Related
I was on a hunt to make this work without losing any data and I've figured out a way that works quite nice, and all it involves is a TWRP backup, ADB, and a bit of commandline.
Thanks to TrevE for his ever evolving tweaks to Android and for making them readily available to the community at the cost of one thanks per post, and maybe a beer or two (how many people really buy beer with donations?!)
Required:
TWRP backup
ADB
The EXT4 tweaks for /data
The EXT4 tweaks for /system
(If your ROM doesn't already have them, I will be providing the zips for them courtesy of Synergy.)
Step 1:
Connect your phone to your PC and like all things of this nature, BACKUP! Use TWRP to create a nandroid of your entire phone. We will need this backup to restore data and system via commandline. TWRP is the only tested method that works, since it creates backups that are actually TAR files (God, I love TWRP for this). Stay in recovery after completing backup.
Step 2:
While still in recovery, enable USB storage mode and download the two EXT4 files below (or applicable if your ROM already has one of the partitions optimized) onto the root of your microSD card. To make things easier, you can temporarily move your data.win and system.win files to the root of your microSD card. They are located in the TWRP folder on your microSD card. Afterward, disable USB storage mode.
Next, there are TWO ways to accomplish this. Choose which way you want to go before continuing.
Method 1: Reflash your ROM(NOT RIGHT NOW, later on in the guide--depending on ROM, this may format your /system and/or data partitions, rendering the tweaks useless.)
Method 2: Use commandline to restore your ROM from TWRP backup.
Step 3:
From recovery, wipe dalvik and cache and format data and and depending on method, your system partitions as well. NOTE: formatting the partitions can be done from TWRP in the advanced menu.
Step 4:
Flash the applicable EXT4 file.
Step 5:
Mount /data, /system, (if applicable), and /sdcard with TWRP and launch an ADB shell by typing "adb shell" then press enter while in your ADB folder from command prompt/terminal.
Step 6:
Type "cd /sdcard" and press enter. To make sure you're in your sdcard, type "ls" then press enter to verify that it's listing your microSD card contents.
Step 7:
Type "cd /data" and press enter. To make sure you're in /data, type "ls" then press enter to verify that it's empty. It will probably contain a lost+found folder, if so then that's fine.
Step 8:
If you moved your data.win and system.win backups to the root of your microSD card to make this easier, simply type "tar xvpf /sdcard/data.win" then press enter and it will begin extracting the backup file onto the /data partition. Otherwise, you will have to type "tar xvpf /sdcard/TWRP/nameofHTCfolder/nameofdatefolder/data.win" then press enter. This will take a few minutes to complete.
NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE /DATA PARTITION BEFORE TYPING THAT COMMAND, OTHERWISE THINGS WILL GO WRONG.
Step 9:
Either reflash your current ROM (checking to make sure it doesn't format /system before installing) OR type "cd /system" then press enter. To make sure you're in /system type "ls" then press enter to verify that it's empty. It may contain another folder, if so that's fine. It should however be empty of ROM related files.
Step 10:
If you moved your data.win and system.win backups to the root of your microSD card to make this easier, simply type "tar xvpf /sdcard/system.win" then press enter and it will begin extracting the backup file onto the /system partition. Otherwise, you will have to type "tar xvpf /sdcard/TWRP/nameofHTCfolder/nameofdatefolder/system.win" then press enter. This will take a few minutes to complete.
NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE /SYSTEM PARTITION BEFORE TYPING THAT COMMAND, OTHERWISE THINGS WILL GO WRONG.
Step 11:
Once this is all complete, exit ADB shell by typing "exit" then pressing enter. Next, unmount /system, /data, and /sdcard from TWRP and head on over to the fix_permissions option in TWRP and let it run. It will take a few minutes to complete.
Step 12:
Go ahead and wipe dalvik and cache again just to make sure, then reboot.
It will take a while to boot back into android, but if all goes well, you should have your data intact with fully optimized EXT4 partitions thanks to TrevE/Synergy.
NOTE: This worked for me, and if you follow the guide precisely, it should work for you too.
NOTE2: I did not try this method with /system, ONLY data, and it worked fine. I assume the same for /system as well.
Awesome! I as many others are appreciative of Team Xposed and how you explain mods to everyone. Most of the time we get a .zip with no explanation on how the .zip is doing what it does. We just know flash this and this happens, lol. With these breakdowns we all get a better understanding on how things work in our devices
Perhaps a sticky with all Team Xposed mods/tweaks, that would be
I believe this is what i used the last time i flashed synergy. If so, then it works great.
