Develop Bugs

Installing '.apk' apps directly from a computer

Been looking for a thread on this but cannot seem to find it. How does one go about doing this? If I download an app to the computer and want to install directly to the phone, how can I do it if Kies does not allow me to do it? It keeps telling me it is not the right format when '.apk.' states it is.
BTW, is the lastest Kies suite v1.5.1.10074_2?

Switch to mass storage on your phone and transfer the file over.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

You don't need Kies. Just connect your phone as a "Mass Storage device" to your computer and copy the apk file either to the internal or external sd card. Then using a folder organizer (either the inbuilt or any other app like astro) locate the apk file on your phone and click on it. It should then prompt you to install it.
Hope this helps.

adb install

Or if u cant use USB cable, just transfer the .apk file to your SGS via bluetooth then find the file in your SGS. default is:/sdcard/bluetooth then ryn it from there.
GL

Estrongs File Explorer can access any share on your computer directly.

Also, you can use adbWireless (just search for it). Assuming the SDK is installed, you can do:
adb connect x.x.x.x (your phone's ip address)
adb install your_app.apk
No usb connection needed.

Thanks guys. I transfered the file directly using the Mass Storage method used Astro to gain access to the file to install it. Great help from all of you. I do appreciate it very much. Again, a big thank you.

Dropbox is also great for transfering apk-files to your phone!

appelflap said:
Dropbox is also great for transfering apk-files to your phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm using
Perfectly fine, and even very practical. I sometimes give out links to my dropbox to my friends if they want an app that they saw on my phone.

Whoops, double post.

Where are apps located on MTP view?

I have searched the forum and can't seem to find any help on this, but where are the apps located on the MTP view for the system? I am trying to load backup files for certain apps and can't find the folders for the life of me.
I really miss the easy SDCARD view .

You will not be able to see apps in MTP view, use Astro or any other file viewer on the device. I am not sure if its possible to use something like airdroid to see or not.

droid. said:
You will not be able to see apps in MTP view, use Astro or any other file viewer on the device. I am not sure if its possible to use something like airdroid to see or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried using Astro but could not locate. Do you guys know where they are on the system folders?

Using ES file explorer I see:
the apk files in /system/app
the binaries in /system/bin
most of the data is in various directories on /sdcard
Try using ptp mode instead of mtp; it seems to show more file types, at least on my win7
Airdroid is also good.

You can't see /system with MTP. MTP/PTP allow you to access the "sdcard" which is really just another folder of sorts.

that's a known down side of the MTP
just use root browser or Rom Toolbox

[Q] Why do folders on /SDCARD appear empty through computer?

This is driving me crazy. I want to copy the TitaniumBackup folder from my GNEX to my Win7 PC.
Looking at the folder through Root Explorer on the GNEX all appears normal. When I look at the folder through my computer the folder is showing but the contents are backups that are almost a month older than are on the GNEX. If I delete everything in that folder FROM THE PC it still exists on the GNEX.
It is like it is looking at a different folder entirely however looking and searching through ROOT EXPLORER there are no other TITANIUM BACKUP folders.
This happens with a lot of apps. Example: I created a ZIP file using ROOT EXPLORER. The zip, viewing through ROOT EXPLORER is located in the /SDCARD/SPEEDSOFTWARE/ZIP folder however when I look at the SPEEDSOFTWARE folder via my PC the folder is empty.
I have tried both MTP and PHOTO mode. This happens with a lot of folders when trying to view them from my PC connection. Some stuff is there and a lot is not.

Hmmm, there is a /MNT/SDCARD and a /SDCARD folder (I don't know much about Linux) and the files I am NOT seeing on my PC are in /MNT/SDCARD and the files I am seeing are in /SDCARD. Why are there 2 different "SDCARD" folders? I changed the TitaniumBackup to save to /SDCARD instead of /MNT/SDCARD but the backups are still not viewable (or copyable) from my computer. I just don't get it.
So the question is, how do you "backup" the contents of the "SDCARD" directory if you can't see the files when plugged into the PC?
Well, after comparing all the "visible" files on my computer when I access the GNEX via MTP vs what I see using ROOT EXPLORER the ONLY 2 folders NOT visible from my PC are TITANIUMBACKUP and SPEEDSOFTWARE (thus is the ROOTEXPLORER app data). Why would they be hidden?

