Develop Bugs

[Q] KF2: Unable to boot into CM10 - Any help appreciated

Hi Guys,
Firstly, thanks so much for the info on this community. I've followed loads of the threads and almost all of what I need to know is here.
I have a KF2 @ v10.3.1. I've rooted it and applied the 2nd bootloader using a homemade lead (thanks to the thread on that!). I started in Windows but switched to Kubuntu after getting driver issues etc.. To compound the problem, the KF2 is blocked by Amazon, which didn't help as I couldn't load apps whist it was stock. (It's not stolen or otherwise illegally obtained. Amazon sent it in error, and despite me contacting them to ask how to return it, they've never replied)
Anyhow, After following THIS thread, which appeared to go OK, after rebooting I'm unable to boot into Recovery. The blue screen just stays there. I can still boot normally, but I would like to load CM10 which is loaded as per the thread, along with gapps, both in zip format. I have read many threads about being stuck on the blue screen, but these are always locked and need to be restored, but I have no problem booting normally and the KF2 is not locked. I've searched this site and googled plenty.
I don't expect an exact answer, but if someone could just point me at what to look at, I'm sure I can find the rest of the info I need on here. :good:
Oh, also. Another quick question. I see that the CM10 images are constantly being updated, if (when I get mine working) I want to use one of these, is it simply a case of copying the zip file over? Or is there more to do than that.
Many thanks in advance.

You can boot normally? Into stock, I assume.
Run the apk tool from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2106463
Should get you fixed right up
The zip file will have to be flashed from recovery. So, its a matter of copying the zip file (and gapps) over. Boot into recovery. Wipe data, cache, dalvik and system. Then flash rom first, the gapps.
Also, be VERY CAREFUL and make sure you have a GOOD DOWNLOAD by checking the md5 on the file. If you wipe the system (which deletes the stack file) you will not be able to boot into recovery or anything.
I still recommend that you purchase a fastboot cable.
Edit: also, when booting into recovery you might have to hit the power button a couple of times.
--
Sent from my mind to your screen.

Cheers mindmajick. I've tried to do this but still having a few problems.
If I use the wired version, the runme.bat does not have permissions to the data/app folder. I can't seem to run it in Kubuntu as it says I can't run a binary file if I make it executable, but says I don't have permission if I remove execute. (I'm looking into this - but I'm not very good with Linux, so lots of Googling!!...lol....) Also I see that there are some issues with this version with the wireless version being favored. Unfortunately as I'm unable to log onto my Amazon account, I can't use this method.
I will continue to try, I'm almost there now, thanks for you help so far.

SportyPorty said:
Cheers mindmajick. I've tried to do this but still having a few problems.
If I use the wired version, the runme.bat does not have permissions to the data/app folder. I can't seem to run it in Kubuntu as it says I can't run a binary file if I make it executable, but says I don't have permission if I remove execute. (I'm looking into this - but I'm not very good with Linux, so lots of Googling!!...lol....) Also I see that there are some issues with this version with the wireless version being favored. Unfortunately as I'm unable to log onto my Amazon account, I can't use this method.
I will continue to try, I'm almost there now, thanks for you help so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really confused. Pm me with your gmail account and I'll chat you through it
--
Sent from my mind to your screen.

Cheers, PM'd you.
Sorry if I've not explained it very well.
I tried to use the KF2CM10.zip via the Desktop method. I downloaded and ran the runme.bat file. This is what I get -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C:\Users\Steve\Desktop\Kindle Fire Root\KF2CM10>ECHO off
Press any key to continue . . .
.
Removing install-recovery.sh to ensure that stock rom does not overwrite TWRP
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory
rm failed for systemetcinstall-recovery.sh, No such file or directory
rm failed for systemRECOVERY-AMZN-4430-OTTER2-PROD, No such file or directory
.
Pushing stack
failed to copy 'stuff\stack' to '\sdcard\': Read-only file system
sdcardstack: cannot open for read: No such file or directory
.
Inserting stack override to \system
datalocaltmpstack: cannot open for read: No such file or directory
.
Pushing freedom-boot
failed to copy 'stuff\boot.img' to '\sdcard\': Read-only file system
.
Pushing TeamWinRecoveryProject
failed to copy 'stuff\recovery.img' to '\sdcard\': Read-only file system
.
Writing freedom-boot to \boot via dd
sdcardboot.img: cannot open for read: No such file or directory
.
Writing TWRP to recovery via dd
sdcardrecovery.img: cannot open for read: No such file or directory
.
Rebooting
.
Make sure to press the power button during the secondary bootloader to reboot in
to recovery.
.
Give credit where credit is due: Script written by [email protected]
Press any key to continue . . .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm still unsure how to run the runme.sh from Kubuntu command line.
I tried - ./runme.sh
but error is - unable to run a binary file - or something like that.
I'm unable to use the cordless version com.powerpoint45.FMKilo-2.apk due to the fact that as the KF2 is blocked by Amazon, I'm unable to log in and download or install .apk files.
Is there is an alternative way to install .apk files without needing to log in?
Hopefully that makes a little more sense. Cheers

