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Root How to reinstall system apps _as_ system apps.

humungus

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2010
124
39
I deleted a few system apps (all the social stuff, corp directory, email, etc). In a thread on DroidXForums (this one on the unrooting procedure) someone mentioned that they could not get the .604 update without some of the bloatware. Of course, this freaked me out a bit as I would certainly like to get Froyo when it comes out. So, I went about trying to reinstall the stuff I'd uninstalled. The system dump with all the default apps is here, and below is the procedure to get what you're missing reinstalled and visible as system apps. I used Root Manager but the same procedure should work for Root Explorer. If you prefer ADB I'm sure one of the more competent terminalists here can help you.

-Place the apk(s) of the apps on your sdcard.

-Use your chosen means to copy the apk(s) to /system/app (this will require making /system/app writable. In Root Manager just press the R/W key when you're exploring /system/app).

-You now need to change the app's permissions. In Root Manager, long press on the app (in /system/app) and click on "permissions". Then make sure that only the following boxes are clicked: User Read, User Write, Group Read, Others Read.

-Make sure you make /system/app read only again by clicking that box in the top right while you're exploring the folder.

-Reboot phone.

Now the apps should be loaded and the system should recognize them as system apps (you can verify by opening Titanium and noticing they're in red). This should make you good to go for whatever OTA comes. If you're unsure which apks in the system dump correspond to the apps you've deleted, just explore your /system/app and compare it to the system dump app list. Any apks in the dump but not in yours are what you're looking for.
 
Thank you for this. I just realized this morning that they did not count as system apps and then I saw this helpful post.

I have one question though. Does Kindle show up as a system app if you did not remove it? It was not on my phone until the update.

The reason why I asked is there is not a Kindle apk in the back up that I saw.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Thank you for this. I just realized this morning that they did not count as system apps and then I saw this helpful post.

I have one question though. Does Kindle show up as a system app if you did not remove it? It was not on my phone until the update.

The reason why I asked is there is not a Kindle apk in the back up that I saw.

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, Kindle shows up as a system app. The system dump posted above, and all of those I've seen, are from after the .604 update, so they all include the Kindle app. It's helpfully named "redding-7648-signed-zipped.apk". We should probably have a list which corresponds apks to apps, so people don't get confused. There were a number of apps I deleted but couldn't find until I just started installing all the apks in the system dump that weren't in my /system/app folder. For instance, Corporate Directory is MotoGAL.apk.
 
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Yeah, Kindle shows up as a system app. The system dump posted above, and all of those I've seen, are from after the .604 update, so they all include the Kindle app. It's helpfully named "redding-7648-signed-zipped.apk". We should probably have a list which corresponds apks to apps, so people don't get confused. There were a number of apps I deleted but couldn't find until I just start installing all the apks in the system dump that weren't in my /system/app folder. For instance, Corporate Directory is MotoGAL.apk.

Awesome! Thank you very much. I have one further question. What does NFS show up as?

Thank you again.
 
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Awesome! Thank you very much. I have one further question. What does NFS show up as?

Thank you again.

The Need for Speed game? That's actually not a system app, though it does come preinstalled. I uninstalled that from the "settings --> manage applications" menu when I first got the phone. It's not listed in the system dumps so it shouldn't be needed for any OTA updates (as far as I know). I'm unsure where to find a copy if you wanted to reinstall. There's a NFS game in the market, but it's $2 so it's obviously not the demo that came preinstalled on the X. Perhaps someone who hasn't deleted it can ferret out the apk (should be located in data/app) and post it?
 
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I'm putting this here because I'm a complete noob but I figured out what the above directions mean and I want to share it with other noobs,

I could not get the OTA update because I had removed blockbuster, amazon, and cityid completely. so i downloaded the zip file above that contains all of the apps, unzipped it, and dragged and dropped those three files on to the SD card. then i purchased root explorer from the market and used it to move the files from the SD card to the system/app folder. It is fairly straightforward how to do this once you play with root explorer for a bit. Then you're off to the next step: -Click on the apk once it's in /system/app and install it.

I followed the steps exactly, rebooted, downloaded the OTA update and installed it with no problems. Thank you humungus for the directions!!
 
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How do I get the apps from the PC (zip file of all apps) to the phone's SD card?

Just plug the X into your PC, put it in Mass Storage mode, and drop the the apks into the root folder (i.e., not in any folder). Next, put the X back into Charge Only mode. Then, in Root Explorer/Manager, the apks will be located in /sdcard. Move them per above to /system/app and follow the rest of the instructions.
 
