[LP][5.X][XPERIA] Debloating script for xperia phones running LP

Search This thread

FcukBloat

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2012
6,284
3,012
***LOOKING FOR A ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION? THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR Z3C USERS ONLY, IF INTERESTED GO HERE***


I guys, I share with you my debloating script for those interested in a higly DEBLOATED LP installation, very slimmed down, battery friendly, faster, with less RAM comsuption etc :eek:

Heavily debloated actually means almost 1 gb of system stuff moved to a backup folder (that you can even delete or move to sdcards to get 1gb extra free space in /system) so applying my script you agree to debloat A LOT as I did but take care that you will have a much lighter system and still you will be able to restore very easily anything you want anytime moving stuff back from the backup folder to /system (detailed instructions for that below in this thread).

NOTES

1. as all the stuff object of my debloating script is going to be placed in /system when flashing the pre-rooted FW, it is strongly suggested to apply my script immediately after flashing the pre-rooted LP FW and before rebooting, this way all that stuff will be moved away, and it is like it was never installed (at first boot no optimizations for those apps, means faster first boot etc)


2. as said above, all the bloat is not really deleted but moved to a Backup folder in system (/system/__Backup) so you can restore anything you want very easily. that's the reason you can see /system partition still almost full in spite of my high debloat, but stuff moved to the backup folder is "silent", so for sure it is not affecting the system at all and it is like it is not installed: I use this approach for people who needs to restore something, this way restoring is very very easy and fast. By the way, deleting the whole Backup folder (or moving it to your sdcard) you will then see something like 1.1 gb extra free space in /system!!


3. using different FW as base you may have some more bloat/apks, not present in my FW, that will remain installed. In this case, if you think there is some bloat left that could be removed, please send me a list of all your system apps remained after debloating, so i can check them (you can easily do that via terminal with 'ls /system/app > /sdcard/sysapps.txt' and 'ls /system/priv-app > /sdcard/privapps.txt' and send me the resultant text files)



Procedure for all xperia phones running LP: (like all Z series)


Requirements:
- working recovery
- be on LP already, 5.0.2 or 5.1.1, doesn't matter


Installation:
1. full nandroid backup to eventually go back to previous any time
2. wipe data, cache and dalvik ***
3. flash my debloating script
4. that's all! reboot/enjoy

*** NOTES
You can skip wiping data, so you'll keep all your personal data! But please mind that not wiping data during the installation procedure the debloat will not be 100% effective: in fact, if you don't wipe data, all the sony apps installed in /data/app won't be removed by the script! (to remove them, you'll have to uninstall them manually from settings > apps > downloaded)





RESULT

As said at the top, you'll get a very slimmed down LP FW, battery friendly, very fast, with less RAM comsuption etc :eek:

Of course, everything is working great here, I mean all the features I need/use!

In particular, with latest version of my script you are going to delete more than 160 packages in total with all relevant libs/stuff plus all applications automatically installed by Sony :eek: :good:


DISCLAIMER
If you apply my script again please take care I did a pretty massive debloat as I don't use a lot of stuff (social apps, small apps, many of the sony "addons"/special settings etc!!) and this is a working config for me, but for others some functionalities will be probably missing, so mind what you do before apply them! (but again you can restore anything anytime, if interested just continue the reading)



###########################################################################################################




REMOVED STUFF

As said at the beginning, with my script, stuff is not going to be deleted anymore, but moved in /system/__Backup folder. This way you can restore things without the need to download them from my GDrive.



HOW TO RESTORE SOMETHING

PS. of course I also removed from my FW all the stuff that can be easily downloaded from the Play Store (Gmail, etc)
In the hidden field below you will find the restoring instructions you need to follow to restore any package you may want back:


According to what you want to restore, you have to follow two different procedures:

- all the APKs that are inside /system/__Backup/various/etc_custom_apps and /system/__Backup/various/etc_prod_apps are regular APKs that are going to be installed in /data, so you can just run them and then select "install" like a normal APK, easy. You will then see them in Settings > applications > downloaded

- instead, all the things in /system/__Backup/system_app and /system/__Backup/system_priv-app folders can't be normally installed, but must be restored in the correct /system folders with correct permissions. To do this, see the step-by-step instructions below (in the following example, I am going to restore Chrome app in /system/app and Velvet (Google Search) in /system/priv-app, but of course you can restore how many things as you want at the same time)

Code:
- with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_app and MOVE the whole "Chrome" folder to /system/app
- with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_priv-app and MOVE the whole "Velvet" folder to /system/priv-app
- reboot
- done

PS. don't copy but MOVE things back, or permissions will get messed up and you are likely to end up in a bootloop!