It's due to how the Android MTP service works. It hasn't scanned your internal storage for the new files/directory to present to your PC yet.
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much! I have been pulling out my hair for days!

thank you! I had the same problem!worked flawlessly!

silow said:
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This was really driving me crazy...

is there one for phones on android kitkat 4.4 and up

silow said:
It's due to how the Android MTP service works. It hasn't scanned your internal storage for the new files/directory to present to your PC yet.
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this app is force closing. i cant even run it . do you have any idea? just today was working fine , i installed a custom rom and now when i try to put another roms on my sd card , i get this message that it's empty

trickster mod also has a media rescan option in bottom of tools section if this is helpful to you, I have to use it after using the "a better camera app" in order for pics to show in gallery without reboot

Can't delete folder?

How the hell can i delete a folder that can't be seen via PC connection but i can see it using es file explorer?
I can't delete it using ES even with root enabled....

zerozoneice said:
How the hell can i delete a folder that can't be seen via PC connection but i can see it using es file explorer?
I can't delete it using ES even with root enabled....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on where it is you need to mount it first. Which folder are you trying to delete?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

I had a folder that became corrupted (repeatedly interrupted game data downloads, I think). I was unable to delete it (even as root) and received an Access Denied error. I was able to rename the folder (so it wouldn't conflict anymore) and delete the majority of its contents (still received the Access Denied error on a file or two). I eventually had to do a full wipe via fastboot -w to get rid of the corrupted files.

had the same problem. had to reflash su.zip and it worked. can't explain it though. just reaching at straws

matt30 said:
Depending on where it is you need to mount it first. Which folder are you trying to delete?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's the folder created by the Photaf application.
i uninstalled the app and the folder is still there...permissions are writable, not hidden...
i can rename it, but can't delete it....and the subfolder within it as well...
i remember it happened once before and the only way to get rid of it was to reinstall the ROM (AOKP). Once installed, i could delete the folder.....

Try reinstalling the game and using settings/application/name of game clear data
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

bwcorvus said:
Try reinstalling the game and using settings/application/name of game clear data
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no effect, still can't be removed
LE: WTF, i just plugged in the phone into USB for charging and i saw the folder?! It deleted just fine?
Damn weird didn't do anything different than yesterday when i couldn't even see the folder via PC...

Thank you!
My Asus Transformer (TF101) hasn't been able to download anything to the Download folder for months now. Even Opera (which I installed just to try and fix this) could only download to a different folder. I did what you said, plugged it into the computer and first renamed the folder with ADB but couldn't create a new Download folder. "File already exists." Lies. Windows Explorer said it was still there as Download so I deleted it in Explorer and created a new folder named Download. The create failed but Android said it was there and Voila! I can download again. Very weird, but not ready yet to reformat in fastboot. Thanks guys!

If you're rooted you may be able to delete the files from /data/media, which is the true location, instead of the visual SD that you are seeing.
Could also be a file ownership issue.
Using a terminal emulator, use the following command to list ownership and permissions:
ls -l
(Lower case letter L, not i or 1)
Most of the files and folders should show up as media_rw, but the problematic ones may show up as numbers. To fix them, boot into CWM recovery, plug in the USB cable, go into adb shell. Also make sure that /data is mounted in the CWM mounts menu. Then:
cd /data/media
chown -R media_rw.media_rw *

advanced question - internal and external file transfers

I have a rooted 5x nougat with twrp recovery and stock rom. When I attempt to copy my TWRP backup to my computer via MTP file transfer, I cannot. Same with my titanium backup folder. I also tried to move my TWRP backup to my DCIM folder such that I could try PTP file transfer but that didn't work either.
Indeed, i cannot even transfer files within my own phone's file directory. I'm using root Explorer. I've toggled and made the file system read-write. I tried to change file folder permissions, and that failed.
Any advice Xda family? I have the proper drives installed.
Apologies in advance if my verbiage isn't accurate technically. I'm pretty good with android but by no means an expert.
Mario

File Transfers
I'm not really sure as to why you'd have problems moving files within your phones internal storage, however I do have a solution (work around, really) to your MTP problem, as long as you have ADB working.
I also never got MTP working so I just use a file manager to check the path to the folder I want from my phone to my computer, and then use the command:
Code:
adb pull /path/to/folder/on/phone /path/to/destination/on/computer
And if I want to put something from my computer on my phone, I do the opposite command:
Code:
adb push /path/to/file/on/computer /path/to/destination/on/phone
Additionally, if you really need to move files around on your phone, you can use:
Code:
adb shell
su
mv /path/to/file /path/to/destination
Hope that helps!

Thanks. It does help and I have adb. I'll try that method. I'm not sure why I'm having that issue either.