Dictionary for n00b - What is.../What does ...mean?
Start read from 1st to last one and don't jump from one to another. If you will read all, it bring complex knowladge, if not you can be confused
Read summary to make sure, that you know everything if you think that some part(s) is not necessary to read for you!
If you post link here, please link to 1st post! Than everybody can know, what he/she can find here
Atin001 helps with some updates/corrections in Dictionary - take a minute to thanks him also.
Did you miss something here? Send me PM what you want to have here!
Basics of Unix-like system (ROOT)
su, root, rooting, superuser app - what is it, why we need it
sh, bash, user/root shell - what is bash, sh; what is user shell; what is root shell; how I can recognise it each other
Bussybox - what BusyBox is, basic list of commands from BusyBox
(in progress) Kernel - what is going on? Do I need it?
Android platform and it's specifics
adb shell - what is it, for what it is
Android SDK - what is it, tool which provides, where to download
Tools for work with Android adb shell - Terminal Emulator, ADB shell from Android SDK and how to use it
Custom recovery
What custom recovery is - what custom recovery is
Tools which custom recovery provides - list of tools with description which custom recovery bringing
ADB as root user
USB-MS Toggle
Backup/Restore
Flash ZIP from sdcard
Wipe menu
Partition sdcard + etx2, ext3, ext4 filesystem description
Mounts
Others
Is it save to install? - possible problems, why should I try it?, backup/restore of original recovery
How this whole thing works - Drellisdee's installation steps description/elaboration
Custom ROMs (generally)
What custom ROM is?
Is save install custom ROM? - potencional problems
What I need for install?
What can custom ROM brings - kernel, update, performance, customization, theme, ....
what is ...
deodexed, zipaglined, png-optimized
JIT, HW:acceleration, VM.Heap Size, stagefright
apps2sd + dalvik2sd
custom kernel (recompiled, ...)
Android versions (collecting informations)
List of versions of Android for Optimus One (official&unofficial) - what we can install into our device
What version can be rooted and how? - version list, how to root, which version can be rooted, which can't
Sources (collecting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history
Tools which you must have
Android SDK Tools (adb shell)
Terminal emulator
KDZ Updater tool
...
So I'm on way, where I can start doing advanced stuff?
Follow Noejn's sign-post You can find here main point for start.
If you now know basic "words of android world" you can take a look on really great tutorial how to root, install recovery and so on.
Have you some questions? Make sure that you look on Mihir287's FAQ
1. Basics of Unix-like system
su, root, rooting - what is it, why we need it
sh, bash, busybox - what BusyBox is, basic list of commands from BusyBox, bash, sh
Kernel - What is it?
su
Also referred as substitute user - is command for changing of the account in current terminal (usually black screen with blinking cursor). Default account is root account. So if you insert into terminal 'su' and hit enter, you will become root user.
root
Root alias superuser or poweruser is special user account for system administration. Similar to windows having its administrator account, unix-like system have system have the root. With this user you can do anything and if you will run command for delete whole system, unix will just do it! No asking, no confirming. So, watch your steps!
rooting
Rooting is just enabling power of root for applications or our proposes. You can read great article about Rooting on androidpolice. Kepp on your mind, that some steps described on this page are NOT compatible with our Optimus One!!
Superuser app
After rooting is done, you will see new app called superuser in app drawer. This app can delegate applications to use su (root) feature. When app ask for first use, popup window will appear asking if the application should be allowed to use root permission.
sh, bash
is a command-line interpreter or shell that provides a traditional user interface for the Unix operating system and for Unix-like systems. So simply, it is some interface, which can execute command(s), which you have entered. Many shells exist, but in scope of android you can (as far as I know) use only sh (standard - Bourne-shell) or bash (compiled in BusyBox or separately on XDA). Both are basically same, but bash has much more future and it is comfortable. It's too big to describe here, so if you are interested in learning more, follow links in sources section.
user/root shell
How do I know if I'm root or normal user? It's simple. Root's shell is ended with # (usually it's shell looks like "bash-3.2# _") and user's ends with $ (usually bash-3.2$ _). In terminal emulator you also can have only [path]($|#) (for root for example "/etc # _")
BusyBox
also called "The Swiss Army Knife of Embedded Linux" is a tool which brings into Android basic tools known from unix system, but is much more smaller than standard tools is. But this "packing" brings also limits in possibilities in comparison to standard tools in unix-system (missing special modes of tool, color output and so on). Many application use this. For example busybox grep (filtering of text) is needed for application called Market enabler.