Yes. Download the fmkilo apk from his thread, (use the browser if you have to) then once downloaded pull down the notification bar and tap on the apk link. Also, make sure that the option to install from unknown sources is set in the settings before doing the download
You could alternatively push the file via adb to the system Directory.
Is USB debugging enabled? Are you rooted?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

mindmajick said:
Yes. Download the fmkilo apk from his thread, (use the browser if you have to) then once downloaded pull down the notification bar and tap on the apk link. Also, make sure that the option to install from unknown sources is set in the settings before doing the download
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that did it. I had overlooked the fact that I was still able to use the browser on the KF2 and didn't really know you could install .apk's using that method anyway. So now I have carried on and installed Jellybean 4.2.2 on there and it works a treat.
Thank you ever so much Mindmajick for taking an interest in my problem, I really do appreciate yours and the rest of the developers time on here. :good:
Cheers
Sporty

fmkilo apk link shows as removed
mindmajick said:
Yes. Download the fmkilo apk from his thread, (use the browser if you have to) then once downloaded pull down the notification bar and tap on the apk link. Also, make sure that the option to install from unknown sources is set in the settings before doing the download
You could alternatively push the file via adb to the system Directory.
Is USB debugging enabled? Are you rooted?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went to link for fmkilo apk and, link shows link removed?

galearned said:
Went to link for fmkilo apk and, link shows link removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Tried to talk them out of removing but it was removed. Only removed so no one uses it stupidly...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

fmkilo apk removed from link
mindmajick said:
Correct. Tried to talk them out of removing but it was removed. Only removed so no one uses it stupidly...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a problem: Thanks
I think this is a method of pushing the flash and image files to the tablet and then installing using ADB by the way it is described.
I think I have that method copied down some place else.
I have never used this method but, sounds like it would work.
I also presume you need root to do the install via ADB.
Regards Jerry

Sucessfully flashed 98.18.78 recovery into Locked 98.30.1

I understand it is currently not possible to unlock a Razr M with 98.18.94 or 98.30.1 OTA. Never the less, I had been trying to restore a previous VooDoo root that I deleted before the last OTA. Through the experimenting, I screwed up the flash on my phone, and recovering it, I found something that might be interesting.
As others pointed out, downgrading does not work. Flashboot gives various errors. When I screwed up my file system, I was able to flash from 98.18.94 (which I had) to 98.30.1 (which was the only download I could find) using RSD Lite. I was lucky it worked. And since I have been able to experiment and keep flashing 98.30.1 over and over.
I would like to report that in my experiments, I noticed an interesting fact about the recovery.img:
I am able to flash stock 98.18.78 recovery to my phone running 98.30.1.
I have verified the recovery.img contents are not the same, according to a WinMerge file compare, they are ~10% the same
When I try to flash twrp or cwm recovery, the only fastboot error is to the effect "wrong partition size".
The size of .78 and 98.30.1 recovery are the same, 10,485,760 bytes
On the other hand, if I try to flash the .78 system.img fastboot, or use RSD lite to flash .78, I see different security related errors on the phone's fastboot screen- none of which mention partition size. Of course, this is related to the Locked Bootloader I have.
What I wonder is, since the error for the recovery.img is not a security related one, but one of size, and the fact that it took recovery from .78- I wonder if a cwm or twrp made to be the same size as stock Moto recovery, would it be able to sneak in?
Right now my Razr M has gone from 98.18.94 to 98.30.1 with a 98.18.78 recovery. And I'm working ok.
I am not a professional Android Dev. But I am going to do the research and try to modify a cwm type recovery to match the size of a Moto recovery, and see what happens.
I invite anyone with real experience to contribute.
Bryan

bryanwieg said:
What did you say?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I hope you have something here!
We need someone like jbaumert or Phil3759 to chime in here.

aviwdoowks said:
Well I hope you have something here!
We need someone like jbaumert or Phil3759 to chime in here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have already found that if I take the OTA recovery and unpackbootimg and then mkbootimg without changing anything.. it recompiles down to aprox 5mb, which is different than the size it started from Moto.
So I am looking at if the size is set in how the img is compiled.

30.1 and .94 are the same updates, just different system versions. As for the other stuff, I'm not even sure what to say. I'm with Avi on this, I definitely would like to see what a dev has to say.

