PRS-T1 How do I do a full dump / image?

[dare]

Hi there
After being a silent reader (pun not intended...) for some time here I managed to do the root and install the market without problems. I still have trouble with Link2SD and would like to investigate further.

The problem is - just to let you know, my question follows - that Link2SD upon installation is not able to create the mount script, telling me "file system full". And indeed this is the same error message I keep getting when trying to create a file in /system/etc through the terminal (with echo as there is no touch) after Link2SD has been installed. Root Explorer silently fails on this task, though funnily it is able to rename a file thereabouts. Deinstalling Link2SD, chmodding or chowing the directory did not help.

After having restored and re-rooted the T1 for three times now (each time diligently deleting files to have the space for GoogleServicesFramework and the market, setting up a decent keyboard layout and so on) I still have not given up the hope to get Link2SD running - but I start to get fed up with setting everything up before trying another approach and still running into trouble, having to start over again.

So - as I do take it that it does not work with ebook_msc any more and I never got ADB working, is there any at least partly painless way to do a full dump of the setup (that would basically be the internal memory without the internal sd?) which restores easily? CWM Root Manager does not like the T1, Titanium Backup (which I have not bought yet) seems not to be that much targeted at a full image.
Any help appreciated!

[m3l7d0wN]

you can boot in recovery mode and dumb the partitions with dd or tar

[Thor]

Hi!

Based on the informations I found here: PRS-T1 Android Market Working (thanks to @j0534ng31 and @uboot )I wrote a litte backup script:

# mount external sd card
mount -t auto /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/sd/
#
# make a backup of boot-block and mbr
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2 of=/mnt/sd/boot.bin bs=32768 count=800
#
# make a backup of recovery partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p1 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p1_recovery.img
# make a backup of linux tree partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p2 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p2_linuxtree2.img
# make a backup of fonts partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p5 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p5_fonts.img
# make a backup of dictionary partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p6 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p6_dictionary.img
# make a backup of data partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p9 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p9_data.img
# make a backup of system partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p10 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p10_system.img
#
# make a backup of internal sdcard partition READER
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p4 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p4_READER.img
# make a backup of internal sdcard partition SETTING
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p7 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p7_SETTING.img
# make a backup of partition preload
dd if=/dev/mmcblk2p8 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk2p8_preload.img
#
# make a backup of link2sd ext3 partition on extsd-card
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p2 of=/mnt/sd/mmcblk0p2_link2sd.img

sync
cd /
umount /mnt/sd
reboot

So you first must enter recovery mode. I made this with the app "@Test Mode". Start the app and choose "Reboot (Recovery)" in the right corner.
The reader restarts in recovery mode.

Then you must connect your pc with the reader and make it accessible via infos you find here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=28

If you have contact via pc to your reader in recovery mode (I choose PuTTY to connect to the virtual com-port) you are able to copy and paste the above script into the console which make a backup of all relevant partitions to your external sd card (make shure that you have enough free space on it!) and reboots the device.

I hope this helps a little bit and I do not miss a relevant information to backup in the script.

cheers.

[dare]

Thank you to you both, meltdown and Thor, especially for sharing the script and pointing to j0534ng31's instructions (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=28).

For the record: in order to accomplish step 2 therein - installing the driver - on Win7 64bit I did the following:

1. Taking linux-cdc-acm.inf from http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/usb/
2. Copying the contents of the mdmcpq.inf folder (starting with mdmcpq.inf_amd64_neutral in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ on my machine) into the same folder where I put the inf.
3. Modifying the DeviceList in the inf - here it took me some time to realize that the serial/USB-bridge in recovery mode has a different VID and PID than the T1 when connected normally (rather logical, but I just did not get it in the beginning...). I used USB\VID_0525&PID_A4A7.
4. Pointing the driver install dialog to the folder with the inf as well as usbser.sys and friends, giving me a connection to the T1 on COM8.