BusyBox commands
list of commands is really wide, so it's not possible explain all, so I pickup only top few. (hint: if you want what some command do, just search on google for "man <command_name>" for example man mv or enter command here
cd - cange directory - same like in windows. You can switch directory. example: cd /sdcard
ls - list of files in actual directory (have few switches like for example: ls -l /sdcard/*.png (detailed listing)
cat - print file into standart output (like more in windows) Example: cat /sdcard/data.txt
vi - editing of file. But on limited phone keyboard (no keyboard) it is little harder Read more about vi
cp - copy of one or more file. Example: cp /sdcard/bike.jpg /sdcard/media/bike-wallpaper.jpg
mv - moving/rename files, Example: mv /sdcard/bike.jpg /sdcard/media/renamed-moved-bike.jpg
rm - delete file (rm -R for recursive, or for delete whole folder), Example: rm -R /sdcard/wallpaper-bad/*
find - search for files, Example find / -name "best-chopper-ever.avi"
mkdir - make directory - creates directory, Example: mkdir mynewdir
chmod - changes access of files
less - similar like cat, but you can scroll in it and it doesn't produce any output. Example: less /sdcard/funnytext.txt
Please, take due note that man pages are documentation of unix tools. For BusyBox's tool help, just enter BusyBox <command_name> -h.
Many time, when is BusyBox installed, are also symbolic links created. It means, that is not necessary do BusyBox <command>, but only <command> will be enough.
Kernel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_%28computing%29
Work in progress...
Links/thanks:
----------------------------------------------------
su (Unix); wikipedia.org
Superuser; wikipedia.org
Bourne shell (sh); wikipedia.org
Bourne-Again shell (bash); wikipedia.org
BusyBox; benno.id.au; BusyBox.net
Kernel; wikipedia.org
----------------------------------------------------
==========================
Main topic
==========================
2. Android platform and it's specifics
adb shell - what is it, for what it is
Android SDK - what is it, tool which provides, where to download
Tools for work with Android adb shell - Terminal Emulator, ADB shell from Android SDK and how to use it
ADB (shell)
ADB - Android Debug Bridge is a versatile tool lets you manage the state of an emulator instance or Android-powered device. It is a client-server program that includes three components:
A client, which runs on your development machine. You can invoke a client from a shell by issuing an adb command. Other Android tools such as the ADT plugin and DDMS also create adb clients.
A server, which runs as a background process on your development machine. The server manages communication between the client and the adb daemon running on an emulator or device.
A daemon, which runs as a background process on each emulator or device instance.
Generally it can be compared with standard cmd prompt in windows (you can write commands which will be executed locally, for example in Terminal Emulator) or it can be just like SSH in unix-like system (you connect to terminal through adb client (in Android SDK) and commands will be run remotely.
Android SDK
Android software development kit is complex set of tools for developing app on Android. It includes fully usable emulator of Android OS on your PC, where you can do everything. You can install/delete apps, browse web page in embedded web browser, play games or make your own application in Eclipse (widely used IDE for development). Of course, with emulator you can use also GPS or camera. Emulated android phone is just like "normal" phone.
Android SDK tools
Fully emulated Android device
Android Development Tools Plugin (Eclipse IDE)
Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)
Hierarchy Viewer
layoutopt
Draw 9-patch
Dalvik Debug Monitor Service (ddms)
Android Debug Bridge (adb)
Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt)
Android Interface Description Language (aidl)
sqlite3
Traceview
mksdcard
dx
UI/Application Exerciser Monkey
monkeyrunner
Android
zipalign
Tools for work with Android adb shell
You have two ways ho to connect into ADB service - locally and remotely.
Locally - for local access you will need some application which can connect to local adb shell.
Terminal Emulator (free) - probably most commonly used app from market, which works and looks like standard unix shell.
ConnectBot (free) - same as Terminal Emulator, but it can be also used for connecting via SSH or telnet
Remotelly- For remote connection you need phone configuration adjustment:
Home desktop -> [menu button] -> Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging [ON].
Also you need connect your phone via USB (or finds on market some widget/app, witch enable using ADB also via wi-fi)
adb tool from Android SDK
After download Android SDK, extract archive somewhere (in example I extracted it in c:/AndroidSDK). Then follow instruction on developer.android.com for installation of SDK Platform-tools (contains adb). After installation click on start menu and in Run... (in Windows7 in search bar) enter 'cmd' and press Ok or [enter]. Then write in cmd line:
Code:
cd c:\AndroidSDK\android-sdk-windows\tools [enter]
now you can enter following command to connect to phone's adb shell if you don't have more connected device (virtual or real-one)
Code:
adb shell
If you have more then one, you need explicitly say which one should be used for connection. So list connected devices with
Code:
adb devices
which shows you serial number of connected devices. Than use
Code:
adb -s <serial-number> shell
Links/thanks:
----------------------------------------------------
ADB; android-dls.com; developer.android.com
Android SDK; wiki.androidforum.cz [CZ]
Basic adb/shell commands for noobs; forum.xda-developers.com
15 Useful Android Terminal (ADB Shell) Commands; gadgetsdna.com
----------------------------------------------------
==========================
Main topic
==========================
3. Custom recovery
What custom recovery is
Tools which custom recovery provide - NAND backup/restore, formatting of SDcard, partitioning (ext1,ext2, ext3), wiping, flashing of Custom ROM, ...