New Philz coming BTW.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48881182&postcount=2003
Others could ask for the padded up Philz or at least Quote my post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48886733&postcount=2004

aviwdoowks said:
New Philz coming BTW.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48881182&postcount=2003
Others could ask for the padded up Philz or at least Quote my post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48886733&postcount=2004
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found out via a hex editor, both files have empty data insert after the same point, with certificate data at the end, and it winds up making each file the same size. The data before the 'empty data' in each file is mostly different bits.
My current problem is that when I decompile an img, and recompile it, it's bigger, meaning that I cannot insert the 'empty data' at the same point they did.

bryanwieg said:
I found out via a hex editor, both files have empty data insert after the same point, with certificate data at the end, and it winds up making each file the same size. The data before the 'empty data' in each file is mostly different bits.
My current problem is that when I decompile an img, and recompile it, it's bigger, meaning that I cannot insert the 'empty data' at the same point they did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are both signed with the 128, or more, bit code. Which is what makes this a such a Loooooong shot.

aviwdoowks said:
They are both signed with the 128, or more, bit code. Which is what makes this a such a Loooooong shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you'r right on the money. I appended data to a CWM recovery the same as Moto did to thiers, including the certificate at the end.
I didn't get a partition size error this time, but I did get a 'Failed to hab check for recovery'.
Granted, I didn't manage to place the 'empty data' at the same point in the file as the stock roms did. Other than that, it must be the certificate.

bryanwieg said:
What I wonder is, since the error for the recovery.img is not a security related one, but one of size, and the fact that it took recovery from .78- I wonder if a cwm or twrp made to be the same size as stock Moto recovery, would it be able to sneak in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, because it first checks the size (or whether it's a valid image at all) and if the size is correct, it checks the signature.

I found that I can put recovery all the way back to 98.15.66. I haven't tried further back due to kernel version.
I tried to then apply an update ZIP to something pre 98.30.1, and it passed validation (woohoo), but if failed an assert that checked the version in the props. (cry)
I wish there was something in the older recoveies we could exploit.

Really glad to see someone is still trying to find some sort of exploit for this device in it's updated state, it seemed like everyone had completely given up on it. My girlfriend recently grabbed a used Razr M to use for a while but it's fully updated, and I would love to be able to root it for her. I'll be following this thread to see if anything comes of this recovery downgrading

I'm pretty sure you can edit the props from what I can remember.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app

bryanwieg said:
I found that I can put recovery all the way back to 98.15.66. I haven't tried further back due to kernel version.
I tried to then apply an update ZIP to something pre 98.30.1, and it passed validation (woohoo), but if failed an assert that checked the version in the props. (cry)
I wish there was something in the older recoveies we could exploit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use root eplorer free to extract the single img from the 404 or 411 xml.zips
---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 AM ----------
Here http://sbf.droid-developers.org/phone.php?device=8
---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 AM ----------
The razr hd (2), atrix hd, photon Q all use a recovery w/ same key. Git to work man!

Re:
So, it is RSD that is keeping it from flashing, would the bootloader(locked) boot a recovery partition that isn't signed? Has anybody tried to dd the recovery partition? I will grab a TWRP dd recovery image if you guys have an interest in trying that.
It would still require root and either a terminal emulator or adb shell.

815turbo said:
So, it is RSD that is keeping it from flashing, would the bootloader(locked) boot a recovery partition that isn't signed? Has anybody tried to dd the recovery partition? I will grab a TWRP dd recovery image if you guys have an interest in trying that.
It would still require root and either a terminal emulator or adb shell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am I alone here now?
Does anyone with a locked boot loader want to try this? I could create a windows shell script to make it easier if that's the worry.

I am willing to try it out. Win 7 64bit... pass me needed staf to flash it
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app

please do
815turbo said:
Am I alone here now?
Does anyone with a locked boot loader want to try this? I could create a windows shell script to make it easier if that's the worry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sure do, i'm on win8, but also had win xp, how can i do it? what to download, what to execute? i can adb shell i think. i've survived from bricked before the screen said "flash failure".

benya274 said:
sure do, i'm on win8, but also had win xp, how can i do it? what to download, what to execute? i can adb shell i think. i've survived from bricked before the screen said "flash failure".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll post it in just a few minutes. I will also post the required commands and we'll be backing up current recovery. If it fails, it should be no problem to restore your backed up recovery.
Download TWRP image on your phone from: titanroms.com/upload/rec.img
Please get to an adb prompt and run these commands:
su
cd /sdcard
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery of=/sdcard/recbak1.img
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery of=/sdcard/recbak2.img
Please ensure that both copies are 10MB. The dd command should end by saying "10485760 Bytes Copied" on all of the "dd" commands.
Now, you should have two backups of the recovery partition and the TWRP Image you downloaded from here all on your sdcard.
You can follow with these commands AFTER your backup has completed.
cp /sdcard/Download/rec.img /sdcard/rec.img
dd if=/sdcard/rec.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery of=twrprecbak.img
mount -o remount,rw /system
mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.bak
mv /system/recovery-from-boot.p /system/recovery-from-boot.bak
reboot recovery
In the event of a failed attempt at this you can run the following from adb:
su
cd /sdcard/
dd if=/sdcard/recbak1.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery
Give me a holler if you don't understand this well. Good luck, guys.

