Manual rooting - cannot mount /system as read/write - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have researched xda and the web for my problem, but it seems to be different from other posters.
I bought a Nextbook Premium 7 with Android 2.3.1 and wanted to root it. Another user already mentioned hack apps like Gingerbreak, superoneclick and z4root did not work, therefore I thought I would try the manual rooting method from the guide below:
http://www.nexusoneforum.net/forum/nexus-one-development-hacking/10940-simple-sdk-setup-guide.html
I pushed Gingerbreak and ran it using ADB, and it was successful granting temporary root. However, in the next step when I tried to remount /system as read/write (in order to install Superuser), it did not work - this step was:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
After executing this, I DID NOT get any error message like other posters (eg. NO "remount failed: operation not permitted").
However, when I tried to execute the next part:
chmod 777 /system/bin (or chmod 777 /system/app)
I got an error message: "Read-only file system".
This tablet has a Rockchip rk2918 processor and Android 2.3.1, otherwise I know nothing about it. The company (nextbookusa.com) does not have any firmware support on this model yet.
Can anyone help? Thanks.

More research on the web makes me suspect this tablet uses cramfs file system, because I've seen "cramfs" coming up in other similar 7 inch rk2918 tablets.
I understand it is common for chinese tablets with similar hardware to have similar basic Android OS, which is modified by the brand owner in their own specific models.
Apparently cramfs is read-only. I can only find one post where the poster successfully rooted the device by unpackaging the firmware, added Superuser, repackaged it and re-install it (as a firmware update) like a "custom(ised) ROM".
I guess until Nextbook issues firmware update on their website to unpackage and add root, there is no way to do it now.

Also RK2918
I've just bought a GoogleTv box with RK2918. I know that there's cramfs on it. I have a firmware from the producer. Any tips or trix on howto root it?

I received a RK2918 WOPAD 9.7 with a built in 3G and I have same issue can't mount system as RW. No messages but get access denied. Busybox is installed in /system/bin and GingerBreak ran fine and gave proper message when completed.
Just can't copy Superuser.apk because I have no write access. This is alot different than the GTAB. I can see the # prompt # and I can see files and dirs I make are root - but not access to Superuser.apk to allow other programs to write.
Any help would be appreciated. Also when I use busybox whoami I get the following:
# busybox whoami
whoami: unknown uid 0
Prior to me doing it the manual root method - I used Z4root and UniversalAndroot - no success.
As far as me thinking I have some root access I did the following:
# cd /data/local/
# ls
tmp
# ls -l
drwxrwx--x shell shell 2011-09-12 17:31 tmp
# su
# ls -l
drwxrwx--x shell shell 2011-09-12 17:31 tmp
# mkdir test
# ls -l
drwxrwx--x shell shell 2011-09-12 17:31 tmp
drwxrwxrwx root root 2011-09-12 18:23 test
apparently I have root access but can't execute the remount command or that block in not writable while system is up - but not sure.
Anyhelp would be appreciated!

sorry for bad english, the issue seems to be in boot ini and recovery mode, i had the same issue on a tab rk 2918, you can only unpack then repack after modifying anything you want, but not mount on rw.

has anyone tried zergRush root method for this tablet yet?????

I tried using SuperOneClick's zergRush on my WoPad i7. Same results.

dicksoft said:
I've just bought a GoogleTv box with RK2918. I know that there's cramfs on it. I have a firmware from the producer. Any tips or trix on howto root it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, I also have an rk2918 tvbox. I succesfully rooted it and prepared a custom rom..
you can check if you have my same box and download the rom my site.. you can find it searching "clamelmod" with google..

Converting cramfs to ext3
You will need to convert the cramfs to ext3, check the instructions described at:
google for "google sites rk2918tools", 1st link.
Let me know if it worked.

hey do you know how to put ics on this rk2918 box?

Related

[Q] How can I mount /system as writeable in adb shell?