Is it save to install that? - potential problems, backup/restore of original recovery
How this whole thing works - installation description (not how-to install, just explanation of what is done during installation)
What custom recovery is
Recovery is image (binary data) stored in internal memory. This image contains something like "program" maybe better say "tool", which can boot-up independently on Android system. In other words, when this tool is running (booted up), than Android system is not. This tool is part of phone system, and in PC terminology recovery can by compared to BIOS with some added features. This recovery state can be reached on all phone, but if you don't have custom recovery, it will do so-called HW reset and automatically restart itself into standard boot mode. So what is difference between original recovery and custom recovery? Custom recovery didn't call master reset after start and also didn't restart itself.
Tools which custom recovery provides
Let's go check what custom recovery brings (I will describe Drellisdee's custom recovery so another recovery can brings another menu and tools)
In Drellisdee's post is picture of main screen with list and description of tools so let's look on it:
ADB as root user
what is root user, and what is adb, you should already know. If not, follow link on main post.
USB-MS Toggle :mounts sdcard as mass storage
It just mounts your phone as USB-mass storage (USB disk) so in PC you will see new disk where you can see folders based on mountes (lower) and were you can upload what you want.
Backup/Restore:
Nand Backup : runs a nandroid backup of data, cache, boot, system
Nand Backup + .android secure : backs up above plus .android_secure on sdcard (froyo native apps on sd)
//Native app which notify "application can be moved into SD card" if you can move some app. It's good to use, if you used it.
Nand + ext backup : data, cache, system, boot, plus apps2sd on ext partition (old style apps2sd)
//old style apps2sd is used on some custom ROM because can move every application into SD card instead of Froyo's apps2sd
Nand Restore : browse to and select nandroid backup to restore
Absolutely GREAT feature. With NAND you can do 1:1 copy (image) of your actual system (phone's memory). It means, that you didn't backup only SMS, contacts or apps, but whole system with all configuration, customization, wallpapers, system's tweaks... just everything - it creates image of whole phone system. This image will be written to your SD card which you are then free to copy around and back up on your computer.
What it means? You find custom ROM which looks awsome so you create NAND backup and install new ROM, but after few hour/days... you know, ROM before was better. So you boot into recovery, use NAND restore of your old ROM backup and .... woala you have your system just like before backup - as if nothing had happened. For about 2 minutes!! It sounds great, isn't? But one, little problem exist. You can not use for restore only some part of backup. You have to restore all, or nothing.
Flash Zip From Sdcard: Update.zip must be in root of sdcard
This tool is designed for install of custom ROM or for tweaks. If you have instruction to install via custom recovery, and file have .zip extension than you should use this menu. Never unzip file, because file contain meta-information about itself with some validate-checks so if you edit it, or unpack and pack back, it shouldn't work. And of course you can't select *.zip file if it doesn't exist because you unpack it, also you have not to rename it to update.zip, you can just select file to update in list of .zip files. And, at the end, file have to be in root (main folder) of sdcard.
Wipe Menu:
Wipe data/factory reset: wipes data & cache
- wipe of users data (contacts, apps, configuration, ...) and cache (caches of applications)
Wipe cache
- wipe cache only
Wipe Dalvik cache : Wipes Dalvik cache in all possible locations if moved by apps2sd
- wipe of Dalvik cache?
Wipe SD:ext : Wipes Apps2sd ext partition
- if you used Partition SDcard option, you can wipe it here
Wipe Battery Stats
- If you think, that your battery life is too short, you can try delete battery stats. Than let phone fully charge. (more)
Wipe rotate settings
- wipe senzor setting (acceleration, ...)
Wipe .android secure : Wipes froyo native .android_secure on sdcard
- wipe information about moved apps
Partition Sdcard:
Partition SD: Partition's sdcard for apps2sd (this formats card so all non backed-up data is lost)
- will create ext2 partition (you will be asked for size of ext2 and cache)
Repair Sd:ext
SD:ext2 to ext3 : coverts apps2sd ext2 partition to ext3 (requires kernel support for ext3)
SD:ext3 to ext4 : same as above but ext3 to ext4 (requires kernel support for ext4)
ext2 - file system for the Linux kernel (no journal, fast but not recovery of I/O error)
ext3 - file system for the Linux kernel (journal, slower than ext2 because of journal, but provides recovery on I/O error)
ext4 - file system for the Linux kernel (journal, enhanced version of ext3)
Links/thanks
----------------------------------------------------
How to increase battery life; androidforums.com
Comparison of file systems; wikipedia.org
ZeroXtreme's filesystem answer (thanks); forum.xda-developers.com
----------------------------------------------------
Mounts:
Gui mounts to avoid typing in terminal to mount and cd into a dir to mount system, data, cache, sd-ext (if exists), sdcard
Other:
Fix apk uid mismatches
//I'm not sure, can somebody helps?
