MKG

[SamuriHL]

@SamuriHL - at this point I have the SGS4GPE rooted with an altered platform.xml and I hold a spare of the original file. I believe you are saying that reverting to the original file and then allowing the 4.4 update will result in a still rooted phone? And at that point I can again swap to the altered file to re-enable app access to the external storage. Is that right? Is file platform.xml under 4.4 identical to that of 4.3 in all respects? I am not unhappy with the existing situation and having 4.4 but with unwriteable external SD storage would be very damaging to my use of the device. Thanks to you or anyone else for guidance.

The OTA will remove permissions on the su binary, so, in effect you will lose root. But it's easy enough to get it back.

Ok I couldn't leave well enough alone. I have my phone updated and rooted via your Odin image and it was working great (minus SD card write access) I read over in XDA that the modified platform.xml was still working on 4.4 so I downloaded the modified file and copied it to my phone but before doing so I copied the original and made a back up. I then used ES file explorer to copy and replace the modified xml to system/etc/permissions. It did not work as stated in the XDA thread. I was getting all kinds of errors, programs force closing, nothing really working at all. The phone boots up but constant errors. I then copied the original xml file and put it back but no luck. I booted in stock recovery, wiped the cache and rebooted numerous times. I copied the original platform.xml over a couple of times and no luck, the phone boots but numerous errors and messages of programs closing. I tried flashing your 4.4 update odin image again and that loaded fine but it did not fix the problem. Is this fixable?

Everyone is so fixated on this platform permissions change. As you have discovered, not knowing EXACTLY what you're doing can seriously screw things up. Fixable? Yea, you're probably going to have to ODIN flash it again and perhaps even FDR. That's not a lot of fun. I've had lots of people ask me about this platform.xml file. I know nothing about it, I've never edited, and have absolutely no plans to do so. When you mess with system files, there is a risk involved. And it doesn't always work out in your favor unfortunately. Personally I install TWRP custom recovery, and nandroid before I touch anything. That way I can always restore back to stock unmodified quickly and easily. If you're going to touch potentially dangerous files that can corrupt your phone, it's a smart idea to nandroid.

 

[argold]

Thanks for your continuing newbie support!

The OTA will remove permissions on the su binary, so, in effect you will lose root. But it's easy enough to get it back..

That "easy enough" bit - is that merely my running the already installed SuperSU app and re-adjusting the settings to Enable Superuser or would I need to run the rooting procedure anew with adb.exe, fastboot.exe and image file recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.6-jfltexx.img?

The last time around I was willing to take the risks of running a procedure that I did not fully understand because Google had rendered the device useless for my needs. But at this point I have a working SGS4GPE with Android v4.3 and so now there is no justification to risk my bricking the device.

 

[Beachbum37]

The OTA will remove permissions on the su binary, so, in effect you will lose root. But it's easy enough to get it back.



Everyone is so fixated on this platform permissions change. As you have discovered, not knowing EXACTLY what you're doing can seriously screw things up. Fixable? Yea, you're probably going to have to ODIN flash it again and perhaps even FDR. That's not a lot of fun. I've had lots of people ask me about this platform.xml file. I know nothing about it, I've never edited, and have absolutely no plans to do so. When you mess with system files, there is a risk involved. And it doesn't always work out in your favor unfortunately. Personally I install TWRP custom recovery, and nandroid before I touch anything. That way I can always restore back to stock unmodified quickly and easily. If you're going to touch potentially dangerous files that can corrupt your phone, it's a smart idea to nandroid.

I just did a wipe/factory reset and everything is GTG. I didn't lose much doing it and it probably needed it as i haven't really done it since i have had the phone. I guess there are different ROE for copying/pulling/pasting/replacing files using ES file explorer in root or in general of Android. I am usually very careful when doing this type of stuff but my limited knowledge of this file system, well I have to keep telling myself it is not windows.

So what would be a good way to get SD Card write access back? It is rather lame that it is disabled and no longer an option for folks who really utilize it. Although I will have a Nexus 5 tomorrow and i hope i like it enough and will not have to worry about the Ext SD card issues but i would still like it to work on the GS4 if i decide to keep it. (No more experimenting for awhile)

 

[SamuriHL]

Thanks for your continuing newbie support!

That "easy enough" bit - is that merely my running the already installed SuperSU app and re-adjusting the settings to Enable Superuser or would I need to run the rooting procedure anew with adb.exe, fastboot.exe and image file recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.6-jfltexx.img?

The last time around I was willing to take the risks of running a procedure that I did not fully understand because Google had rendered the device useless for my needs. But at this point I have a working SGS4GPE with Android v4.3 and so now there is no justification to risk my bricking the device.

