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Help req. rooting Sweex Yarvik tab 250

T

tBKwtWS

Newbie
As an X-mas present I got a Sweex Yarvik TAB 250 from my employer.
I played around with the stock rom, and later, after crating a backup, installed another rom.

This rom is the stock rom, modified by a colleague, the plus point is that with this one the camera and G-sensor actually work.
I was unable to root it using several methods.
I will spare you the custom rom.

As proof for myself it can be done I am now trying to root the stock rom.
After restoring it, I did a factory reset and used all the other wipe options, just like I had to do before flashing the new rom, just to be sure everything was back to normal.

I have not read the rules yet, so I will not be including external links to this post yet.
I tried these methods without success on the tab:

  • Gingerbreak
  • Z4 mod
  • Universal androot

These methods had partial success, the superuser.apk was installed, but not loading on boat & gave a black screen upon calling it:

  • Root_701 (root&flashlite.bat)
  • Superuser-3.0.7-efghi-signed.zip (Installs the su binary superuser.apk and chmods)

SuperOneClick seems to be the way to go, and I will donate, as soon as it works.
adb shell returns a # prompt showing root permissions. (Not sure but I think that was also the case on the stock rom after a factory reset, if wanted I can check)
When SuperOneClick requests root permissions, my tab does not give a dialogue popup, it toats that the rights were granted. Any random app requesting root gets denied toast and also no dialogue.
All of this is clearly visible in the log and the superuser app works.

I get the same results with the edited rom. I also tried loads of other things like chmodding files, different versions of su & superuser.apk, but to be sure I am not the cause of my own frustrations I did the flash to stock rom + factory reset & wipes.
I always reboot between root or unroot attempts.

This gave me a good feeling and I continued searching.
So I found some post stating that if getprop ro.secure returns 0, adb handles the permission requests and if it returns 1 the su binary will handle the request.
This seems a reasonable explanation for my error.

So I un-zipped/cpioed the boot.img, edited the defaults.prop and set ro.secure to 1.
After re-cpioing/zipping, I seemed to have bricked my tab.
It got stuck in the first screen with the yarvik logo. (the second yarvik screen has a couple of moving dots indicating the loading)

PLEASE HELP ME UNBRICK MY DEVICE (just joking)

I noticed after editing there was still a default.prop~ (the temp file used by the editor) in the directory and since
Code: 
find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > newramdisk.cpio.gz
includes al the files in the directory, I tried again, but still no luck.

Google is no longer my friend, I can't find any more info.
Would anyone be as kind give me some tips, better search terms or some answers to the next questions? I will greatly appreciate it!

  • Do I actually need to edit my ro.secure setting?
  • Is SuperOneClick the correct method for my device?
  • Can I manage which apps get their permission requests allowed in an adb file on my device, instead of using the superuser.apk?
  • What am I doing wrong?
  • Should I give up and waste my time elsewhere and or otherwise?

Thanks in advance,


RootingRookie (Never had devices in need of jail breaking before:eek:)
 
I spoke with the colleague, that modified the ROM I referred to in my last post.

He told me that I took all the correct steps, and on most of the devices it works like a charm.
He has been rooting all the devices of our co-workers, that do not care to learn about their device. And told me he also encountered this issue with some devices and has not yet found a solution.
Whoever finds the solution first will inform the other, so I might be posting the solution here.
But I hope it will not come to that, as I have great confidence in the users of this forum.
 
well, i dont know if you actually got around to rooting the yarvik or not, but i just found how to do it!

have your usb connection handy! it will need ot be routed manually...

download and install android SDK tools

then with android SDK tools > 'SDK manager' open, check the boxes to both 'android SDK Platform-tools' and 'Google USB Driver Package', then click install packages at the bottom. agree and all that jazz... etc etc

now! once they are installed we get to the fiddly bit!