Wow the step by step was GREAT!! Man I did this in like 5 minutes....Granted it took me about 30 minutes to download all the tools I needed. Thanks for this one!!
Edit: So how do you know it truly worked?? How do I check if I am ext4 or not?
wow. I had EXT4 on my samsung phones and I LOVED it compared to this! I will definitely try this and make a video on my success or failure! lol
so what if i didnt care to lose data could i flash this with another rom.
Ok. So just trying to gain a better understanding here. So say if the rom were running already includes the /system tweaks but not the /data tweaks and the rom doesn't erase on flash can I just flash both of the files and flash the rom?? Also if I wanted to apply the tweaks to and existing nand can I just flash both the files and do a nand restore??? Or is restoring the data from the command line needed in order for the tweaks to work effectively???
Locked & Loaded
" Shooter on Deck "
Great write up, thanks for that!
Not to be a party pooper, but isn't there a tweaked version of the EXT4 optimized zip that backs up data to sd card, formats /data with ext4, then auto restores /data for you? I found it somewhere in the Synergy thread.
Correct me if im wrong if this does something more/different.
here is a link to it:
Synergy_Format_Data_EXT4_Optimized_apps_autorestored.zip
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=708982&d=1315062399
I used it to go from Warm2.3 to Steel2.3 without any issues what so ever, except having to restore XDA app, wifi/bt networks and some widgets. It kept all my screens and settings just the way i like it. YMMV! i take no credit, and assume no responsibility if it rips your phone a new one.
Our phones are already ext4, the optimization just turns on some more features for ext4.
And the tool linked before me doesn't backup everything in /data... It should probably work, but if it misses anything this method will catch it
I just took the opportunity to wipe clean and reset some things.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
youngpro83 said:
Wow the step by step was GREAT!! Man I did this in like 5 minutes....Granted it took me about 30 minutes to download all the tools I needed. Thanks for this one!!
Edit: So how do you know it truly worked?? How do I check if I am ext4 or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question. I suppose you could run a few Quadrant benches to ease your mind. You should get much better scores than you would normally. I suppose the only real way to know for sure is if someone created an EXT4 tweak checker of some sort lol. But the Quadrant benchmark should be enough, that is if you remember what kind of scores you were getting before hand.
digitalcrash said:
so what if i didnt care to lose data could i flash this with another rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you asked! If you don't care about losing data, just go ahead and format your system and data partitions with TWRP or whatever recovery you use, then apply the tweaks zips and go ahead and flash the ROM of your choice. You should double check the updater-script of your ROM to make sure it doesn't reformat the /system partition or it will render the /system tweak useless.
laie1472 said:
Ok. So just trying to gain a better understanding here. So say if the rom were running already includes the /system tweaks but not the /data tweaks and the rom doesn't erase on flash can I just flash both of the files and flash the rom?? Also if I wanted to apply the tweaks to and existing nand can I just flash both the files and do a nand restore??? Or is restoring the data from the command line needed in order for the tweaks to work effectively???
Locked & Loaded
" Shooter on Deck "
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if the ROM you're running already contains the /system tweaks then you're half-way there. You still want a backup though, because each of these zips will format its respective partitions. You only want the zip that applies. In your case, you'd only need the data tweaks, but you'd still have to follow the guide that pertains to restoring your data partition after tweaking.
MFD00M said:
Great write up, thanks for that!
Not to be a party pooper, but isn't there a tweaked version of the EXT4 optimized zip that backs up data to sd card, formats /data with ext4, then auto restores /data for you? I found it somewhere in the Synergy thread.
Correct me if im wrong if this does something more/different.
here is a link to it:
Synergy_Format_Data_EXT4_Optimized_apps_autorestored.zip
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=708982&d=1315062399
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you linked that. I actually looked over this yesterday, and while it does do something similar to this guide, It actually only restores part of your data partition, which is why it's said that you will need to repair your bluetooth devices and reenter your WiFi network settings. IIRC, it doesn't restore the entire data partition, just most of the important folders. If it were to do the entire partition, well, this guide would be much shorter.
freeza said:
Glad you linked that. I actually looked over this yesterday, and while it does do something similar to this guide, It actually only restores part of your data partition, which is why it's said that you will need to repair your bluetooth devices and reenter your WiFi network settings. IIRC, it doesn't restore the entire data partition, just most of the important folders. If it were to do the entire partition, well, this guide would be much shorter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clearing that up, i will try your method as well. I need more ADB exposure to help me learn.
so my next question is if the rom does format system on boot then i would install with adb as your guide says?
digitalcrash said:
so my next question is if the rom does format system on boot then i would install with adb as your guide says?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup...pretty much.