I am gonna try it out tomorrow,i dont have time to do it tonight cause i need to go to work. My pc on work does not have internet connection I will keep u guys posted on any progress.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app

Just wanted to say I flashed the old ICS recovery to mine using fastboot commands but it didn't get me very far though.if I then try and flash the corresponding blur zip from recovery it just says invalid signature. Was trying to find a way to downgrade so I could get rooted..
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[Q] flashing F4k's kernel

o/
Trying to flash F4k's awesome kernel here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2636890
(I'd post there but it won't let me before I have 10 posts).
I'm using ROM manager: Install ROM from SD card - I select the zip from my SD card - confirm.
However, it doesn't seem to work. What seems to happen is that wlan configuration files (system/etc/firmware/wlan/prima/) do flash, but kernel remains unchanged. Options - About Device says that kernel version is 3.4.0-1266356 which is what my Mini came with.
As a result I end up with old kernel and broken wlan.
Recovery does report that "some operations fail". Attaching recovery.log
Halp? Am I doing this wrong? Should I apply the .zip using some other tools?
Thanks!
[edit] attachment is invisible (yet?) so here's an alternative copy of recovery.log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g2378naa4bhbdy/recovery.log

sysKin said:
o/
Trying to flash F4k's awesome kernel here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2636890
(I'd post there but it won't let me before I have 10 posts).
I'm using ROM manager: Install ROM from SD card - I select the zip from my SD card - confirm.
However, it doesn't seem to work. What seems to happen is that wlan configuration files (system/etc/firmware/wlan/prima/) do flash, but kernel remains unchanged. Options - About Device says that kernel version is 3.4.0-1266356 which is what my Mini came with.
As a result I end up with old kernel and broken wlan.
Recovery does report that "some operations fail". Attaching recovery.log
Halp? Am I doing this wrong? Should I apply the .zip using some other tools?
Thanks!
[edit] attachment is invisible (yet?) so here's an alternative copy of recovery.log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g2378naa4bhbdy/recovery.log
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ROM are you using?
Installation is suppose to be simple with CWM:
1. Boot to CWM
2. Wipe cache and dalvik cache
3. Install kernel ZIP (do not extract the zip or modifiy it)
4. Reboot.

TNCS said:
What ROM are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock.
By which I mean I9195TDVUAMH1, the stock for Australian I9195T.
Should be fine, right? Or did I misunderstand?
TNCS said:
Installation is suppose to be simple with CWM:
1. Boot to CWM
2. Wipe cache and dalvik cache
3. Install kernel ZIP (do not extract the zip or modifiy it)
4. Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that's effectively the same thing I did (only I used ROM Manager app to avoid pressing volume down button lol). Fails on the same assert and produces that same recovery.log as I've shared.
minzip: Can't create containing directory for "/system/etc/init.d/90hardlimit": Not a directory
set_perm: chown of /system/etc/init.d/90hardlimit to 0 0 failed: Not a directory
set_perm: chmod of /system/etc/init.d/90hardlimit to 755 failed: Not a directory
script aborted: set_perm: some changes failed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at this, should the script mkdir /system/etc/init.d? Or should I simply do it beforehand? It's not there on my stock filesystem.

sysKin said:
Stock.
By which I mean I9195TDVUAMH1, the stock for Australian I9195T.
Should be fine, right? Or did I misunderstand?
Yup, that's effectively the same thing I did (only I used ROM Manager app to avoid pressing volume down button lol). Fails on the same assert and produces that same recovery.log as I've shared.
Looking at this, should the script mkdir /system/etc/init.d? Or should I simply do it beforehand? It's not there on my stock filesystem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you have rooted your phone.. I have no idea why it does that, I think you should redirect the quuestion at F4k's post for stock ROM.

TNCS said:
I assume you have rooted your phone.. I have no idea why it does that, I think you should redirect the quuestion at F4k's post for stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help TNCS. Five more posts and I'll be able to post in that thread
In the meantime I hope F4k doesn't mind a private message.

[Q&A] [ROM]TN.kitkat.4.4.2.HTC.evo.supersonic(aosp)viper.mod. a2sd_updated4/26/14

Q&A for [ROM]TN.kitkat.4.4.2.HTC.evo.supersonic(aosp)viper.mod. a2sd_updated4/26/14
Some developers prefer that questions remain separate from their main development thread to help keep things organized. Placing your question within this thread will increase its chances of being answered by a member of the community or by the developer. Thanks for understanding and for helping to keep XDA neat and tidy! :smile:

I'm running supersonic, hboot 6.16 with S-OFF. Have TWRP 2.8 Installed and flashed the TN kitkat rom and gapps core together but play store and the other Gapps do not show up. Someone suggested that using TWRP 2.7.0.0 worked for them, however, flashing 2.7.0.0 through bootloader gives a Fail-PU Update Fail and trying to flash it via fastboot also fails. So far, 2.7.0.0 is the only version of TWRP that fails to install. Any suggestions for getting gapps to work on this rom? I've tried flashing several other kk gapp packs, but they all fail with a message about not being able to run the update script in the zip file.

paultyler82 said:
I'm running supersonic, hboot 6.16 with S-OFF. Have TWRP 2.8 Installed and flashed the TN kitkat rom and gapps core together but play store and the other Gapps do not show up. Someone suggested that using TWRP 2.7.0.0 worked for them, however, flashing 2.7.0.0 through bootloader gives a Fail-PU Update Fail and trying to flash it via fastboot also fails. So far, 2.7.0.0 is the only version of TWRP that fails to install. Any suggestions for getting gapps to work on this rom? I've tried flashing several other kk gapp packs, but they all fail with a message about not being able to run the update script in the zip file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP 2.8 is probably fine - the GApps packages are likely just too large and the flash is failing because your system partition is full.