I thought I'd bricked my NT but it would appear that it is actually alive because it turns up with adb and I can get shell and then issue command su, but what I can't do is replace the old build.prop because file system is not writable. How do I remount it to be writeable from a shell please?
Thanks!
CelticWebSolutions said:
I thought I'd bricked my NT but it would appear that it is actually alive because it turns up with adb and I can get shell and then issue command su, but what I can't do is replace the old build.prop because file system is not writable. How do I remount it to be writeable from a shell please?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /system
Type mount to verify rw, make your changes
mount -o ro,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /system
Type mount to verify ro
Thank you!
hwong96 said:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /system
Type mount to verify rw, make your changes .....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this tablet but a phone with similar problem.
this does not work for me, although I have ROOTED phone MTK6572, android 4.2.2 ;
"/ root" gets RW, but "/system" stays RO.
I get this message:
error
"the item "system" is read only"
I have tried many apps in phone (remount system RW, FX file expl. ....), and mtkdroid-tools and ADB shell in PC.
I have tried many similar version of that command, too, inc. busybox remount. non of those work.
any ideas, what to try next?
what file or thing or item and where I need to change to get this remounting system to RW done?
it is ext4, and remountable.
I have SuperSU in phone but can't update its binaries: /system stays RO, what ever I try...
I can't change audios, anything in /system.
very annoying...
Jack_Rover said:
I don't have this tablet but a phone with similar problem.
this does not work for me, although I have ROOTED phone MTK6572, android 4.2.2 ;
"/ root" gets RW, but "/system" stays RO.
I get this message:
error
"the item "system" is read only"
I have tried many apps in phone (remount system RW, FX file expl. ....), and mtkdroid-tools and ADB shell in PC.
I have tried many similar version of that command, too, inc. busybox remount. non of those work.
any ideas, what to try next?
what file or thing or item and where I need to change to get this remounting system to RW done?
it is ext4, and remountable.
I have SuperSU in phone but can't update its binaries: /system stays RO, what ever I try...
I can't change audios, anything in /system.
very annoying...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your frustration, however, you should try to post your question to the MTK6572 or Samsung S4 thread. Anyway, since you have asked I'll answer. The mount point for /system is different on each phone model. There is no one standard /system mount point. On the Nook Tablet and Nook Color it is mmcblk0p8. On your device it is different, so the command you tried will not work.
You need to find out what the /system mount point is for your phone.
Open terminal from phone and type su.
Press enter.
At the # prompt type cat /proc/mtd
Press enter.
Look at the output on the screen and see what the mount point is for /system.
A the the # prompt type mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/enteryoursystemmountpointhere /system
Note: replace enteryourmountpointhere with your mount point from the previous step.
Change /system to ro when done. Hope this works for you.
Also download root checker app to ensure you rooted properly.
hwong96 said:
I understand your frustration, however, you should try to post your question to the MTK6572 or Samsung S4 thread. ......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your responce.
with that "cat ..." I got : "no such file or dir"...
I know already that my mnt point is (did try already these earlier):
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 system
mount -o remount,rw -t ext4 /[email protected] /system
but no success, " system read only" stays, and no change.
Jack_Rover said:
thanks for your responce.
with that "cat ..." I got : "no such file or dir"...
I know already that my mnt point is (did try already these earlier):
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 system
mount -o remount,rw -t ext4 /[email protected] /system
but no success, " system read only" stays, and no change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use the root checker app to verify for proper root?
hwong96 said:
Did you use the root checker app to verify for proper root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
I have many apps (e.g. FX, ATools, TitaniumBup, busybox, ES, mount /system rw, SD maid, root expl., adbd insec., rootAppDel, a.s.o.) that use root rights, and phone's superSU gives the rights to them.
AT:s terminal has # prompt, so it must be root. (?)
adbd insecure's current status = binary: insecure; usb debugging: enabled.
I have earlier version SU's binaries working ok, but updating SU made this binary-update-issue: " binary update failure" and so SU-app won't open (it closes after failing binary update), though otherwise it works ok (and worked earlier until I did let G-play to update it, silly me!).
somehow my /system has been "open" i.e. RW earlier, since busybox and superSU has been installed, but now it is "stuck" to that RO-status. "/" opens, but "/system" not.
MTK Droid Root & Tools v2.5.3 (from here xdadevs) gets root shell ok, but fails when trying to install SU, busybox a.s.o. ("read-only system") - and it "crashes".
maybe kernel related? or boot loader, or .... what?
-----
btw, my apologises, that I wrote this issue to this thread, but I found my "problem" here with the search, and after posting I realized that this is "tablet area..."
so this part can be moved to better place by those who know best where to - though not to trash, anyway....
Jack_Rover said:
yes.
I have many apps (e.g. FX, ATools, TitaniumBup, busybox, ES, mount /system rw, SD maid, root expl., adbd insec., rootAppDel, a.s.o.) that use root rights, and phone's superSU gives the rights to them.
AT:s terminal has # prompt, so it must be root. (?)
adbd insecure's current status = binary: insecure; usb debugging: enabled.
I have earlier version SU's binaries working ok, but updating SU made this binary-update-issue: " binary update failure" and so SU-app won't open (it closes after failing binary update), though otherwise it works ok (and worked earlier until I did let G-play to update it, silly me!).
somehow my /system has been "open" i.e. RW earlier, since busybox and superSU has been installed, but now it is "stuck" to that RO-status. "/" opens, but "/system" not.
MTK Droid Root & Tools v2.5.3 (from here xdadevs) gets root shell ok, but fails when trying to install SU, busybox a.s.o. ("read-only system") - and it "crashes".
maybe kernel related? or boot loader, or .... what?
-----
btw, my apologises, that I wrote this issue to this thread, but I found my "problem" here with the search, and after posting I realized that this is "tablet area..."
so this part can be moved to better place by those who know best where to - though not to trash, anyway....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know what else to suggest, except maybe contact Chainfire on G+.
.