(also, i'm assuming you are using windows 7 for this.... hopefully you are :P)

in start menu right click computer, go to properties, then in the left hand panel click on 'advanced system settings'
under the advanced tab, click on 'environment variables'
in the 'user variables for <username> list, double click the path value, then edit the variable value section to include the following line:

Code: 
;C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\tools;C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
PLEASE NOTE! do not delete what is already there, simply add that line to it, deleteing the data already there will mess up other stuff windows uses!
also, if you are using a 32-bit version of windows, or if you installed android SDK to a different location, you will have to edit the variable value accordingly.

now you are up to speed with the bit i had to work out for myself :P

you will find the rest of what you have to do here:

HackingTheYarvikTAB250 < Main < TWiki

it's also worth mentioning that for me, the telechips drivers were very hard to install, i had to completely manually force the computer to recognise them using the 'have disk' method, as the telechips drivers supplied are not digitally signed.

good luck with rooting the device (if you didnt do it already by now :P)
 
I never post before having completely given up, so no I have not rooted it yet :)

I already have the SDK manager on my win7. (Yes I still have Windows, for some games, luckily)
I checked and it indicates that those packages are already installed.
I saw there was an update for the 'SDK platform' so I installed that.

I edited my path, I did not install it to my small ssd but to another disk, so I edited the path a little. I tested it works by typing adb and emulator in the command promp.

I used the 'MotoHelper_2.0.51_Driver_5.2.0.exe' to install the driver.

I followed your link and skipped the 'Connecting the TAB250 to your PC' , 'Installing ClockworkMod Recovery 5' & 'Creating a backup using ClockworkMod Recovery 5' steps as I already done them in the past.

The rom that you flashed to your yarvik must have already had Superuser.apk and the su binary installed correctly. Because your instructions do not describe how to root it. Where did you get that rom?

For fun I will try the SuperOneClick again, still no dice, same situation:
The log shows root access has been granted when SuperOneClick did the test. But when an app requests root privileges, there is no dialogue window asking me, yes or no, it just toasts, access denied.
The document you linked states my problem clearly: 'Starting a shell using Terminal Emulator (or another app) will not run as root, but as a user with limited privileges.'

Is your yarvik rooted atm?
Can you type 'getprop ro.secure' in the adb shell and tell me if it returns 1 or 0?

Thanks in advance,
 
i rooted the device from stock, as i was actually unaware it was possible to install clockworkmodrecovery properly without having root access (yeah im a bit of a linux noob :P)

but i basically made the paths like you did to where my both my android tools folders were installed, got the usb drivers that the other dude in my link supplied, forced them to work, and then in device manager my tablet was being picked up as 'adb interface device' (or something like that...)

then for me, it was simply a case of opening cmd, typing 'adb root', a hash followed in the terminal and nothing else, my tablet also locked up, and i basically shat my pants :P

i held the power button down on my tablet, let it shut off, turned it back on, thank god it did turn back on! then i plugged it back in and typed 'adb root' in cmd once again. this time it told me that 'adb device is already root'

so i knew i was rooted :D

i think maybe, and i'm not certain, but perhaps your usb drivers are letting you down. remember, the device being recognised does not neccesarily mean that the device is fully cooperating

will you try the usb drivers method i used? just to be sure?

also, i went on to install a custom rom i found here

http://code.google.com/p/yarvik-211...tail?name=Yarvik_250_24102011_v5.zip&can=2&q=

something tells me this might be the exact rom you are using, by your description.

The rom is far from ideal, the g-sensor does not work with it, but it is far quicker than the stock one, and gets rid of that awful getjar bloatware that came with the device, android market also works with it now, however 90% of things on there say that they are not compatible with the device, yet installing apk's manually tells a different story :-/

if you have a better yarvik tab 250 custom rom yourself, could you upload yours?

i contacted one of the devs for cyanogenmod with regards to the cyanogen 7 rom for scroll 7" capacitive GB, because that rom works, apart from sound sound and wifi (also the lock feature seems to completely shut the device off!), and that is only because the correct drivers are not included for them. hopefully we'll see that flower blossom, because the cyanogenmod looks to be insanely cool!


EDIT! sorry i totally only skimmed what you typed, my apologies :S

well i will be able to check it as of saturday, i am currently back in uni for the week, and i left the tablet at home, it's actually my little sisters tablet :P but i will check it when i can.