Move recovery log to SD
Toggle Signature Verify : Turn of signature checking on flashing zips
Key Test : Output keycodes for debugging recovery
I thing that this is clear enough.
Is it save to install that?
Well, nothing isn't without any risk. Anyway, from what I know, nobody has had any problems, if Drellisdee's steps are followed, but you have to have P500, not derivate from Sprint, for example. From my point of view the installation of recovery is without any problems. After update with KDZ_FW_UPD tool I had rewritten also recovery. But this tool is really dangerous, so try to avoid to it.
Anyway, original recovery can be backuped before installation of custom recovery and this can be done by command
Code:
dd if=/dev/mtd/mtd2 of=/sdcard/<name-of-old-recovery>.img bs=4096
for example:
Code:
dd if=/dev/mtd/mtd2 of=/sdcard/my-original-recovery.img bs=4096
For restore,just use same step (command) that you used for flashing, but replace name of .img file.
Code:
flash_image recovery /sdcard/my-original-recovery.img
NOTE: You don't have to do other commands before and after as you done for install of recovery!!
So, where can problems arise?
loss of warranty - LG service have much more advanced software and hardware and they can check what problem caused - make dump of memory and so on
bricking of phone - if something goes wrong, then phone may not start at all
deletion of all data if installation fails - if old recovery remains, than hw reset will be performed
custom recovery doesn't work at all - incompatible devices
Why to try?
NAND backup/restore - the most useful tool ever
you can install custom ROM
high count of successful flashing of custom recovery
for now (what I read on forum), when you had said that you brick your phone by standard LG tool, your warranty repair was approved
How this whole thing works (description of installation's steps)
Let's see on how to:
Copy flash_image and recovery-RA-GNM-thunderg-1.1.0.img to the root of your sdcard
Nothing hard I think.
via adb shell or terminal type this from root su # shell. (Do not type the # as its just for reference to show you need a root # shell not a $ user shell)
Ok, it seems that it doesn't make sense, isn't. But what is root and su we already knows, same as user shell and root shell. Also follows commands probably aren't some "normal" task, so some special user approve will be necessary - so it probably means use of root. So, enter 'su [enter]' for become a root.
Code:
[B]# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock1 /system[/B]
// remounting of filesystem for write
[B]# cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image[/B]
// print contend of flash_image into /system/bin/flash_image (it is just copying)
[B]# chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image[/B]
// set up file access for running (basic of unix-like systems)
[B]# mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.bak[/B]
// rename install-recovery as install-recovery.sh.back
// NOTE: many guys haven't this file, so they get error: [I]"failed on '/system/etc/install-recovery.sh' - No such file or directory"[/I]
// it's normal. If it happens, just ignore it and continue.
[B]# mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock1 /system[/B]
// remount of filesystem into read-only mode
[B]# flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-GNM-thunderg-1.1.0.img[/B]
// using of program/script flash_image for flashing of recovery image
// you can do by same way also restore of your original recovery
[B]# reboot recovery[/B]
// reboots into recovery mode
I think, that was also nothing hard. As was said "#" on beginning means that root's shell should be used for running that command. Maybe you remember what I had written, that if you run something on root's account, it doesn't ask for confirmation and will just do it. Same with responses. If there is nothing to say, then nothing will be said. So if command runs without any problems, nothing will be shown. If something doesn't work, than you will be informed.
Key combo to boot custom recovery from powered off is vol_down + home + power and release keys at LG splash.
Nothing special I guess. But I recommend keep vol down + home keep pressed until custom ROM menu appear.
Note this recovery and the one for the LG Vortex have a service that instantly reboots out of recovery once you load it & I disabled it and thats why you get a E: "Bad Boot Message" on inital startup. Its completely fine.
IMPORTANT NOTE!! Too many of n00bs asking "I have problem, E: "Bad Boot Message appeared, what I should do?" Read ALL carefully before every action!!
Recovery Key mapping:
Up & down : vol-up and vol-down
Select : Menu
Backup : Back
Key map for moving in menu (touch screen doesn't work... )
Links/thanks:
----------------------------------------------------
Drellisdee's custom recovery description; androidforums.com
----------------------------------------------------
==========================
Main topic
==========================
4. Custom ROM (generally)
What custom ROM is?
Is it save to install custom ROM? - potential problems
What I need for install?
What can custom ROM brings - kernel, update, performance, customization, theme, ....
what is ...
deodexed, zipaglined, png-optimized
JIT, HW:acceleration, VM.Heap Size, stagefright
apps2sd + dalvik2sd
custom kernel (recompiled, ...)
What custom ROM is?
