TL3/626 Can't write on internal memory

[readz]

Does the .freezestatus reset still working on current 6" HD Readers?

So one can backup the valueable system card, and can at least extend the meanwhile sd card slotless devices to 32GB.

[rkomar]

Check first if your ereader has an internal SD card. Most of them have some kind of flash memory chip which is soldered to the board.

[droo]

Thank you for your reply (#195), readz.
Unfortunately I did not manage to get my e-reader working again.
I copied the firmware image 5.20.1527 to a new card and replaced the .freezestatus file with one generated using your perl script, but the card is still not working.

Could it be that it causes problems that I use a 32 GB card as internal card (I did not try to resize it, though) or that I own a Touch HD 2 (631) instead of a Touch HD (631)?

[readz]

The latter I guess. The Touch HD is from 2016. The Touch HD 2 from 2018. It still have two sd card slots. They don't even bother to change the model number. But they do bother to change the freeze code.

Or look at it this way: this poor chaps which must buy the current Touch HD 3 don't even have a sd card slot anymore. You however have the chance to reverse engineer the probably only minor changes!

[nhedgehog]

Removed since it interested nobody.

[readz]

The original heroic deed to own the Pocketbook was done in C for Linux and Windows. #93

This perl script #195 is platform agnostic and short. (simply Perl ;-)

But really cool ist the bind mount hack:

- In /etc/init.d/rcS add to the mount block

/bin/mount --bind /sd_id /sys/block/mmcblk0/device/serial

- In the root folder create sd_id with the old serial number

That's it. (That's Linux!)

[Werner]

"Hi, I need the internal SD images for PB626 and PB626 Plus. My internal cards are read-only. Thanks for the help!"

Thank you so much for your effort.

Regards, Werner

[KitchenReader]

Hello, I also have a Touch HD2, for me replacing .freezestatus also didn't work, same as for droo. My card still works for now, but I have gotten errors with it before, so I want to make sure I can replace it. It seems to me that the Touch HD 2 internally is quite a bit different than previous models (for example it has 4 partitions instead of 10) I've made a thread here about my own progress trying to get it to work.

And there is no infinite hourglass in my case, the booting loading bar simply stops when its 95% done and hangs.

btw my .freezestatus contents do match with what I generate using the perl script. I think that there's a second layer to this.

I have a linux laptop with a card reader, and I would love to continue tinkering with this, but I need some guidance: I see that the getting root is confirmed to work on the touch HD2, would that get me more avenues to explore the insides versus digging in a card copy? I've contacted Pocketbook.ru, and they would help, but they need a russian bank account (not possible for me), they asked me for a screen cable code. I'll try to continue digging looking for mentions of that in the card. And I'll contact a pocketbook repair shop on Monday, maybe they know something.

If anyone has any tips or more experience doing this, all assistance is greatly, greatly appreciated!

[KitchenReader]

Sadly can't seem to edit my previous post, but nhedgehog has helped me out and described how to replace SD cards for Touch HD2 here Thanks to him one more time.

[readz]

Shortly I got my hands on a Pocketbook Touch HD 2. I was really eager to find out myself how the freeze hack performed on this device.

Clone the card. Apply the Perl script. But the reader stuck. It turns out there were errors on the 3. partition. Exactly this one with the .freezestatus file! So the filesystem was remount read-only and the changes weren't written. When you fix this with

fsck.ext2

, things will be fine. The Reader boots. I was also able to extend the internal memory to 30GB.

So, no sneaky code changes between Touch and Touch 2!

PS: It may be possible to fix the id without correcting the fs errors. Simply search your current code in the 3. partition image and replace the 4 Byte directly. Remove and replug it. *Test it* (e.g.

vbl /dev/sdc3 - 0x042400 4l

)

[KitchenReader]

That's very nice! I'd like to try that eventually for more storage (though I'm really nowhere near the limits for now, haha) I'm interested and wanted to ask - are those errors with the partition caused by replacing .freezestatus? Or are they something baked into the touch HD2 OS image itself?

I'll try this out sometime and report how does it work for me

[readz]

Or are they something baked into the touch HD2 OS image itself?

Error by design? I had that thought, too!

It reminds me on a feature back in the old times called Keydisc. The disk had defective or otherwise unusual sectors. The game could be played. But the disk could not be copied!

Here are the relevant entries from

journalctl -b -p5

kernel: EXT4-fs error (device sdc3): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1099: group 0, block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent: 1746 vs 1748 free clusters
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): Remounting filesystem read-only
kernel: EXT4-fs error (device sdc3):
ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1099: group 1, block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent: 5142 vs 5144 free clusters
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): Remounting filesystem read-only

kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): error count since last fsck: 2049
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): initial error at time 1585894011: mb_free_blocks:1345: inode 24: block 1026
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): last error at time 1787842323: ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1099


Check:

 # fsck.ext2 -nv /dev/sdc3
e2fsck 1.47.0 (5-Feb-2023)
/dev/sdc3 contains a file system with errors, check forced.
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
Block bitmap differences:  -(9218--9219) -(9730--9731)
Fix? no

Free blocks count wrong for group #0 (1748, counted=1746).
Fix? no

Free blocks count wrong for group #1 (6245, counted=6243).
Fix? no

Free blocks count wrong (45860, counted=53845).
Fix? no

/dev/sdc3: WARNING: Filesystem still has errors 

         136 inodes used (0.53%, out of 25688)
           29 non-contiguous files (21.3%)
           1 non-contiguous directory (0.7%)
             # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 29/25/0
       56540 blocks used (55.21%, out of 102400)
           0 bad blocks
           0 large files

         120 regular files
           7 directories
           0 character device files
           0 block device files
           0 fifos
           0 links
           0 symbolic links (0 fast symbolic links)
           0 sockets
------------
         127 files

It is not necessary to clone the entire 8GB sd-card. 2GB are enough:

dd if=/dev/sdc of=dd_0-2GB_touch2.bin bs=4096 count=500000

Before that I ensure a clean plate with

• format internal memory
• factory reset
• reinstall firmware (U631.5.20.1527)

And, as I already mentioned, one can try a direct entry of the new calced id with a good hex editor. Without repair. Without mount.

-----
It's obviously an error in the file system. So I installed a previous version. U631.5.19.625

And, behold, a fs error!
kernel: EXT4-fs error (device sdc3): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1099: group 0, block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent: 1747 vs 1749 free clusters
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): Remounting filesystem read-only
kernel: EXT4-fs error (device sdc3): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1099: group 1, block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent: 6242 vs 6244 free clusters
kernel: EXT4-fs (sdc3): Remounting filesystem read-only

I didn't bother checking other versions.

And interesting: the offset is the same.

sdc  0x1F142400
sdc3 0x042400