To be fair i have not run into any difficulty installing any apps myself whatsoever, but then again i wouldnt know which apps would require root access

perhaps the custom rom i installed already has full privileges like you said... i think i recollect seeing a superuser app in the menu but i'm not certain at the moment, maybe you should check it out!



i hope i was of some help to you, it looks like we are 2 of very few people who actually bothered to try and improve this god forsaken tablet!
 
The 'MotoHelper 2.0.51 Driver 5.2.0' did function for me on win7.
I could move files and use adb, but it was showing 4 removable disks after connecting. The first being the nand partition and the second being the sdcard.

So I deleted the 'MotoHelper 2.0.51 Driver 5.2.0. This did not delete the installed drivers, so I opened my device manager and uninstalled the 'USB Composite Device' at that moment the 'USB Mass Storage Device' also disappeared.
After disconnecting and reconnecting the tab, both devices showed up again and the tab was being listed again in the explorer. Same affect after uninstalling the 'USB Mass Storage Device', the four 'Telechip s, Inc. TCC8900 USB Device' listed in the 'Disk drivers' catagory and the 'TCC8900' in the 'Other devices' catagory.
The last device is the only one not installed properly.

I already had usb_inf_X5A.zip on my system, but I cannot get it to work. It seems incompatible.
In the 'Device Manager' I rightclick 'TCC8900' and choose 'Update Driver Software', then 'Browse ...' and 'Let me pick from a list ...', where I choose 'ADB Interface' and then use the 'Have Disk' button, but when I pick 'android_winusb.inf' I get the error that the driver is incompatible with the device or x64- based systems.
I think I know why, my device is listed as an 'TCC8900', but the driver is for the 'TCC8902'. Was your yarvik listed as a 'TCC8900' or a 'TCC8902' by the win7 'Device Manager'?

The site you linked to states the tab 250 has the 'TCC8902' chipset.

My colleague told me that some yarviks have this problem, but most do not. (He flashed and rooted almost all the yarviks from the lazy colleagues, that did not want to figure it out for themselves)
A thought came to me: perhaps Sweex had a batch of TCC8900's they had to lose and made a few tab 250's with the old chipset.

In an attempt to get rid of the drivers, I uninstalled both the 'Standard enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller''s and all the 'USB Root Hub''s.
Ofc this ff-ed up my usb mouse. I finished deleting the hubs and did not delete the 'Standard OpenHCD Host Controller''s, I think I do not need 2, in win98 I only had to remove 1 main usb device to flush all drivers. Unfotunately win7 reinstalled the disk and usb device drivers without problems.
So I did not have a 'ADB interface device' yet. 1 change though, adb did no longer regocnize my yarvik, but the 8902 driver was still incompatible.
I will try this next week on my work pc, where the motohelper has not been installed. Just to make sure that pc wont recognize my tab as a 8902 chipset.

On my home pc I reinstalled the moto helper, to try 'adb root' anyway. After reinstalling motohelper, I was pleasantly shocked to find an 'Android Sooner Composite ADB Interface' in the new 'ADB interface' catagory.
Now the 'TCC8900' entry under 'Unkown Devices' vanished.
When I type 'adb root' in the dos prompt, it replies adbd is already running as root.
I think that is the way to shellroot the yarvik, I want to completely root it.

So I tried OneClick again, rerooting and rebooting had no effect.
Unrooting failed, 'Checking if su rooted = false'. /system/bin/su: No such file or directory <- I think this is my problem!

Does your Win7 list your yarvik as an 'Android Sooner Composite ADB Interface' in the device manager now?

I realized I was working with a 'filthy' device, so I restored the factory rom, with the recovery function in the Clockworkmod. Tried 'adb root' in the dos prompt again, again got 'adbd is already running as root'.
When clicking root in SuperOneClick v2.3.3.0, it again states the device is already rooted.
Again I have a working superuser app on the tab, it's log states root was allowed when testing with SuperOneClick. I installed Droidsail and ROM Manager. Again they get their su request denied, I did not see a dialogue asking whether I want to allow or deny. And the log also shows the permissions were not granted.
So what is your ro.secure value?