Then it was easy to fiddle about with PuTTY as suggested by Thor. While I also used your script, I additionally just dumped the whole "disk" /dev/mmcblk2 to the external sd - should make a quick entire restore easier, which, however, I did not try yet.

Best, d.

[m3l7d0wN]

be careful of restoring the whole disk image: the system has always at least one partition mounted, so you shouldn't be able to do a simple disk restore

[dare]

Thanks, haven't thought about it - even in recovery root (mmcblk2p2) is mounted. For my purposes restoring system should be enough, anyhow.

[uboot]

Just to add: If one of you finds a way to recover a device where the whole internal flash is messed up, i.e. no bootloader & friends... just let us know

It should be possible to do that via sd recovery, but I am not sure if there needs to be a boot loader or something on the internal flash to get sd recovery working....

E.g. if you have a spare T1 or lot's of money to waste one or a broken one with cracked display and lost warranty but working USB access... try to dd if=/dev/null the internal flash and then boot a sd recovery image....

[m3l7d0wN]

I think sd rescue needs at least p1 partition: if you try to mount the partition, you will see the code to load the OS Firmware\ image in /init

[dare]

Originally Posted by m3l7d0wN

I think sd rescue needs at least p1 partition

I'll second that - at least in the status quo and judging from the logic as far as I understand it: On the firmware as it is, there seems to be a basic bootstrap chaining to the actual bootloader(s) on the file system, to boot normal or into recovery.

So it should be - in principle - possible to change the firmware (if it can be flashed? - not talking about manipulating mmcblk2 in rooting and so on) to look for the bootloader on the SD, mmcblk0. But if - in the scenario of uboot - the internal memory is already blank, there probably would be no way to flash a new firmware - a hen-and-egg problem.

But: the firmware may very well already be clever enough to look somewhere else if it does not find something on mmcblk2 - we just don't know and probably the only way to find out would be the experiment suggested by uboot (or looking into the firmware...).

Finally, it may also be that you could flash the firmware over the usb/serial-interface without recovery running - I think many embedded devices have that possibility, but do we know about the T1?

My 2 Rappen without too much insight, so ignore if

[m3l7d0wN]

btw, all boot code (mbr, uboot, bootenv, kernel, recovery kernel etc.) are stored in the internal sd... so deleting the sd will broke the T1

[j0534ng31]

Just to clarify... About the used partitions:

- 'SD Rescue mode' use/open mmcblk2p1

- 'Recovery mode' use/open mmcblk2p1, mmcblk2p2, and mmcblk2p4

[flyingdog]

fun enough, I have no serial console at all, neither in normal nor in recovery (recovery stays up for 20 sec before to reboot) no console device is displayed in windows pci hw enumeration.. so no driver to load up :| why? peraphs sony removed the serial gadget support from the bootloader?!?

[j0534ng31]

Originally Posted by flyingdog

fun enough, I have no serial console at all, neither in normal nor in recovery (recovery stays up for 20 sec before to reboot) no console device is displayed in windows pci hw enumeration.. so no driver to load up :| why? peraphs sony removed the serial gadget support from the bootloader?!?

There is no 'serial console' in 'normal mode'...

To have a 'serial console' in the 'recovery mode' you have to install first the 'enable_adb' supplied by Boroda here... This is easy.

You also have to follow the instructions in the same post to install the 'gadget serial' driver... It can be a little tricky to install the very first time.

Only after following this two steps you'll have the 'serial console' enabled... to use it you need a serial terminal program for your operating system, as 'putty' or 'teraterm' for Windows.

[flyingdog]

thanks man, now it's clear to me. I was under the impression that the console dongle was up in the normal console.. I can't use the enable_adb package.. I tried the image.img recovery here. I saw that insmod for the dongle have been inserted in the rcS .. but nothing to do...

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=gadget&page=2

[m3l7d0wN]

that update.img requires enable_adb too... it is just recovery mode started from external sd card