[aklug] Re: Rooting an Android Motorola Flipside from the Linux command line.

Checkout Xda developers, they're the resource I use for Android hacking
http://forum.xda-developers.com/motorola-flipside

On Wednesday, December 31, 2014, WestonandSuzy Howard <
westonandsuzyhoward@gmail.com> wrote:

> Greetings to the AKLUG from the new guy!
> While speaking with my brother about my recent cell phone escapade,
> he recommended that I join and pass this along to your group. I can
> only imagine the collective level of competence and intelligence here,
> so I apologize for cluttering up your in-boxes with my simpleton
> thoughts and ways, but here it goes. (Remember, new guy, don't hate,
> be nice.)
>
> Exposition:
> So for the entirety of my life as an adult, I've only used dumb cell
> phones, as apposed to smart ones. This was not a problem until all of
> my friends and most of my relatives started texting. So then I was
> forced to get a cell phone with a keyboard so I could respond
> intelligently. Recently, I've become fed up with paying for minutes
> and data, so I decided to change to a plan that was unlimited, and
> also purchased a neat little (okay, really cheap) smart phone, the
> Motorola Flipside, unlocked. Don't knock it, I needed a keyboard and
> thought I'd try a smart phone, albeit an older one. Did I mention it
> was really cheap?
> But alas, while it was great in some ways, it seemed restrictive, as
> it would not download and use this particular app that I wanted to put
> on it. Thus started my rooting adventure.
>
> Rising Action:
> So I needed a way in. After a little research, I found that I could
> use Android Development Bridging Tools (adb) from the command line.
> You guys and gals are probably very technical, and way smarter than
> me, so please don't laugh too hard, but I will share all the gory
> details.
> Using Debian Wheezy, I found that there is no support for adb from
> the main repository, so I added Wheezy-Backports to my sources.list
> file:
>
> # echo "deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main" >>
> /etc/apt/sources.list
> # echo "deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports
> main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
>
> Of course:
>
> # aptitude update
> # aptitude search android |grep adb
>
> i android-tools-adb - Android Debug Bridge CLI tool
>
> # aptitude install android-tools-adb
>
> Now that I had the tools, I went ahead and read the --help, and tried
> to use it, after plugging in the USB cable to my phone:
>
> # adb devices
> List of devices attached - but it was blank!
>
> Hmm....
>
> # lsusb
> -other stuff-
> Bus 001 Device 004: ID 22b8:41da Motorola PCS
>
> After some research, I realized that I needed some rules for this
> device, and found that one guy did something similar for his nook. I
> stole what he did, but changed it for my phone.
>
> # touch /etc/udev/rules.d/99-android.rules
> To create the file.
> # echo "SUBSYSTEM==usb, ATTR{idVendor}==22b8, MODE=0666, OWNER=user #
> motorola" >> /etc/udev/rules.d/99-android.rules
> # service udev restart
>
> Now it shows up:
> # adb devices
> List of devices attached
> 040140601001801A device
>
> Whoo-hoo! I knew I was cooking now!
> I set the phone for debugging with Application > Development > USB
> debugging. I read online that this would allow me to use the adb
> program to "push" things onto the phone.
>
> Climax:
> I then researched a suitable rooter for my phone. Turns out it was
> well supported by Z4Root.apk and all I needed to do was get it onto
> the phone. So I downloaded it. Went to that directory and:
>
> # adb install Z4Root.apk
> blah-blah KB/s
> pkg: /data/local/tmp/Z4Root.apk
> Success
>
> Nice! So, I disconnect the USB cable, and ran z4root by clicking on
> the app icon. Ran for about 2 minutes, rebooted, and then said I was
> rooted! Very simple, very nice, but then I thought, how do I use it?
>
> Falling action:
> I then used adb to install busybox installer, an app that lets me
> choose which version of busybox to install, and as most of you know
> (shoot, you guys and gals probably wrote it) allows me to have many
> more Linux commands and attributes on my phone.
> Upon first try, I tried the latest and greatest that was available
> from the app, 1.22, but it failed to install, so I chose 1.20, and it
> installed successfully.
> I also got the Superuser app, I say got, because it simply appeared,
> probably comes from the z4root process, which allows me to set su
> permissions for apps on the phone.
> I then used the android market app to download terminal app.
> Now, when I open the terminal app, I can type su and it pops up a
> dialog stating terminal app has super user permissions. I now have
> access to the entire system files and many use full tools and
> commands.
>
> Denouement:
> You are very patient for having stuck through this rambling thread so
> long, but I promise, it is almost over.
> I then was able to search through the files and found the
> /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settigs.db is a
> database file with the settings in it.
> # cp /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settigs.db
> /sdcard/settings.db
> To grab the file, then, after moving it to the computer:
> # sqlite3 settings.db
> .tables
> .dump security
> update security set value=1 where name='install_non_market_apps';
> update security set value=0 where name='force_only_market_apps';
> exit
>
> Viola, then I put it back. Then I had many errors when trying to
> download from the internet. Then it would fail when parsing an apk
> file.
> Hmm...
> Ah.... Some online searching revealed that I needed to also update
> these files in a similar manner (albeit they are plain text, very easy
> to edit):
> /system/etc/motorola/com.android.providers.settings/system.mkitso
> /system/etc/motorola/com.android.providers.settings/secure.mkitso
>
> /system/etc/motorola/com.motorola.android.providers.settings/settings.mkitso
>
> While changing lines like:
> install_non_market_apps from 0 to 1
> and
> force_only_market_apps from 1 to 0
>
> And there we have it! Unfortunately, the app I originally wanted to
> install was made for a newer build of Android, so it didn't work
> anyways, with a code of:
>
> # adb install com.foxfi-APK4Fun.com.apk
> 2230 KB/s (210759 bytes in 0.092s)
> pkg: /data/local/tmp/com.foxfi-APK4Fun.com.apk
> Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK]
>
> But that is an obstacle for another post, another time. That is,
> unless you guys and gals boot me off for clogging up your in-boxes.
>
> Happy New Year!
> -Weston Howard
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>

-- 
*Lee Brumbaugh*
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