Thank you for this. I was able to apply this without any issues.
freeza said:
Yup...pretty much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would be the process if I didn't care about losing data? Would I just flash, and resign into my Google account and go through that process again?
LiquidSolstice said:
What would be the process if I didn't care about losing data? Would I just flash, and resign into my Google account and go through that process again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't care about losing data, you'd format/wipe the data and system partition from recovery, apply both ext4 zips... wipe dalvik+cache, reflash your ROM, and reboot
Keep in mind that this is pretty much the same process as factory reset, so you might as well just perform one of those lol
freeza said:
If you don't care about losing data, you'd format/wipe the data and system partition from recovery, apply both ext4 zips... wipe dalvik+cache, reflash your ROM, and reboot
Keep in mind that this is pretty much the same process as factory reset, so you might as well just perform one of those lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just to be clear, all that I need to do is before I flash a ROM, Superwipe/XRON wipe like I always do, flash the ROM, flash the EX4 zips, and then clear dalvik/cache and boot?
LiquidSolstice said:
So just to be clear, all that I need to do is before I flash a ROM, Superwipe/XRON wipe like I always do, flash the ROM, flash the EX4 zips, and then clear dalvik/cache and boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You wanna flash the zips before flashing ROM, as they format the partitions with the tweaks. You also want to double check the updater-script of your ROM to make sure it doesn't format the /system partition before installing, as it would remove the tweaks.
Soo..
Superwipe/XRON
EXT4 tweaks
ROM
No need to wipe anything as Superwipe/XRON already does this.
freeza said:
You wanna flash the zips before flashing ROM, as they format the partitions with the tweaks. You also want to double check the updater-script of your ROM to make sure it doesn't format the /system partition before installing, as it would remove the tweaks.
Soo..
Superwipe/XRON
EXT4 tweaks
ROM
No need to wipe anything as Superwipe/XRON already does this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXT4 before ROM?
Bear with me, I'm still a bit confused :X. Wouldn't flashing a ROM after the EXT4 data/system zips negate the zips' function?
LiquidSolstice said:
EXT4 before ROM?
Bear with me, I'm still a bit confused :X. Wouldn't flashing a ROM after the EXT4 data/system zips negate the zips' function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol no problem.......Well, what the tweaks does is format the system and data partitions a certain way as to improve io functions and other stuff. It's like formatting a drive in Windows with cluster switches etc. It's still empty once you flash the tweaks. The ROM simply puts all the information on the newly formatted filesystem. If you were to apply the tweaks after flashing the ROM, it would format the partitions and erase all data, which is why you do it first. The updater-script in ROMs also have the ability to format partitions, which is why in Synergy ROMs, simply flashing their ROM also applies the tweak and which is why you should check your updater-script beforehand to make sure it doesn't have a format command in it, as it would negate the tweaks.
Current state of phone:
bootloader = relocked tampered
S-ON
Hboot = 2.09.0000
radio = 1.12.11.1210
Phone has no OS/Rom all I have access to is bootloader and recovery TWRP
Unable to flash a rom in TWRP
Had freshly rooted replacement evo LTE (as of yesterday)
-unlocked HTCdev method
-installed superuser and gained root access
today, tried to install a custom sense based rom (located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1712618 )
Aroma install was unable to set up permissions and install failed and dropped me into a boot loop
tried installing several other sense roms and CM10 with no success before realizing that TWRP was not able to mount several aspects such as Cache and other import parts.
unable to fix
have since:
-relocked bootloader
-attempted to run RUU.exe files with no success
-attempted to gain s-off to use viperRUU and got the error message "FAILED (remote: 43 mail version check fail)"
I am at a loss... could someone please help, if you need me to check anything please just let me know what you need and how to get it.
