Develop Bugs

hosts file and /system related

So I decided to fumble around a bit with my incredible, I read about the hosts file for blocking ads here and noticed that I would get permission denied errors, then when i had the phone with the screen on, did adb shell from a command prompt I got the super user permissions screen on my device.
now I was able to run the mount commands successfully, and as far as testing I was able to do mv /etc/hosts /etc/oldmaid and it took. however when I try to mv the other hosts file i get an error about a cross linked device. so i try doing a cat /sdcard/hosts.for.mobile.txt > /etc/hosts and get an error about the device not having sufficient space.
Anyone have any input on this? I know a cooked rom will already have this hosts file in it, but i'm trying to see if i can't get it going now.
Thanks!

I do not have one yet but what commands are available? Can you "locate hosts" or "find / -name hosts"
nm try this file "/system/etc/hosts" <-- stated in xda forums 3772987&postcount=5 Hope this is what you were looking for.

You are getting that error due to the fact that nand protection is still enabled. We need to flash a boot image with ro.secure=0 to be able to write to everything in /system.

ihtfp69 said:
You are getting that error due to the fact that nand protection is still enabled. We need to flash a boot image with ro.secure=0 to be able to write to everything in /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that would explain it. Thanks for the info!

[Q] How to change Bluetooth MAC Address

Is it possible to change it using root or adb please?

Why would you want to?

Nope. Impossible

NeoTechni said:
Why would you want to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just wanted to clone my wife's one for the hands free in the car to avoid having to switch through the menu in the car.

I was unable to locate /pds as per http://pocketnow.com/tweaks-hacks/motorola-atrix-4g-how-to-change-wi-fi-and-bt-mac from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=992326. I suspect every phone maker puts Bluetooth address where they wish...
However I was able to locate a zero byte bt_mac_addr file with no extension in /proc folder. It is empty both when bluetooth is on and off.
I hope someone more technically skilled than me can figure out if it can be populated to change the bluetooth address succesfully.
Thanks in advance

I looked at the '/proc/bt_mac_addr' file again using root explorer this time and can see my bluetooth mad address in it and could edit the address and change permissions to it but the modifications don't stay saved even after reboot though the root explorer says changes saved successfully. Can someone help me modifying the file please.
I'm on rooted 2.3.3

/proc is a virtual Filesystem provided by the Linux Kernel. The changes you made there won't persist a reboot cause it only gets saved in Ram.

Thank you. Does it mean I need a script of some type? Is it possible to achieve a change some other way? The pocketnow article seems to do it for the motorola phone but by modifying text file in another folder which I cannot find.
I followed the same process as follows using below commands
C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb push C:\APK\bt_mac_addr /sdcard/download/bt_mac_addr
1 KB/s (18 bytes in 0.015s)
C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>adb shell
$ su
su
# cp /sdcard/download/bt_mac_addr /proc/bt_mac_addr
cp /sdcard/download/bt_mac_addr /proc/bt_mac_addr
cp: can't create '/proc/bt_mac_addr': File exists
Is there another file I can change for it maybe?
Thanks again for all the help.

If you really want to do it then you can (On stock rom) use the same trick that is used for adb remount (Put an echo whatever into into /etc/install-recovery.sh)
You need to make sure it runs as root as well
Have a play around.
Installing the insecure adb apk (From Paul Modaco).
and
adding to the end.
/system/xbin/echo 8D:64:22:01:E2:A9 > /proc/bt_mac_addr
looks like it should work.
(If you have an unlocked bootloader then you can just do it from init.semc.rc in the initramfs)
Or you can look at the method (I posted the manual method in the rooting/insecure adb thread).
This presumes that this is actually working (Its possible you might have to restart a service to actually change it).

just make a simple init.d script

Thank you both. I Will look at it when i'm at the pc. A bit scared having never done anything similar. I Appreciate your guidance very much
Sent from my R800i

Thanks again for your previous replies. I tried "/system/xbin/echo 00:01:02:03:04:05 > /proc/bt_mac_addr" using script manager with superuser permissions granted and running in root mode but it gives the following error: "echo: write error: Input/output error". Same problem in gscript unfortunately.
Would you please tell me what this means and kindly suggest what I should do. I have not figured out yet how to do adb insecure or init.d but hope you could suggest the best way after seeing the above error.
Thanks in advance

ps3taker said:
Thanks again for your previous replies. I tried "/system/xbin/echo 00:01:02:03:04:05 > /proc/bt_mac_addr" using script manager with superuser permissions granted and running in root mode but it gives the following error: "echo: write error: Input/output error". Same problem in gscript unfortunately.
Would you please tell me what this means and kindly suggest what I should do.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have to remount /system writable

