5.1.4.img.zip
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2441224
The twrp I tooked from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2278483 seems not to work.
I did a backup with cwm is there a change to get back my data? I think I know the answer.
In the meanwhile I installed
http://forum.xda-developers.com/razr-i/development/rom-unofficial-cyanogenmod-11-t2966855
And will try to install
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/tool-installer-xposed-installer-zenfones-t2983589
Thank you for the help, work and excuse the stupid beginner posts.
Regards
gonso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Than u know the answer, it is no I think.
Both twrp images should work just fine, but always chose the latest. The message "(bootloader) Variable not supported!" doesn't do anything So don't worry about that one. There should be a lot more in you log that the message if twrp didn't install. U did extract it and flash it with the command: mFastboot flash recovery <recovery-image>. Where <recovery-image> could be C:/users/*/Downloads/recovery.img.
Hello,
yes sure "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future"
So I use CM11 now for about 2 days and I'm really impressed, so far everything works :good: THANK YOU!!!
As I asked already I installed XPosed and Permission Manager, but I found XPrivacy might be the better solution and switched to this.
(Today I do not have all the technical background to judge whether it is technically equivalent, but I'll investigate on it)
Esp. one thing I'm wondering, why XPrivacy is reading my Contacts once I check the permissions of an app?
But the more important thing I recognized differences between CM11 and the Stock ROM. One is the Entry
"Privacy" in the settings. It seems to be more or less the XPosed and XPrivacy, or?
But it seems the Restrictions are not shared, so I can restrict in the one and do not see the restriction in the other tool.
So first is there a risk to use both, is it useful or just doing the same twice.
Thank you
Gonso
gonsoXDA said:
Hello,
yes sure "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future"
So I use CM11 now for about 2 days and I'm really impressed, so far everything works :good: THANK YOU!!!
As I asked already I installed XPosed and Permission Manager, but I found XPrivacy might be the better solution and switched to this.
(Today I do not have all the technical background to judge whether it is technically equivalent, but I'll investigate on it)
Esp. one thing I'm wondering, why XPrivacy is reading my Contacts once I check the permissions of an app?
But the more important thing I recognized differences between CM11 and the Stock ROM. One is the Entry
"Privacy" in the settings. It seems to be more or less the XPosed and XPrivacy, or?
But it seems the Restrictions are not shared, so I can restrict in the one and do not see the restriction in the other tool.
So first is there a risk to use both, is it useful or just doing the same twice.
Thank you
Gonso
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a sentence.
Why XPrivacy needs it i don't have a clue. For that sort of things u need to be by the dev of the app.
CM has a lot of features out of the box compared to stock, but stock is most of the time a bit more optimized in terms of proprietary stuff like camera.
So as u noticed, CM had an inbuilt security app. This app (CM) and XPrivacy don't share there settings, so that's the difference u see. But most likely if u disable something in one of the apps it is disabled even tho the other doesn't say it because it doesn't know of it.
I don't think it will be a risk. They both do the same thing, but they don't know about it. To be on the safe side, just use one and restore the other to default. U can always search on the web if they don't get along.
U can now make a full backup, so everything can be reverted and your data should be relative safe.
Hello,
thank you again - I now find the answer by reading in the development part of the forum. For me as a beginner it is sometimes not easy to interpret the discussions there.
If accepted I will use the thread now as a kind of diary, may be some other users will have similar destinations and my learn from my mistakes.
So to answer my question a little more detailed, but with less background know how than Hazou. Pls. do not trust me I'm a beginner, I have not analyzed the code just the behavior - feel free to correct or contradict my words!
The XPosed is in the area of permissions just a framework which allow other modules to put some code between an app requesting permissions and the Android core granting this permissions. The Xposed it self doesn't handle settings or permissions you did in modules like the CM Privacy, Permission Manager or XPrivacy.
As a result I came to the same conclusion it is not a risk, but an overhead to have more than one pice of code between the app requesting permissions and the Android core. -> My proposal: Do not use more than one of this Permission control apps in parallel.
From the privacy perspective the Permission is just a starting point, it allows you to hide your private information from the app. On the other side many apps will need access to the data to work and most of them are able to connect to the internet.
So I realized the next step would be the restriction of internet usage of apps. Here permissions are sword but we need a scalpel, to separate the necessary from the unwanted connections. This scalpel could be AFWall+ and "Netzwerk Log", this is a firewall and a sniffer.
What I can say to day the apps run on CM11 installed on my Razr I.
So it looks like I see my destination raising on the horizon and I will try to formulate it in the following order:
1.) Hide Contacts, Calls and SMS from Apps who do not need this to work -> XPrivacy
2.) Disable some Android features I think I don't need.
(e.g. Captive Portal Check - settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0)
3.) Restrict the internet access of some apps to servers they need to connect. ( e.g. E-Mail client is restricted to connect to the mail server)
4.) Limit the access to my pictures, stored on SD card. [I have not found a solution so far]
If you read this I think 1 is reasonable for most of you, even if you do not have deep Android or Network know how (as I have), you just restrict the permissions - if app crashes or doesn't do the job you expect you may permit access or uninstall the app. (XPrivacy allows you also to fake data)
3 is a usual task of a network administrator, if you are used with iptables it is just work. I'll try to find out whether there is somewhere a source of "Templates". Usually the network admins share there common settings based on services, once I find out I'll post.
To restrict the access to SD Card I only see the change to extend the sandbox of Android to the SD and to hide files which does not belong to the app. As I would store my pictures on SD as I would store my Navi Data, but neither the Navi app should see my pictures nor the Cam and Gallery my Navi Data. ...
I don't know whether there is an app out there but It should be possible the same way like XPrivacy fakes the other data.
