Root/system folder - Xperia SP Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

hi again
I have small problem that I find quite annoying
Xperia SP on android 4.3 (....1.207 rom)
device is rooted with towelroot + SuperSU,
no matter which file manager with root capability I use and go into SYSTEM folder
and either create new folder and delete it, or copy something from SD to system Audio folder
things get broken...
Folder cannot be deleted even if its newly created, and has nothing init
nothing cannot be copied in Audio folder, as everything gets erased by ... system ?
and my annoyance goes to, if its rooted OS, and I as user have "full access"
why are these things happening ?
is there something I need to learn of how android deals with stuff specially ?

As far as i can remember, i haven't faced this issue in my past (was ages since i last used stock ROM). But i can safely say it might be related to your actual file manager. Can you list me the file managers you used?
I would also recommend trying to use Solid Explorer Classic for the sake of testing, and also Fx File manager.
Basically, when you want to do a change in the system directory, the system partition must be remounted as read-write because the folder resides on a different partition. Android by default mounts system partition as read-only on boot. A file manager is responsible to remount the system partition to read-write before performing an operation on the system partition, and i believe this is where the problem occurs - if the files aren't being copied.
If you can copy the folders but unable to delete, this is most likely a permission issue, and the file manager was probably isn't properly using its root rights.
Please respond with your test with Fx or Solid Explorer classic. You may also try Solid Explorer 2.0 if you wish. NOTE: Please enable Full Logging in SuperSU settings. I'd like to see what is going on (you can too).
Also it is worth to know that although root gives you ultimate rights to modify or alter the OS, there are always technical problems which are caused by various reasons. Plus, there are even barriers of which root power can't even do. For an ultra simple comparison, you can't use root to somewhat modify an app's source code live. But of course, root gives much more freedom to do things compared to no root.

ah yes, you were right, it did depend on file manager after all
tho for unknown reasons 5 of 6 all needed supersu acceess and had root capability, but nothing to operate
I finally found (blue) root explorer, and this one can do it all, sorry for opening this thread
I jumped bit late with whole android thing

Related

[Q] /efs folder and how do you reuse an old copy

I am puzzled and confused about the /efs folder.
I have a P1000 which was running a January nightly build of CM10; this worked, including the telephone function, sort of...
I then upgraded to Android 4.2.2, CM10.1 from 21030728 - which works much better BUT it lost all the telephone capabilities (it shows Baseband version unknown). After much digging I think understood correctly that I must have ruined my /efs folder.
I do have previous /efs folder copies (not made with any particular tool) on my external SD card but even using something like Root Browser or Root File Manager to copy an old version (in which the telephone worked) to write over the existing /efs folder I do not regain access to the phone function.
My questions are these, if anyone can explain to me what is happening for I would like to understand:
1. I tried to delete the existing /efs folder (using Root Browser and Root File Manager) but it does not delete: why?
2. I am clearly doing something wrong when trying to copy an old version in order to write over the existing one (which does not work): what and why and how do I get around this to make it work?
3. How does Android protect the /efs folder and is there a way to get round this?
i have read far and wide but so much seems to be contradictory or inconsistent. Or is there a place where all is explained (and if so where?).
Thank you in advance.

Boot Animation issue in 6.0.1

I've updated my device today to 6.0.1 and rooted, however I can't seem to change the boot animation (yes, I have searched for answers and tried quite a few fixes).
Root Explorer tells me I have renamed the old file and copied the new file, however once I leave the directory and go back the old file is still there.
I have used the file explorer in TWRP and managed to delete the stock boot animation, but get a FAILED message when I try to copy the new file.
I used the terminal in TWRP and tried to copy the file manually, and receive a "No space left on device" message.
I've also tried mounting the /system as rw in adb. I can delete the bootanimation.zip file from there, and df -h shows 3mb free. Shouldn't the system partition have more space available than that?
Am I missing something, or has something changed with the new android versions?
Google has filled the system partition up to the brim. Also you can't remount system as rw while Android is running.
But the direction is right, go to TWRP, mount system, delete the old bootanimation. If the new one is not that much bigger then you could just copy it there, set permissions to rw-r--r--. But if the new animation is significantly bigger, you'll have to delete some bloatware first.
Thanks for that. The odd thing is, when I run DF in the terminal, it shows I have 20mb free. The boot animation file I am trying to copy is 6mb.
I'll keep poking around. If it doesn't work, it doesn't. It's not hugely important

