Home Screen Rotation Fix root-required

[zedorda]

So tried just editing build.prop file and I kept getting error when I tried to save changes. Then copied build.prop file to new folder, made changes and saved it as qbuild.prop. Moved that file into same folder as build.prop file which I renamed xbuild.prop. Then renamed qbuild.prop to build.prop and saved it. All looked good so I powered down Nexus 7 but now I can't get it to start. Get screen with Google and lock on bottom and then nothing. Have I hosed my Nexus 7 and will now have to flash back to stock? Not sure I can even do that as I can't get into download mode. Ugh.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

TH

Your file manager likely did not have root access or you did not mount the /system folder for R/W. When you copied the build.prop file did you put it on a FAT32 disk? If so you would of needed to reset to permissions when you replaced it.

You will likely have to go back and reflash stock through a one-click tool but maybe someone has another solution.

 

[The Harrington]

Your file manager likely did not have root access or you did not mount the /system folder for R/W. When you copied the build.prop file did you put it on a FAT32 disk? If so you would of needed to reset to permissions when you replaced it.

You will likely have to go back and reflash stock through a one-click tool but maybe someone has another solution.

I had mounted the system folder for R/W but I am not sure if I put the build.prop file on a FAT32 disk. I only copied the original file to the SD Card folder and then moved it back. Most likely that is where things went wrong. I just downloaded the necessary files to reflash stock. Oh well.

Thanks for your help.

 

[oxymoron]

So tried just editing build.prop file and I kept getting error when I tried to save changes. Then copied build.prop file to new folder, made changes and saved it as qbuild.prop. Moved that file into same folder as build.prop file which I renamed xbuild.prop. Then renamed qbuild.prop to build.prop and saved it. All looked good so I powered down Nexus 7 but now I can't get it to start. Get screen with Google and lock on bottom and then nothing. Have I hosed my Nexus 7 and will now have to flash back to stock? Not sure I can even do that as I can't get into download mode. Ugh.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

TH

You didn't make a backup before editing the build.prop?

If you did, you're good. If not, you may have to flash back to stock.

Hold the power button for 10 seconds to force a reboot, then hold volume down. You should be able to get into the bootloader. Then plug it into your PC and use the volume button to scroll to recovery, then press the power button.

You can only reboot recovery from the bootloader if you're plugged in. See if that works, and if you have a backup, restore it. If not, check the sticky to restore factory images. It's easy.

 

[The Harrington]

You didn't make a backup before editing the build.prop?

If you did, you're good. If not, you may have to flash back to stock.

Hold the power button for 10 seconds to force a reboot, then hold volume down. You should be able to get into the bootloader. Then plug it into your PC and use the volume button to scroll to recovery, then press the power button.

You can only reboot recovery from the bootloader if you're plugged in. See if that works, and if you have a backup, restore it. If not, check the sticky to restore factory images. It's easy.

Given I barely had installed any apps I had not yet made a backup. I have since restored to stock and, using the Nexus 7 Toolkit on XDA, restored it to stock and am back to where I was. I installed ROM Toolbox Pro to back everything up and see it has a build.prop Editor that I was thinking of using to try the rotation hack again. Let's just say I am a bit leery right now.

***** So I bit the bullet and used the build.prop editor that came with ROM Toolbox Pro and worked like a charm. I now rotate with the best of them. Thanks again to zedorda for letting us know about this hack!

 

[oxymoron]

Given I barely had installed any apps I had not yet made a backup. I have since restored to stock and, using the Nexus 7 Toolkit on XDA, restored it to stock and am back to where I was. I installed ROM Toolbox Pro to back everything up and see it has a build.prop Editor that I was thinking of using to try the rotation hack again. Let's just say I am a bit leery right now.

As long as you make a backup before editing your build.prop, you'll be fine. I have two build.prop files that have different DPI. I just interchange them by renaming, so I can flip flop between tablet mode. One is set to 160, and I just name it build.prop.tab when I'm using the stock DPI, and the other is set to 213 and is named build.prop.stock. Whenever I want to change back and forth, I just rename it and reboot. I know... this is the "hard" way, lol

I just said that to illustrate that you shouldn't have any problems. For safety's sake, you can keep a copy of your original build.prop on your computer. You can always remove the corrupted one, and push the clean one with adb. Then you could reboot right back up like nothing happened.

To do that, you would just type:

adb shell rm /system/build.prop
then...
adb push /system/build.prop

 

[ragnarokx]

So tried just editing build.prop file and I kept getting error when I tried to save changes. Then copied build.prop file to new folder, made changes and saved it as qbuild.prop. Moved that file into same folder as build.prop file which I renamed xbuild.prop. Then renamed qbuild.prop to build.prop and saved it. All looked good so I powered down Nexus 7 but now I can't get it to start. Get screen with Google and lock on bottom and then nothing. Have I hosed my Nexus 7 and will now have to flash back to stock? Not sure I can even do that as I can't get into download mode. Ugh.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

TH

If you're using Root Explorer, make sure to tap the "RW" button or you can't edit files in low level directories like /system.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[bobmay]

I just downloaded Build Prop Editor and added the Force Launcher statement as shown above and set the variable to true. Rebooted and now the homescreen on my GNEX rotates to landscape.