No, you can't just run SuperSU and expect it to fix it. You either need to re-root it or allow custom recovery to fix the permissions, which means installing custom recovery first. The root exploit I put together isn't hard to understand what it's doing....

o) Reboots into fastboot mode
o) Reboots into custom recovery in memory. DOES NOT overwrite anything on the phone at all. ALL partitions remain 100% stock. It's a memory boot ONLY.
o) Once you put recovery into sideload mode, we use adb to sideload the supersu.zip file. All this does is puts the su binary on the system partition and installs supersu app.

Uh, that's it. It's pretty safe.

 

[SamuriHL]

I just did a wipe/factory reset and everything is GTG. I didn't lose much doing it and it probably needed it as i haven't really done it since i have had the phone. I guess there are different ROE for copying/pulling/pasting/replacing files using ES file explorer in root or in general of Android. I am usually very careful when doing this type of stuff but my limited knowledge of this file system, well I have to keep telling myself it is not windows.

So what would be a good way to get SD Card write access back? It is rather lame that it is disabled and no longer an option for folks who really utilize it. Although I will have a Nexus 5 tomorrow and i hope i like it enough and will not have to worry about the Ext SD card issues but i would still like it to work on the GS4 if i decide to keep it. (No more experimenting for awhile)

Ultimately it's up to the apps that write to the SDCard to update to use the new permissions model. Otherwise you can attempt to hack the hell out of the platform.xml file again and maybe get it to work as you expect. If that's what you want to do, you're going to have to search for a working platform.xml for 4.4. I have zero interest in pursuing this for people. And will not be doing so.

 

[citrushelp]

may i use it also 9500 ?

 

[SamuriHL]

Not if you like a working phone that isn't bricked.

 

[King Howie]

I just did a wipe/factory reset and everything is GTG. I didn't lose much doing it and it probably needed it as i haven't really done it since i have had the phone. I guess there are different ROE for copying/pulling/pasting/replacing files using ES file explorer in root or in general of Android. I am usually very careful when doing this type of stuff but my limited knowledge of this file system, well I have to keep telling myself it is not windows.

So what would be a good way to get SD Card write access back? It is rather lame that it is disabled and no longer an option for folks who really utilize it. Although I will have a Nexus 5 tomorrow and i hope i like it enough and will not have to worry about the Ext SD card issues but i would still like it to work on the GS4 if i decide to keep it. (No more experimenting for awhile)

I'm on 4.4 and did the platform.xml edit. I am able to write to my SD. Also, you won't have EXT SD card issues because Nexus devices do not have EXT SD cards

 

[jonnyships]

You can write to the package cache folder for the file explorer app of your choosing on 4.4. In the case of FX Explorer it's /storage/extSdCard/Android/data/nextapp.fx/. Just move your files there using a PC and you can organize them on your phone. You won't be able to edit the files there with another app, but you can move your DCIM folder when it gets to big to free up internal space. Or copy movies over smb/ftp without needing to be hookedup to a computer.

I hope PocketCast gets updated to the new API, as of right now, they can't write to the SDCard

 

[Imran Ali5]

Hello Samurihl, I followed your insructions from xda forums and installed 4.4. My question is, will this allow OTA updates in the future or do I have to manually update every time?

 

[SamuriHL]

That depends on what you do with root. If you screw up system files, then the ota will fail. If you leave it as it was flashed it'll take OTA's just fine.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Imran Ali5]

Nope, not planning on screwing with platform.xml again. I've learnt my lesson. Even though not having the SD card write access sucks! So if I understand it correctly with 4.4 the write permission is managed through the apps instead of locally? Which means the devs need to update their apps? Also, now that I have 4.4 installed with root following your method, can I unroot? Will it cause any issues?
I'd like you to know that we a handful of gs4gpe users really appreciate your help. You have no idea how much grief I would've been in if it wasn't for your contributions. Just want to say thank you!

 

[SamuriHL]

Unrooting is fine. Won't cause any problems. Leaving it there won't cause any problems either.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk 4

 

[kjnangre]

My thanks also, SamuriHL!! Having modified platform.xml, I used your Full Rooted Restore to get to 4.4. And then modified platform.xml again

 

[Imran Ali5]

And you did that and have no issues with your device? When I modified it on 4.4 all hell broke loose and every thing was crashing. I had to reset the device to fix it.

 

[kjnangre]

No issues so far (been 2 days). Just to be clear, I added the one line to the platform.xml file, I didn't try to replace the file with my modified Android 4.3 version of platform.xml

 

[SamuriHL]

Cough cough 4.4.2 in a few weeks.

 

[kjnangre]

Cough cough 4.4.2 in a few weeks.

Please let me know when the full rooted restore is ready!!

Just kidding, I kept an original platform.xml so I can easily go back and take the OTA. Actually, if memory serves, the minor update following 4.3 worked OTA even with a modified platform.xml (my memory might be fuzzy though)

 

[SamuriHL]

It'll be ready 4 hours after I get it installed on my phone, actually.