Finally - how to root the Parrot Asteroid permanently !!

Here we go! Finally I managed to obtain FULL root access on the Parrot Asteroid, meaning a working SuperUser App and permissions for all apps requesting Super User access.

We are using the rageagainstthecage exploit to get access to the radio.

Serious Warning:
Whith rooting the radio you obtain full access to all system files. This way it's easy to harm the radio and possibly brick it. Take care when performing root actions!
I don't take any responsibility should you harm your car stereo in any way.

But now....happy rooting!

What you need:
SD-Card formatted in FAT containing the following files:
- rageagainstthecage exploit (Warning: Will be recognized as virus/trojan, as it indeed acts as such on your android device.)
- Superuser.apk
- su binary
- A terminal emulator app (I prefer Terminal Emulator Pro) which is not free of charge but a great tool.
- USB Keyboard to attach to the car streo

How to obtain root access:
- Copy all the files from above onto the SD-Card.
- Plug it into your Parrot Asteroid and also plug in your usb keyboard
- Turn the radio on, choose "Installer" and install your terminal app.
- Start it
- Now enter the following lines in the terminal app, step by step. Press enter after each line:

cd /sdcard [Enter]
cp rageagainstthecage.bin /tmp [Enter]
cd /tmp [Enter]
chmod 0755 rageagainstthecage.bin [Enter]
./rageagainstthecage.bin [Enter]

Now be patient some seconds. You will see some text displayed and after ~20 seconds, you can see a message "[+] forked xxxx childs".

Press [Enter] and exit your terminal app. Terminal Emulator Pro can be closed by pressing the Asteroid's [menu]-key and choosing "exit" from the menu. Note: It is important to really quit the app, not just leaving it (as it will remain running in the background).

Having quit the terminal emulator, you need to restart it. On first try, it might crash, so just try it a second time.

Now, you should see a "#" sign instead of a "$" within the terminal emulator. If not so, you probably did something wrong.

See the #? Let's continue:
We now need to install the modified su binary and the Superuser app.
Therefore, type the following lines in your terminal app:

mount -o rw,remount /system /system [Enter]
rm /system/xbin/su [Enter]
rm /system/bin/su [Enter]
cp /sdcard/su /system/xbin/su [Enter]
chown root.root /system/xbin/su [Enter]
chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su [Enter]
cp /sdcard/Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk [Enter]
chown root.root /system/app/Superuser.apk [Enter]
chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk [Enter]
ln -s /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su [Enter]
mount -o ro,remount /system /system [Enter]


Finished! Exit your terminal emulator app and check wheter Superuser.apk is installed. You should see the icon when scrolling trough the radio menu.

Further restart your car stereo [Ctrl + Alt + Del] to see wether the root access is fully working. After a restart, open the terminal emulator again and only type

su [Enter]

When everything works as expected, a window should pop up, asking for su permissions. To grant them, use the volume knob to scroll down once. You can't see this, but clicking then will choose the option to grant access and you are in.

Let me know if this has worked for you.

-gforums

Credits:
http://www.techgeekguy.com/2010/12/how-root-motorola-backflip-1-5-rageagainstthecage-method/
http://c-skills.blogspot.com/

Update (07/29): Modified Superuser.apk to fit better the Asteroid's screen - thx to Jonas.

USB Hub Working

Just tested an USB-Hub today: Works as expected.
See Forum Post

Parrot DEVZONE Online

Parrot just opened up the Parrot DEVZONE and seems to have released the ASTEROID SDK.
Registered, downloaded, read everything...except debugging feature nothing that we didn't know of.
Just ordered my USB2LAN adapter...should arrive in about 1 to 2 days.
Looking forward to read some LogCat ;)

How to temporary root the Asteroid (sorry - no full root yet!)

okay I didn't get a full root working yet.

But here's what to do to temporary root the device. I hope I'll find a way for permanent root soon.

What you need:
- usb attached keyboard
-sd card containing (rageagainstthecage.bin) and any Terminal App .apk (Spezialized version coming soon).

ATTENTION: rageagainstthecage.bin is recognized as Virus/Trojan. This is because it acts like a trojan as it opens a backdoor on android. It won't harm your computer. Be sure to turn virus software of, should it interrupt the download of the file

Let's start:
1. Insert the sdcard with both files in the car stereo and attacht the keyboard to one of the usb hosts.
2. Power your car stereo on.
3. Choose "Installer" and the install Your Terminal App.
4. Start it.
5. Now type the following (press Enter after each line)
5a. "cd /sdcard"
5b. "cp rageagainstthecage.bin /tmp"
5c. "cd /tmp"
5d. "chmod 0755 rageagainstthecage.bin"
5e. "./rageagainstthecage.bin"
6. There appears some text. The exploit starts.
7. Wait until you see a line "[+] Forked xxxx childs." (xxxx is a number). This can take about 20 seconds.
8. When you see that line, press "Enter" once.
9. Then press the car stereos "Menu" button (the small black one with lines on it on the left from the display).
10. choose "Exit" from the upcoming menu.
------
11. Start the Terminal Emulator again. On first try it will crash. So do it again.

12. If all has worked well, you'll see a "#" instead a "$" at the prompt. That means, you have root access now.

That's where we are for now.
Next step will be getting a (modified) su and Superuser.apk to work. But that's not working yet - at least for me.

I'll keep you updated.
-gforums

Forum and Rooting guide online very soon!

Hi guys,

I'm participating in this blog together with Jonas now.
You can reach our global start page at asteroid.gforums.de.

The forum will follow very soon - it is currently offline.

I will also post a rooting guide very soon.

Stay tuned,
-gforums

ASTEROIDs KeyCodes

I took some time and a small selfmade app to determine the KeyCodes sent by ASTEROIDs hardware keys.
Turned out that two of them don't return one of the well known ones. Attached is an overview of the KeyCodes I received (Click here for bigger version).

Playing with my ASTEROID

Owning my ASTEROID for 4 days now i thoght it was time to try some development. After analyzing the preinstalled apps (which will be given to you by the "Save" function of the ASTEROID directly on a SD-Card) I started to put some code together. I quickly realized that the ASTEROID is just an Android device as any other. The only thing parrot could release as an sdk could be proprietary stuff like controlling connected bluetooth phones, tts or stt....looking forward to get this sdk anyways....started my slow development of turn-by-turn navigation, but will need some ideas to do in parallel to keep my mood up...