[Q] Rooting issue

Hi
I used the following method to obtain root access
--------------------
>./adb push asroot2 /data/local/
>./adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/asroot2
>./adb shell
$ /data/local/asroot2 /system/bin/sh
$ mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtbblock3 /system
mount: Operation not permitted
--------------------
I got to this point after devoting a whole day to this and now I am stuck. Also I am not sure what the /dev/block/mtbblock3 does but when I cd to the block directory, I dont see mebblock3.
Q:: I have seen on the web that the above is working for people. So why is not working for me? Can someone please help?
i used an app called universal androot to root my phone. its probably the simplest way. all you do is open up the app, click a button, done
Still issues
Thank you for your response. In the future I will use that app But for now I want to access the phone from ubuntu and run this from linux terminal. Any ideas?
it should be mtdblock3 instead. But if you root using universal androot you will also be able to obtain root permissions in the shell.

[SOLVED] "sh: applet not found" after BusyBox install

Background: On a rooted device, I installed busybox via the BusyBox Pro app, with the "symlinks" option checked. Afterwards, wifi stopped working, root stopped working, adb stopped working, and a lot of tasks started failing with "sh: applet not found".
The problem: BusyBox Pro 8.0 replaces /system/bin/ash with a symlink to busybox. This was problematic on my device, where /system/bin/sh was a symlink to ash, so now 'sh' is actually calling busybox, and this particular compilation of busybox didn't have 'sh' support compiled in, hence the "sh: applet not found" error everytime anything tried to call sh, which as it happens, is a lot! The bug was fixed quickly with a 8.1 release, but due to suspected caching policies on the Google Store, a lot of people still got the old release even after this was fixed!
Here's how I fixed this:
Prerequisite: You'll need a replacement sh binary. On another device, which was also an ARM device, sh was symlinked to 'mksh', and I just took this. You might want to verify that the binary works on your broken device before completing the final steps below.
Initial Wifi
It's only DHCP that is failing (on the "Obtaining IP address..." step), so go into your Wifi Settings, forget the network, add it again, and change DHCP to "static", manually fill in the appropriate IP info for your network, and you'll be good to go (encrypted network is fine).
Getting a Root terminal
Download KBOX from http://kevinboone.net/kbox.html
In KBox, menu -> more -> preferences, change shell -> "command line" to "/system/bin/ash"
su -s /system/bin/ash
Remounting /system as RW
In theory, all you should need to do is: busybox mount -o remount,rw /system
This didn't work for me, and I got a "permission denied (are you root)" error, I guess because the system was no longer booting properly. I had to redo some of the steps involved in rooting my device, in my case:
On phone:
mkdir /data/local/lib
echo ro.kernel.qemu=1 > /data/local.prop
reboot
(wait for reboot, and get into a root terminal again as per the above)
On PC (from previous files used for rooting my device):
adb push lsm_disabler.ko /data/local/lib/
Oh phone:
insmod /data/local/lib/lsm_disabler.ko
rm /data/local/lib/lsm_disabler.ko
cat > /data/local.prop
From this point, I was able to remount successfully:
mount -o remount,rw /system
Fixing sh
Now on your PC, push the replacement binary to /system/bin, in my case:
adb push mksh /system/bin
On phone:
cd /system/bin
busybox ln -sf sh mksh
Verify now that "./sh" gives you a working terminal.
If all is good:
mount -o remount,ro /system
reboot
All done! Wow, this saved me sending my device back to Japan, since it's still using the stock bootloader and there are now available update.zip's out there. Good luck everyone, feel free to ask questions :>
P.S. I'm going to contact BusyBox Pro's author now with some suggestions to prevent these kind of problems happening in the future.
Deleted.
Deleted.