Any way to write to android/data

I restore data to alot of my apps and games by transferring them between my devices "/android/data" and "/android/obb" folders.
With the pixel 5, it seems I can only read what's in these folders, not write. I've tried stock tile explorer as well as root file explorers and neither can write to these folders.
I even tried to move them from my PC over to the pixel 5, and as soon as a write is attempted to the folders the device "quits responding" until you quit the operation.
Any other way to drop files and or modify files in these folders? I have root.
I have modified some files by first copying them to storage, modify then copy back, using root explorer. You may have to change the attributes
AFAIK the only way to transfer data to android/data is through a computer. I just moved save file data for Soccer Manager 2021 there. Not rooted. Edit, just read your whole post (yeah I'm stupid lol) no idea why you couldn't do it, maybe try playing around with folder permissions?
You can't access files there from an explorer app on your own phone, but you can through windows. Weird.

android 11 root problem miui 12.5

hi.I rooted the phone using magisk, it was installed and apparently rooted, but I have a problem with root file programs like root explorer or es file manager. The problem is that the rw mount does not work or I even have trouble installing busybox.
my phone : redmi note 10 pro
miui version : 12.5.8 and 12.5.9
android version : 11
magiak version : 23
I don't know deeply this case, but it was told that mounting r/w is not possible in recent Androids for system partitions.
However this is Magisk benefit that you put your files to it's tree and Magisk overmounts original files, I guess it does it using option "mount --bind".
You put file into /data/adb/modules/<module_name>/system/etc/<exemplary file> and after reboot you see it under /system/etc/.
At least the above path was checked personally by me by changing /system/etc/gps_psds.conf file to my own.
F308 said:
I don't know deeply this case, but it was told that mounting r/w is not possible in recent Androids for system partitions.
However this is Magisk benefit that you put your files to it's tree and Magisk overmounts original files, I guess it does it using option "mount --bind".
You put file into /data/adb/modules/<module_name>/system/etc/<exemplary file> and after reboot you see it under /system/etc/.
At least the above path was checked personally by me by changing /system/etc/gps_psds.conf file to my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to install a program as a system, but it is not possible without rw mount, do you know the solution?
I presume you have at least one Magisk module installed.
Put it into /data/adb/modules/<any_Magisk_module_name>/PATH_WHERE_YOU_WANT_TO_HAVE_IT/.
If wanted directories don't exist - create them.
Reboot.
Check.
Maybe tune permissions to make file executable.
Report result here.
F308 said:
I presume you have at least one Magisk module installed.
Put it into /data/adb/modules/<any_Magisk_module_name>/PATH_WHERE_YOU_WANT_TO_HAVE_IT/.
If wanted directories don't exist - create them.
Reboot.
Check.
Maybe tune permissions to make file executable.
Report result here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no problem installing the module. My problem is accessing the system / app folder and making changes.
What changes do you want to perform?
Change one or more of files there, right?
If so - I repeat.
Put your modified file(s) under /data/adb/modules/<any_installed_Magisk_module_name>/system/app/ and reboot.
F308 said:
What changes do you want to perform?
Change one or more of files there, right?
If so - I repeat.
Put your modified file(s) under /data/adb/modules/<any_installed_Magisk_module_name>/system/app/ and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not want to install the module, I want to move an apk file to the system/app folder that is installed as a system and can not be deleted
I wasted my time.
Good luck.
I devoted a while to check that I was right suggesting what I suggested.

Can Xposed hook Runtime.loadLibrary for a system call ?

The custom rom I am using on my device for some reason doesn't have logcat. After a bit of digging up in the root folder, I found out that it was missing logd file which should be present under /system/bin and is necessary for logcat to work. Already tried to copy it from the official rom of my device (I extracted it from system.img) but pasting it manually (tried both a root explorer and adb) in /system/bin won't do anything as any changes made to /system/bin get reverted back automtically after reboot.
So I thought of a method about hooking Runtime.loadLibrary with xposed and redirecting it to logd on my internal storage when it's requested. Isn't that possible ?
Otherwise, do you suggest any other solution?
Do you think I should move the file with twrp if this doesn't work ? (I am avoiding the use of it because it's still unstable for my device and bootlooped a few times.).
Or should I edit the custom rom's system.img and repack it (I'm afraid if it's size changes my device won't boot)
I will be very grateful if someone helps me out
if you copy a file you must set right permissions and ownership

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