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How does one re-set or edit the /system/build.prop, when changes kept it from booting up again? Rooted Optimus.

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What were the changes you made? – Chahk May 22 '12 at 12:39
bad dalvik.vm.heapsize – NoBugs May 22 '12 at 12:53
Which phone do you have? – Chahk May 22 '12 at 15:29

3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Try rebooting into recovery and connecting to the phone via ADB:

adb devices

It should give a message like this:

List of devices attached  
01234565ABCDEFG        recovery

You can then copy the file off the phone:

adb pull /system/build.prop c:\build.prop

You can now edit it in any text editor (recommend Notepad++ because it will preserve the Unix style line endings,) and then copy it back to the phone:

adb push c:\build.prop /system/build.prop

If the issue was indeed within that file, the phone should boot now.

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reboot recovery how? – NoBugs May 22 '12 at 13:49
Depends on the phone; it's usually different for each model. Usually you shut it off (pull the battery if you can't any other way) and then turn it on while holding a button or a combination of buttons. This should be in the manual. If not, try a Google search for "recovery mode" for your phone's model. – Chahk May 22 '12 at 13:52
Ok, phone recovery doesn't seem to have done anything, just showed a different boot animation. – NoBugs May 22 '12 at 14:53
1  
Did you have a custom recovery installed to begin with? – Chahk May 22 '12 at 15:29
up vote 0 down vote

You restore the backup you made before editing such a sensitive file.

rm build.prop
cp yourbackupbuild.prop build.prop

If you didn't have the foresight to make a backup, then I guess you can ask for someone with the same phone/software version to send you theirs.

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I wasn't able to su, it gave error in adb shell – NoBugs May 22 '12 at 12:52
up vote 0 down vote

I was able to restore the factory firmware using the instructions here. Worked with no problem on Windows 7. :)

I guess this is why we should use custom-recovery like Clockworkmod?

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