Since you are S-ON you have to fastboot flash the boot.img/kernel and then the rom
Try MeanBean it is S-ON friendly it has a kernel installer
BTW you will have to unlock again
bigdaddy619 said:
Since you are S-ON you have to fastboot flash the boot.img/kernel and then the rom
Try MeanBean it is S-ON friendly it has a kernel installer
BTW you will have to unlock again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where can i find the files you are referring too? Sorry it has been a long several hours, thankyou for your help
Try MeanBean first at least it will get you back up and running
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2048229
1. put it on your sdcard
2. boot into twrp
3. click install and find the zip and swipe to install
bigdaddy619 said:
Try MeanBean first at least it will get you back up and running
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2048229
1. put it on your sdcard
2. boot into twrp
3. click install and find the zip and swipe to install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant do that.... i have tried several roms and TWRP is not mounting the things I need to flash... im going to try reflashing the recovery img and let you know here in a moment.... thanks for your help!!! ill be back in just a moment
After reflashing twrp type
fastboot erase cache
Also make sure you unlock your bootloader again
bigdaddy619 said:
After reflashing twrp type
fastboot erase cache
Also make sure you unlock your bootloader again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check check and check
unlocked, erased cache, reflashed twrp, and tried to install rom
I get the following in the TWRP logs:
E:Unable to mount /sdcard
E:Unable to mount /cache
E:Unable to mount /data
E:Unable to mount /sd-ext
unable to flash anything through recovery
idk what to do
shootin4aces said:
check check and check
unlocked, erased cache, reflashed twrp, and tried to install rom
I get the following in the TWRP logs:
E:Unable to mount /sdcard
E:Unable to mount /cache
E:Unable to mount /data
E:Unable to mount /sd-ext
unable to flash anything through recovery
idk what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to sideload a rom thru twrp?
You may have to format your sdcards and start fresh (if you take this route backup the important stuff to your PC first)
bigdaddy619 said:
Have you tried to sideload a rom thru twrp?
You may have to format your sdcards and start fresh (if you take this route backup the important stuff to your PC first)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im honestly not sure which route to take, what would you suggest as a sure proof method to resolve the issue, backing up everything now from sd card and then I have no data to lose.
I have never sideloaded really before, what exactly do I need to do
again, thanks so much for your help
bigdaddy619 said:
Have you tried to sideload a rom thru twrp?
You may have to format your sdcards and start fresh (if you take this route backup the important stuff to your PC first)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and since i cant mount anything really, how will I be able to sideload? nothing will mount through TWRP
shootin4aces said:
Im honestly not sure which route to take, what would you suggest as a sure proof method to resolve the issue, backing up everything now from sd card and then I have no data to lose.
I have never sideloaded really before, what exactly do I need to do
again, thanks so much for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's not a huge deal I would just format both sdcards and start fresh.
To sideload
Go into twrp
1. Select Advance
2. Select ADB Sideload
3. Check the boxes to wipe chache/dalvik cache and swipe to begin
4. Re-name the rom zip something easy to type haha and put it in your android-sdk/platform-tools folder(or wherever you have your ADB and Fastboot located)
5. Open a cmd window from that folder and type adb sideload filename.zip
Once it's done sideloading it will flash the zip
---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------
shootin4aces said:
and since i cant mount anything really, how will I be able to sideload? nothing will mount through TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it mount when you connect to your PC? Both sdcards?
---------- Post added at 11:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------
Also what version of twrp are you using? I would suggest 2.4.1.0
get it here
http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/jewel
in bootloader, choose “FASTBOOT”, hit the Power button, then plug-in your microUSB cable from your phone to computer.
type "fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.x.x.x-jewel.img" without the quotes and press enter (Replace the x's with the version you choose exp. 2.3.3.0)
Copy and paste is the easiest way to do this that way there are no typo's
Now type "fastboot erase cache" without the quotes and press enter
bigdaddy619 said:
If it's not a huge deal I would just format both sdcards and start fresh.
To sideload
Go into twrp
1. Select Advance
2. Select ADB Sideload
3. Check the boxes to wipe chache/dalvik cache and swipe to begin
4. Re-name the rom zip something easy to type haha and put it in your android-sdk/platform-tools folder(or wherever you have your ADB and Fastboot located)
5. Open a cmd window from that folder and type adb sideload filename.zip
Once it's done sideloading it will flash the zip
---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------
Does it mount when you connect to your PC? Both sdcards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i mount Via usb it says it needs to format disk I:
when i select to format it opens up a format removable disk window that says capacity 9.93 GB.... should i tell it to reformat? or how should I go about it? I only see 1 item i can reformat
bigdaddy619 said:
If it's not a huge deal I would just format both sdcards and start fresh.
To sideload
Go into twrp
1. Select Advance
2. Select ADB Sideload
3. Check the boxes to wipe chache/dalvik cache and swipe to begin
4. Re-name the rom zip something easy to type haha and put it in your android-sdk/platform-tools folder(or wherever you have your ADB and Fastboot located)
5. Open a cmd window from that folder and type adb sideload filename.zip
Once it's done sideloading it will flash the zip
---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------
Does it mount when you connect to your PC? Both sdcards?
