[Q] ASUS memopad 7 (ME176CX-1E041A) OTG?

[lambdadroid]

Yes, there are distros out there, which has setup the udev-rules and mtp-mimic already.
Gentoo leaves all that as a task (and exercise) for the user.
Unfortunately I received no reply to my question how to access the ME176CX via usb storage.
So I found it myself...
Now I know, how it works

Right, had to edit the udev rules on Ubuntu to make it work.

By the way: Is there any way to disable this [CENSORED] auto completion and word guessing "feature"
of the build-in keyboard. I disabled all suspicous settings under "Language and Input" -- but it
does not help.

"cat /proc/cpuinfo" will instantly be corrected to "cat /proc/Clinton"
which does not work in this case

Either install a different keyboard from the app store or go into the Settings -> Language & input -> ASUS Keyboard -> Advanced settings -> Auto-correction (probably set to high currently) -> Set to off.
You may want to disable a few other settings there too.

 

[tuxic001]

Right, had to edit the udev rules on Ubuntu to make it work.


Either install a different keyboard from the app store or go into the Settings -> Language & input -> ASUS Keyboard -> Advanced settings -> Auto-correction (probably set to high currently) -> Set to off.
You may want to disable a few other settings there too.

Hi cyandro,

thanks for your reply!

as said, I switch that off already. Doesn't help.
I will look for another keyboard.

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

Hi cyandro,

thanks for your reply!

as said, I switch that off already. Doesn't help.
I will look for another keyboard.

Best regards,
tuxic

Weird, it works fine for me. When I turn it off it is still showing suggestions but it doesn't auto correct what I enter anymore.

 

[tuxic001]

Weird, it works fine for me. When I turn it off it is still showing suggestions but it doesn't auto correct what I enter anymore.

Now I have installed a couple of keyboards for different occasions:
1.) I removed all keyboards which seems only be running, when only (what the [CENSORED] is THAT!]
2.) I dont installed keyboards, which want to access camera or gps (again...)
3.) Some nice keyboards dont have a pipe "|" symbol. Unix/Linux wiithout | is like WIndows without a mouse:
Possible, but...
4.) From the rest I choose a few. Those, with an own settings screen work.

Next problem:
I want to access my phone with adb.
As previously mentioned I need to setup the udev/device/usb thingy myself. I googled have the world
and found a rule for udev:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", ATTR{idProduct}=="7772", MODE="0660",
GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="android%n"

But this thing does not work. Adb does not find any device (but also does not report any error).

Do I need to kick my Memo pad into some special mode (beside enabling debug mode in devel options)?
And what udev rules do work here?

Thank you very much in advance for any debubmode !
Best regards.
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

Next problem:
I want to access my phone with adb.
As previously mentioned I need to setup the udev/device/usb thingy myself. I googled have the world
and found a rule for udev:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", ATTR{idProduct}=="7772", MODE="0660",
GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="android%n"

But this thing does not work. Adb does not find any device (but also does not report any error).

Do I need to kick my Memo pad into some special mode (beside enabling debug mode in devel options)?
And what udev rules do work here?

You can figure out if your udev rules or something else is causing the problem quite easily: run adb as root and if it shows the device (but not without root) then just your rules are wrong. On the device you should only need to enable the Developer Mode and then USB Debugging (and make sure to confirm when your PC shows up on the device).

I used a rule in udev like this (also make sure to reload the udev rules or restart your PC after you've changed them):

# ASUS
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

See https://developer.android.com/tools/device.html#setting-up for more information (start with the second point, this guide is actually about app deployment but everything else is the same)

 

[tuxic001]

You can figure out if your udev rules or something else is causing the problem quite easily: run adb as root and if it shows the device (but not without root) then just your rules are wrong. On the device you should only need to enable the Developer Mode and then USB Debugging (and make sure to confirm when your PC shows up on the device).

I used a rule in udev like this (also make sure to reload the udev rules or restart your PC after you've changed them):

# ASUS
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

See https://developer.android.com/tools/device.html#setting-up for more information (start with the second point, this guide is actually about app deployment but everything else is the same)

Hi cyandro,

Thanks for your reply !

Your rule says 'MODE="0666"' which is rw-rw-rw- for the device, which means world can read/write the device...hmmmm...
The fact, that I am paranoid, does not necessarily mean, that I am wrong...

