Foreword xv
Introduction 1
First Things First: What Is XDA? 1
The Dragons that Lie Ahead 3
Who This Book Is For 6
What This Book Covers 6
How This Book Is Structured 6
What You Need to Use This Book 7
Part I: What You Need to Know 9
Chapter 1: Android OS Internals: Understanding How Your Device Starts 11
The Penguin Down Below 12
How Your Android Device Starts 13
Bootstrapping 13
Adding a Custom Bootloader 15
Understanding the Bootloader Process 15
Custom Recoveries: The Holy Grail 17
Chapter 2: Rooting Your Android Device 21
Why Should You Root? 22
Increasing the Service Life of the Device 22
Fixing OEM Defects 23
Increasing Capability 24
Customizing the Device 25
Backing Up Data 26
Contact Information 26
Applications and Their Data 27
Data on the SD Card 27
How You Can Root and Leave Your OEM’s Control 28
OEM Flash Software 28
Exploits 30
Native Fastboot Flash 31
Scripted and One-Click Methods 31
Rooting Two Devices 32
Nexus One 32
HTC Thunderbolt 33
The Root of It All 34
Chapter 3: The Right Tool for the Job 37
Ready, Set, . . . Wait I Have to Have What? 38
Connecting a Phone to a Computer 38
Hacking Tools 38
USB Cables 39
USB Debugging 40
What’s Driving This Thing? 41
Using the Android Debug Bridge 42
Checking Device Connectivity 43
Restarting the ADB Service 44
Copying Files to and from Your Device 45
Rebooting a Device 48
The Power of Fastboot 49
Unlocking a Device 50
Updating a Device 50
Flashing a Device 50
Rebooting a Device 51
Harnessing the Power of the Penguin with ADB Shell 51
File System Navigation 52
File Management 54
File Access Permissions 57
Redirection and Piping 60
Concatenation 60
BusyBox: Giving the Penguin Back Its Power 61
The dd Command 61
The echo Command 62
The md5sum Command 62
Chapter 4: Rooting and Installing a Custom Recovery 63
How to Use Exploits 64
Exploit Scripts 64
Exploit Applications 65
Using a Script or Application on a Device 66
Hacking Utilities 68
OEM Tools 68
Developer Utilities 68
Image Files 68
Recovery Mode 69
What Is Recovery Mode? 69
Make It All So Easy: Get A Custom Recovery! 70
Using ClockworkMod Recovery 71
Rebooting the Device 72
Updating a Device from the SD Card 72
Resetting a Device to Factory Condition 74
Wiping the Cache 74
Installing a Zip File from the SD Card 74
Backing Up and Restoring a Device 76
Mounting Partitions and Managing Storage 79
Advanced Functions 79
Backup and Disaster Recovery 81
Precautions for Success and Data Recovery 82
Backing Up Applications 83
Backing Up Through a Recovery Process 83
Backing Up Through an Application 84
What Happens If It Goes Really Wrong? 84
Chapter 5: Theming: Digital Cosmetic Surgery 87
Changing the Look and Feel of Android 88
Theming the Launcher 89
Theming with an Add-on Launcher 89
Tools Used in Theming 89
APKManager 89
Android SDK 90
Eclipse 90
A ROM of Your Choice 91
7-Zip 91
Paint.NET 91
Update.zip Creator 91
Amend2Edify 92
The Editing Process 92
Walkthrough for Creating Theme Files 92
Walkthrough for Creating a Flashable ZIP File 97
Chapter 6: You’ve Become Superuser: Now What? 99
Popular Multi-Device Custom ROMs 100
CyanogenMod 100
Android Open Kang Project 101
VillainROM 101
Kernel Tweaks 101
Backlight Notifications 101
Voodoo Enhancements 102
Performance and Battery Life Tweaks 103
Root Applications 103
SetCPU 103
Adfree Android 104
Chainfire 3D 104
Titanium Backup 105
Part II: Manufacturer Guidelines and Device-specific Guides 107
Chapter 7: HTC EVO 3D: A Locked Device 109
Obtaining Temporary Root 110
Using S-OFF and Permanent Root Requirements 111
Running the Revolutionary Tool 112
Installing a Custom Recovery 115
Installing the Superuser Binary 116
Installing a SuperUser Application 117
Chapter 8: Nexus One: An Unlockable Device 119
Root Methods Available 120
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 120
Walkthrough 121
Placing the Nexus One in Fastboot Mode 122
Flashing a Boot Partition 123
Getting Full Root Access 124
Installing a Custom Recovery 125
Chapter 9: HTC ThunderBolt: A Tightly Locked Device 127
Root Methods Available 128
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 128
Walkthrough 129
Pushing Files to the Device 129
Gaining Temporary Root 130
Checking a File’s MD5 Signature 131
Writing the Temporary Bootloader 131
Downgrading the Firmware 132
Gaining Temporary Root to Unlock the mmc 133
Rewriting the Bootloader 134
Upgrading the Firmware 135
Chapter 10: Droid Charge: Flashing with ODIN 137
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 138
Walkthrough 138
Connecting the Device to ODIN 138
Flashing the Device 139
Troubleshooting 140
Chapter 11: Nexus S: An Unlocked Device 143
Connecting the Device to a PC 144
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 144
Walkthrough 144
Unlocking the Device 144
Flashing the Device with a Recovery 145
Flashing the Device with the SuperUser Application 146
Chapter 12: Motorola Xoom: An Unlocked Honeycomb Tablet 147
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 148
Walkthrough 148
Pushing the Root File to the SD Card 148
Unlocking the Xoom 148
Flashing the Device with a Recovery 149
Flashing the Device with a Universal Root 150
Chapter 13: Nook Color: Rooting with a Bootable SD Card 153
Resources Required for This Walkthrough 154
Walkthrough 154
Creating a Bootable SD Card 155
Booting the Device from the SD Card 155
Making the Device More Usable 156
Appendix A: Setting Up Android SDK and ADB Tools 159
Installing the Java Development Kit 160
Installing the Android SDK 161
Installing the Platform Tools 162
Setting Up Windows Environment Variables 163
Index 165