Custom ROM is every somehow changed manufacturer's ROM or ROM compiled from source code of Android. "Change/s" can starts with adding/removing default application and can extend to kernels, cpu over/under-clocking, enable/disable features (ROOT, HW acceleration, ...), themes (frameworks, color, ...), keyboards and many other features.
Custom ROM is mostly distributed like signed ZIP package with included installation script for custom recovery. This ZIP is flashed via custom recovery tool.
Is it save to install custom ROM?
Yes, it is. May be I can say, that installation of custom ROM is almost mandatory, because it cost you only few minute if you will not be satisfied - you can just restore your old ROM from NAND backup, if you will be satisfied, you can keep it. And yes, you can also use backup tools like for example Astro for backup of your apps or Titanium Backup backup everything (SMS, call list, preferences, APNs, ...) and restore this in your new ROM (NOTE: In this case it's strongly recommended that both ROM should have same or very similar source/base ROM).
So, it is really simple:
1) Do NAND backup
2) Try new ROM
3) Keep new, or restore old one.
What I need for install?
1) Rooted phone
2) Installed custom recovery
3) Signed .ZIP file of ROM compatible with recovery
#) RECOMMENDED: NAND backup of your actual ROM
What does custom ROM bring
Custom ROM brings almost every feature you can image.
ex:
optimization for maximal power (games), long battery life, calling, texting, playing videos,...
awsome look - changed icons, colors, animations, wallpapers, menu, ....
simple work - feature that will short some work (add restart button, reorganized menu, shorts, gestures, ...)
allow tweaking - overclok/underclok your device, ROOT, ....
It's really not possible describe here every possibility what you can do/get with custom ROM.
what is ...
deodexed - needed for using themes. If you want replace/change some file in system (change theme) you need deodex file which you want change. In most cases it's going on services.jar which contains definition of colour for clock for example.
APKs zipaligned - optimization of APK archive, so it takes less memory and is much faster.
png-optimized - png files takes less memory, are loads faster
JIT - just-in-time compilation also known as dynamic translation, is a method to improve the runtime performance of computer programs, but it takes some time to convert into it on start.
HW:acceleration - using of HW acceleration for rendering GUI. Little increase battery consumption.
VM.Heap Size - maximum memory an application can consume
stagefright - In Android 2.2 new media framework that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming
Apps2SD - (mostly DarkTremor's a2sd) If you create ext partition on your SD card, you can mount it like internal memory (you will have more space on phone memory) and move app on SD.
Dalvik2SD - move of Dalvik into SDcard (saves space)
custom kernel - compiled standard unix kernel (can bring support for features like support ext4 for example)
Links/thanks
----------------------------------------------------
P500 custom ROM list; forum.xda-developers.com
What's Deodex and Odex?; forum.xda-developers.com
What Is Zipalign In Android And How To Make Apps Zipaligned; www.addictivetips.com
PNG compress; http://www.gotow.net/creative/wordpress/?p=79
Just-in-time compilation; wikipedia.org
VM Heap size; forum.cyanogenmod.com
stagefright; developer.android.com
----------------------------------------------------
==========================
Main topic
==========================
Thanks
Very good and hard work
Hats off to you.
rakesh_4utoo said:
Very good and hard work
Hats off to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks You are welcome!!
very very nice guide, cant wait for you to finish it :X ! Thx alot dude for all the hard work!
Very good work!
Please post it on czech androidforum.cz
Thank you,
David Ullmann, Czech Republic
Very nice. A bit rough around the edges but I'm sure most people can understand it easily enough ^__^ Good job. It came like two days too late for me though since I already asked my questions everywhere on xda to install void
raylgo said:
Very nice. A bit rough around the edges but I'm sure most people can understand it easily enough ^__^ Good job. It came like two days too late for me though since I already asked my questions everywhere on xda to install void
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you can be happy and proud, that you probably inspired me!
While backing up the old recovery what do you mean by:
recovery-dump-T
My first line went ok in terminal emulator but second line didn't go ok. That's why I am asking this.
Your the Man! Thank You So much! all are much clearer to me now! now lets gets things started!
lekhwani said:
While backing up the old recovery what do you mean by:
recovery-dump-T
My first line went ok in terminal emulator but second line didn't go ok. That's why I am asking this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is just example
I think this post should be read for evey noob even before powering his mobile on !
Great work !
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Quite helpful for noobs like me
So...because I wrote what I wanted, you can make suggestions what are you missing here.... I'm looking forward...
how long should the recovery flashing take?
bazo666 said:
how long should the recovery flashing take?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Few minutes
hm, i left it running for like half an hour and nothing happenned. then i unplugged the phone from usb and closed the adb shell, because i had to go.
but the phone boots fine so i think nothing has flashed.
what can be the problem?
I did a search and have found similar threads. However, people seem to have been intelligent and back up stuff or installed recovery apps before screwing around with their phones. I did not.