To refresh udev rules normally nothing needs to be done than editing the rules, because udev keeps track of that automagically.
To be sure simply do a "/etc/init.d/udev restart" or similiar (depends on the distro)...no need to change the car, when the fuel is empty

In the meanwhile I found the problem: It seems that the USB cable did not work as expected. I changed that an now adb is working.
But fastboot does not...
I kicked my Memo Pad into droidboot (Power+Vol Down) but fastboot (cmd on my Linux box, not the line in the droidboot screen) does not list the device.
I am using the same cable as with adb .

Is this a normal "feature" ... or is it me again, not seeing the obvious?

PS: adb lists a command which mounts /system read/write...is THAT true?
If YES: In my opinion this would be a very "lean" and not-so-dangerous way
for rooting: Just compile sudo on your PC (the ASUS Memo Pad is x64 compatible as
far as I know), add sudo into $PATH somewhere, edit /etc/sudoers, add a Terminal App...
and thats it! Or I am too young/too old...I own my MemoPad since fours days...

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

Your rule says 'MODE="0666"' which is rw-rw-rw- for the device, which means world can read/write the device...hmmmm...
The fact, that I am paranoid, does not necessarily mean, that I am wrong...

To refresh udev rules normally nothing needs to be done than editing the rules, because udev keeps track of that automagically.
To be sure simply do a "/etc/init.d/udev restart" or similiar (depends on the distro)...no need to change the car, when the fuel is empty

I don't know - I took this from the Android documentation link I posted above and it works fine.

In the meanwhile I found the problem: It seems that the USB cable did not work as expected. I changed that an now adb is working.
But fastboot does not...
I kicked my Memo Pad into droidboot (Power+Vol Down) but fastboot (cmd on my Linux box, not the line in the droidboot screen) does not list the device.
I am using the same cable as with adb .

Is this a normal "feature" ... or is it me again, not seeing the obvious?

I'm using the cable that came with the tablet from ASUS and it works fine with my udev rules. Try booting into the bootloader with `adb reboot bootloader` and then execute the fastboot commands.

PS: adb lists a command which mounts /system read/write...is THAT true?
If YES: In my opinion this would be a very "lean" and not-so-dangerous way
for rooting: Just compile sudo on your PC (the ASUS Memo Pad is x64 compatible as
far as I know), add sudo into $PATH somewhere, edit /etc/sudoers, add a Terminal App...
and thats it! Or I am too young/too old...I own my MemoPad since fours days...

I doubt that will work, you won't be able to write to /system directly without having rooted the device first. Also keep in mind installing sudo is not comparable to installing SuperSU. It will manage root access per-app for you. By just installing sudo you won't be able to use any app requiring root. Installing root using the temp recovery is not really hard and actually pretty safe. I did it several times already and it worked fine everytime.

 

[Mis012]

Hi cyandro,

Thanks for your reply !

Your rule says 'MODE="0666"' which is rw-rw-rw- for the device, which means world can read/write the device...hmmmm...
The fact, that I am paranoid, does not necessarily mean, that I am wrong...

To refresh udev rules normally nothing needs to be done than editing the rules, because udev keeps track of that automagically.
To be sure simply do a "/etc/init.d/udev restart" or similiar (depends on the distro)...no need to change the car, when the fuel is empty

In the meanwhile I found the problem: It seems that the USB cable did not work as expected. I changed that an now adb is working.
But fastboot does not...
I kicked my Memo Pad into droidboot (Power+Vol Down) but fastboot (cmd on my Linux box, not the line in the droidboot screen) does not list the device.
I am using the same cable as with adb .

Is this a normal "feature" ... or is it me again, not seeing the obvious?

PS: adb lists a command which mounts /system read/write...is THAT true?
If YES: In my opinion this would be a very "lean" and not-so-dangerous way
for rooting: Just compile sudo on your PC (the ASUS Memo Pad is x64 compatible as
far as I know), add sudo into $PATH somewhere, edit /etc/sudoers, add a Terminal App...
and thats it! Or I am too young/too old...I own my MemoPad since fours days...

Best regards,
tuxic

Your way seems pretty complicated, but on android, rooting is done by getting su binary in system/bin
On kitkat, RootZenfone app used some bug in the code to do it, but it doesn't work on lollipop.
However, you can go to http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096 , download the public trial version, and use trigger4 to boot in cwm recovery. It includes adb and fastboot too. I do not know if this works on linux, you may have to use Linux version here http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096 . Within the recovery (I recommend you cwm for this task), go to install zip and flash this: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934531508 the instal SuperSU app from google play. It may want to update the su binary, just let it do so. Then, this app will notice you whenever other app want to use root rights (you can allow apps to use root rights whenever they want, and force another apps ask first). Then, you can eventualy install some terminal app from playstore.

 

[tuxic001]

I don't know - I took this from the Android documentation link I posted above and it works fine.