Atarii said:
You probably have to remount /system writable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you - I tried this but still same error

ps3taker said:
Thank you - I tried this but still same error
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this:
Code:
echo "00:01:02:03:04:05" > /proc/bt_mac_addr

DooMLoRD said:
try this:
Code:
echo "00:01:02:03:04:05" > /proc/bt_mac_addr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - I tried this but it still gives the same input/output error unfortunatelly
Besides mounting system as rw via script manager option I also enabled run at boot, run on network change, run as root but still no change before and after reboot.
I hope you could think of something please. Maybe /proc folder needs to be mounted rw but i'm not sure how or if it is not rw already - root explorer has no problem openning it rw straight away...
Thanks again for everybody's help in advance

ps3taker said:
Thanks - I tried this but it still gives the same input/output error unfortunatelly
Besides mounting system as rw via script manager option I also enabled run at boot, run on network change, run as root but still no change before and after reboot.
I hope you could think of something please. Maybe /proc folder needs to be mounted rw but i'm not sure how or if it is not rw already - root explorer has no problem openning it rw straight away...
Thanks again for everybody's help in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't work as that interface is read only
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

Thanks for trying to help.
I wonder if there is another file somewhere. Any idea what Play's equivalent of Motorola's Atrix 4G folder called "/pds" is - as it it seems to work for them: http://pocketnow.com/tweaks-hacks/motorola-atrix-4g-how-to-change-wi-fi-and-bt-mac
Thanks again for all the help - it was exiting to try scripts and other things you pointed me to.

[FIX] Google Music streaming (re-write 2011-11-12)

If your Google Music (version 3 and 4 are affected the same) will sync, download, but not play the song while downloading (i.e. streaming; sometimes displaying the "Failed to play the requested stream" error), read this for the solution.
UPDATE 2011-11-12: I have re-written this post with simpler instructions for fixing the issue. If you would like more details, scroll down and read my original (in-depth) post.
NOTE: If you installed Google Music and it never asks to associate with your Google account, thus your online "cloud" music does not show up, this is a different issue. You need to move Music2.apk to /system/app/ directory and run Fix Permissions.
The Fix
Go to Google Music Settings and under Manage my devices make sure that you don't have the max 8 devices registered. You can safely De-authorize them all to be sure; they will re-authorize automatically.
Try streaming music again in Google Music.
If this does not fix the issue, then you have a bad /system/etc/hosts file. Don't worry if you don't know what this is.
Download ROM Toolbox if you don't already have it (it is included with StarBurst ROM v1.9). Note that you will need to be rooted to use most functions of this app.
Open ROM Toolbox, scroll down on the Tools page and click on Ad Blocker, select the items you would like to block (what you select does not affect the Google Music fix), and click Download & Install Hosts.
Try streaming music again in Google Music.
For ROM Developers
Please ensure that any hosts file you distribute or software you distribute that modifies the hosts file results in a UNIX-formatted hosts file with proper localhost entries.
Old post:
Background
The Google Music non-streaming occurs when localhost connections do not resolve. I was clued in when a lot of people said that streaming didn't work with ad-blocking "software" (a.k.a. modified hosts files) were installed. You can test this by running 'ping localhost' in adb or a terminal emulator (please google this if you don't know how). If this fails (with 'ping: unknown host localhost'), then you have the problem, and it could potentially cause problems in other apps other than just Google Music.
Problem
The problem occurs when Android cannot read the /system/etc/hosts file, or does not have a proper entry for 'localhost'. This is usually (as in my case on StarBurst 1.9.5) because the file is of the wrong format, such as a Windows text file instead of a Unix text file.
Facts
Google Music will not stream if 'ping localhost' command fails
Android is very picky about reading lines in the /system/etc/hosts file. If there is an invalid character on a line, that line will not be parsed.
Android WILL read a properly formatted /system/etc/hosts file immediately (i.e. no need to reboot or run any command after making changes)
The /system/etc/hosts file should have permissions -rw-r--r--. To fix this, run 'chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts' (this won't actually cause the issue unless the file is not readable, but this is best practice)
The /system/etc/hosts file should begin (the first uncommented line) with the following: 127.0.0.1 localhost
The /system/etc/hosts file should be formatted as UNIX text, not Windows text
Fix
This depends on exactly what ROM you are running, what has modified your hosts file, and thus what the issue is. I recommend you retrieve the /system/etc/hosts file from your device and put it on your computer for examination. Check that it is formatted as Unix text, not Windows text. Google this if you don't know how. I think Notepad++ or something can do this, but don't quote me (I'm a Linux guy).
Speaking of Linux, here are the steps to test & fix the issue on Linux:
Retrieve the file: adb pull /system/etc/hosts hosts
Look at its format: file hosts
If it reports 'ASCII English text', then the format is not your issue. You should then inspect the contents of the file for errors and correct as necessary.
If it reports 'ASCII English text, with CRLF line terminators', then it is incorrectly formatted as Windows text. Fix it with: dos2unix hosts
Ensure that the first non-comment line in the file is exactly the following: 127.0.0.1 localhost
Remount the /system partition for writing: adb remount
Push the fixed file back to your device: adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
Set the correct permissions: adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts
Test connectivity is successful: adb shell ping localhost
Stream music successfully
I'm sure someone could write a howto for Windows and Mac as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thank you so much for this! I used rom toolbox to download and install new hosts file and my music is back up and streaming!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Wow, that's awesome! I don't have problems with it now because I switched to a different rom, but last I checked some of the Starburst roms have it.

