Manual rooting

[bloggs]

I'm afraid I don't have one of those shiny new capacitive things, so I can't try anything out here to help, but I'm happy to share my ignorance with you

First up, have you managed to get an ADB connection to your machine? This will check out the PC/Scroll connection which SuperOneTouch needs. You need to install a driver on your PC - if you search this forum, or just google for "ADB Drivers", you should find what you need.

You need to have USB debugging enabled on your Scroll (a checkbox under Settings, Applications, Development) and you need to make sure you don't "mount" your SDcard for the PC to read when you plug the Scroll into your PC. Some Android machines prompt the user about this, but some don't. I don't know what the 2.3 Scroll does.

If you've done all that, you should be able to open a command prompt on the PC and run the command

adb devices

If your Scroll has connected, you should see a biggish number and a device ID being reported.

If that all works, you "should" be able to use SuperOneTouch to root the machine. I notice there's a version 1.9.5 now available - always best to use the latest and greatest version of these things. They tend to fix any problems very quicky as new devices become available.

Sorry if this is just repeating stuff you already knew, but if you can tell us where in that process things have gone wrong, someone might spot the problem.

Eddie

[bdb]

Unlike phones, tablets are not protected; so root can be easily enabled without resorting to exploits.
The ADB service runs as root on the scroll, rather than as a user, so if you connect through ADB you will already be root.
So,
download + install the andorid SDK
connect your scroll to your PC with a USB cable
from dos:
> adb devices
> adb shell
you should now be rewarded with a shell prompt - # (indicating root) rather than $ (user)
you can now make a small tweak manually to allow you to switch to root from the android itself.


You will need 2 files from 'tnet
su
Superuser.apk
these can be found all over the place; e.g. here

a new 'su' is needed as the built in one will not run as a user.
Superuser.apk allow you to control any apps that request root access - this can be installed as any other app.

To install 'su' (google 'android manual root'):
Copy it to your sdcard (tflash/Android/data/su)
> adb push su /mnt/sdcard/tflash/Android/data/su
Connect to the Scroll
> adb shell
Make /system writable (it will revert to read only on reboot)
# mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock2 /system
Backup your original 'su'
# mv /system/xbin/su /system/xbin/xsu
Copy 'su' to /system/bin
# cp /mnt/sdcard/tflash/Android/data/su /system/bin/su
Create a link to the new 'su'
# ln -s /system/bin/su /system/xbin/su
Set the permissions to allow you to run su as a user
# chmod 06755 /system/bin/su
# chmod 06755 /system/xbin/su
Give it a kick
# sync
# reboot
(install Superuser.apk)

take care with root access ...
back up your /boot, /recovery partitions first
# dd if=/dev/mtd/mtd0 of=/mnt/sdcard/tflash/Android/data/mtd0_boot.img bs=4096
# dd if=/dev/mtd/mtd6 of=/mnt/sdcard/tflash/Android/data/mtd6_reovery.img bs=4096
keep a copy safe of the latest update.zip from the storageoptions site.

bdb

[edit 29/06/2011 - typos]

[bt0558]

thanks bdb

I have a problem with ADB....

Install the android sdk package including USB drivers but when I type adb devices none are shown. When I run adb shell it say no delice.

In Windows Device Manager shows TCC8900 with exclamation mark i.e. no driver.

What have I done wrong?

Thanks


Brian

[bdb]

I think the default .inf file needs tweaking to support this device.
Find+edit:
<sdk_install_path>\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver\android_winusb.inf

Add the following after [Google.NTx86] (or after [Google.NTamd64] if you are using x64)
[Google.NTx86]
; Scroll - recovery
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_DEED
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_DEED&MI_01
; Scroll - bootloader (fastboot)
%SingleBootLoaderInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_18D1&PID_D00D
;
; HTC Dream

Replug the android (or update driver on the exclamationed item)
Point the driver installer at the .inf file

The driver should now install properly into the 'Android Phone' section of device manager, and ADB should connect.

bdb

[bt0558]

bdb

You are a genius but have now the following...

I am onto the scroll with # prompt no problem. I couldnt work out where ADB was looking for "su" so I copied it to the /android/data folder on the usdcard using windows and then inserted the usdcard into the scroll. (now I have looked I guess I should copy the 'su' file to the folder in which adb.exe is found)

This is how it went...

"make system writable" line seemed to work i.e. no error but I have no idea how to test whether it was successful.

"backup original su" line gave the following error...."cp: cannot remove 'xsu' : Read-only systme file"

This may have done the backup but you did not mention the error message so I assumed that it had not worked correctly. Is this ok or do i have to change something. Once you give me the nod I will continue.


Apologies for having to keep coming back, but if I manage to do this successfully hopefully we can stick this on the "how to" section as I am sure if I can do it other 52577 users will appreciate it as a method of rooting.

In the meantime I will try to find a user manual for adb with error messages and all that stuff.

Thanks again

Brian

[Fonefixer]

I will be more than happy to shift this thread to the "How To" section, or if one of you kind people could write up a how-to in there im sure other members will appreciate it (might be better)

[bt0558]

Dave

As soon as I have it working I am happy to write up a "how to" that has bdb's instructions collated and 'watch out fors' that has the issues i came across and get bdb to check it out.

Thanks

Brian

[Fonefixer]

Thanks Brian,

The only comment I would make is could you please ensure you write exactly which model of Scroll the how-to is for so people know to avoid it if non-relevant.

Cheers,

[bt0558]

No problem.

Hopefully when bdb gets back with the current issue I will be able to get it all done. Will then write something as comprehensive as I can in the next day or so..

Brian

[bloggs]

"make system writable" line seemed to work i.e. no error but I have no idea how to test whether it was successful.

If you type "mount" at the adb shell prompt, if the command has worked you should see an entry which shows that /system is now available for read/write (rw) rather than read only (ro) e.g.

Code: Select all

/dev/block/mtdblock2 on /system type yaffs2 (rw)

If it didn't work it will show (ro) rather than (rw)

"backup original su" line gave the following error...."cp: cannot remove 'xsu' : Read-only systme file"

That will also show it didn't work

Now that you've got the adb connection working, I'd suggest trying SuperOneClick. It basically does what bdb is suggesting, but with reduced risk of typos. However, nice to see you're making progress. I'd love to see some 2.3 images when your done!!!

Eddie