Yes, you can edit build.prop without root. in fact, you can change any system files without root i have edited build.prop on my android one this way when there was no root for marshmallow why can't you do it normally? because you don't have permissions to or your system is read only.. Most of android partitions are mounted as read only. for eg. /system where most of the libs and other system components are stored, including the permissions.xml file. you can temporary re-mount the /system partition to read write and load your new files to that partition!. I am trying to edit my rootsystemcustomizewidgets.txt file. however it is showing read only. what program can i use to change a file to not be read only. i have tried astro and es file explorer; neither appears to have an option to do this..
Xda-developers samsung galaxy s i9000 galaxy s i9000 q&a, help & troubleshooting [q] how to change read only files to normal by sas_sas xda developers was founded by developers, for developers. it is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.. How to mount /system rewritable or read-only? (rw/ro) up vote 48 down vote favorite. 31. how can i mount the /system directory rewritable or read-only on my android phone? windows mount android file system. 1. why can i write to a read-only system partition? 0. mount in shell as user or root with different output. 2.. Root explorer has a handy "mount rw" button, which re-mounts such read-only partitions for writes, but total commander doesn't seem to offer this functionality..