I'm using the cable that came with the tablet from ASUS and it works fine with my udev rules. Try booting into the bootloader with `adb reboot bootloader` and then execute the fastboot commands.


I doubt that will work, you won't be able to write to /system directly without having rooted the device first. Also keep in mind installing sudo is not comparable to installing SuperSU. It will manage root access per-app for you. By just installing sudo you won't be able to use any app requiring root. Installing root using the temp recovery is not really hard and actually pretty safe. I did it several times already and it worked fine everytime.

Hi cyandro,

I used another cable (not the "Seventh of Nine" ... more likely the "onehundredandseventh of eighthundredandnineth" of all USB cables here ...my fault, I know...

By the way: https://www.clockworkmod.com/ seems to be down ... cannot reach it. Is that normal? Anything know?

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

I used another cable (not the "Seventh of Nine" ... more likely the "onehundredandseventh of eighthundredandnineth" of all USB cables here ...my fault, I know...

I have only one so I didn't had to think about which one to use.

By the way: https://www.clockworkmod.com/ seems to be down ... cannot reach it. Is that normal? Anything know?

It's down for me too, no idea what's up with it, it was working a few weeks ago. You don't need to go on it though because there is no official version for the ME176C(X), just an unofficial one.

Could you give me a short pointer/link to the "temp recovery" method for my Asus Memo Pad 7 (ME176CX)?

Basically @Mis012 explained it already, http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096 works fine for the ME176C(X) on Lollipop using trigger 4. It works only on Windows, but a Linux version is provided here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075 (same here use trigger 4).

Basically if you use the Linux version, download and unpack it, rename cwm_recovery.zip to recovery.zip and run `./trigger 4` when you're in the bootloader with your device. Keep in mind the fastboot commands need to work for this. You may want to edit the script to use the adb/fastboot binaries you installed yourself before, I didn't want to execute the binaries provided by someone else personally.

When you've done all this you should be in the CWM recovery. Make sure you've already downloaded the SuperSU update from the official site at http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu and copied it to your sdcard. Then you can just go into Install zip, select it and install it on your device, that's it! If it asks you to fix root or something while rebooting you can also just say "no", root will still work.

 

[tuxic001]

I have only one so I didn't had to think about which one to use.

It's down for me too, no idea what's up with it, it was working a few weeks ago. You don't need to go on it though because there is no official version for the ME176C(X), just an unofficial one.

Basically @Mis012 explained it already, http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096 works fine for the ME176C(X) on Lollipop using trigger 4. It works only on Windows, but a Linux version is provided here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075 (same here use trigger 4).

Basically if you use the Linux version, download and unpack it, rename cwm_recovery.zip to recovery.zip and run `./trigger 4` when you're in the bootloader with your device. Keep in mind the fastboot commands need to work for this. You may want to edit the script to use the adb/fastboot binaries you installed yourself before, I didn't want to execute the binaries provided by someone else personally.

When you've done all this you should be in the CWM recovery. Make sure you've already downloaded the SuperSU update from the official site at http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu and copied it to your sdcard. Then you can just go into Install zip, select it and install it on your device, that's it! If it asks you to fix root or something while rebooting you can also just say "no", root will still work.

Unfortunately all links to the binaries listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075 result in a 404 NOT FOUND error.
Any hope ?
Any alternative links ?

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

Unfortunately all links to the binaries listed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075 result in a 404 NOT FOUND error.
Any hope ?
Any alternative links ?

You need to download it from https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23991606952612510

 

[tuxic001]

You need to download it from https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23991606952612510

Hi cyandro,

GREAT! Download is running...

Question in between:
According backups:
What is the most reliable way to backup as much as possible (including the whole system) BEFORE I root the device in case something fails -- which
can be restore even the tablet does not work fully?
Same question as above but after Rooting?

Best regars,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

According backups:
What is the most reliable way to backup as much as possible (including the whole system) BEFORE I root the device in case something fails -- which
can be restore even the tablet does not work fully?
Same question as above but after Rooting?

You can theoretically backup and restore almost everything with the temp CWM recovery by selecting that instead of Install zip, however ASUS provides the clean lollipop system for downloading so if something goes wrong you can always reset your system by just installing that (even though root will be obviously gone again after that).

 

[tuxic001]

You can theoretically backup and restore almost everything with the temp CWM recovery by selecting that instead of Install zip, however ASUS provides the clean lollipop system for downloading so if something goes wrong you can always reset your system by just installing that (even though root will be obviously gone again after that).