Can we do this via root explorer?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

xak944 said:
If your Google Music (version 3 and 4 are affected the same) will sync, download, but not play the song while downloading (i.e. streaming; sometimes displaying the "Failed to play the requested stream" error), read this for the solution.
Background
The Google Music non-streaming occurs when localhost connections do not resolve. I was clued in when a lot of people said that streaming didn't work with ad-blocking "software" (a.k.a. modified hosts files) were installed. You can test this by running 'ping localhost' in adb or a terminal emulator (please google this if you don't know how). If this fails (with 'ping: unknown host localhost'), then you have the problem, and it could potentially cause problems in other apps other than just Google Music.
Problem
The problem occurs when Android cannot read the /system/etc/hosts file, or does not have a proper entry for 'localhost'. This is usually (as in my case on StarBurst 1.9.5) because the file is of the wrong format, such as a Windows text file instead of a Unix text file.
Facts
Google Music will not stream if 'ping localhost' command fails
Android is very picky about reading lines in the /system/etc/hosts file. If there is an invalid character on a line, that line will not be parsed.
Android WILL read a properly formatted /system/etc/hosts file immediately (i.e. no need to reboot or run any command after making changes)
The /system/etc/hosts file should have permissions -rw-r--r--. To fix this, run 'chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts' (this won't actually cause the issue unless the file is not readable, but this is best practice)
The /system/etc/hosts file should begin (the first uncommented line) with the following: 127.0.0.1 localhost
The /system/etc/hosts file should be formatted as UNIX text, not Windows text
Fix
This depends on exactly what ROM you are running, what has modified your hosts file, and thus what the issue is. I recommend you retrieve the /system/etc/hosts file from your device and put it on your computer for examination. Check that it is formatted as Unix text, not Windows text. Google this if you don't know how. I think Notepad++ or something can do this, but don't quote me (I'm a Linux guy).
Speaking of Linux, here are the steps to test & fix the issue on Linux:
Retrieve the file: adb pull /system/etc/hosts hosts
Look at its format: file hosts
If it reports 'ASCII English text', then the format is not your issue. You should then inspect the contents of the file for errors and correct as necessary.
If it reports 'ASCII English text, with CRLF line terminators', then it is incorrectly formatted as Windows text. Fix it with: dos2unix hosts
Ensure that the first non-comment line in the file is exactly the following: 127.0.0.1 localhost
Push the fixed file back to your device: adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
Set the correct permissions: adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts
Test connectivity is successful: adb shell ping localhost
Stream music successfully
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on step six and when i try to push the file back I am being told "failed to copy 'hosts' to '/system/etc/hosts': Read-only file system"
EDIT: using romtoolbox to redue my host files was the perfect solution!

penskyc said:
I am on step six and when i try to push the file back I am being told "failed to copy 'hosts' to '/system/etc/hosts': Read-only file system"
EDIT: using romtoolbox to redue my host files was the perfect solution!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll update the OP to include the 'adb remount' command to allow read-write to the /system partition. Thanks for pointing this out and glad you got it working.