---------- Post added at 11:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------
Also what version of twrp are you using? I would suggest 2.4.1.0
get it here
http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/jewel
in bootloader, choose “FASTBOOT”, hit the Power button, then plug-in your microUSB cable from your phone to computer.
type "fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.x.x.x-jewel.img" without the quotes and press enter (Replace the x's with the version you choose exp. 2.3.3.0)
Copy and paste is the easiest way to do this that way there are no typo's
Now type "fastboot erase cache" without the quotes and press enter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have TWRP 2.6.0.0
That is you Internal sdcard which is probably where the problem lies
---------- Post added at 11:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 PM ----------
shootin4aces said:
I have TWRP 2.6.0.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try going back to 2.4.1.0 and see what happens before you try formatting
bigdaddy619 said:
That is you Internal sdcard which is probably where the problem lies
---------- Post added at 11:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 PM ----------
Try going back to 2.4.1.0 and see what happens before you try formatting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still unable to mount after going back to that version...gonna have to reformat... on the computer should I reformat as FAT32? and should I use the default allocation size of 8192 bytes?
shootin4aces said:
still unable to mount after going back to that version...gonna have to reformat... on the computer should I reformat as FAT32? and should I use the default allocation size of 8192 bytes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a while since I formatted my sdcards so I don't really remember so use your best judgement I'm pretty sure I just clicked format and didn't change anything
bigdaddy619 said:
It's been a while since I formatted my sdcards so I don't really remember so use your best judgement I'm pretty sure I just clicked format and didn't change anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here goes nothing
Good luck
bigdaddy619 said:
It's been a while since I formatted my sdcards so I don't really remember so use your best judgement I'm pretty sure I just clicked format and didn't change anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
reformatted and sideloaded a rom... started to flash the zip afterwards but then said E:unable to mount /data
that was the only one this time though
shootin4aces said:
reformatted and sideloaded a rom... started to flash the zip afterwards but then said E:unable to mount /data
that was the only one this time though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Copy it to your phone from your PC and flash normally in twrp
Hey everyone,
A few days ago, I decided to downgrade from AICP 11 back to 10 (Android 6.0.1 to 5.1.1), wiped everything but internal storage. When flashing, I got an error, saying that the /vendor partition was missing, and indeed, while it existed, I could only mount it forcefully, because the device was busy.
This lead to a complete wipe, as after a reboot, TWRP asked for an encryption password, which I didn't set. Here, I did a factory reset & wiped everything. After that, I tried flashing again (5.1.1), but after it was completed, I got a line, which said "Couldn't unmount /system", which is true, as it's already unmounted. But when I mount it, all the files that are supposed to be installed seem to be there.
When I reboot the device, it gets stuck on the Google logo.
Frankly, I'm afraid to even flash back to stock, so I was hoping that someone more experienced could help me out.
It should be noted, that I still have access to fastboot, and TWRP.
Thanks in advance,
DecentM
How did you force mount /vendor?
Can you clarify where you are seeing these problems? (TWRP or within Android)
Do you have any nandroid backups to test and see if they work?
dmantilal said:
How did you force mount /vendor?
Can you clarify where you are seeing these problems? (TWRP or within Android)
Do you have any nandroid backups to test and see if they work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used mount -f and umount -f in the TWRP terminal
I see all these problems in TWRP, since I can't boot/get past the initial Google logo.
I do have a nandroid backuip on my laptop (as I had to wipe the tablet clean), but that's currently unavailable for me to use, I'll reply back when I tried it.
I doubt it will work, because it just extracts data to a predefined path, which seems like the same thing an installer zip does.
DecentM said:
I used mount -f and umount -f in the TWRP terminal
I see all these problems in TWRP, since I can't boot/get past the initial Google logo.
I do have a nandroid backuip on my laptop (as I had to wipe the tablet clean), but that's currently unavailable for me to use, I'll reply back when I tried it.
I doubt it will work, because it just extracts data to a predefined path, which seems like the same thing an installer zip does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you need /vendor mounted in TWRP?
I thought flashing used dd (command) or similar to copy the *.img file to the partition (or, more accurately, the block device). If /vendor is mounted during *.img copy, that would most likely cause errors.
dmantilal said:
Why did you need /vendor mounted in TWRP?
I thought flashing used dd (command) or similar to copy the *.img file to the partition (or, more accurately, the block device). If /vendor is mounted during *.img copy, that would most likely cause errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mounted it, because when I initially restored the 5.1.1 rom, I got an error, saying that the /vendor partition wasn't mounted.
DecentM said:
I mounted it, because when I initially restored the 5.1.1 rom, I got an error, saying that the /vendor partition wasn't mounted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are sure it was complaining about "unmounted", rather than "mounted"?
Do these roms include a vendor.img? You may need to flash the stock 5.1.1 vendor.img.