I have a Samsung Note3. Kit Kat 4.4.2 installed OTA once I had it up and running. I rooted it. However, the version of Kit-kat has a famous issue in that it would not allow apps to write to the SD card. I found a site with manual instructions to edit the platform.xml to overcome this issue. The site is as below:
winaero.com/blog/unlock-external-sd-card-writing-for-all-apps-in-android-4-4-kitkat/
However, something went awry after rebooting. I could not see anything on my SD card and I was unable to edit the platform.xml. A solution seemed to be to flash the ROM (using ODIN 3.07). I did this and currently have Baseband version N9005XXUENB1 and Build Number KOT49H.N9005XXUENB7
However, the still has lots of issues. I can stick in a password on wifi and connect to the network but it does not actually communicate with the internet. The H with up and down arrows appears for 3g connectivitiy but also does not work. Bluetooth does not work. Youtube has stopped working errors are common. I am unable to install any apps as cannot use play store, etc. I have pictures and mp3s on my SD card but gallery comes up empty as does music app. The only "file explorer" I seem to have is "my files" app. It comes up as empty (although it shows Total storage available for both SD memory and device storage as using 25/32 and 22/29 respectively.
I am guessing that flashing the ROM did not remedy the corrupt platform.xml in the permissions folder. I think the folder path was etc/permission/platform.xml although am not an expert with android. I was hoping someone might be able to give me a solution to fix the issue. Preferably a completely fresh and clean wipe type solution. Although as I am a "newbie" the greater the simplicity of the solution the better.
Apologies for the length of this issue!
T
laconical said:
I did a search and have found similar threads. However, people seem to have been intelligent and back up stuff or installed recovery apps before screwing around with their phones. I did not.
I have a Samsung Note3. Kit Kat 4.4.2 installed OTA once I had it up and running. I rooted it. However, the version of Kit-kat has a famous issue in that it would not allow apps to write to the SD card. I found a site with manual instructions to edit the platform.xml to overcome this issue. The site is as below:
winaero.com/blog/unlock-external-sd-card-writing-for-all-apps-in-android-4-4-kitkat/
However, something went awry after rebooting. I could not see anything on my SD card and I was unable to edit the platform.xml. A solution seemed to be to flash the ROM (using ODIN 3.07). I did this and currently have Baseband version N9005XXUENB1 and Build Number KOT49H.N9005XXUENB7
However, the still has lots of issues. I can stick in a password on wifi and connect to the network but it does not actually communicate with the internet. The H with up and down arrows appears for 3g connectivitiy but also does not work. Bluetooth does not work. Youtube has stopped working errors are common. I am unable to install any apps as cannot use play store, etc. I have pictures and mp3s on my SD card but gallery comes up empty as does music app. The only "file explorer" I seem to have is "my files" app. It comes up as empty (although it shows Total storage available for both SD memory and device storage as using 25/32 and 22/29 respectively.
I am guessing that flashing the ROM did not remedy the corrupt platform.xml in the permissions folder. I think the folder path was etc/permission/platform.xml although am not an expert with android. I was hoping someone might be able to give me a solution to fix the issue. Preferably a completely fresh and clean wipe type solution. Although as I am a "newbie" the greater the simplicity of the solution the better.
Apologies for the length of this issue!
T
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Click to collapse
Sounds like a bit of a pickle. Since you know that Odin is working and the firmware you have at least flashes correctly, I'd consider installing a custom recovery, backing up EFS folder (and the rom too, just in case there is some weird issue with Odin the 2nd time around) , then wipe everything - /system included. This will make your phone not be able to boot up at all because it will wipe the OS off. Then just boot directly to Download and redo the firmware flash. Something else to consider since you do have the international version, is that some of the firmwares you install might be more carrier or region specific, so there might be a better option to install. I know that there is a some slightly newer version that has NC2 in it as I was trying to fix one of these phones the other day that could not register on any network and ran across that build. Do you remember the build number of the software before you started modding?
Hello. Thanks for the reply.
I am going to ask what are probably very obvious questions but I am a little out of my depth.
1) What does installing a custom recovery involve?
2)How would I backup the EFS directory? When I had ES file explorer I would have been able to try and find it. However, as it is I do not know how to find the directory and back it up. I have connected the phone to a windows laptop and it shows up as note3 but there are no folders or files visible in either the phone or on the card.
3) What is the procedure to "wipe everything"?
I think the final part I know how to do with ODIN. Just go to download boot and load and run odin with the ROM.
I got the BTU ROM is that not for the UK? I tried looking up what NC2 was but did not really find anything the explained what it is.
Thanks again and sorry for the ignorance on my side.
Let's put the custom recovery and all that on the back burner for now.
Was your phone unlocked from the factory or did you get it from a carrier? If from a carrier, which, and is it unlocked now or you are still using it with the original carrier? This one is for Vodaphone http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/3/?download=27401 but if you are unlocked, it should work anyway, I believe.