Per your request to upload the rom my colleague made, I asked his permission when passing him @ work Friday, you will not find it attached to this post, due to a security token issue. I'll try a less secure browser after posting. I'm sorry but the rom is to large to post here.
Get it from MegaUpload instead.

He elaborated he made some minor changes to the factory rom, so it is not the same as the 211 rom and yes the camera + g-sensor work with his rom!. Enjoy!
 
Yes it does.

But I strongly recommend against using it.
The user agreement states something about google being able to decide to DELETE APP's from your device remotely, WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT*

You will agree to give google your IMEI. Giving this out is like trying to hide from a pack of dogs, wearing a suit made out of rotten fish.
Now google can link even more types of data to your account

Remote sync has to be on, polluting your network with this kind of stuff.
Which would be worse if the yarvik had 3g.

(*=You did agree to the legal texts, but did you understand them? I saw some paragraphs I did not understand.)
Instead, just download the apk-file from the website of the developer.

Just read it for yourself and choose yes or no.
If you want google to stop tracking you, they advice you to stop using your device and their services. In other words, stop using the internet.
 
@tBKwtWS
Thanks for the rom upload, i will try it now :-) my apologies for the huge gap in reply time... uni is getting quite hectic!

to answer your question, no, windows 7 does not recognise it as 'android sooner composite ADB interface'

when i manually used the 'have disk' method and forced the drivers i used to install i was given 3 options, i simply went with the most simple one at the time and it was just 'ADB Composite Interface'

i'm not sure if its the same thing or not :-/

hopefully you can get the darn thing routed! if not perhaps we can ask some pro friends on the internet to make a nice fast, user friendly and fully compatible rom that is already routed
http://androidforums.com/members/tbkwtws.html
 
tBKwtWS said:
Yes it does.

But I strongly recommend against using it.
The user agreement states something about google being able to decide to DELETE APP's from your device remotely, WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT*

You will agree to give google your IMEI. Giving this out is like trying to hide from a pack of dogs, wearing a suit made out of rotten fish.
Now google can link even more types of data to your account

Remote sync has to be on, polluting your network with this kind of stuff.
Which would be worse if the yarvik had 3g.

(*=You did agree to the legal texts, but did you understand them? I saw some paragraphs I did not understand.)
Instead, just download the apk-file from the website of the developer.

Just read it for yourself and choose yes or no.
If you want google to stop tracking you, they advice you to stop using your device and their services. In other words, stop using the internet.
Click to expand...

Again, thank you for the rom.

It does all I need since this tablet is for my 3 yr old daughter. I just need to root it now as the Mobile Standby or (Cell Standy) is using over 70% of the battery.

I have done all the other tutorials on rooting this TAB 250 with no luck.
 
ok to further update, the rom you supplied is great, and better than the one i was using, but you are right about the root access thing, when i go through adb root on cmd it tells me the device is already rooted, but when i try to use the adfree app it says that root access was denied

so far it's the only app that has done this, but it pretty much shows that i dont have full root access

it must just be this particular rom, as the earlier rom allowed root access, but at the expense of no camera or g-sensor working

still the rom is fine for my little sister, she's happy enough playing angry birds at <10 fps, but for me, as an avid performance pc user, i just cringe watching her, thinking if i could just get rid of those ads, she could queeze another 10-20 fps out of it at least! but alas...

though you advised against using the android store, i allowed her to use it with the rom you supplied, she only gets free apps and games and all that, not to mention the tablet has zero phone capabilities, it just allows me to enjoy my weekends again, as opposed to being confronted with a list of 60 desired apk's as soon as my foot goes in the door :P

do post it up if you ever find a fully working method of rooting this rom, i unfortunatly can't wipe the device anymore, she went nuts at me last time for installing knutshell, because it deleted all her installed apps, so i'm afraid it's up to you guys!

thanks again from posting up the rom though :-)
 
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