Either way, unless you mkfs'ed or resize2fs'ed the partitions, they should be fine. Full wipe & go.
dmantilal said:
You are sure it was complaining about "unmounted", rather than "mounted"?
Do these roms include a vendor.img? You may need to flash the stock 5.1.1 vendor.img.
Either way, unless you mkfs'ed or resize2fs'ed the partitions, they should be fine. Full wipe & go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure.
I already did a full wipe, but it still had issues. I'll try again tomorrow, and report back on how it went.
DecentM said:
I'm not sure.
I already did a full wipe, but it still had issues. I'll try again tomorrow, and report back how it went.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having a mismatched vendor.img could be your problem.
No ROM I know of includes a vendor.img. I think it is a legal issue, like including GApps with a ROM.
dmantilal said:
Having a mismatched vendor.img could be your problem.
No ROM I know of includes a vendor.img. I think it is a legal issue, like including GApps with a ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that the issue is with the vendor image anymore, but with the partitions in general. I always had a mismatched vendor image, as it only results in a modal box after boot.
My problem is again, with the /system partition not being visible to flashable zip files.
Mismatched vendor.img can also cause bootloops and other quirks like battery-charge percentage inaccuracies.
So here you come. To read and perform this tutorial, you obviously need a first hand experience on flashing a ROM and/or kernels. Otherwise this tutorial and my efforts to get you a device with two OSes running might end up giving you a bricked device. So, if you're hearing the terms "flashing" or 'kernels' for the first time and thinking it's kinda good food, then bro, just go and taste those first.
Something's to remind before we gonna dig deep into this tutorial->
1> Noone but you will be responsible for what you end up with.
2> The warranty of your device will be voided after this if it isn't already after rooting. For MI users, the good news is that you can reclaim it by just flashing the fastboot ROM for your device.
Enough lectures. Bro let's get to work.
This you'll be needing =>
1> One working Windows PC(because I doesn't know any replacement of bootimg.exe on any other OS. If you know, then let me).
2> A class 10 memory card ( I recommend 32GB for the spaces)
3> A custom ROM and kernel for your phone(the second os)
4> Any custom CWM based recovery installed.(since TWRP is most popular, I will demonstrate using it. You can use any other you want overall process will be the same)
5> ADB, fastboot and the device drivers (easily found in XDA)
PART 1: MODIFYING THE BOOT
At first, how does your device boots up? What are the partitions called /data and /system? The answer is quite simple. It's your kernel that points out the location from where the OS should be picked up. So for booting into the second OS we need some modifications to it at first.
Search and download bootimg.exe on XDA, I'll post a link later. Create two folders. Name them "Internal OS" and "External OS" respectively. Put the zip file of the OS you're currently using to the first one and the OS you're gonna use on the external storage to the second one. Rename the second OS to originalExternalOS.zip. Extract originalExternalOS.zip. Pick the boot.img file from the root of the extracted folder and move it to a new folder named "boot2". Extract the IMG using bootimg.exe. Navigate to the initrd folder and you will get a file named 'fstab".
Basically it's the file that tells the kernel which partition does the OS resides in.
Open the file in your favourite text editor.
Replace every instance of the first line with the second one:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system => /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata => /dev/block/mmcblk1p3
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cache => /dev/block/mmcblk1p4
Save the file without giving any extension to it. Repack it using the same tool. You'll have boot-new.img and boot-old.img. Rename boot-new.img to boot.img and replace the one in the root folder with this. Basically what we're doing here is replacing the old boot.img with the modified one.
For your knowledge, blocks are the partitions of any storage you have on your device. For example, your internal storage is partitioned to near about 30 different blocks each starting with prefix "mmcblk0p". We here just told the kernel to load the OS from the blocks mentioned. We'll be creating these blocks in the external SD card next.
PART 2: PARTITIONING THE SD CARD
Connect your device with the memory card inserted to your PC. If you haven't installed fastboot, ADB, and the drivers, do it now.
READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY
Reboot the device to recovery mode. Type the commands in cmd:
Code:
adb shell
parted
unit MB
print
quit
umount external_sd
Read and store the minimum and maximum capacity of your card. Since different cards will have different capacities I will point it as variable MIN_SIZE and MAX_SIZE. You'll need to calculate and put the values in the commands. Now type the following commands on cmd:
Code:
parted /dev/block/mmcblk1
rm 1
//START_BLOCK = MAX_SIZE - 5000
mkpartfs primary fat32 MIN_SIZE START_BLOCK
//SYS_START = START_BLOCK+1
//SYS_END = SYS_START + 1200
mkpartfs primary ext2 SYS_START SYS_END
//DATA_START = SYS_END+1
//DATA_END = DATA_START + 3500
mkpartfs primary ext2 DATA_START DATA_END
//CACHE_START = DATA_END + 1
mkpartfs primary ext2 CACHE_START MAX_SIZE
//We have partitioned the memory card. Let's format them. Ignore all "Do you wish to continue" question in the next commands as we're already mentioning yes.