Thanks to the people for their replies. I managed to solve the issue as below.
As mentioned previously I had flashed using ODIN and BTU version of N9005XXUENB7. The only other thing that was then required was to enter the recovery (I think power + volume up + home and then release power once samsung name appears). I then selected wipe data/factory. A reboot later and everything was solved.
es0tericcha0s said:
Sounds like a bit of a pickle. Since you know that Odin is working and the firmware you have at least flashes correctly, I'd consider installing a custom recovery, backing up EFS folder (and the rom too, just in case there is some weird issue with Odin the 2nd time around) , then wipe everything - /system included. This will make your phone not be able to boot up at all because it will wipe the OS off. Then just boot directly to Download and redo the firmware flash. Something else to consider since you do have the international version, is that some of the firmwares you install might be more carrier or region specific, so there might be a better option to install. I know that there is a some slightly newer version that has NC2 in it as I was trying to fix one of these phones the other day that could not register on any network and ran across that build. Do you remember the build number of the software before you started modding?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, The other day i tried to fix the Platform.xml. on my S5. i noticed sometime after that when i move files using the "My files" app, the phone would not refresh the files so that they would show up in gallery, videos etc.. I tried to undo the Media_rw by using SD Maid to find the Platform.xml and Axel to rewrite the Xml. In the platform.xml. i deleted the Media_rw and replaced the old xml with the old (original) one. I rebooted my phone. On swiping to open the screen i noticed alot of apps crashing one after the other. I when back to SD Maid and searched for Platform.xml and opened it with Axel but it said file not found.. i can not use the internet, i cant use most apps, i cant even use the Kies on my computer. I cant save anything to the storage either. I really need help. Odin is the only thing i can use. but i dont know how i can reset the xml files on my phone.. What exactly am i do to?
please
christaph3r said:
Hi, The other day i tried to fix the Platform.xml. on my S5. i noticed sometime after that when i move files using the "My files" app, the phone would not refresh the files so that they would show up in gallery, videos etc.. I tried to undo the Media_rw by using SD Maid to find the Platform.xml and Axel to rewrite the Xml. In the platform.xml. i deleted the Media_rw and replaced the old xml with the old (original) one. I rebooted my phone. On swiping to open the screen i noticed alot of apps crashing one after the other. I when back to SD Maid and searched for Platform.xml and opened it with Axel but it said file not found.. i can not use the internet, i cant use most apps, i cant even use the Kies on my computer. I cant save anything to the storage either. I really need help. Odin is the only thing i can use. but i dont know how i can reset the xml files on my phone.. What exactly am i do to?
please
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Click to collapse
Hey, I was wondering if you ever got a fix on this without factory reset. I am having the exact same issue.
Same boat here. Please someone help!
woahs said:
Hey, I was wondering if you ever got a fix on this without factory reset. I am having the exact same issue.
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Click to collapse
I am having exact same problem. After editing the platform.xml, my Note 3 is behaving the same way: no access to any storage area (including USB drive), no remote access/online access (even though WIFI and 4G appear to connect just fine), most apps fail with 'Unfortunately ... has stopped' error message, no Google Play...
I really don't want to do a factory reset, but really, does it even help? Is there a way to put the platform.xml back? Is there a way to access the phone via USB cable?
vbcomer said:
I am having exact same problem. After editing the platform.xml, my Note 3 is behaving the same way: no access to any storage area (including USB drive), no remote access/online access (even though WIFI and 4G appear to connect just fine), most apps fail with 'Unfortunately ... has stopped' error message, no Google Play...
I really don't want to do a factory reset, but really, does it even help? Is there a way to put the platform.xml back? Is there a way to access the phone via USB cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: I went ahead and successfully install the all-in-one file to the phone via Odin, but it still has the same issues. Can someone give a hint? thanks
FIX!!!
Hi I'm a god at searching(hence the Go)but an Noob(hence the obie) to Dev on Android but a computer techy(in other words I fix computers upgrade ETC.) Now if you followed EXACT instructions you SHOULD have the Backup copy of platform.xml. If not reply and I'll give those instructions.
So I did the same as this post did to get my issue as well but there's a SOLUTION I just found W/o getting rid of your loved files and its easy!
1. Download the ADB also included in The Android SDK by Google (approx. 3XX MB)
2. DOWNLOAD Root Explorer.APK
3. Extract ADB Dev kit( name should be roughly adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702.zip)Note: I prefered it at C:\Android it avoided Name too long error
4. Open CMD Type: cd C:\<location ADB was extracted>\sdk\platform-tools(if you followed my note it will be "C:\Android\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702\sdk\platform-tools") and press enter... HINT TO COPY PASTE IN CMD RIGHT CLICK SAVES TIME!!!!
