@antidroid said in Readonly Filesystem (Nexus 5) and broken power button:

Have you simply tried to put the file where you expect it to be even if it doesn't already exist? It may be that it looks in multiple locations for the file and it will work from where you expect it to be?

Yes i did adb push gpio-keys.kl /system/usr/keylayout/
It created the different directories and pushed the file but after a reboot on UT, the /system was exactly the same.
I wonder if there is a /system used by TWRP and a /system used by UT.
I don't know, I may not fully understand what I've done through these 4 days.
Anyways I learnt a lot of things playing with ROMS and recovery imgs. And the result is ... I 'm giving up Ubuntu touch for now but I have a fully fonctionning e/OS where I can lock / unlock the screen with my volume buttons. I did not reach my original goal but I am already satisfied with what I have done
This is thanks to you guys.

Update Day 4 : I installed e OS (from e foundation). Everything works well as expected.
But when i read @AntiDroid 's comment I had to try to push the file with TWRP.
So I wiped eveything again, reinstalled UT using ubports-installer, went to developper mode, reboot in recovery with TWRP.
And ... I can push my gpio-keys.kl to /sdcard but when i go to the file manager in TWRP, again i can only see a lost+found directory under /system when i mount System in TWRP (i tried different versions of TWRP).

Here is a little update.
Day 3 : I have installed multiple times android, paranoid android and ubuntu touch
I have used twrp recovery img and modified /system/usr/keylayout/gpio-keys.kl
as I said yesterday it works absolutely as expected on paranoid android but everytime I come back to ubuntu-touch (even when I uncheck every checkbox inside the ubport-installer )
the file /system/usr/keylayout/gpio-keys.kl is the default read-only file.

If anyone has a tip to help me set the /system partition writable or replace this file one way or another. If it is not possible, what i'm going to do next is probably go try paranoid android to play with in the next few days / weeks.

Is it possible to get a zip with the ubuntu touch ROM for NEXUS 5, so i can install it through twrp like i did with the other android systems ?

Thank you all for your help and keep up the good work.

@keneda Thank you very much. If you want the full story :
I bought 2 replacement buttons on the internet. I tried to do it myself first... it was a total disaster Then I brought it to a local repair shop. It cost me 35€. And it worked 2-3 months and broke again...
So now I just want to have a usable phone to play with UT.

@dobey Ok, I managed to flash my Nexus with an android rom. I could edit the files and it worked perfectly as expected. Then I reinstalled Ubuntu touch. I did not check the "wipe system" checkbox hoping the /system files would stay but unfortunately they have been replaced. I'm trying again tomorrow.
Thank you and good night

@dobey In recovery mode, the /system directory contains only a lost+found directory and i can't find the file /system/usr/keylayout/gpio-keys.kl

I tried this : https://nattster.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/use-volume-button-to-wake-up-nexus-5/

but at step 6 as i just said... the file doesn't exist. I'm a bit stuck here.

@kugiigi Wow... I didn't know this trick could work... this could be a solution indeed. Unfortunately, I have none to try it now but this is very interesting.

@dobey Ok thanks, i'm not very comfortable but I'll try my best. I think you provided a great help putting me on a good track.

note : it's adb reboot recovery according to the man page

Hi, thank you for your fast reply.

Can you explain a bit what you mean by "from recovery".
I am ready to try anything, am i not using the right tools ?

I understand what it implies but I think I can live without volume buttons as I can change the volume inside the settings pannel. Unfortunately, a phone without a power button is almost not usable. When the screen is locked, the only way to wake it right now is to plug a USB cable and then unplug it to unlock the screen. :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Hi everyone, here is my full story :
The power button of my Nexus 5 is broken.
I wanted to make some changes to be able to wake the phone with the volume buttons.
So, I wanted to modify the file /system/usr/keylayout/gpio-keys.kl but the file system is readonly.
I tried to reinstall the system using ubports software (hoping i would find an option RO or RW but i found none).
I tried the "magic rw feature" by creating a file/userdata/.writable_image.
I tried sudo mount -o rw,remount / that doesn't solve my problem and sudo mount -o rw,remount /system but it says mount: cannot remount /dev/loop1 read-write, is write-protected

I tried to play with the terminal within the phone and with adb shell.
So basically, i have 2 major problems :

1. Is it even possible to use the volume buttons like i would use the power button ?
2. If it is ... then how am I supposed to modify the system files ?

Thanks for reading.
Feel free to ask me additionnal informations.