My ability to root broke last night, at the same time that I tried to add some protection to Superuser access. I think turning on Ghost Mode in superuser elite was the culprit, but I'm not sure. If it's a known issue, awesome; otherwise, hooray for new data points.
I've removed all the protection features I added. I'm reporting the order of events and what I'd already used and how I've tried (and failed) to fix it. Eventually I had to run z4root again, and now I think I'm back on the rails.
Specs:
LG Optimus T (LG-P509 running 2.2) off the shelf, have not rooted before, have not used any ROMs that weren't textbook Clockwork backup/restores.
Successful actions over the last couple days (hidden for brevity, but it's a good summary of up-to-this-point successful rooting if you're searching the forums for that):
And then I said, since I've got everything so nicely straightened out... (Look, kids! This is when I should have made another clockwork backup!)
I asked myself, is there any simple way to hide, lock down, or otherwise protect my phone's root access so some jerk or sleep-deprived user can't just wipe everything out? Forum posts and an hour with Google did not efficiently help me answer this question. Things I did before I learned there was a $3 upgrade to Superuser Elite that would allow PIN protection and Ghost Mode...
? Installed Easy App Lock - Manager (free)
? Set Easy App Lock to protect all the root-access apps. Determined it's fine for locking kids out of stuff but can be easily stopped in Task Manager. Left it on anyway.
? Installed Avast! (free, WOW)
? Configured the Avast! anti-theft app.
- Used Titanium to freeze Lookout and make new app backups. <-- Last successful use of Titanium
- Learned about Superuser Elite!
? Installed Superuser Elite.
- Observed Avast, Avast anti-theft, ROM Manager, Titanium, and su itself were listed as the permission holders in su. Logs showed them all working at the right times.
??? Made note of code, turned on ghost mode.
!!! Tried to open Titanium to see how ghost mode affected permissions. It hung on checking root access.
- Unghosted. Still hanging. All permissions still listed in su, no new logs appearing.
- Tried turning off all locks and pin codes. Still hanging.
- Tried removing Titanium's authorization in su to make it ask for approvals from scratch. Still hanging.
- Tried uninstalling and reinstalling both Titanium (base) and Superuser Elite. I couldn't remove the Titanium pro bit or the su base bit, because I didn't have root and can't determine the file name of the Ti key.
- Superuser permissions list is now blank. Still hanging.
Apps that now hang on an early checking step when I try to run them:
- Titanium Backup.
? I suspect ROM Manager would also get stuck if I asked it to revert to backup, but I haven't gotten desperate enough to try to flash away 10 hours of dedicated config work yet.
[Forums suggest I need to fix my busybox or make my busybox fix my root, or check to see if my root is fundamentally broken and if so, use the exploit from step 1 again.]
- Busybox Installer (jrummy) hangs on trying to remove old busybox
- Busybox (stericson) hangs on trying to remove old busybox
- Root Checker (joeykrim) hangs on trying to check my root status.
So that looks like fundamentally broken. Time to reroot.
- z4mod - Oh look, Avast! is working! I manage to defeat my own phone protection to re-hack my own phone.
- And now with that done the busybox installers are working. Crisis averted. For now.
I've used these forums extensively in the last few days; thanks everyone who's posted guides before me. I think the lesson here is make a backup after all the painstaking configuration and before messing with the permissions again.
But if Ghost Mode is what broke my root, or if someone knows another source in what I listed, I'd like to get that worked out for myself and others.
I've removed all the protection features I added. I'm reporting the order of events and what I'd already used and how I've tried (and failed) to fix it. Eventually I had to run z4root again, and now I think I'm back on the rails.
Specs:
LG Optimus T (LG-P509 running 2.2) off the shelf, have not rooted before, have not used any ROMs that weren't textbook Clockwork backup/restores.
Successful actions over the last couple days (hidden for brevity, but it's a good summary of up-to-this-point successful rooting if you're searching the forums for that):
- Installed ROM Manager. Paid for Pro.
- Downloaded and used z4root to root. (It unpacked busybox, installed su)
- Within ROM Manager, turned on Clockwork.
- Made full Nandroid backups in Clockwork.
! Installed Root Explorer but learned that I don't have the technical chops to be impressed by it. Installed Root Browser Lite and ES File Explorer, same. Kept ES.