Many THANKS @ondrejvaroscak and @Puffin617 for some very good advices, @mj084 for some packages descriptions :good:
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    56.8 KB · Views: 16,518
  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    84.4 KB · Views: 17,085
  • 3.png
    3.png
    126.5 KB · Views: 16,523
  • 4.png
    4.png
    121.6 KB · Views: 17,043
  • 6.png
    6.png
    194.6 KB · Views: 16,314
  • Screenshot_2015-06-11-11-04-42.png
    Screenshot_2015-06-11-11-04-42.png
    216.7 KB · Views: 14,300
  • Screenshot_2015-06-11-11-11-19.png
    Screenshot_2015-06-11-11-11-19.png
    182.7 KB · Views: 13,369
Last edited:

Norup58

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2015
276
109
Would one arrive at the same stable setup as you if the debloating-part in your guide was omitted?
(I prefer to use Debloater by @gatesjunior to block the apps)
 
Last edited:

FcukBloat

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2012
6,284
3,012
Would one arrive at the same stable setup as you if the debloating-part in your guide was omitted?
(I prefer to use Debloater by @gatesjunior to block the apps)
don't think so. in fact, several people who flashed and installed xposed directly on stock FW, had bootloops. others have problems with play store in deodexed, so I think, at least here and IMHO, best combo is odexed but debloated.
of course you can remove less stuff, that will be also much safer. if and when I post a text list of what I removed, I can maybe highlight dangerous apps that people should be careful with, or add notes for some apps that maybe is not so easy to understand what they are for :eek:


EDIT: I always prefer manual things, so I always manually move apps to a temporary location and then delete them :eek:
 
Last edited:

FcukBloat

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2012
6,284
3,012
Thank you! it's a shame that i already have achieved my 8-post limit for today.

don't worry mate!
ps. added notes/colours to some pretty dangerous apps to remove.. all others should be pretty self explanatory/safe to delete if you don't use them


gravity box > lockscreen mods > customizable lockscreen shortcuts! ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: hispanico957

Avengeme

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2012
225
67
Ottawa
So do we know which app it is that you removed that fixed the xposed issue? I don't buy the "just delete a bunch of stuff and xposed will work", there must be one or a combination of apps that are causing the bootloops.
 

FcukBloat

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2012
6,284
3,012
So do we know which app it is that you removed that fixed the xposed issue? I don't buy the "just delete a bunch of stuff and xposed will work", there must be one or a combination of apps that are causing the bootloops.
well, you are free to investigate [emoji14]
always when i flash a stock fw i immediately remove a lot of useless (for me) stuff.. this time I had already deleted something like 120 useless apps before flashing xposed and seeing it was working fine.. so that's not so easy for me at this time to understand exactly what is causing bootloops for some people and actually, even if it wouldn't be impossible to find that out, that's not interesting for me so don't see a point in losing extra time in that research sorry ;) (I'm already wasting too much time in debloat operations [emoji14] )
 

FcukBloat

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2012
6,284
3,012
no problem mate glad it was helpful for someone else! :eek:
yesterday I added a few more xposed modules, and still no bootloops at all (right now I'm using GB, apm+, youtube adway, youtube background playback, xperia/AOSP NavBar Buttons :good: )

btw did you delete all (or most of the) the apps in my list? and before debloating you had bootloops?
because I immediately debloated and only then I installed xposed, so was wondering if maybe also installing xposed without debloating could be working actually as never tried here this way :p

in any case, just testing right now some more debloat... would like to increase the debloat list... will update OP if I find it safe and will have no problems after new deletions :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: redincali

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 146
    ***LOOKING FOR A ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION? THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR Z3C USERS ONLY, IF INTERESTED GO HERE***


    I guys, I share with you my debloating script for those interested in a higly DEBLOATED LP installation, very slimmed down, battery friendly, faster, with less RAM comsuption etc :eek:

    Heavily debloated actually means almost 1 gb of system stuff moved to a backup folder (that you can even delete or move to sdcards to get 1gb extra free space in /system) so applying my script you agree to debloat A LOT as I did but take care that you will have a much lighter system and still you will be able to restore very easily anything you want anytime moving stuff back from the backup folder to /system (detailed instructions for that below in this thread).

