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Friday, May 20, 2011

Banish Sprint Activation Nag Screen On Samsung Galaxy Tab

If you have seen the screen above and are annoyed by it then this blog post needs no further explanation. For the rest of the world here is the story, I have a Sprint Galaxy Tab. Every time I cold boot it, I am presented with the activation screen above. Since the Tab was purchased sans 3G contract, the activation fails. I have found the screen can be disabled by deleting an apk file, SprintAndroidExtension.apk. This post will detail how to remove SprintAndroidExtension.apk and be free of the activation nag screen.


Here is where my standard disclaimer goes. I was able to do this but if you break your device, I am not in any way liable for that. Proceed at your own risk. Blah, blah,blah...


The first thing you need is a rooted Sprint Samsung Galaxy Tab. If you need help with that, my previous blog post will walk you through a method for rooting. I will build on that and use adb.exe from SuperOneClick. If you have another adb.exe installation, that will work also.


On the back of your Galaxy Tab, find the model. Mine is an SPH-P100. To get the drivers, go to http://www.samsung.com/us/support/. Download and install the appropriate driver package on your Windows computer. Before you connect the USB cable, power on your Galaxy Tab. Go to Settings->Applications->Development and enable USB debugging. If you have connected the USB cable you will not be able to enable or disable USB debugging until you unplug the cable. After you have enabled USB debugging, go ahead and plug in the USB cable to the tablet and the computer.


First, open a command prompt and change to your SuperOneClick directory. For me that means, click Start, Run, and type "cmd" followed by enter. Then I enter "cd C:\SuperOneClickv1.7-ShortFuse" and am now sitting in the right directory to proceed.

Now, make sure adb knows about your Tab. Type "adb devices" and you should see your device listed like below. If your device is not listed, make sure USB debugging is enabled and you have installed the Tab drivers.


Make a backup of SprintAndroidExtension.apk in case you decide you need to restore it in the future. From the command prompt, enter "adb pull /system/app/SprintAndroidExtension.apk" without the quotes. This copies SprintAndroidExtension.apk from the Tab to the current directory.




Now, find out what device is mounted on the /system filesystem. Type "adb shell mount" and try not to be overwhelmed. Look for the line that has "/system" similar to the highlighted below. In my case the device is /dev/block/stl9. Your should be the same but double check before you proceed.


Notice the "ro" on that line after /system? That means the filesystem is read-only and we will not be able to remove SprintAndroidExtension.apk until we remount it read-write. From your command prompt enter "adb shell" at the prompt. This will get you to an adb shell prompt.


Make sure you have your Tab unlocked and in front of you. You will need to be able to grant adb root permissions with Superuser. Type "su" at the adb command prompt and then look at your Tab. Superuser should prompt you to grant root priveleges to an unknown application. The end result should be a root prompt (#).



The next command will remount the /system filesystem read-write. Type the following "mount -o rw,remount -t ext2 /dev/block/stl9 /system" and press Enter. If your device is different from /dev/block/stl9, then make the appropriate substitution in the previous command. If you get an error message like Operation not permitted or Permission denied then you most likely are not running as root.


Finally, this command will remove the activation application, "rm /system/app/SprintAndroidExtension.apk" is what you need to type. WARNING!!! rm is the delete command and if you remove the wrong file you could potentially bork your Tab. After this, type exit twice to leave the adb shell.


The last thing to do is reboot and verify the Sprint activation nag is gone. The command "adb reboot" will reboot the Tab and you will be nag screen free!
 

How To Root The Samsung Galaxy Tab

 The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" tablet running Android 2.2 (Froyo). There are different models produced by wireless carriers, including Sprint and Verizon. You can purchase these devices without a contract but you will pay a premium. That's enough of the small talk, lets get to rooting.

Previously, there was an app called z4root that would allow you to root the Galaxy Tab. Although z4root was removed from the Android Market, you can still find it hidden away on the Internet. In my testing, I could no longer make it work with the Sprint Galaxy Tab. So what do you do? Follow the directions below and you will have root in just a few minutes.

Here's what you will need:
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab
  • USB cable
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab drivers
  • SuperOneClick
  • Windows computer with USB ports
  • Android Terminal Emulator (free from the Android Market)
I am using the Sprint version of the Galaxy Tab for this demonstration. These directions should work with other models but proceed with caution.


Standard disclaimer time! Rooting your device may be dangerous to the health of your Galaxy Tab. You are taking advantage of a vulnerability to gain elevated privileges on your device. If you are uncertain of what this means, do not proceed. I have tested this on the Sprint Galaxy Tab and been successful. That does not mean it will work for you! If you do proceed and you break your device, do not email me. You have been warned!


So, I guess you have decided to proceed. On the back of your Galaxy Tab, find the model. Mine is an SPH-P100. To get the drivers, go to http://www.samsung.com/us/support/. Download and install the appropriate driver package on your Windows computer.

While you have your browser warm, head over to the xda-developers forum site and download SuperOneClick. Here's a direct link to the forum topic, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682. Download the file named SuperOneClickv1.7-ShortFuse.zip and extract it to your desktop.

Before you connect the USB cable, power on your Galaxy Tab. Go to Settings->Applications->Development and enable USB debugging. If you have connected the USB cable you will not be able to enable or disable USB debugging until you unplug the cable. After you have enabled USB debugging, go ahead and plug in the USB cable to the tablet and the computer.

Now, we are ready to do the magic. Go to the SuperOneClick folder on your desktop and start SuperOneClick.exe. See the little shield icon? That means you have to run it with admin priveleges. Double click it and enter your admin credentials.

Look for the Root button, it should be easy to find! Click the Root button and wait.

Some messages will scroll across the screen. Hopefully, you will be prompted that the rooting was successful. Click yes to test and install the Superuser application. You will probably have to reboot the device before you will be able to get root. Disconnect the USB cable and reboot now.

That's it! Your device is rooted. You can test this by starting Android Terminal Emulator (install it from the Market if you don't have it). From the $ prompt, type su and hit enter. Superuser should prompt you to Allow this action. Choose to Allow and you will get a root (#) prompt! You are now root, so be careful what you type!