[HowTo] making a System Dump of Stock Firmware for 'Dummies'

[eybee1970]

...
Typing something like "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 of=/sdcard/factoryfs.img" is never something I would call easy. If you do not have Linux shell commands knowledge, than these are about "50 characters without meaning" that you have to type (on the keyboard of your device - which is even more error-prone).
PC or Note: it is never dummy-simple....

...come on...the worst thing happening, is getting an 'ERROR...whatever not found on device' ==> so check what you typed and find the missing letter or number / wrong letter or number / missing blank and/or wrong blank in your line....not Rocket Science, right?

And there is a good working copy/paste function on each device also...so with the second of the needed prerequisites you should be able to do it

 

[ThaiDai]

...come on...the worst thing happening, is getting an 'ERROR...whatever not found on device' ==> so check what you typed and find the missing letter or number / wrong letter or number / missing blank and/or wrong blank in your line....not Rocket Science, right?

And there is a good working copy/paste function on each device also...

Of couse nothing can happen and you have to only correct it - but this still isn't dummy suitable.
And: even most of my IT colleagues with a specific IT profession wouldn't respond with: "Wow". Steve Jobs would've fired me because of the usability.

But I completely agree with you: if you really want to make dumps for further actions this is the most suitable way to do.

 

[friedje]

Of couse nothing can happen and you have to only correct it - but this still isn't dummy suitable.
And: even most of my IT colleagues with a specific IT profession wouldn't respond with: "Wow". Steve Jobs would've fired me because of the usability.

Do Not Underestimate The Intelligence Of The Average XDA Noob !!

 

[REVERSiN]

Of couse nothing can happen and you have to only correct it - but this still isn't dummy suitable.
And: even most of my IT colleagues with a specific IT profession wouldn't respond with: "Wow". Steve Jobs would've fired me because of the usability.

But I completely agree with you: if you really want to make dumps for further actions this is the most suitable way to do.

Lets face it its just a few commands, so copying and pasting isn't an issue for dummies he can type without a need to think why, cause, for..... so yeah for dummies mate

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[shoey63]

Lets face it its just a few commands, so copying and pasting isn't an issue for dummies he can type without a need to think why, cause, for..... so yeah for dummies mate

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

+1 If you can read and use a keyboard, how can you go wrong? If you are too much of a dummy for that, then you will not even know your phone has a new release.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

 

[ThaiDai]

Not really worth any discussion what the meaning of Dummy is and how experienced normal Users are - Q&A and General forum show this in detail .

OT: I expected more statements to the idea of fully automated Dump2Rom script. If a thread for such a script will rise can do this there.

 

[shoey63]

Not really worth any discussion what the meaning of Dummy is and how experienced normal Users are - Q&A and General forum show this in detail .

OT: I expected more statements to the idea of fully automated Dump2Rom script. If a thread for such a script will rise can do this there.

I guess you are right. Noobs do ask really ridiculous things. I love your idea of a "1 click" script though:thumbup: I would use it myself if the opportunity arose

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[ThaiDai]

I guess you are right. Noobs do ask really ridiculous things. I love your idea of a "1 click" script though:thumbup: I would use it myself if the opportunity arose

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

Red Alert: Not my idea and after my recent experiences I only can repeat again (see above): This is dangerous!

 

[vijai2011]

Red Alert: Not my idea and after my recent experiences I only can repeat again (see above): This is dangerous!

May I know what dangerous things can happen???.Because I'm using scripts to make ODIN roms and havent faced any problem.Check out my sig for my script.It is out dated though.I have made a better one for me now and havent come across a single problem till now.A script is nothing more than an automated thing which saves time,effort and physical labor in my point of view.A script contains only the collection of commands which you gonna type in terminal.In my view,Script is only advantageous to me

Please do share your experience and let me know the dangerous thing in script so that I can be careful

 

[ThaiDai]

May I know what dangerous things can happen???.Because I'm using scripts to make ODIN roms and havent faced any problem.Check out my sig for my script.It is out dated though.I have made a better one for me now and havent come across a single problem till now.A script is nothing more than an automated thing which saves time,effort and physical labor in my point of view.A script contains only the collection of commands which you gonna type in terminal.In my view,Script is only advantageous to me

Please do share your experience and let me know the dangerous thing in script so that I can be careful

This is off topic here and I wrote above already about the possible risks for unexperienced users (Post 20). Please do not start a discussion here (because OT). Thanks

 

[shoey63]

Red Alert: Not my idea and after my recent experiences I only can repeat again (see above): This is dangerous!