What do I need to do to get gapps working then? The posted gapps core package doesn't fail on flash like other gapp packs, but the market and other apps never show up.

paultyler82 said:
What do I need to do to get gapps working then? The posted gapps core package doesn't fail on flash like other gapp packs, but the market and other apps never show up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried downloading the latest core GApps through the EV Updater in the ROM?
(I assume this ROM has that)

Just tried that, flashed through recovery, EV Update only lets you flash gapps in conjunction with a nightly. Flash seemed to succeed, but no luck. Gapps not appearing, nowhere to enter google account in the UI.

paultyler82 said:
Just tried that, flashed through recovery, EV Update only lets you flash gapps in conjunction with a nightly. Flash seemed to succeed, but no luck. Gapps not appearing, nowhere to enter google account in the UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you use the File Manager in Recovery to navigate to /system/priv-app and look for the Google apps? Maybe try extracting them from the zip and manually copying them and setting permissions? There must be some explanation. I've never had a problem with GApps. Can you try fully wiping (including system) and flash the ROM and core GApps again, just to be sure?

Ok. Wiped and reflashed. Odd thing is, before rebooting, the gapps appear to be in /system, however, on restart, they don't show up and when browsing to /system in ES File Explorer, the gapps have disappeared. I have never seen anything like it before, but then, I haven't played with Evos much.

paultyler82 said:
Ok. Wiped and reflashed. Odd thing is, before rebooting, the gapps appear to be in /system, however, on restart, they don't show up and when browsing to /system in ES File Explorer, the gapps have disappeared. I have never seen anything like it before, but then, I haven't played with Evos much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are wiping system, right?

Ok, tried a few more times now, let me walk you through what I've done.
First, using TWRP, I go to Wipe>Advanced Wipe and select EVERYTHING except sdcard, do the wipe. No errors.
Next, Install. I've now tried both TN KitKat and gapps together, gapps seperately after KitKat, and gapps seperately before KitKat
Each time the result is the same, new boot into KitKat results in the first run demo and no gapps to be found.
Here is the odd part I've now noticed that makes me think either I'm not doing something right, or TWRP isn't treating system correctly. All references to TWRP's file manager means using Advanced>File Manager.
On a new wipe, TWRP's file manager shows usr and bin directories in /system.
After any of the above methods of flashing, TWRP's file manager shows usr and bin AND everything from the gapps package but nothing from the KitKat package.
After first boot, ES File Explorer shows everything expected from the KitKat package in /system and nothing from gapps.
After first boot, rebooting into TWRP and using it's file manager shows only usr and bin present in /system, none of the KitKat or gapps stuff, yet booting back into the system works fine and ES File Explorer continues to show the KitKat stuff in /system.
Attempting to flash the gapps package in again after first boot gives the same results as above.
Attempting to copy anything into /system via ES File Explorer fails on a Read Only error.
Attempting to copy gapps into /system via TWRP file manager gives the same results as flashing the package.
Some other info that may or may not help... Using the Repair or Change File System tool in the Advanced Wipe menu reports the following for System partition: Mount Point: /system, File System: yaffs2, Present: Yes, Removable: No, Size: 350MB, Used: 317MB, Free: 32MB, Backup Size: 317MB
I appreciate the help, I'm thinking that certainly I've missed something along the way, but I can't figure out what.

paultyler82 said:
Ok, tried a few more times now, let me walk you through what I've done.
First, using TWRP, I go to Wipe>Advanced Wipe and select EVERYTHING except sdcard, do the wipe. No errors.
Next, Install. I've now tried both TN KitKat and gapps together, gapps seperately after KitKat, and gapps seperately before KitKat
Each time the result is the same, new boot into KitKat results in the first run demo and no gapps to be found.
Here is the odd part I've now noticed that makes me think either I'm not doing something right, or TWRP isn't treating system correctly. All references to TWRP's file manager means using Advanced>File Manager.
On a new wipe, TWRP's file manager shows usr and bin directories in /system.
After any of the above methods of flashing, TWRP's file manager shows usr and bin AND everything from the gapps package but nothing from the KitKat package.
After first boot, ES File Explorer shows everything expected from the KitKat package in /system and nothing from gapps.
After first boot, rebooting into TWRP and using it's file manager shows only usr and bin present in /system, none of the KitKat or gapps stuff, yet booting back into the system works fine and ES File Explorer continues to show the KitKat stuff in /system.
Attempting to flash the gapps package in again after first boot gives the same results as above.
Attempting to copy anything into /system via ES File Explorer fails on a Read Only error.
Attempting to copy gapps into /system via TWRP file manager gives the same results as flashing the package.
Some other info that may or may not help... Using the Repair or Change File System tool in the Advanced Wipe menu reports the following for System partition: Mount Point: /system, File System: yaffs2, Present: Yes, Removable: No, Size: 350MB, Used: 317MB, Free: 32MB, Backup Size: 317MB
I appreciate the help, I'm thinking that certainly I've missed something along the way, but I can't figure out what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because you have to mount system in TWRP to see the actual contents.
What is the exact GApps package you're flashing?