    NOTES

    1. as all the stuff object of my debloating script is going to be placed in /system when flashing the pre-rooted FW, it is strongly suggested to apply my script immediately after flashing the pre-rooted LP FW and before rebooting, this way all that stuff will be moved away, and it is like it was never installed (at first boot no optimizations for those apps, means faster first boot etc)


    2. as said above, all the bloat is not really deleted but moved to a Backup folder in system (/system/__Backup) so you can restore anything you want very easily. that's the reason you can see /system partition still almost full in spite of my high debloat, but stuff moved to the backup folder is "silent", so for sure it is not affecting the system at all and it is like it is not installed: I use this approach for people who needs to restore something, this way restoring is very very easy and fast. By the way, deleting the whole Backup folder (or moving it to your sdcard) you will then see something like 1.1 gb extra free space in /system!!


    3. using different FW as base you may have some more bloat/apks, not present in my FW, that will remain installed. In this case, if you think there is some bloat left that could be removed, please send me a list of all your system apps remained after debloating, so i can check them (you can easily do that via terminal with 'ls /system/app > /sdcard/sysapps.txt' and 'ls /system/priv-app > /sdcard/privapps.txt' and send me the resultant text files)



    Procedure for all xperia phones running LP: (like all Z series)


    Requirements:
    - working recovery
    - be on LP already, 5.0.2 or 5.1.1, doesn't matter


    Installation:
    1. full nandroid backup to eventually go back to previous any time
    2. wipe data, cache and dalvik ***
    3. flash my debloating script
    4. that's all! reboot/enjoy

    *** NOTES
    You can skip wiping data, so you'll keep all your personal data! But please mind that not wiping data during the installation procedure the debloat will not be 100% effective: in fact, if you don't wipe data, all the sony apps installed in /data/app won't be removed by the script! (to remove them, you'll have to uninstall them manually from settings > apps > downloaded)





    RESULT

    As said at the top, you'll get a very slimmed down LP FW, battery friendly, very fast, with less RAM comsuption etc :eek:

    Of course, everything is working great here, I mean all the features I need/use!

    In particular, with latest version of my script you are going to delete more than 160 packages in total with all relevant libs/stuff plus all applications automatically installed by Sony :eek: :good:


    DISCLAIMER
    If you apply my script again please take care I did a pretty massive debloat as I don't use a lot of stuff (social apps, small apps, many of the sony "addons"/special settings etc!!) and this is a working config for me, but for others some functionalities will be probably missing, so mind what you do before apply them! (but again you can restore anything anytime, if interested just continue the reading)



    ###########################################################################################################




    REMOVED STUFF

    As said at the beginning, with my script, stuff is not going to be deleted anymore, but moved in /system/__Backup folder. This way you can restore things without the need to download them from my GDrive.



    HOW TO RESTORE SOMETHING

    PS. of course I also removed from my FW all the stuff that can be easily downloaded from the Play Store (Gmail, etc)
    In the hidden field below you will find the restoring instructions you need to follow to restore any package you may want back:


    According to what you want to restore, you have to follow two different procedures:

    - all the APKs that are inside /system/__Backup/various/etc_custom_apps and /system/__Backup/various/etc_prod_apps are regular APKs that are going to be installed in /data, so you can just run them and then select "install" like a normal APK, easy. You will then see them in Settings > applications > downloaded

    - instead, all the things in /system/__Backup/system_app and /system/__Backup/system_priv-app folders can't be normally installed, but must be restored in the correct /system folders with correct permissions. To do this, see the step-by-step instructions below (in the following example, I am going to restore Chrome app in /system/app and Velvet (Google Search) in /system/priv-app, but of course you can restore how many things as you want at the same time)

    Code:
    - with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_app and MOVE the whole "Chrome" folder to /system/app
    - with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_priv-app and MOVE the whole "Velvet" folder to /system/priv-app
    - reboot
    - done

    PS. don't copy but MOVE things back, or permissions will get messed up and you are likely to end up in a bootloop!