Ok I get it. Remove any apps that you have paid for before proceeding, otherwise you will be accused of spreading warez, right?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

 

[burtcom]

...come on...the worst thing happening, is getting an 'ERROR...whatever not found on device' ==> so check what you typed and find the missing letter or number / wrong letter or number / missing blank and/or wrong blank in your line....not Rocket Science, right?

And there is a good working copy/paste function on each device also...so with the second of the needed prerequisites you should be able to do it

Unix admins use dd with extreme caution. Hit the return key too early and you can wipe out your root partition. BE CAREFUL!

Wikipedia explains it nicely...

"It is jokingly said that dd stands for "disk destroyer", "data destroyer", "death and destruction", "damn dangerous", or "delete data", since when used for low-level operations on hard disks, a small mistake, such as reversing the if and of (input file and output file) parameters, could result in the loss of some or all data on a disk."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_%28Unix%29

 

[vijai2011]

I have started making the script.expect it to be completed by tomorrow or day after tomorrow.It mainly depends on how my school schedules my time.I see mo harm in using the script as i have been doin it for so long without a single problem.I will release only after me personally testing it
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

---------- Post added at 07:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------

Unix admins use dd with extreme caution. Hit the return key too early and you can wipe out your root partition. BE CAREFUL!

Wikipedia explains it nicely...

"It is jokingly said that dd stands for "disk destroyer", "data destroyer", "death and destruction", "damn dangerous", or "delete data", since when used for low-level operations on hard disks, a small mistake, such as reversing the if and of (input file and output file) parameters, could result in the loss of some or all data on a disk."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)

I highy agree with this.typing if imstead of "of" deletes the partition.But it should be easily fixable by flashing rom in cwm.if it happens with recovery partition,flsh kernel in odin.Have not tried it yet.but it should be easy to fix.
But i think script can prevent it because u are noot goin to type the command everytime

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[shoey63]

@ eybee1970 Re: Initial steps. No need to flash Temp recovery. Philz root/busybox files can be flashed directly from stock JB 3e recovery (just tested it on stock LSC kernel):thumbup: BTW, do you know how to symlink preload so that apps can be put in there?

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[eybee1970]

... BTW, do you know how to symlink preload so that apps can be put in there?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

yes...just take Notepad++, open it, create a new file and put the following inside ('nameofapp.apk' is just an example for any app you wanna symlink):

Link: /preload/symlink/system/app/nameofapp.apk

save and close as 'nameofapp.apk' --> this is the one to put inside /system/app to symlink to the original one you put inside /preload/symlink/system/app

EDIT: i know about existing command lines inside updater-script to do this automatically, but I did not use til now...so this is the manual way

 

[MitoTakatori]

Hi. Nice tutorial. Easy to follow. I just have this somewhat of a problem. I installed the Terminal Emulator, types su, and all the stuff, no errors upon executing the commands. I use LG Optimus G E975, rooted, unlocked BL, the works, All the files that should be created in my sdcard have been created, but the file size of the hidden.img and factoryfs.img are too small, just kb's, not even 1MB. What goes wrong there? No errors by the way in command execution. Thanks!

 

[ThaiDai]

Did you really consider part 2 of the prerequisites in the first post?

This is for the N7000 and its partition layout. You own a LG and so with a very high probability of a different partition layout. No wonder that you got these results.

 

[jabu]

Unix admins use dd with extreme caution. Hit the return key too early and you can wipe out your root partition. BE CAREFUL!

Wikipedia explains it nicely...

"It is jokingly said that dd stands for "disk destroyer", "data destroyer", "death and destruction", "damn dangerous", or "delete data", since when used for low-level operations on hard disks, a small mistake, such as reversing the if and of (input file and output file) parameters, could result in the loss of some or all data on a disk."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)

This. I've slipped and nuked a drive before.

Did you really consider part 2 of the prerequisites in the first post?

This is for the N7000 and its partition layout. You own a LG and so with a very high probability of a different partition layout. No wonder that you got these results.

And this is why a one button click can become dangerous. Use as directed.