I tried using both the gapps-core-kk-2013-11-25.zip posted in the OP, as well as gapps-kk442-20131211-core.zip from the EVUpdater.
I think I may have just gotten this to work, Play store is showing up. My solution was to manually mount /dev/block/mtdblock4 to /system via ADB and THEN flash the gapps package. Does TWRP not automatically mount NAND to /system? I didn't see an option anywhere in TWRP to mount partitions, the only thing I saw was the Mount menu item that seemed to be related to USB Media Device mounting, not actually mounting partitions. Did I miss something, for future reference?

paultyler82 said:
I tried using both the gapps-core-kk-2013-11-25.zip posted in the OP, as well as gapps-kk442-20131211-core.zip from the EVUpdater.
I think I may have just gotten this to work, Play store is showing up. My solution was to manually mount /dev/block/mtdblock4 to /system via ADB and THEN flash the gapps package. Does TWRP not automatically mount NAND to /system? I didn't see an option anywhere in TWRP to mount partitions, the only thing I saw was the Mount menu item that seemed to be related to USB Media Device mounting, not actually mounting partitions. Did I miss something, for future reference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Mount menu in TWRP, there is a list of partitions and check boxes next to them. If you're not seeing that, then perhaps you have a bad recovery flash.
A recovery log would tell us exactly what's happening when you flash.

Thanks, figured that out now, mount via ADB accomplished the same thing.
Problem solved. The original directions call for both packages to be flashed at the same time, however, at least with TWRP 2.8.0.0, system appears to unmount after KitKat is flashed and gapps is installed to null. On this version of TWRP, you must flash KitKat, then mount system again via the Mount menu or ADB before flashing gapps. It seems that the KitKat package's script causes system to dismount and/or gapps package's script does not properly mount system on it's own.
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 PM ----------
Also, thank you Captain for helping to solve the issue. I was apparently suffering from a serious case of terminal stupidity. It didn't even occur to me to manually mount system until you made the statement about having to mount it.

paultyler82 said:
Thanks, figured that out now, mount via ADB accomplished the same thing.
Problem solved. The original directions call for both packages to be flashed at the same time, however, at least with TWRP 2.8.0.0, system appears to unmount after KitKat is flashed and gapps is installed to null. On this version of TWRP, you must flash KitKat, then mount system again via the Mount menu or ADB before flashing gapps. It seems that the KitKat package's script causes system to dismount and/or gapps package's script does not properly mount system on it's own.
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 PM ----------
Also, thank you Captain for helping to solve the issue. I was apparently suffering from a serious case of terminal stupidity. It didn't even occur to me to manually mount system until you made the statement about having to mount it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's weird that the updater-scripts aren't doing it. Like I said, I've never had an issue with flashing the ROM and GApps in TWRP.

I thought it was a bit weird as well, gonna have a look at the recovery log.

Found it. Gapps update script tries to run /sbin/busybox mount /system. This line fails because busybox isn't there, this failure only shows up in the recovery log, the script messages do not indicate that /system has failed to mount and the update script proceeds to run, installing to null and indicating install was successful.

And then there were two.
I still check in to this forum every day. And as far as I can tell, Vin and Cap are the only reason we are able put our legendary device in our pocket every day and know our rom and recovery are bleeding edge. Lollipop would be huge for our small but dedicated community. But for now the gift of KitKat plus a number of Android 5.0 apps gives me what I like to call "LolliKat". This is the most reliable phone I have ever owned! I hope I get to use it for another four years.

htc supersonic TN 4.4.4 problems
I installed TN 4.4.4 a month or so ago and keep having to reinstall at least once a week. The following problems occur:
Home button softkey quits working, while the menu and back soft keys still work.
Browser is inop, when i click it, it seems like it wants to open because a white screen pops up but then it disappears and goes back to my home screen.
I get no notifications in the status bar for anything.
Calls don't ring, i only know i have missed a call if i check my call history.
Lost theme settings, lost all info i setup on phone. Almost like it reset, except it didn't give me a welcome screen.
I am s-on, but i followed the s-on workaround.
When i hit the home button, catlog shows a keyguard msg, a dropping event because of a non touchable area, and a dalvik VM msg too.
Any ideas or suggestions?

