Kobo Arc Development

ThunderBird2678 said:

So I was randomly flying around on Google today, and I noticed that someone had claimed to root the Kobo Arc, and gave written instructions here -- http : // www . mobileread . com / forums / showthread.php?p=2584491 (Remove the spaces, XDA won't let me post an actual link, since I don't have 10 posts yet). After running through this myself, I went on the Google Play store and used root checker. Much to my surprise, it worked, and my device now has root access. I even tested with Root Explorer, and mounted the system partition as R/W, and I can move things in and out of it. I'm currently working on trying to get a custom ROM working, but I'm worried that I will cause a brick, since Cyanogen doesn't support the Arc. (yet...)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

confirmed, was just going to post this but was beaten to it.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218928


ive attached the file but please go to that website and pay homage to whoever did this work...now to the next stop, a ROM

Device now has a working custom recovery see post 15

Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

dazza9075 said:

confirmed, was just going to post this but was beaten to it.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218928
In terms of a ROM do we not need a compatible boot loader that will allow unsigned ROMs?

ive attached the file but please go to that website and pay homage to whoever did this work...now to find a man about a ROM


Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i have absolutely no idea what im doing but I think I have dumped 12 partitions using

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 of=/sdcard/p10.img


is there anyone around that fancies a challenge? im in a position where bricking this thing isn't really much of a problem so if someones up for a challenge and wants to help im willing to lend myself and the device to this

Haha, its cool, like yourself I just happened to Google kobo arc root and for once my googe fu was up to the task and the root appeared

I've been looking at starting my own recovery mod branch but its no simple task by the looks of it, if their are similar devices we can use all their data and tweak it to ours which would help a lot!

Oh I think we have fast boot, I held vol down and pushed power on, it just sat at the kobo arc screen, I used the nexus 7 driver from the universal adb/fastboot driver I found on here and it connected up http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2263822

I stumbled on some to good to be true program on Xda dev that apparently can root anything and unlock any bootloader once your in fastboot mode. I have tried that part and it said it was successful but i have no idea how to test this out yet, the program does a bunch of other stuff too, the adb stuff worked as did apk sending, and the rooting options knew i was rooted, it also has flashing functions, I'll be damed if I can find it now I'm at home though , I'll have another look.


I don't mind doing leg work but if someone can read the map it would be very helpful!


Edit, found it
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2399385
http://www.mediafire.com/?vwxpq62pa927s9c



Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

ThunderBird2678 said:

Um... Okay. I've installed the drivers (I think I installed them correctly), and I booted my device using "volume down + power". I have it connected to my System, but whenever I try to use one of the options in the Android Root Toolkit, it tells me it's waiting for the device. I don't know what I did wrong, but something's clearly not working.

As far as the recovery goes, I think that looking at the Nook Tablet from TWRP would work quite nicely. It runs on a similar processor ( I believe it's a OMAP TI 4430 ), and it seems to be quite similar in specs to the Arc. If only I was a bit better at programming...

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

im usig the generic android adb driver and the bootloader driver for fast boot
im dumped all partitions and mapped them all out, see below for file system details

But again I'm blindly stabbing in the dark and most tutorials are a bit lacking in depth or not relevant to the kobo :/
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

127|root@android:/ # blkid
/dev/block/dm-2: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/dm-1: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/dm-0: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
root@android:/ #

ive mapped out the following partitions and any info ive found about each of them, im not in a position to help at the moment, got a big day at work tomorrow, as mentioned above ive used several tools,
SuperSU,
ROM toolbox pro
busybox
remount

Below is a list of all the available partition names and numbers


/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 xloader
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/xloader
348KB

/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 bootloader
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/bootloader
1.50MB

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 cypto
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/crypto
Completely empty
64KB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 EFS
Mounted as /FACTORY
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4:UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/efs /factory ext4 ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
20MB

/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 misc
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/misc
Completely empty
128KB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 Bootlogo
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/bootlogo
Contains kobo arc picture
4MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 Logos
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/logos
contains the battery charge logo
28MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p8 recovery
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery
data contains a GZ file, when decompressed we get a 8.5MB file of unknown type, exact same as in boot
5MB of data
16MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 boot
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/boot
data contains a GZ file, when decompressed we get a 8.5MB file of unknown type, exact same as n recovery
4.5MB of data
8MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 CACHE
Mounted as /CACHE
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/cache /cache ext4
rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,barrier=1,nom blk_io_submit,data=ordered 0
0
768MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 SYSTEM
Mounted as /SYSTEM
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/system /system ext4
rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
910MB partition size

/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 USERDATA
Mounted as /DATA
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4
rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,barrier=1,nom blk_io_submit,data=ordered 0
0
12GB partition size

Watching with interest. The root works. No frills CPU installed and working. There may be hope for this thing yet:good:

Moved to new thread and more appropriate forum - keep up the good work guys

im not sure that's going to work you know, ive had some permission errors with adb which suggests the root isn't full, terminal on the device works fine, but adb just has some problems, adb shell and the su seems to fix them.

http://www.gadgetsdna.com/android-terminal-adb-shell-command-list/1168/
http://www.addictivetips.com/android/make-nandroid-backups-on-android-without-booting-into-recovery/

im busy today but ive found these useful

i think Clockwork Recovery should be our focus at this point or if you have dumped your partitions(?) attempt to construct a rom for later use

or this should work too
Install any Custom Recovery with flash_image:

Just like the previous method, this method also requires following advanced steps and is not recommended if the first method is working for you. flash_image is a tool for Android devices that lets you rewrite your phone’s system partitions with partition image files and installing it to your device requires ADB. If you don’t already have ADB installed, check out our guide on installing ADB. Once you have ADB installed, flash the custom recovery image as follows:

1. Download flash_image and extract it from the zip file to a location on your computer. We extracted it to the main C drive (not in any folder) and will use that in the next steps.
2. Copy the recovery image for your phone to a convenient location on your computer, preferably with a short path. We will be placing it on the C Drive directly (not in any folder) and using that in the next steps.
   Note: The recovery image should have .img extension. If it is in a zip file, extract the .img file from it.
3. Enable USB debugging mode on your device from Menu > Settings > Applications > Development.
4. Connect your device to your computer via USB.
5. Open a Command Prompt window on your computer and enter the following commands: adb push c:\flash_image /sdcard/adb push c:\recovery.img /sdcard/adb shellsumount -o remount, rw /systemcp /sdcard/flash_image /system/bincd /system/binchmod 777 flash_imageflash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.imgThis will first transfer flash_image and recovery.img to your phone. Then it will copy flash_image to the /system/bin folder of your Android device and make it executable. Finally, it will flash the custom recovery image to your device using flash_image.
   Note that we used c:\flash_image and c:\recovery.img in the first two lines as we had these files extracted at the root of our C drive. If you extracted the files elsewhere, use the appropriate paths and if your recovery image has a different name, use the appropriate name.
6. Reboot your device once the process is finished and you’re done. You may exit adb and the Command Prompt window on your computer by entering ‘exit’ thrice.

ThunderBird2678 said:

As for Cyanogenmod, I tried something yesterday. A person on the Mobileread forums (apparently a Kobo employee) put out an update.zip file for the Kobo Arc. The file was quite old, and it's really just the 4.1.1 update that (I hope) we're all running. He said that as long as you put it on the root of the data partition, the Arc will flash it immediately. When I tried taking a Nexus 7's Cyanogenmod file and sticking it in the same place, the Arc started flashing it, but then just said there was an error with the update. So I personally think that you do require a properly signed ROM.

However, if you open up Kobo's update.zip using Winrar, a sidebar pops up that says "signed by SignApk". I don't know too much about this, but couldn't we use this "signapk" to sign our own ROMS and flash them?

Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I think there is a problem with the setup, I just flashed a CW recovery image and it worked, or didn't rather! but the concept did, transferred, flashed using adb, I had to replace it though as it was totally borked and kept restarting, apparently the touch based recovery methods can be like that, ill have some good time tomorrow night (UK time) if your about, and ill keep at it tonight if I get a chance!
copy recovery to adb location

adb push recovery.img /sdcard/

adb shell
su
cat /sdcard/recovery.img > /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery

exit adb shell and type

adb reboot recovery



fixed it by holding power button and vol down to boot to fastboot recovery
then ran

fastboot flash recovery inputrecovery.img

inputrecovery being my original recovery file taken from partition 8!

ive updated the partition map on the post above with my progress, but it looks like we can flash to them my name so its probably less relevant now

oh ive ditched the drivers I was using and reinstalled the drivers from the official SDK, generic android adb for within android and android bootloader for fastboot


EDIT

ok i have a working recovery http://jenkins.cyanogenmod.com/job/recovery/35325/artifact/

its not quite done, i need to mount the sdcard, its physical location is mounted, ie /data, but its virtual mount isn't /storage/sdcard

I have asked for some help so hopefully someone can help be on this, I think it needs to be symlinked

im going to need some help soon, so if your reading this with a kobo arc, I need you! im needing a hand folks! if your stuck getting this far let me know and we can PM to get it working

oh and recovery is also now persistant by deleting or renaming /etc/install-recover.sh"

Sorted folks!

I have made a stable and thus far, a working custom recovery.

its mounting everything and backing up / restoring works as it should, unless anyone can find any issues I consider this step in building a complete ROM completed,

you must have root, download arctic.apk and install on your tablet, you will need to enable unknown sources In dev options first

you must have android and java sdk also installed, you will need to add the google usb drivers in the android sdk, you will find them in the "extras"

Enable usb debug on the arc and install the generic google adb usb drivers

Delete or rename /etc/install-recover.sh this will make the custom recovery persistent

Copy the recovery.img to the SDCard, either by using drag and drop in windows ( to root of "internal storage") or by adb push, if you use adb push then remember to copy recovery.img to the same folder as adb

adb push recovery.img /sdcard/

The next job is to open up a command window and navigate to adb folder, type the following exactly, even better copy and paste them!

adb shell
su
cat /sdcard/recovery.img > /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery

exit adb shell (ctrl+C) and type

adb reboot recovery

and bobs your uncle, one happy new recovery

Thanks for your hard work. Everything works quite well.

Sent from my Arc using Tapatalk 4

cancuck said:

Thanks for your hard work. Everything works quite well.

Sent from my Arc using Tapatalk 4

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

that's the easy bit, I have a feeling I need to make a couple of changes to the recovery.img but noting major, just a couple of other mounts I may have missed

I probably would like some help with the next bit however.

im just trying to build a development platform, I have a loathing for Linux as a desktop so will need to re educate myself without throwing my laptop out of the window, after that "challenge" the ROM should be easy