PRS-T1 Step-by-step guide to hacking the PRS-T1

[MCSmarties]

@nugstar:

I may try it this weekend... if I don't chicken out, that is.

[Zmol]

Hmm i cannot find most of the apps you recommned removing through titanium backup. The telephony.apk is however visible in the Total Commander interface, but not in the backup/restore list in titanium backup?

[JSWolf]

You would think someone able to wrtie up direction on how to root a T1 would know the proper forum to post in.

[NoGood]

Thanks for the guide MCSmarties. It helped me reroot with confidence!
May i suggest you add a small section warning people to restore to the correct firmware.
I almost restored to 1.04 instead of 1.03 as i thought a restore would be a return to default with the latest firmware patch.

@jswolf albeit right, your comment seems a bit harsh to someone taking the effort for writing such a tutorial.

[nugstar]

For those wanting to disable/remove Phone.apk, you can do so via adb shell/terminal.

I did so using this command after getting adb working

adb shell mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk2p10 /system
adb shell mv /system/app/Phone.apk /system/app/Phone.OLD
adb reboot

Adapted from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888216
due to different block/partition numbers.

Upon changing Phone.apk to Phone.OLD, there will be a force close notification.
Just "adb reboot" and your device should be fine on boot.

"mv /system/app/Phone.apk /system/app/Phone.OLD" will only rename the file.
You can remove it with a different command in shell.
Be careful with the command as you can delete all files within /system/app reversibly bricking your device.
Only use it if you understand how shell commands work.
If you are unsure, just leave it. Phone.apk only takes up 703kB. It is unlikely you will need to remove it for space, as we have Apps2SD (which is also the easiest way to install adb on your device)

You should be able to remove Phone.OLD using Root Explorer or other similar apps if necessary.

Please note that Settings>Mobile Networks will now force close due to phone.apk not being present.

[SanderLM]

MCSmarties, did your rupor install completed while being connected to your PC the entire time??? I've used the flash_reader.bat 3 times and it kept hanging at the end when trying to restart.
(I think my T1 was trying to connect to my PC instead of rebooting)

Finally I unplugged my device when the tranfer was completed and my T1 showed it was shutting down (rotating arrows), this allowed it to finally install the third "andriod" page.

Thanks for your step-by-step it helped

BTW I haven't read it anywhere, but AndriodPit is also a place to download APK-files,
I have finally been able to install FolderSync Lite, I was unable to download it from the Play Market, but it runs like a charm so for everyone who is searching for apk look there if the Play Market doesn't let you download something even if it's compatible with Andriod 2.1 and higher.

(I also know there is a google chrome plugin for downloading APK files, but I haven't tried it yet)

[Zmol]

I have a problem with my battery life. My reader looses power fast while being in standby on my shelf. WIFI is disabled, but still it drains. One day I lost at least 10% overnight. And now I went from 45 to 15 in less than a week of no use. WTF. I appreciate the benefits of a root, but right now my PRS-T1 has batterylife comparable to my old phone.

[uboot]

Try BetterBatteryStats app and get used to the search function. This question is already discussed in many threads all over the Sony Reader and Sony Reader Dev forum.

[hellwalker]

Hi. I come from VietNam. Now i have awesome prs-t1. I have done a amazing work today(base one your instructions). Thank you! You guys are amazing.

[altruizine]

MCSmarties, thanks for your awesome guide!

Unfortunately, there is one downside with using rupor's root package: It's eInk-screen theme optimizations in framework-res.apk make it incompatible with various Android apps, including Root Explorer and Titanium Backup. Here are some documented cases of confusion over this.

Could you perhaps call out the problem in your guide, or even update it to include instructions on how to fix the problem? (Here's my take on it, but it may be too complicated for general consumption.)

[Rhavon]

What a fabulous, amazing, simple yet oh-so-effective rooting guide. THANK YOU.

Otherwise, I can't seem to find anywhere with up to date APK files for download. Your guide was so amazing also because it contained links to needed files. Since I only have the one Android device, installing via Google Play just isn't an option and whilst Market is fabulous when it shows the app I'm looking for, its useless for IVONA and Calibre Companion as it doesn't return any results for these. Where can I obtain APK files? Or, how can I download apps to my PC? Is there an Android interface for PC?

Btw, AndroidPit did not seem to have any APK files. The notes in the thread said they can't publish them unless the developer gives permission.

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Rhavon

Where can I obtain APK files? Or, how can I download apps to my PC? Is there an Android interface for PC?

Try looking at Android Applications - Freeware Lovers for free Android software downloads. They host the best Android applications, utilities, games and other top Android freeware.

These apks are usually older versions and so most should run better than newer versions that may only work on Android version higher than the Sony's 2.2.1.

[seabee]

Originally Posted by Ines

I am stuck at the point where I downloaded the restore set for firmware 1.0.04.12210, unzipped it, ran flash_reader.bat. The reader rebooted and is hanging in "Opening book" forever. When connected cannot be identified on the computer. SD rescue from porkupan doesn't help. Any idea how I can proceed? Thanks.

Had the exact same problem when rooting my reader yesterday after repartitioning, then I realized I had the "OS Firmware" directory containing the recovery mode software on the microSD card root and the reader's LED was blinking orange Removed the microSD card and rebooted from a PuTTY console, logged as root, reboot command on command line with gserial.inf serial gadget installed, so I really was in rescue mode (I think a forced shutdown is OK). Then re-executed flash_reader.bat and everything was OK this time.

[FinancialWar]

I don't know how to remove the useless app using Titanium Backup.

What exactly do I do after launching the app?

Do I click Overview, backup/restore, schedule??

[fergusson]

Hi and thanks for the excellent guide.
I have one problem, though:
I'm at step C, I copied the files to the reader but I can't find the TotalCommander on the device to install the apk. Am I missing something? The third screen shows only "Settings"...
Thanks!