    Many THANKS @ondrejvaroscak and @Puffin617 for some very good advices, @mj084 for some packages descriptions :good:
    10
    uploaded v3 of my fw + uploaded debloating script in my DB to version 3 ;)

    if interested, I removed the following new packages:

    "/system/app/SelfPortrait",
    "/system/app/TouchFilterPackageSwitchService",
    "/system/priv-app/IntelligentGesture",
    "/system/priv-app/OnlineRemoteCamera",
    "/system/priv-app/SoundPhotoCamera",
    "/system/priv-app/TimeShiftCamera",
    "/system/priv-app/SemcStorageChecker",


    and restored the following:

    "/system/priv-app/filecommander",
    "/system/priv-app/SomcMovieCreator",


    so basically made some cleaning in camera app (removed the completely useless addons for me), removed one process that used to appear as always running (TouchFilterPackageSwitchService), removed the storage checker (very boring when you have your sd almost full as the notification keeps showing in the status bar), and restored SomcMovieCreator (useful for timeshift video), and stock file manager, very useful when applying my debloat script to another FW this way you can still access your files and install some apps for example without needing to perform login to play store first ;)

    also changed something in my FW: now I am not cleaning anymore apps from within the FW, but included my script in the pre-rooted FW, so the cleaning will be done immediately after flashing the FW and before rebooting, so actually almost nothing changes from the cleanliness point of view, and this way I can save a lot of time when I make any changes as the two solutions will be now almost complitely aligned (this means also that any third party app such as ES file manager, gravity box and xposed APK installer need now manual installation again, so they are no more included, while xposed flashable is still included instead, updated to alpha4). updated dual recovery to 2.8.14 too and changed base FW from customized US to CE1 Europe version :)


    bye!
    8
    PS: OP edited: the debloat script changed a little (added in the list RemoteFileAccess, chrome, velvet aka google search, and civil alerts) and updated deleted stuff list/descriptions/suggestions and added new deleted folders in g drive ;)

    also uploaded the new all-in-one FW for z3c users too :eek: updated with:

    - new deletions as mentioned above
    - chrome replaced by AOSP browser
    - ES installed the correct way this time (so you can uninstall it without any problems)
    - integrated again flashable zip for Xposed, but this time already integreated also xposed APK, so you will need to install only the xposed modules you want and that's all
    - gravity box

    you will see ES, xposed APK and GB installed as normal applications so they will be inside settings > applications > downloaded (so if you want to get rid of them, you can just uninstall them from there, easy ;) )

    for people using debloating script, chrome of course can be reinstalled easily, but I suggest AOSP browser instead ;) much faster and lighter :eek:
    AOSP browser - reference thread
    7
    still didn't get a reply from authors of z3+ bootanimation and live wallpaper, well since I was in a hurry to share with you guys my last version of pre-rooted fw/script with them included I uploaded them anyway and given all proper credits in this post and in OP, in case it is a problem I will just remove them from the rom/script ;)

    > link for V8 + md5sum:
    https://mega.nz/#!2YZDXbqb!97crwhj5K-DIWWPliM9TGmW5l9p2yIygsgR3xL7H1xw


    > updated script:
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/69ak8bkk697p6ik/BloatwareRemoval_Extras.zip?dl=0



    changelog:
    - restored service menu and live wallpapers PICKER
    - changed LCD density in build.prop to 260 (much smaller fonts, if you don't like just re-set 320 in build.prop and reboot)
    - replaced default live wallpaper with the much nicer one from z3+ many thanks to @lee480 for this!! (I asked you in your thread if I could include this in my rom but didn't get any reply, I credited you in OP, but if you don't like it to be in my pre-rooted fw just let me know and I will remove it ;) )
    - replaced stock bootanimation with the much nicer one from z3+ many thanks to @demonio98 for this!! (I asked you in your thread if I could include this in my rom but didn't get any reply, I credited you in OP, but if you don't like it to be in my pre-rooted fw just let me know and I will remove it ;) )
    - added xposed modules by great @serajr (xperia xposed and system blurred ui) in the pre-rooted fw and script, many thanks mate @serajr for his great work and for allowing me to include them in my pre-rooted fw and script!
    - update ES File manager and Gravity Box to latest versions
    - updated Dual Recovery to 2.8.19


    installation:
    - wipe system, dalvik and cache
    - install my whole package
    - reboot
    - done

    all your data will be kept.


