Here's a consolidation of posts I made over at androidforums.com... This guide will re-enable sideloading apps on your phone, and remove some of the AT&T "Bloatware" y'all hate so much.
***I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY OF WHAT YOU DO TO YOUR DEVICE, WHILE THERE IS LITTLE RISK OF BRICK, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE OTHERWISE***
- USB Driver for Windows ([Only registered users can view links. ])
-[Only registered users can view links. ]
-[Only registered users can view links. ]
** Rooting your Captivate **
(This guide provided by user chaoscentral over at androidforums.com)
Download [Only registered users can view links. ]
Step 1. Connect your phone to your computer and copy the renamed update.zip to the root of your internal memory (/sdcard on the phone)
Step 2. Turn the phone off after file transfer is complete
Step 3. Hold both Volume Up and Volume Down while powering on the device to enter the recovery menu
Step 4. Select Reinstall Packages from the recovery menu using Volume Up and Down to navigate, and Power to select
Step 5. Phone will automatically reboot, and you will have root privileges, and the Superuser program installed.
*** Enable Sideloading of Apps ***
You'll need the Android SDK ([Only registered users can view links. ])
You'll need the USB drivers (Above)
You'll need root access (Above)
You'll need Busybox (available on the market after you root the phone)
Connect USB to phone with USB Debugging ON
Command prompt
cd to SDK install directory
cd tools adb shell su
cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db
cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db.backup
exit
exit
(This should bring you back to your windows command prompt.) adb pull /sdcard/settings.db %userprofile%\desktop
(This should copy the settings.db to your desktop in Windows. Keep your cmd window open, you'll need it again.)
Install SQLite Manager Plugin for Firefox
Open SQLite Manager Plugin within Firefox (Tools->SQLite Manager)
Click Database
Click Connect Database
Find settings.db
Expand Tables
Click secure
Scroll down to ID 6, "install_non_market_apps". Double-click.
Change value ( TEXT ) from 0 to 1
Close SQLite Manager
(Back to that cmd window) adb push %userprofile%\desktop\settings.db /sdcard
adb shell su
cp /sdcard/settings.db /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings
chmod 777 /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db
reboot
Disconnect USB from phone. Your phone should be rebooting. When it comes back up, you will be able to install apps from any source (Note the GUI option to enable sideloading will still be missing from the menu).
*** How to delete some of AT&T's Bloatware ***
*** READ THIS PARAGRAPH BEFORE PROCEEDING ***
I purposefully do NOT include the commands to DELETE the AT&T apps. I am simply renaming the applications to something Android ignores. The reason for this is that this deletion is PERMANENT. It will persist through a factory reset. By renaming and not deleting, we can UNDO this if necessary.
Here's how you can remove some (I stress SOME) of that AT&T bloatware from your app list.
You'll need the Android SDK ([Only registered users can view links. ])
You'll need the USB drivers (Above)
You'll need root access (Above)
You'll need Busybox (available on the market after you root the phone)
Turn on USB debugging on your phone.
Plug in your USB
Open command prompt on your computer, cd to your SDK install directory.
cd to tools within the SDK directory
type this: adb shell su
mv /system/app/ATTNav-Samsung-Vega-1488.apk /system/app/ATTNav-Samsung-Vega-1488.tmp
mv /system/app/ATT_Radio_2.1.07.apk /system/app/ATT_Radio_2.1.07.tmp
mv /system/app/MobiTV_800x480_320_20100610_1.0.0.15-118829.apk /system/app/MobiTV_800x480_320_20100610_1.0.0.15-118829.tmp
mv /system/app/MobileBanking.apk /system/app/MobileBanking.tmp
mv /system/app/attmaps20-1094.apk /system/app/attmaps20-1094.tmp
exit
exit
Done!
This will Delete ATT Navigation, ATT Radio, MobiTV, Mobile Banking, and AT&T Maps, respectively.
Last edited by ragnarokx; 10-28-2010 at 01:55 PM.
Reason: fixed links to drivers
Now, I "mv Email" from /system/app folder, symlinked Gmail, and it disappeared completely.
I deleted the symlinks, and put the Email.* back, and that Icon is still missing.
Where would these be and how can I change them?
Thanks,
KrYPt0
Yeah I don't think symlinks work with .apk's. There are separate email and gmail apps, and you can customize your app tray at the bottom of your home screens to list gmail instead of email.
What you might need to do is install that email.apk. Copy it to your /sdcard, then use Astro (or whatever file manager) to select it and install it. This assumes of course you've enabled sideloading. Otherwise use adb to install it.
taking a guess since I don't have an android phone yet. did you install busybox? Reading through what busybox is/does, it may be that's how you get the copy (cp) command; apparently many common unix commands aren't included in a default (or this phone's) Android distribution, maybe cp is one of them.
ADS
Is there a way to put the phone back to its original state, or a way to save the base install off somewhere before you root it? Directly after? I know the process varies by device. I'm a big believer in being able to back off any OS changes I make to any OS.
ADS
You need to download and install busybox from the market.
I did that before trying, as the directions indicated it was necessary.
Any other ideas?
UPDATE ... Appears busybox wasn't running on the phone after install. I did start up busybox, but now I am getting 'permission denied' errors. When I type su at the $ prompt, I am getting a return of su, so I think I have rooted the device ok. It is showing busybox under superuser permissions running as root.
Last edited by tomhorn; 07-20-2010 at 02:56 PM.
Reason: update
Thread Author
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