XDA Developers’ Android™ Hacker’s Toolkit
Table of Contents
First Things First: What Is XDA?
What You Need to Use This Book
Chapter 1: Android OS Internals: Understanding How Your Device Starts
How Your Android Device Starts
Understanding the Bootloader Process
Custom Recoveries: The Holy Grail
Chapter 2: Rooting Your Android Device
Increasing the Service Life of the Device
How You Can Root and Leave Your OEM’s Control
Scripted and One-Click Methods
Chapter 3: The Right Tool for the Job
Ready, Set, . . . Wait I Have to Have What?
Connecting a Phone to a Computer
Using the Android Debug Bridge
Copying Files to and from Your Device
Harnessing the Power of the Penguin with ADB Shell
BusyBox: Giving the Penguin Back Its Power
Chapter 4: Rooting and Installing a Custom Recovery
Using a Script or Application on a Device
Make It All So Easy: Get A Custom Recovery!
Updating a Device from the SD Card
Resetting a Device to Factory Condition
Installing a Zip File from the SD Card
Backing Up and Restoring a Device
Mounting Partitions and Managing Storage
Precautions for Success and Data Recovery
Backing Up Through a Recovery Process
Backing Up Through an Application
What Happens if It Goes Really Wrong?
Chapter 5: Theming: Digital Cosmetic Surgery
Changing the Look and Feel of Android
Theming with an Add-on Launcher
Walkthrough for Creating Theme Files
Walkthrough for Creating a Flashable ZIP File
Chapter 6: You’ve Become Superuser: Now What?
Popular Multi-Device Custom ROMs
Performance and Battery Life Tweaks
Part II: Manufacturer Guidelines and Device-Specific Guides
Chapter 7: HTC EVO 3D: A Locked Device
Using S-OFF and Permanent Root Requirements
Running the Revolutionary Tool
Installing the Superuser Binary
Installing a SuperUser Application
Chapter 8: Nexus One: An Unlockable Device
Resources Required for this Walkthrough
Placing the Nexus One in Fastboot Mode
Chapter 9: HTC ThunderBolt: A Tightly Locked Device
Resources Required for this Walkthrough
Checking a File’s MD5 Signature
Writing the Temporary Bootloader
Gaining Temporary Root to Unlock the MMC
Chapter 10: Droid Charge: Flashing with ODIN
Resources Required for this Walkthrough
Chapter 11: Nexus S: An Unlocked Device
Resources Required for this Walkthrough
Flashing the Device with a Recovery
Flashing the Device with the SuperUser application
Chapter 12: Motorola Xoom: An Unlocked Honeycomb Tablet
Resources Required for this Walkthrough
Pushing the Root File to the SD Card
Flashing the Device with a Recovery
Flashing the Device with a Universal Root
Chapter 13: Nook Color: Rooting with a Bootable SD Card
Resources Required for this Walkthrough