Wow, I thought it was just something I would have to live with. It was really annoying having to wait for the entire song to download before it would play. Thank you!

marcosowns said:
Wow, I thought it was just something I would have to live with. It was really annoying having to wait for the entire song to download before it would play. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it was a damn near magical experience when I got the song to stream nearly immediately after clicking Play (on 3G nonetheless!) when I finally figured out the solution! I'm sure you're just as happy as I am to have this awesome service back. Cheers!

holy damn, all I can see is a bunch of gibberish, but ya'll make it seem so easy. Thank god for people like you. I have no idea what ya'll are talking about, but hope that this will be pushed through to the roms. Would be nice to stream google music through 3g instead of wifi. Nice job!!!

ffkip911 said:
Would be nice to stream google music through 3g instead of wifi. Nice job!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, this problem has nothing to do with connection method (3G/wifi). When this problem is present, streaming of songs while they download will not work at all, regardless of connection method.

xak944 said:
Just to be clear, this problem has nothing to do with connection method (3G/wifi). When this problem is present, streaming of songs while they download will not work at all, regardless of connection method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification OP

How is everyone getting the ics music to stream, I got it to sync with gmusic on my vibrant but it never comes upwith the option to connect to my account on my e4gt
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

nacron said:
How is everyone getting the ics music to stream, I got it to sync with gmusic on my vibrant but it never comes upwith the option to connect to my account on my e4gt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Off topic, but you need to install the .apk to /system/app/. There are other threads with this info.

All is right in the world!

xak944 said:
Off topic, but you need to install the .apk to /system/app/. There are other threads with this info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

This reminds me of a dormatt I need to get for my front door that says "there is no place like 127.0.0.1"
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

1 thing worked for me
After trying to reinstall hosts files the only thing that worked is removing all of my authorized devices on google.music.com websites under settings. Thanks a million for the tip

Can anyone help me with figuring this out with Windows?

DizDroid said:
Can anyone help me with figuring this out with Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, i cant get even 1 song to stream, and my music app is from the market
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

DizDroid said:
Can anyone help me with figuring this out with Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're rooted, you can download a new hosts file directly from your phone with ROM Toolbox (on Android Market). This did the trick for me.

[Q] Problem copy racoon to phone using adb

Hello,
My Arc S seems to suffer from the VPN-bug. That's why I am trying to replace a file ('racoon') in the /system/bin directory by a manipulated one. That should solve my problem. Sounds quite simple. But how can I best do that?
I am quite a newbie in this world, but I managed to root my phone, install Ultimate HD 3.0.2 and unlock the bootloader, gratefully using all the knowledge you guys write down in your posts on this forum:good: The exact specs of my phone are at the end of this post.
Here is what I did already, but without luck:
Install Android SDK for Mac in order to get ADB working on my iMac (btw I did the rooting on a windows pc);
Connect phone to USB port (phone is turned ON) and check to see if my phone is there, using the ADB DEVICES command in Terminal. And it is there;
Then try to copy the manipulated racoon-file from the Mac into the /system/bin directory on the phone, using the ADB PUSH command, but I get a read-only file system message;
Thinking the message may be caused by the fact that my bootloader is still locked, I unlocked it (few days after the rooting) using the unlocking code I received from Sonymobile. And it successfully unlocked;
But now I still get the read-only message when using the ADB PUSH command
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Specs:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S (LT18i)
Android 4.0.4
Ultimate HD 3.0.2
2.6.32.9-perf
Unlocked and rooted

A bit further
I've come a bit further following a tutorial I found on the internet (sorry I'm not allowed to post the link as a newbie). It describes how to copy a file, simply by using the phone, instead of adb on the Mac. I am using ConnectBot app on the phone as a terminal. But now I am coping with some syntax problems:
The copy command:
Code:
cp
must be replaced (apparently because of the Busybox version that comes with Ultimate HD 3.0.2), by:
Code:
busybox cp
from what I found out on the internet. And indeed it worked, great!.
But then this:
Code:
chgrp shell racoon
I changed it into this:
Code:
busybox chgrp shell racoon
But it comes with a message that the applet is unknown or something.
So at this moment there is something wrong with the rights to the racoon file and I don't know how to solve it.
Could anyone guide me through this syntax please?

Found it!
Apparently my busybox expects a Group id, instead of Group name. So with the below mentioned statement I managed to execute the code, where 2000 is the id for the group 'shell':
Code:
busybox chgrp 2000 racoon
Btw. the error message was about an unknown group, not applet like I said in my previous post.
Unfortunately the new racoon file didn't solve my problem of not being able to connect through VPN. At least with the original racoon file it tried to connect before an error occured, but with the new racoon file I only get a time-out. No attempts are made to connect.

[Q] Problem sideloading kodi.tv

I am having issues. The first time I tried this I thought it was a success as I went through the steps and got the loading screen on the fire tv to come up. I waited for about 10 minutes and then the firetv reset but Kodi did not install.
Now I am trying to do it and when I hit enter after the string to sideload the .apk nothing happens. I get no response in the terminal and it just goes to the next line. I cannot figure this out for the life of me.
I am using terminal on a mac. This method http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-apps-amazon-fire-tv-mac/
please help.