mkfs yes 1 fat32
mkfs yes 2 ext2
mkfs yes 3 ext2
mkfs yes 4 ext2
quit
//Now they are almost ready. Just make the newly created blocks readable by the OS.
make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk1p3
make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk1p4
//Now you get where does the blocks come in the kernel right?
exit
//You've covered up the hardest part. Let's get some coffee and cheeerssss.
PART 3: MODIFYING THE NEW OS
You've left the OS extracted in the "External OS" folder right? It's time to do some magic in it. We're gonna tell the OS to be installed in the blocks we created just like the kernel. But wait, where does the OS know before installing where it should get installed? Well, the answer hides in the updater-script in the folder META-INF > com > google > android. Navigate yourself in it. Open the updater-script file in your favourite editor ( I use notepad++ ) and modify it in the same way as the kernel.
Replace every instance of the first line with the second one:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system => /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata => /dev/block/mmcblk1p3
Leave the /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot as it's the fundamental block and we can't replicate it. Don't think for the /cache partition as we've already done that in the boot.img file. Now navigate to the root of the folder where you extracted the External OS. Select all files, add them to a zip file using WinRAR. Name the file to newOS.zip. Open newOs.zip and originalExternalOS.zip with WinRAR and compare them if you find any change in the folder tree. They must and they should be exactly the same. You're 80% done.
PART 4: MODIFYING THE RECOVERY
We often flash many zips including very popular Xposed and other mods to our OS right? They also look for the /system partition. So what are we gonna do? Modifying each of them? Nah. Let's modify where they get which one the /system is. The recovery. Extract the img of the recovery you're using with the same bootimg.exe. Modify exactly the same things. I.e.
Replace every instance of the first line with the second one:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system => /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata => /dev/block/mmcblk1p3
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cache => /dev/block/mmcblk1p4
in the following files : initrd/fstab.qcom
initrd/etc/recovery.fstab
initrd/etc/twrp.fstab(For TWRP only)
Save them. Repack. And you got your recovery-new.img and recovery-old.img. Put recovery-new.img and newOS.zip in the same folder. Now wake up, it's time for some action.
PART 5 : INSTALLING THE OS
Open cmd in the folder where newOS.zip resides. Reboot the devixe in fastboot mode. Type the following commands:
Code:
adb push newOS.zip external_sd
fastboot flash recovery recovery-new.img
fastboot boot recovery
Now your device should boot up in recovery mode. To check if everything has gone fine mount system using TWRP. Use twrp's built in file manager and navigate to system folder. It's empty? Yup. You've done a great job. Now flash the newOS.zip using TWRP and your device should boot up in the new OS. To cross check again remove the SD card and try to boot. If you're headed towards recovery or bootloop after that then it's a win. Put the SD card back again and watch the new OS to boot.
PART 6: SWITCHING BETWEEN THE TWO
Extract the boot.img from the "Internal OS" zip file and put it together with recovery-old.img. To check if your old system is untouched type the following commands in fastboot mode:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-old.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot boot system
Your device should take you back to the old one. Surprised? Now let's make a switch between the two. There are two methods.
METHOD 1: USING FLASHIFY
Create two folders in your SD card. Put boot.img and recovery-old.img to one and boot-new.img and recovery-new.img to the other. To switch to the external OS, just flash boot-new.img as boot and recovery-new.img using flashify. Ignore reboot now dialog and reboot directly to the system. To go back, first install flashify in the new OS and flash boot.img and recovery-old.img. Easy right?
METHOD 2: USING ZIPS
I'm gonna tell you that tomorrow as I can write no more today.
More to come....
CREDITS:
justzzshadz from MIUI forum for this revolutionary concept. @iamsubhranil for adding TWRP support and rewriting the tutorial.
Unnecessary
Continuation2
........
reserved
For future posts.
reserved
For future posts
"External" is spelled wrong in the title.