cody85 said:
I installed TN 4.4.4 a month or so ago and keep having to reinstall at least once a week. The following problems occur:
Home button softkey quits working, while the menu and back soft keys still work.
Browser is inop, when i click it, it seems like it wants to open because a white screen pops up but then it disappears and goes back to my home screen.
I get no notifications in the status bar for anything.
Calls don't ring, i only know i have missed a call if i check my call history.
Lost theme settings, lost all info i setup on phone. Almost like it reset, except it didn't give me a welcome screen.
I am s-on, but i followed the s-on workaround.
When i hit the home button, catlog shows a keyguard msg, a dropping event because of a non touchable area, and a dalvik VM msg too.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im going to install this today.
---------- Post added at 11:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------
cryptickid715 said:
im going to install this today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will there be a LP lol

[FIX] FED-Patcher v7 (ForceEncrypt Disable Patcher)

Hello everybody,
I created a tool for the nexus 9 that gets rid of the ForceEncrypt flag in a generic way (meaning it should work no matter what rom you are on). It does that by patching the currently installed boot.img.
Background
The Android CDD (Compatibility Definition Document) suggests that all devices SHOULD enable full disk-encryption (FDE) by default. Even though I support every step towards more security I have to criticize this approach. FDE comes at a price. Encryption takes time because some component has to de- and encrypt the stuff on the disk at some point and in the case of the nexus 9 (aka flounder) it's the CPU's task. Even though the nexus 9's CPU has 2 pretty fast cores you can still easily feel the difference between FDE in the on- or off-state. The I/O is faster and boot-times take only half as long. (I did not do any measurements)
There is an ongoing discussion about this topic in cyanogenmod's gerrit. Although it's a fun read it is pretty clear that this exchange of views is not going anywhere near a useful outcome.
Because performance is important to me and my tablet does not need the extra security I created the FED-Patcher (ForceEncrypt Disable Patcher)
How does it work?
FED-Patcher is a simple flashable ZIP that is supposed to be run in a recovery that has busybox integrated (like TWRP or CWM). This is what it does:
Checks if your device is compatible
Dumps the currently installed boot.img.
Unpacks the dump of your currently installed boot.img. The unpacking process is done via a self-compiled, statically linked version of unmkbootimg.
It patches the filesystem tables which include the force-encrypt flags. This process will change "forceencrypt" to "encryptable".
Then it patches the filesystem tables to not use dm-verity. This is done by removing the "verify" mount-parameter.
Creates a new boot.img. The unpacking process is done via a self-compiled, statically linked version of mkbootimg.
Flashes the modified boot.img
Supported devices
HTC Nexus 9 WiFi (flounder)
HTC Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte)
Motorola Nexus 6 (shamu)
Version History
v1 - Initial version with HTC Nexus 9 WiFi (flounder) support
v2 - Added Motorola Nexus 6 (shamu) support
v3 - Added support for HTC Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte)
v4 - Added support for signed boot-images
v5 - Changed error handling to compensate for missing fstab files. Some roms seem not to ship with the complete set of boot-files from AOSP.
v6 - FED-Patcher will enforce the same structure for the patched boot.img that the original boot.img had. Additionally, the kernel commandline will also be taken over. This should fix pretty much every case where devices would not boot after patching.
v7 - FED-Patcher will now disable dm-verity in fstab to get rid of the red error sign on marshmallow roms.
What do I need to make this work?
A supported device (Your nexus 9)
An unlocked bootloader
An already installed ROM with forceencrypt flag. (like cyanogenmod CM12.1)
A recovery that includes busybox (TWRP, CWM)
How do I use it?
Make a thorough, conservative backup of your data if there is any on your device
Go into your recovery (TWRP, CWM)
Flash fed_patcher-signed.zip
If your device is already encrypted (You booted your ROM at least once) you need to do a full wipe to get rid of the encryption. This full wipe will clear all your data on your data-partition (where your apps as well as their settings are stored) as well as on your internal storage so please, do a backup before. If you don't do a backup and want to restore your data... well... Call obama.
How do I know if it worked?
Go into your "Settings"-App. In "Security", if it offers you to encrypt your device it is unencrypted. If it says something like "Device is encrypted" it indeed is encrypted.
IMPORTANT: If you update your ROM you have to run FED-Patcher again because ROM-updates also update the boot-partition which effectively removes my patch. So, if you are on CM12.1 for example and you used my patch and do an update to a newer nightly you have to run FED-Patcher again. If you don't do so Android will encrypt your device at the first boot.
Is it dangerous?
Well, I implemented tons of checks that prevent pretty much anything bad from happening. But, of course, we're dealing with the boot-partition here. Even though I tested FED-Patcher quite a lot there is still room for crap hitting the fan.
Screenshot
Scroll down to the attached thumbnails.
Credits
* pbatard for making (un)mkbootimg (dunno if he is on xda)
* @rovo89 for his xposed framework - I used some of his ideas by reading the source of his xposed installer flashable ZIP for FED-Patcher.

Thanks for creating this! In theory, would this work for the Nexus 6 as well? It would seem like it's a similar process.

itlnstln said:
Thanks for creating this! In theory, would this work for the Nexus 6 as well? It would seem like it's a similar process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there,
yes, it would probably work because the process itself is pretty generic. The only real difference between devices is the device-path for the boot-partition as well as the path(s) for the fstab-file(s) inside the boot.img. Nothing that cannot be done - but I don't have a device for testing. If you feel adventurous I can do a nexus6 (shamu) version for you for testing. I will double check so it should not eff up your device .
EDIT: Not to forget, the nexus 9 is a 64bit device. mkbootimg as well as unmkbootimg are compiled for 64bit. I have to rebuild those two programs for 32bit to make them work for 32bit devices.