    for those updating from previous V7, if it is a problem to download the whole package again, or for those using my script, you can still update to latest very easily and quickly in this way:
    - download my updated script and flash it via recovery
    - wipe dalvik and cache
    - reboot
    - done

    ...again all your data will be kept ;) (this way service menu and wallpaper picker won't be restored, you will have to restore them manually if interested).

    for all: updating this way (without wiping data) you are not going to touch /data, so you are not going to install xperia xposed and system blurred ui modules (if interested, you can install them manually clicking on "BLUR.apk" and/or "XX.apk" respectively, that you will find in /system/etc/product/applications), and your are not going to touch ES File Manager and Gravity Box.

    bye!
    6
    Looking forward to v5 and SD r/w working out of the box :)

    V5 uploaded! (md5: 1B564456CA8B6CFC300DD9F0A81948DA)
    see OP for links info etc...
    ...still .28 and only customized IT version available with LTE icon.

    1. updated dual recovery to 2.8.15
    2. restored VpnDialogs as per general demand
    3. removed new following apps:
      - "/system/app/qcrilmsgtunnel", (always running process, no side effects removing it so far, thanks @drorcun for the advice!)
      - "/system/priv-app/filecommander", (removed again, replaced by ES File Manager)
      - "/system/priv-app/SemcVideo",
    4. added again Xposed APK, ES File Manager and Gravity Box in place of the product apps provided by Sony in the FW (thanks @Puffin617 for the advice!) [so using my FW you will find everything you need to get xposed already up and running, while using the debloat script to get xposed to work you will only need to flash xposed flashable zip in recovery]
    5. AOSP Browser + ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter (for syncing Chrome bookmarks with AOSP browser) still present but now in the correct place (following lollipop correct folders structure, this way you won't see anymore "android is updating" message at boot: old ones in wrong place will be deleted automatically by the FW V5 or updated script)
    6. added ext sdcard fix in the FW (thanks @ovizii for the advice!)

    NOTES: ES File Manager, xposed APK and Gravity Box module are placed in /system/etc/product/applications when the updated script runs, so they are not really installed immediately, but they are going to be installed during first boot, this means only in case you clean flash my FW or flash my updated script before first reboot/immediately after doing a factory reset.
    If you dirty flash my FW or updated script, they are not going to be (re)installed, you will just find them in /system/etc/product/applications folder and you can either keep them there or just delete them, nothing really changes as they won't hurt :)


    > If you just want to update to V5 without loosing data, you can dirty flash the update, so no need to wipe data, just wipe system, cache and dalvik.

    > If you want to get your config as in V5, but don't want to download the whole package, just download and flash the updated script, without wiping anything. This way you will:
    1. delete the new apps mentioned at the beginning from /sytem (qcrilmsgtunnel, filecommander and SemcVideo). [VpnDialogs will have to be restored manually]
    2. fix the AOSP browser installation + bookmarks sync apk + delete old versions in wrong places
    3. fix the ext sdcard thing
    4. get xposed apk, ES file manager and Gravity box APK's placed in /system/etc/product/applications (and not installed, you can delete them if you want doesn't matter)

    for those using different FWs and only using my script, flashing the new one will obtain the same as immediately above, only difference is that as usual to get xposed to work is needed to flash xposed flashable separately.
    Also, remember that if you don't want any of the apps included now in the script (AOSP browser+syncing app, ES file manager, xposed APK and Gravity Box) installed/placed in /etc folder, you can open the script zip before flashing it, and remove the apps you want from within the zip, this way they won't be found/installed when flashing the script