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I used drag and drop method to put the apps on the SD card, is this OK?

Can someone post steps to copy the apps back?

"-Use your chosen means to copy the apk(s) to /system/app (this will require making /system/app writable. In Root Manager just press the R/W key when you're exploring /system/app)."

Drag and drop is fine. Make sure the X is in Mass Storage mode, move them over, put the X back into Charge Only mode, and move them to /system/app like specified above. Then follow the rest of the directions and you should be good to go.
 
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I'm putting this here because I'm a complete noob but I figured out what the above directions mean and I want to share it with other noobs,

I could not get the OTA update because I had removed blockbuster, amazon, and cityid completely. so i downloaded the zip file above that contains all of the apps, unzipped it, and dragged and dropped those three files on to the SD card. then i purchased root explorer from the market and used it to move the files from the SD card to the system/app folder. It is fairly straightforward how to do this once you play with root explorer for a bit. Then you're off to the next step: -Click on the apk once it's in /system/app and install it.

I followed the steps exactly, rebooted, downloaded the OTA update and installed it with no problems. Thank you humungus for the directions!!

Glad it worked. Hopefully we'll all be good for Froyo now.
 
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I deleted a few system apps (all the social stuff, corp directory, email, etc). In a thread on DroidXForums (this one on the unrooting procedure) someone mentioned that they could not get the .604 update without some of the bloatware. Of course, this freaked me out a bit as I would certainly like to get Froyo when it comes out. So, I went about trying to reinstall the stuff I'd uninstalled. The system dump with all the default apps is here, and below is the procedure to get what you're missing reinstalled and visible as system apps. I used Root Manager but the same procedure should work for Root Explorer. If you prefer ADB I'm sure one of the more competent terminalists here can help you.

-Place the apk(s) of the apps on your sdcard.

-Use your chosen means to copy the apk(s) to /system/app (this will require making /system/app writable. In Root Manager just press the R/W key when you're exploring /system/app).

-Click on the apk once it's in /system/app and install it.

-Now, you've installed the program, but the system won't see it as a system app unless you change it's permissions. In Root Manager, long press on the app (in /system/app) and click on "permissions". Then make sure that only the following boxes are clicked: User Read, User Write, Group Read, Others Read.

-Make sure you make /system/app read only again by clicking that box in the top right while you're exploring the folder.

-Reboot phone.

Now the apps should be loaded and the system should recognize them as system apps (you can verify by opening Titanium and noticing they're in red). This should make you good to go for whatever OTA comes. If you're unsure which apks in the system dump correspond to the apps you've deleted, just explore your /system/app and compare it to the system dump app list. Any apks in the dump but not in yours are what you're looking for.

can't you just chmod 755 the file from terminal and achieve the same result and not have to buy a 3rd party program? i'm pretty broke after buying this phone :rolleyes:

if so, what would be the correct commands, anybody? I'm not a linux expert, I think that is the correct chmod command but I'm not 100%.
 
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can't you just chmod 755 the file from terminal and achieve the same result and not have to buy a 3rd party program? i'm pretty broke after buying this phone :rolleyes:

if so, what would be the correct commands, anybody? I'm not a linux expert, I think that is the correct chmod command but I'm not 100%.

Find the thread for reinstalling Backup Assistant. The commands are in there. Just change the name of the APK to correspond with the one you are installing...
 
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Any way to test this to make sure other than factory reset and pray you don't go into boot loop?

The instructions did not say to factory reset the phone, only reboot, which I took to mean power cycle (turn off and turn on). That worked for me and I did not get boot loop. I only uninstalled 2 system apps to begin with and neither one was Backup Assistant.
 
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Any way to test this to make sure other than factory reset and pray you don't go into boot loop?

I've done a factory reset and had no problems. Of course, I made certain that all of the apps in the system dump were in my /system/app folder and that they all had the correct permissions. One surprise was that the NFS Shift demo was reinstalled on my phone after the reset. Weird.
 
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Ok so I found the hot spot is called my net but when I go to my rout manager and set system to rw I then go to move the file and astro will not let me. Any ideas as to why?

Move it using Root Explorer/Manager. Make sure that you've made /system/app RW. I don't know how Root Manager works, but in Root Explorer you can long press and it'll give you the option to move. Then go to /system/app (again, make sure this folder is RW), and paste it here. In Root Explorer it gives you a paste option on the bottom of the screen once you've selected to move something, since I don't have Root Manager I can't give you any details about how it works on there. Good luck.
 
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