If you have time for a N6 build, that would be great. If not, it's not a big deal since there seems to be more support for that device.

itlnstln said:
If you have time for a N6 build, that would be great. If not, it's not a big deal since there seems to be more support for that device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's pretty much done. Do you want to test a version that does not actually flash anything but do everything else - just to see if it works correctly?

Absolutely!

itlnstln said:
Absolutely!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, here you go!
If no error occurs there will be the already modified boot.img file in your temp-directory of your nexus 6. You can send me this file to be completely sure that everything went according to plan. Here is the adb-command:
Code:
adb pull /tmp/fed_patcher/boot-new.img
If all goes well I will upload the new version with nexus 6 (shamu) support tomorrow.
Good night!

gladiac said:
Alright, here you go!
If no error occurs there will be the already modified boot.img file in your temp-directory of your nexus 6. You can send me this file to be completely sure that everything went according to plan. Here is the adb-command:
Code:
adb pull /tmp/fed_patcher/boot-new.img
If all goes well I will upload the new version with nexus 6 (shamu) support tomorrow.
Good night!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! It seemed to work OK. Here's the boot image.

itlnstln said:
Thanks! It seemed to work OK. Here's the boot image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help! I just updated the flashable ZIP in the first post. Enjoy

gladiac said:
Thanks for your help! I just updated the flashable ZIP in the first post. Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're the best! Thanks!

I noticed in op it says "4 pretty fast cores". This puppy only has 2 cores. Just throwing it out there for readers that don't know. I'm sure it was just a minor oversight.
Sent from my Nexus 9

madbat99 said:
I noticed in op it says "4 pretty fast cores". This puppy only has 2 cores. Just throwing it out there for readers that don't know. I'm sure it was just a minor oversight.
Sent from my Nexus 9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
you are right, thanks. I just fixed the text in the op.

Hey everybody,
I will enable support for the Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte) this afternoon in FED-Pather v3. If you want other devices to be supported please tell me. Is there a list of android devices that have forced encryption?

So this works great, leaving device unencrypted. But anyone having issues with apps crashing? Most especially Google Play Services?

femmyade2001 said:
So this works great, leaving device unencrypted. But anyone having issues with apps crashing? Most especially Google Play Services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This problem is new to me. My patch only modifies the boot-image so that it does not enforce encryption. It is merely a flag in fstab that gets changed and should not have anything to do with crashing apps. Anyway, do you have a logcat?

Hey everybody,
v3 is here with HTC Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte) support!
Enjoy

I'm getting an error with my N9 (WiFi). When I try flashing in TWRP, it throws this error:
! Unpacking failed
=> unmkbootimg return value: 0
E: Error executing updater binary in zip...
All I did was go into fastboot, flash the updated image for LMY48M, then go into TWRP to flash the fix. I even went back into fastboot to try re-flashing the boot.img.

itlnstln said:
I'm getting an error with my N9 (WiFi). When I try flashing in TWRP, it throws this error:
! Unpacking failed
=> unmkbootimg return value: 0
E: Error executing updater binary in zip...
All I did was go into fastboot, flash the updated image for LMY48M, then go into TWRP to flash the fix. I even went back into fastboot to try re-flashing the boot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry to hear that. I will have a look into the boot.img that gets shipped with LMY48M. Not sure what is going on here.

itlnstln said:
I'm getting an error with my N9 (WiFi). When I try flashing in TWRP, it throws this error:
! Unpacking failed
=> unmkbootimg return value: 0
E: Error executing updater binary in zip...
All I did was go into fastboot, flash the updated image for LMY48M, then go into TWRP to flash the fix. I even went back into fastboot to try re-flashing the boot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright - unmkbootimg fails because the boot.img that google ships has 256 Bytes of extra data (it is probably signed or something) at the beginning. If you strip that off it works correctly:
Code:
dd if=boot.img of=boot-stripped.img bs=256 skip=1
Well, this was unexpected. But nothing that cannot be dealt with. I will make my flashable ZIP search for the offset of the boot.img-signature inside the dumped boot.img and strip of the preceding data. The rest of the process should work as usual.

itlnstln said:
I'm getting an error with my N9 (WiFi). When I try flashing in TWRP, it throws this error:
! Unpacking failed
=> unmkbootimg return value: 0
E: Error executing updater binary in zip...
All I did was go into fastboot, flash the updated image for LMY48M, then go into TWRP to flash the fix. I even went back into fastboot to try re-flashing the boot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi @itlnstln,
I just made a new version which should do the trick. I tested the new functionality to the best of my knowledge. If the script fails for some reason it wont flash anything - so the probability for actual damage is very low. Do you feel adventurous xD?
Please tell me if it worked for you or not.