Hi cyandro,

This is the contents of the ZIP:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 4017098 2015-07-19 14:27 SuperSU246.zip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 3560544 2015-07-19 14:27 cwm_recovery.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user users 89 2015-07-19 14:27 md5sum
-rwxr-x--x 1 user users 529469 2015-07-19 14:27 fastboot
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 410105 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.launcher
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 183198 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.trigger.new
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 174902 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.trigger.original
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user users 12189128 2015-07-19 14:27 twrp_3830_recovery.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user users 11860217 2015-07-19 14:27 twrp_i700_recovery.zip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user users 3560544 2015-07-19 14:37 recovery.zip
-rwxr-x--x 1 user users 1233 2015-07-19 14:42 trigger.org <<< CREATED BY MYSELF>>>
-rwxr-x--x 1 user users 1233 2015-07-19 14:44 trigger~
-rwxr-x--x 1 usr users 1193 2015-07-19 14:44 trigger


Did the following:
1) copied SuperSu.zip (update) to the SDcard.
2) checked adb / fastboot (self compiled) to recognize the device: OK
3) modified "trigger" to use my own adb / fastboot from a fresh install/compilation of Android SDK this morning.
Other modification was to take recovery.zip and recovery_launcher from the current directory instead of using /tmp on my Linux Box.
3) adb reboot bootloader: OK
4) Run ./trigger 4.
This was the output:

Using Trigger 4
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending './recovery.zip' (3477 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.150s]
writing './recovery.zip'...
FAILED (remote: flash_cmds error!
)
finished. total time: 0.201s
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending './recovery.launcher' (400 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.047s]
writing './recovery.launcher'...
FAILED (remote: flash_cmds error!
)
finished. total time: 0.099s
...
(bootloader) Start partitioning

OKAY [ 0.074s]
finished. total time: 0.074s
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending '/system/bin/logcat' (178 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.038s]
writing '/system/bin/logcat'...
OKAY [ 0.042s]
finished. total time: 0.080s
...
(bootloader) Stop partitioning

OKAY [ 0.045s]
finished. total time: 0.045s

The device is still in the bootloader ...

What next?

paniced
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

This is the contents of the ZIP:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 4017098 2015-07-19 14:27 SuperSU246.zip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 3560544 2015-07-19 14:27 cwm_recovery.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 mccramer users 89 2015-07-19 14:27 md5sum
-rwxr-x--x 1 mccramer users 529469 2015-07-19 14:27 fastboot
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 410105 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.launcher
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 183198 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.trigger.new
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 174902 2015-07-19 14:27 recovery.trigger.original
-rw-rw-r-- 1 mccramer users 12189128 2015-07-19 14:27 twrp_3830_recovery.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 mccramer users 11860217 2015-07-19 14:27 twrp_i700_recovery.zip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mccramer users 3560544 2015-07-19 14:37 recovery.zip
-rwxr-x--x 1 mccramer users 1233 2015-07-19 14:42 trigger.org <<< CREATED BY MYSELF>>>
-rwxr-x--x 1 mccramer users 1233 2015-07-19 14:44 trigger~
-rwxr-x--x 1 mccramer users 1193 2015-07-19 14:44 trigger


Did the following:
1) copied SuperSu.zip (update) to the SDcard.
2) checked adb / fastboot (self compiled) to recognize the device: OK
3) modified "trigger" to use my own adb / fastboot from a fresh install/compilation of Android SDK this morning.
Other modification was to take recovery.zip and recovery_launcher from the current directory instead of using /tmp on my Linux Box.
3) adb reboot bootloader: OK
4) Run ./trigger 4.
This was the output:

Using Trigger 4
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending './recovery.zip' (3477 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.150s]
writing './recovery.zip'...
FAILED (remote: flash_cmds error!
)
finished. total time: 0.201s
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending './recovery.launcher' (400 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.047s]
writing './recovery.launcher'...
FAILED (remote: flash_cmds error!
)
finished. total time: 0.099s
...
(bootloader) Start partitioning

OKAY [ 0.074s]
finished. total time: 0.074s
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending '/system/bin/logcat' (178 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.038s]
writing '/system/bin/logcat'...
OKAY [ 0.042s]
finished. total time: 0.080s
...
(bootloader) Stop partitioning

OKAY [ 0.045s]
finished. total time: 0.045s

The device is still in the bootloader ...

What next?

/tmp was the target directory on the device, not the directory to load the files from your PC
Don't worry, just fix the script, restart the bootloader (you can navigate using the volume buttons, select restart bootloader, then press power) and try again.