I rant into the same problem on my Galaxy Tab. Thanks for this, it saved my day!
A little correction to this little thing:
Kinslayer81 said:
On phone:
cd /system/bin
busybox ln -sf sh mksh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked for me:
cd /system/bin
ln -sf mksh sh
chmod 755 sh
Thank you
Just want to say thanks.
Your Posting helped me out with the Problems on my htc flyer.
I installed BusyBox Pro by Stephen (Stericson) to fix a missing symlinks problem that I had after installing JRummy's Busy Box. I then encountered the applet not found problem and then just reinstalled JRummy's version and it fixed it without having to do anything else.
Kinslayer81 said:
Background: On a rooted device, I installed busybox via the BusyBox Pro app, with the "symlinks" option checked. Afterwards, wifi stopped working, root stopped working, adb stopped working, and a lot of tasks started failing with "sh: applet not found".
The problem: BusyBox Pro 8.0 replaces /system/bin/ash with a symlink to busybox. This was problematic on my device, where /system/bin/sh was a symlink to ash, so now 'sh' is actually calling busybox, and this particular compilation of busybox didn't have 'sh' support compiled in, hence the "sh: applet not found" error everytime anything tried to call sh, which as it happens, is a lot! The bug was fixed quickly with a 8.1 release, but due to suspected caching policies on the Google Store, a lot of people still got the old release even after this was fixed!
Here's how I fixed this:
Prerequisite: You'll need a replacement sh binary. On another device, which was also an ARM device, sh was symlinked to 'mksh', and I just took this. You might want to verify that the binary works on your broken device before completing the final steps below.
Initial Wifi
It's only DHCP that is failing (on the "Obtaining IP address..." step), so go into your Wifi Settings, forget the network, add it again, and change DHCP to "static", manually fill in the appropriate IP info for your network, and you'll be good to go (encrypted network is fine).
Getting a Root terminal
Download KBOX from http://kevinboone.net/kbox.html
In KBox, menu -> more -> preferences, change shell -> "command line" to "/system/bin/ash"
su -s /system/bin/ash
Remounting /system as RW
In theory, all you should need to do is: busybox mount -o remount,rw /system
This didn't work for me, and I got a "permission denied (are you root)" error, I guess because the system was no longer booting properly. I had to redo some of the steps involved in rooting my device, in my case:
On phone:
mkdir /data/local/lib
echo ro.kernel.qemu=1 > /data/local.prop
reboot
(wait for reboot, and get into a root terminal again as per the above)
On PC (from previous files used for rooting my device):
adb push lsm_disabler.ko /data/local/lib/
Oh phone:
insmod /data/local/lib/lsm_disabler.ko
rm /data/local/lib/lsm_disabler.ko
cat > /data/local.prop
From this point, I was able to remount successfully:
mount -o remount,rw /system
Fixing sh
Now on your PC, push the replacement binary to /system/bin, in my case:
adb push mksh /system/bin
On phone:
cd /system/bin
busybox ln -sf sh mksh
Verify now that "./sh" gives you a working terminal.
If all is good:
mount -o remount,ro /system
reboot
All done! Wow, this saved me sending my device back to Japan, since it's still using the stock bootloader and there are now available update.zip's out there. Good luck everyone, feel free to ask questions :>
P.S. I'm going to contact BusyBox Pro's author now with some suggestions to prevent these kind of problems happening in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This helped get my wifi back after flashing a kernel.
Hey there,
I've got the same problem.
After reinstalling the ROM everything works fine,
but when I try to install busybox, I get the same failure everytimes.
How can I prevent it?
Do I have to follow the steps above?
And where do I get the sh binary from?
Sorry guys, I'm a little confused and hope you may help me..
Thanks!!
Kbox not open in my ics when I open it its automatically closed
And i want to ask the script su -s /system/bin/ash where i put this script