Thank you
Gonso
Hello,
Most of the time I used the numbers to just put in the extension, so if I want to call 0049 9876 54 321 I put the numbers 321 the Motorola dialer will show a list of all contacts where the number contains 321.
Some Numbers of contacts are not shown as well, seems if a contact has more numbers only one or two are shown.
The CM11 dialer doesn't show the number, is there a setting to get this feature?
I tried to get my Stock dialer back, so I copied dialer.apk from stock into the /system/sec-app/ directory of the CM11 and restarted the phone -> doesn't change the dialer ....
Any proposals? I'm terrible sorry for my stupid questions, I read several threads and still no idea about a possible solution
Gonso
PS: CM11 file manager shows a secure storage /storage/emulated/0/storage/secure - what is the algorithm used for the encryption.
gonsoXDA said:
Hello,
Most of the time I used the numbers to just put in the extension, so if I want to call 0049 9876 54 321 I put the numbers 321 the Motorola dialer will show a list of all contacts where the number contains 321.
Some Numbers of contacts are not shown as well, seems if a contact has more numbers only one or two are shown.
The CM11 dialer doesn't show the number, is there a setting to get this feature?
I tried to get my Stock dialer back, so I copied dialer.apk from stock into the /system/sec-app/ directory of the CM11 and restarted the phone -> doesn't change the dialer ....
Any proposals? I'm terrible sorry for my stupid questions, I read several threads and still no idea about a possible solution
Gonso
PS: CM11 file manager shows a secure storage /storage/emulated/0/storage/secure - what is the algorithm used for the encryption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock CM dialer doesn't have that function afaik. The moto one doesn't work because it needs the Moto framework to work. Just download a dialer U trust from the playstore.
I don't have any clue about the secure storage, sorry.
Hi,
Trying to help a friend recover files (media) that were accidentally deleted on the sm-g900a. To recover those files, all signs indicate that rooting is necessary.
She tried using towelroot without mod, but it failed. I'm guessing she updated sometime in the past. So I'm guessing to root, she'll need to follow the steps (rather, I'll have to follow the steps since it might be a bit much for said friend) in the Root Guide on the General page.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/att-galaxy-s5/general/guide-merry-christmas-heres-t3516196)
**Q: Once the steps are complete - ie flashing the experimental firmware/OF3- will the chances of file recovery lessen (media files)? (ie will flashing the new firmware(s) override hard drive space that was occupied by said deleted files?) My first guess is minimal, since I'm guessin that part of the hard drive that'll be re-written are mainly the /system and /data files. I'm thinking about this like a traditional HD. But since this isn't my phone, I'd like to get second opinions.
**Q: She's not a tech person so any hitches w/r/t the new stock will be a hassle. Are there any glitches in the no-ship OF3? If so, I'm guessing flashing firmware from sammobile will remedy the problem. (root after this will not be necessary)
***Q: An afterthought. (It's been a while since I've flashed a phone w/ files I cared about. I'm pretty sure they aren't buuuttt) Will the files in /[user] directory affected with the flashes? (eg /sdcard, /internal (however the nomenclature works on the S5. Not the actual Sdcard)
alljokingaside said:
Hi,
Trying to help a friend recover files (media) that were accidentally deleted on the sm-g900a. To recover those files, all signs indicate that rooting is necessary.
She tried using towelroot without mod, but it failed. I'm guessing she updated sometime in the past. So I'm guessing to root, she'll need to follow the steps (rather, I'll have to follow the steps since it might be a bit much for said friend) in the Root Guide on the General page.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/att-galaxy-s5/general/guide-merry-christmas-heres-t3516196)
**Q: Once the steps are complete - ie flashing the experimental firmware/OF3- will the chances of file recovery lessen (media files)? (ie will flashing the new firmware(s) override hard drive space that was occupied by said deleted files?) My first guess is minimal, since I'm guessin that part of the hard drive that'll be re-written are mainly the /system and /data files. I'm thinking about this like a traditional HD. But since this isn't my phone, I'd like to get second opinions.
**Q: She's not a tech person so any hitches w/r/t the new stock will be a hassle. Are there any glitches in the no-ship OF3? If so, I'm guessing flashing firmware from sammobile will remedy the problem. (root after this will not be necessary)
***Q: An afterthought. (It's been a while since I've flashed a phone w/ files I cared about. I'm pretty sure they aren't buuuttt) Will the files in /[user] directory affected with the flashes? (eg /sdcard, /internal (however the nomenclature works on the S5. Not the actual Sdcard)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'll try to go in order here.
1. flashing the new firmware might lessen the chances of file recovery. I'm not exactly sure how NAND chips work, so the problem might be that it zeroes all the sectors out (unlikely) or it just uses a file index and the entries are erased. So proceed at your own risk, if the files are already lost there isn't much more to lose at this point anyway.
2. the pre-rooted OF3 is just the entire OF3 stock system but with the su files inside. Everything else is the same, so you shouldn't have any problems.
3. I'd guess no, but take that with a grain of salt since I've never really checked.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!
AptLogic said:
Okay I'll try to go in order here.
1. flashing the new firmware might lessen the chances of file recovery. I'm not exactly sure how NAND chips work, so the problem might be that it zeroes all the sectors out (unlikely) or it just uses a file index and the entries are erased. So proceed at your own risk, if the files are already lost there isn't much more to lose at this point anyway.
2. the pre-rooted OF3 is just the entire OF3 stock system but with the su files inside. Everything else is the same, so you shouldn't have any problems.
3. I'd guess no, but take that with a grain of salt since I've never really checked.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Said friend got freaked out w the idea if flashing firmware. Boop