 

[tuxic001]

/tmp was the target directory on the device, not the directory to load the files from your PC
Don't worry, just fix the script, restart the bootloader (you can navigate using the volume buttons, select restart bootloader, then press power) and try again.

OK (wiping the sweat off my forehead...)
I was thinking too much in UNIX-style (<cmd> <source> <target>) .... the script is somehow vice versa...
Thanks a lot for saveing my device/life ! Unfortunately a posting does only have ONE -thanks- button (pressing this one).
I installed RootChecker: SUCCESS ! I AM ROOTED! OH YEAH!

SuperSu is installed, too.

Oh dear! What an exciting Sunday...outside the weather cannot decide between "Summer" (heat!) and "Fall" (heavy rain and thunderstorms)
and inside I am pushed between "Just another brick in the wall" (the fear of creating one) and HURRAY! ROOTED!

From "my first Android" to "system administrator on a Android device" in only four days.
THIS is only possible with the friendly support of this great forum - namely mis012 and cyandro !
This time: Not kidding -- just the pure and naked TRUTH!



Next is busybox...

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[Mis012]

Hi cyandro,

GREAT! Download is running...

Question in between:
According backups:
What is the most reliable way to backup as much as possible (including the whole system) BEFORE I root the device in case something fails -- which
can be restore even the tablet does not work fully?
Same question as above but after Rooting?

Best regars,
tuxic

The best way too backup (you need root acces, but you can also use terminal in twrp) is to backup all emmc

cat /dev/block/mmcblk0 > /sdcard/backup.img

Then, if anything goes wrong, go to UEFI (if it will go sooo wrong, you will boot there automaticaly), use powerd hub to connect live linux thumb drive and keyboard, boot live linux and restore the backup.
And the M is not m on purpose. please call me Mis012, I would be more happy :'(

 

[tuxic001]

The best way too backup (you need root acces, but you can also use terminal in twrp) is to backup all emmc

cat /dev/block/mmcblk0 > /sdcard/backup.img

Then, if anything goes wrong, go to UEFI (if it will go sooo wrong, you will boot there automaticaly), use powerd hub to connect live linux thumb drive and keyboard, boot live linux and restore the backup.
And the M is not m on purpose. please call me Mis012, I would be more happy :'(

Hi Mis012,

sorry for that mispelling of your name - it was not intentionally.
Copying the whole device into an backup image is a neat trick! Yeah.
WIth busybox/Linux this may be a little faster, since one could give the blocksize :
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=<path to the backup> bs=(2048 times <factor>)
where
bs=(2048 times <factor>) means:
2048 is the native blocksize of the emmcblk0 device and you can put <factor>=<RAMsize - margin>/<2048>
copies of a read block into RAM. Avoid swapping here. Some preread blocks in RAM make I/O a little
smoother, but occupying the whole RAM does not make any sense...
<margin> therefore is the ammount of RAM which is kept untouched by dd.

Any "must have" apps of an Android sysadmin newbie?
Is there a rule of thumb, which applications can be backupped and then deleted without getting problems?
I dont like Google not that much for standing behind me and looking over my shoulder every day.....

Best regards,
tuxic

 

[lambdadroid]

Copying the whole device into an backup image is a neat trick! Yeah.
WIth busybox/Linux this may be a little faster, since one could give the blocksize :
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=<path to the backup> bs=(2048 times <factor>)
where
bs=(2048 times <factor>) means:
2048 is the native blocksize of the emmcblk0 device and you can put <factor>=<RAMsize - margin>/<2048>
copies of a read block into RAM. Avoid swapping here. Some preread blocks in RAM make I/O a little
smoother, but occupying the whole RAM does not make any sense...
<margin> therefore is the ammount of RAM which is kept untouched by dd.

dd should be also available in your Android shell without any additional installation, I've already used it once.

Any "must have" apps of an Android sysadmin newbie?

Dunno. As a semi-paranoid user I like DroidWall (requires root), it allows you to restrict Internet access for a few apps you select only, so they don't talk secretly to the Internet. Some other useful apps if you have root:

• Root file explorer: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop
• If you just want to backup data of one app TitaniumBackup may be also useful.

Is there a rule of thumb, which applications can be backupped and then deleted without getting problems?
I dont like Google not that much for standing behind me and looking over my shoulder every day.....

You can basically just "freeze" (pretty much the same as disabling) the apps instead of removing them so you don't need to backup. There are various apps on the app store which require root and can do this for you, e.g. AppFreezer (there are also tons of other apps doing this, just search for the one you like best.) Generally you can diable most of the apps you can also see in your app list, just don't disable something like SystemUI or something similar.