Try the additional "-r" option during install ('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data).
For e.g.:
Code:
adb install -r kodi.apk

Calibaan said:
Try the additional "-r" option during install ('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data).
For e.g.:
Code:
adb install -r kodi.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - I am brand new to mac so this is new to me. So basically my string would be
./adb install /Users/YourUserName/Desktop/-r filename.apk
?

seagood3 said:
Thanks - I am brand new to mac so this is new to me. So basically my string would be
./adb install /Users/YourUserName/Desktop/-r filename.apk
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The option "-r" must be used before the complete path to the APK file. Have a look:
Code:
./adb install -r /Users/YourUserName/Desktop/filename.apk

Calibaan said:
No. The option "-r" must be used before the complete path to the APK file. Have a look:
Code:
./adb install -r /Users/YourUserName/Desktop/filename.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried this and got the same issue where when I hit return, it just drops down to the next line. I don't understand this.

seagood3 said:
I just tried this and got the same issue where when I hit return, it just drops down to the next line. I don't understand this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't you use adbfire on your mac..... it's available from this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786505 it might make things a little easier...

slackbladder said:
Couldn't you use adbfire on your mac..... it's available from this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786505 it might make things a little easier...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used that because I am running into all kinds of issues. First I got the "Can't create log file" error. I googled that and see that I need to drag the app onto the desktop or into the applications folder. The problem is when I try to move it I get another error message "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items". I feel like such a newb with this Mac. I have no clue how to troubleshoot.
any help?

Any chance you have a Windows PC connected to your network that you can try? I did this (http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-apps-amazon-fire-tv-windows/) and had no issues.
If you can get ES File Explorer onto the FireTV, then you can go to Network/Cloud and add an account, connected it to a Dropbox account, then just download apks and open them from ES File Explorer, you won't need the PC or adb any more.

seagood3 said:
I just tried this and got the same issue where when I hit return, it just drops down to the next line. I don't understand this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you even connect to the aTV?
Try some ADB commands to see if ADB does really work:
Code:
adb devices
This should list all via ADB connected devices. If the list is empty you´re not connected.
When your device is connected try some basic shell commands:
Code:
adb shell
This opens a bash shell. Within this shell type
Code:
ls
and the directory content of the actual folder should be listed.
ADB shell can be left with:
Code:
exit
If this isn´t working, check your ADB version you have installed and try to install a newer/other one. I had such an issue once on Windows with an Android tablet which couldn´t be connected with the ADB version I had already installed on my PC so I took another ADB version and it worked. Of course this shouldn´t be but it seems that this can happen.
Another hint might be your problems regarding adbfire. Perhaps your user restrictions prevent ADB from proper working. I´m not firm on MAC´s but I think they support the "sudo" command (explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudo). So try your ADB commands again with an additional sudo before similiar like this:
Code:
sudo adb install kodi.apk

I can't figure this out - I am following this (http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-apps-amazon-fire-tv-mac/) perfectly and I got it to work the first time but it just didn't complete it for some reason and now every time when I hit enter on the last step nothing happens.
I can't use the adbfire app because of the other issue.
WTF? why isn't the method through terminal working?

seagood3 said:
I can't figure this out - I am following this (http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-apps-amazon-fire-tv-mac/) perfectly and I got it to work the first time but it just didn't complete it for some reason and now every time when I hit enter on the last step nothing happens.
I can't use the adbfire app because of the other issue.
WTF? why isn't the method through terminal working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know...on mac you need to use ./ unless you configure it otherwise so to connect I'd type ./adb connect myipaddress
If you are connecting then you have adb working. I use adbfire but here's what I'd do...
I like keeping my adb folder with platform tools on my desktop. Put the apk you want to install in that folder
type "cd" <space> then drag the whole folder into the terminal--hit enter
now type ./adb connect youripaddress--hit enter
if it says connected type ./adb install<space>then drag the apk from inside your adb folder right into the terminal--hit enter
If you did it right nothing will happen instantly. It depends on how fast your connection is. Wait up to 5 minutes I'd say and you'll either get a success message of an error. If it's the latter, post it here.

Did you read my previous topic and tried what I´ve written?
Forget this Howto since it is just a general guideline and it can´t help you with your actual problem since it is more or less a first time installation guideline but you have already had a previous installation which makes the difference. It can also not deal with restrictions on your system side for e.g. if ADB wouldnt´be allowed to access USB.
If you´re sure that your system is not restricted anyway and ADB should work and if you still prefer to work only with this guideline do a factory reset within your FireTV. This should set the box in a state back again where this guideline should work how it is intended.
Or try SPMC from Amazon App Store which would be the easiest way:
http://www.amazon.com/Semperpax-SPMC/dp/B00MK49LL8