! [Discovered that deleting even 'safe' apk files through a standard file manager was a pain, broke some stuff.]
- Reverted to backups successfully in ROM Manager.
- Installed Titanium Backup. Paid for Pro.
- Accepted the su binary update to 3.1.1 (it was 2.something).
- Used Titanium to back up, move around, delete, and restore piles of apps successfully. [Discovered that Youtube doesn't behave properly unless it's a system file, but almost everything else could go anywhere.]
- Made another Clockwork Nandroid backup about halfway through my configs when I had removed most bloatware. Confirmed I could restore that backup successfully too.
- Downloaded and used z4root to root. (It unpacked busybox, installed su)
- Within ROM Manager, turned on Clockwork.
- Made full Nandroid backups in Clockwork.
! Installed Root Explorer but learned that I don't have the technical chops to be impressed by it. Installed Root Browser Lite and ES File Explorer, same. Kept ES.
! [Discovered that deleting even 'safe' apk files through a standard file manager was a pain, broke some stuff.]
- Reverted to backups successfully in ROM Manager.
- Installed Titanium Backup. Paid for Pro.
- Accepted the su binary update to 3.1.1 (it was 2.something).
- Used Titanium to back up, move around, delete, and restore piles of apps successfully. [Discovered that Youtube doesn't behave properly unless it's a system file, but almost everything else could go anywhere.]
- Made another Clockwork Nandroid backup about halfway through my configs when I had removed most bloatware. Confirmed I could restore that backup successfully too.
And then I said, since I've got everything so nicely straightened out... (Look, kids! This is when I should have made another clockwork backup!)
I asked myself, is there any simple way to hide, lock down, or otherwise protect my phone's root access so some jerk or sleep-deprived user can't just wipe everything out? Forum posts and an hour with Google did not efficiently help me answer this question. Things I did before I learned there was a $3 upgrade to Superuser Elite that would allow PIN protection and Ghost Mode...
? Installed Easy App Lock - Manager (free)
? Set Easy App Lock to protect all the root-access apps. Determined it's fine for locking kids out of stuff but can be easily stopped in Task Manager. Left it on anyway.
? Installed Avast! (free, WOW)
? Configured the Avast! anti-theft app.
- Used Titanium to freeze Lookout and make new app backups. <-- Last successful use of Titanium
- Learned about Superuser Elite!
? Installed Superuser Elite.
- Observed Avast, Avast anti-theft, ROM Manager, Titanium, and su itself were listed as the permission holders in su. Logs showed them all working at the right times.
??? Made note of code, turned on ghost mode.
!!! Tried to open Titanium to see how ghost mode affected permissions. It hung on checking root access.
- Unghosted. Still hanging. All permissions still listed in su, no new logs appearing.
- Tried turning off all locks and pin codes. Still hanging.
- Tried removing Titanium's authorization in su to make it ask for approvals from scratch. Still hanging.
- Tried uninstalling and reinstalling both Titanium (base) and Superuser Elite. I couldn't remove the Titanium pro bit or the su base bit, because I didn't have root and can't determine the file name of the Ti key.
- Superuser permissions list is now blank. Still hanging.
Apps that now hang on an early checking step when I try to run them:
- Titanium Backup.
? I suspect ROM Manager would also get stuck if I asked it to revert to backup, but I haven't gotten desperate enough to try to flash away 10 hours of dedicated config work yet.
[Forums suggest I need to fix my busybox or make my busybox fix my root, or check to see if my root is fundamentally broken and if so, use the exploit from step 1 again.]
- Busybox Installer (jrummy) hangs on trying to remove old busybox
- Busybox (stericson) hangs on trying to remove old busybox
- Root Checker (joeykrim) hangs on trying to check my root status.
So that looks like fundamentally broken. Time to reroot.
- z4mod - Oh look, Avast! is working! I manage to defeat my own phone protection to re-hack my own phone.
- And now with that done the busybox installers are working. Crisis averted. For now.
I've used these forums extensively in the last few days; thanks everyone who's posted guides before me. I think the lesson here is make a backup after all the painstaking configuration and before messing with the permissions again.
But if Ghost Mode is what broke my root, or if someone knows another source in what I listed, I'd like to get that worked out for myself and others.