[Q] Error while Rooting - /System Read-Only filesystem

Hey there guys.
I have a couple of devices I am trying to root.
One is a ZTE Fit 4G and the other is a cheap tablet bought from ebay with an allwinner A20 marked as MIB in about.
I have tried many ways of rooting on both of them. One of which was Cydia Impactor.
I have used Cydia Impactor to root other devices just fine.
However on these 2 devices when i run "# drop SuperSU su to /system/xbin/su" the payload runs on the device and then Cydia Impactor shows "mount: Read-Only filesystem"
When i try adb remount I get remount failed: Read-only file system
Also when i try this in adb shell - mount -o rw,remount /system I get the same error mount: Read-only file system
Of course I get the same message with mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
All these commands are done while the phone is running. should i be in recovery mode or something while I do this?
If that is not the case then how would I go about making the file system writable or is there away to root the device without modifying system and once rooted install supersu and binaries manually (I am assuming the only access to /system is to install super su... which could be totally wrong)
I appreciate your time in reading this and look forward to hearing any suggestions you may have,
Kriogenic.

Huawei ascend p7 non rooted busybox linking read-only filesystem

Hello everyone,
I've updated my firmware to the latest version of my huawei ascend p7 making it impossible to root my phone. Now what I'm trying to do is get the non-rooted busybox working and replace the old links of commands with the ones in busybox. I'm using the following commands to do that:
First I export the path and such using:
Code:
export PATH=$PATH:/data/data/burrows.apps.busybox/app_busybox;
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/data/data/burrows.apps.busybox/app_bussybox
Now I'm able to use busybox in my terminal (only for that session, when I exit the terminal and restart it I would have to re-do the export path thing).
So... I wanted to replace all the links to those of busybox using the following command:
Code:
for c in `busybox --list`; do busybox ln -s busybox $c; done
This however outputs for each command for example cat:
Code:
ln: cat: Read-only file system
I've read somewhere that you can remount your system partition in order to make it writeable? Is this the way to do it? And if so what commands should I run? I have access through adb and a normal shell on the phone. Remember: it's non-rooted...
EDIT: seems like I can't remount /system without root priviledges...
Also I would like to be able to have a full colored bash shell with a bashrc (in which I can add the path to busybox aswell) if that's possible.
I'm using jackpal's android terminal emulator.
EDIT: I think I might've posted this on the wrong forum, if anyone is so kind as to move this to this forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/ascend-p7/help I would greatly appreciate it. Altho I think this might be a general question rather then a model specific question.

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