5. Install Root Explorer so you can backup your files(if any) I was unlucky having none on the phone but SD storage is ok!
To do this type ADB INSTALL <Location of Root explorer.exe> For standard windows users with default download locations it would be "C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Downloads\Root Explorer v3.1.9.apk" <COPY PASTE
6. Copy the original back to System>ETC>Permissions and overwrite
7. Factory reset!
Links?
sorry guys bt i have the same note 3 and i delete the platform.xml file .....i did a factory reset bt nothing happened ...can u help plz
Re:FIX!
But you have to set the permissions of platform.xml as 0777.Right?
Step 5 how should it works
Android Goobie said:
Hi I'm a god at searching(hence the Go)but an Noob(hence the obie) to Dev on Android but a computer techy(in other words I fix computers upgrade ETC.) Now if you followed EXACT instructions you SHOULD have the Backup copy of platform.xml. If not reply and I'll give those instructions.
So I did the same as this post did to get my issue as well but there's a SOLUTION I just found W/o getting rid of your loved files and its easy!
1. Download the ADB also included in The Android SDK by Google (approx. 3XX MB)
2. DOWNLOAD Root Explorer.APK
3. Extract ADB Dev kit( name should be roughly adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702.zip)Note: I prefered it at C:\Android it avoided Name too long error
4. Open CMD Type: cd C:\<location ADB was extracted>\sdk\platform-tools(if you followed my note it will be "C:\Android\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702\sdk\platform-tools") and press enter... HINT TO COPY PASTE IN CMD RIGHT CLICK SAVES TIME!!!!
5. Install Root Explorer so you can backup your files(if any) I was unlucky having none on the phone but SD storage is ok!
To do this type ADB INSTALL <Location of Root explorer.exe> For standard windows users with default download locations it would be "C:\Users\<USER NAME>\Downloads\Root Explorer v3.1.9.apk" <COPY PASTE
6. Copy the original back to System>ETC>Permissions and overwrite
7. Factory reset!
Links?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi have next message in the install root step could you help me please
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.31
-a - directs adb to listen on all interfaces for a connection
-d - directs command to the only connected USB device
returns an error if more than one USB device is present.
-e - directs command to the only running emulator.
returns an error if more than one emulator is r
unning.
-s <specific device> - directs command to the device or emulator with
the given
serial number or qualifier. Overrides ANDROID_SERIAL
environment variable.
-p <product name or path> - simple product name like 'sooner', or
a relative/absolute path to a product
out directory like 'out/target/product/sooner'.
If -p is not specified, the ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT
environment variable is used, which must
be an absolute path.
-H - Name of adb server host (default: localhost)
-P - Port of adb server (default: 5037)
devices [-l] - list all connected devices
('-l' will also list device qualifiers)
connect <host>[:<port>] - connect to a device via TCP/IP
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
disconnect [<host>[:<port>]] - disconnect from a TCP/IP device.
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
Using this command with no additional arguments
will disconnect from all connected TCP/IP devices.
device commands:
adb push [-p] <local> <remote>
- copy file/dir to device
('-p' to display the transfer progress)
adb pull [-p] [-a] <remote> [<local>]
- copy file/dir from device
('-p' to display the transfer progress)
('-a' means copy timestamp and mode) adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(-l means list but don't copy)
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward --list - list all forward socket connections.
the format is a list of lines with the followin
g format:
<serial> " " <local> " " <remote> "\n" adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections
forward specs are one of:
tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only) adb forward --no-rebind <local> <remote>
- same as 'adb forward <local> <remote>' but fails
if <local> is already forwarded
adb forward --remove <local> - remove a specific forward socket connection
adb forward --remove-all - remove all forward socket connections
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport
adb install [-l] [-r] [-d] [-s] [--algo <algorithm name> --key <hex-encoded ke
y> --iv <hex-encoded iv>] <file>
- push this package file to the device and install it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data)
('-d' means allow version code downgrade)
('-s' means install on SD card instead of inter
nal storage)
('--algo', '--key', and '--iv' mean the file is
encrypted already)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all]
[-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>
.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-obb|-noobb enable/disable backup of any installed apk expansion
(aka .obb) files associated with each application; the default is noobb.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applications)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
system applications; the default is to include system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
list is optional. Applications explicitly given on the
command line will be included even if -nosystem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.) adb restore <file> - restore device contents from the <file> backup
archive
adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num
scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb get-devpath - prints: <device-path>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specifie
d device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device re
ad-write
adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the boo
tloader or recovery program
adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on the specified port
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1 [parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns
adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:
- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be updated.
- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition is updated.
environmental variables:
ADB_TRACE - Print debug information. A comma separated list of the following values
1 or all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync, sysdeps, transport, jdwp
ANDROID_SERIAL - The serial number to connect to. -s takes priority over this if given.
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS - When used with the logcat option, only these debug tags are printed.