Can't access data folder in the File Explorer of DDMS using a Nexus One!

Question

I have my Nexus One connected with the USB.

When I visit the File Explorer of the DDMS, if I click on the "data" folder the little plus near the name "data" disappear for 2-6 seconds and then reappear but the contenct of the folder "data" is not showed!

Here some other information:

• the folder data has permissions drwxrwx--x

• the OS of my PC is Windows XP

• Eclipse v. 3.5.2

• Android SDK 1.6

Answer 1

If the adbd daemon is running as root, you can browse /data using adb-based tools such as the DDMS file explorer or the adb shell.

If it's not, you can access a few files under /data and its children directly by their full path names, but you cannot browse (or 'cd' to) most of the folders, including /data itself.

"rooting" as an unofficial process means varying things and produces varying results - ie, adbd may or may not run as root.

If ro.secure is set to 0 in the startup scripts such as /init.rc, adbd will run as root, but that may not be a good idea on a user device. It is set to 0 on the emulator, and that's why you can browse /data there.

Finally, note that /init.rc is usually contained in a ramdisk image packed onto the kernel - you can't really edit it on the phone but would have to modify the image offline, re-attach it to the kernel, and re-flash them. Though if you have some sort of working 'su' hack you may be able to change the property temporarily and restart adbd.