God of War™ said:
"External" is spelled wrong in the title.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the whole tutorial, then that just doesn't matter
God of War™ said:
"External" is spelled wrong in the title.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried it?
bootimg.exe
"bootimg.exe on any other OS. If you know, then let me)."
please, send bootimg.exe
tim241 said:
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why you quoted the whole post only to say thanks? That thank you button under the post isn't enough?
tim241 said:
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried?
fstab not found there is a file named fstab.qcom??????
keerten said:
fstab not found there is a file named fstab.qcom??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try MultiROM man
iamsubhranil said:
Try MultiROM man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok Bro
iamsubhranil said:
Try MultiROM man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro, you are working on EFIDROID. Can you give us update that project
abhianand123 said:
Bro, you are working on EFIDROID. Can you give us update that project
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've already told it to some people. The project is currently stun for some complications. Will resume.
Pretty useful. Thanks a lot.
Am I right, that when the memory chip on the motheboard holding /system and /userdata partitions died, I can boot the phone from sdcard using this method? I have HM2014813 variant of Redmi 2.
EDIT: I tried this method but I need to use fastboot boot modified.img to boot my phone. Any ideas how to avoid this step?
tulen_kobi said:
Am I right, that when the memory chip on the motheboard holding /system and /userdata partitions died, I can boot the phone from sdcard using this method? I have HM2014813 variant of Redmi 2.
EDIT: I tried this method but I need to use fastboot boot modified.img to boot my phone. Any ideas how to avoid this step?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have same problem 0 mb internal stoarage
/sbin/sh: parted: not found
---------- Post added at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ----------
warrenlobo said:
I too have same problem 0 mb internal stoarage
/sbin/sh: parted: not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they are missing i guess
warrenlobo said:
I too have same problem 0 mb internal stoarage
/sbin/sh: parted: not found
---------- Post added at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ----------
they are missing i guess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no parted on the device anymore, you need to preparation your sdcard on your computer. Do you use Windows or Linux on your pc?
If Windows try to use: FWUL to partition your sdcard.
Hello, i think i made a big mistake, on my phone with root explorer i was unable to mount / and then i tried to mount /system into read only, i remember that i ticked "owner" "group" and "other" but only on read, and my phone just freezed and now the screen is on but it is black and the navigation buttons are on too, please help me
skip
Go to twrp, mount system, go-to inbuilt file manager and chmod 755 the system folder and reboot, or Dirty flash the firmware will do the job.
Next time, do nand-backup before perform sny changes to system. or would be better don't messed up with root partition.
R324D said:
Go to twrp, mount system, go-to inbuilt file manager and chmod 755 the system folder and reboot, or Dirty flash the firmware will do the job.
Next time, do nand-backup before perform sny changes to system. or would be better don't messed up with root partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are sure it is going to work ?
Yakia said:
You are sure it is going to work ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
I don't know man, you could try. I'm not a magician...
Soooo little info you provided, I don't know what device you mentioned above? Rooted/unrooted? Custom rom/stock rom? Twrp installed/uninstalled? Almost zero info :laugh:
But basically, yes it'll work. Just do it..
R324D said:
Lol
I don't know man, you could try. I'm not a magician...
Soooo little info you provided, I don't know what device you mentioned above? Rooted/unrooted? Custom rom/stock rom? Twrp installed/uninstalled? Almost zero info :laugh:
But basically, yes it'll work. Just do it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have twrp installed and fully functionnal, but the phone won't boot on os, when i try to boot, it always shows me recovery, and i precise that in /system there is no file, its empty, i don't know why but when i go to storage info i see that the system partition takes 4gb why ? If in file explorer /system is empty, why system takes 4gb ? Maybe it's not really empty ? Anyway i just need help please
Yakia said:
I actually have twrp installed and fully functionnal, but the phone won't boot on os, when i try to boot, it always shows me recovery, and i precise that in /system there is no file, its empty, i don't know why but when i go to storage info i see that the system partition takes 4gb why ? If in file explorer /system is empty, why system takes 4gb ? Maybe it's not really empty ? Anyway i just need help please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to help you here, but clearly you didn't read my previous comment.
Boot into TWRP (you said you have it installed), and you have to MOUNT SYSTEM first, or it'll just show you an empty folder without file.
R324D said:
I tried to help you here, but clearly you didn't read my previous comment.
Boot into TWRP (you said you have it installed), and you have to MOUNT SYSTEM first, or it'll just show you an empty folder without file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do i mount system ? Sorry if i'm maybe annoying i just want to be sure that i will not fail
Yakia said:
Where do i mount system ? Sorry if i'm maybe annoying i just want to be sure that i will not fail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just boot into twrp, you'll see mount menu as soon as you enter the twrp recovery. Enter mount and check system.
R324D said:
Just boot into twrp, you'll see mount menu as soon as you enter the twrp recovery. Enter mount and check system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When i tick system, i have no "mount" button, i only have a "disable mtp" button, why ? I can give you screens if you want