Develop Bugs

[Q] Mod a mod to add custom apks preinstalled?

Hi..
I've had problems with Gmail and Maps applications previously with Neophyte ROMs. In that case one of the solutions was removing the apks for these apps from with the /system/app folder of the ROM zip.
My question is:
Is it possible to add our own apks to the custom ROM so that these apks come preinstalled on the ROM when someone flashes it..in a manner, a kind of 2nd generation mod?
Is it possible to add our own system variables and settings files so that the ROM autoinstalls it on First Install? In particular, I'd like to preset my own APN file for the network.

The simple answer is yes.
The entire system folder in the zip file is written to your /system partition, with the full architecture of folders and so on, so any changes made in there will also be on the system, when it is flashed.
There is also a script file, in the META-INF folder, which you can use to run commands to delete or edit something along with the flash, whenever the zip file is flashed. This is a bit more advanced though.
edit: it is the same for the data folder of course, which folders is flashed and where to is also specified in the script file mentioned above.

Thank you!
In that case, for installation of a program like Gmail.apk or Maps.apk, would be as simple as adding the .apk to the /system/app, or would I have to include other files? Would there be dependancies in other folders?

Well the apps have their own data folder on the data partition, but this is for storing changes in settings and so on, and it should be created by the app itself on first boot just like right after you wipe the data partition/factory reset

Thanks..Got some mod modding to do!

So in case I'd want to manually uninstall/manually install an apk, what would be the steps I'd have to go through?
Would there be filesystem config files (like the older Windows versions), or a central database of entries of the likes of the Registry tables of newer Windows? How does Android go about installing a file? Like which folders and files would be modified other than /system/app and /data/app? Any common files with entries? And in case of the latter, whether it would be machine readable or plain text?

[APP] MakeUpdateZip

This is not only my first Android app, but this is also my first dive in Java. Please be gentle as I expect there are several uncaught / improperly handled exceptions.
This app will backup selected files to a zip file that can be restored via cwm. For now, that is all it does. It can be handy for the oc/uv crowd since it will allow you to keep a backup of a good S_volt_scheduler init file to flash in case your new setting are too aggressive. You can backup your currently installed favorite system apks for installation into your next ROM. It does not currently restore permissions, nor does it acquire root .
todo:
Obtain root to copy any file
Integrate a file selector so read permissions will not be an issue.
Detect/Restore permissions
Possible feature additions:
Create a restore.zip from current files based on an update.zip you want to apply. Could save you from boot loops when messing with system files.
Create a restore.zip given a file, a target directory, and permissions.
I will probably add this to the market once I get through the todos and initial bugs.
Changelog:
20110303
Multi-file capable. OIFileManager does not yet support multi-select, so each file must be selected seperately
Exception caught for mission OIFileManager
_delete.zip file seems to work correctly in recovery
Since I am not yet using root and OIFileManager will not assume root, there are some directories that cannot be viewed, /data/app for example. There are also some files that can be selected but cannot be copied due to their permissions.
Requires OIFileManager

Sounds like a handy app to have, can't wait till its finished.

MMS fix for people on ICS not sending pics(works)

*Pretty please make a NANDROID backup before you do this. I know you just recently installed the ROM, so if you don't have much on there and don't mind to flash in the event that something goes wrong, then no worries. Still, it wouldn't hurt!!*
Basically, what we are doing here, is giving you the app, installing it on the phone and then copying the APK file from /data/app to /system/app. I don't know much about the Fassy, but the file system structure should be close.
There are two ways to do this. You can use ADB to execute the commands, or use a file explorer (I use Root Explorer) to move the APK file. I also picked a free APN app .
APN Manager Pro
Throw this on your external SD card. Once you have it on there, open up your File Manager.
Navigate to your external SD card(should be /mnt/sdcard/external_sd or something similar, we have already established our phones are slightly different, ha ha).
Find the file ale.android.apnmanagerwithanimation-1.apk and long press it. You should get a list of options. You want to select move.
Navigate back to your root directory.
Go to /system/app. Once you get there, depending on your file manager, you should have the option to set the permissions as r/w (read/write). By default, Root Explorer is always set to r/o (read only) on my phone.
Paste the APK file.
Long press the APK file and select permissions.
- You have three sets of privileges: Read/Write/Execute
- You have three sets of groups: Owner/Group/Others
- - Make sure Owner, Group and Others have checks under Read.
- - Make sure Owner has checks under Write.
- - There should not be any checks under Execute.
- - There should not be any checks on any of the special permissions.
Hit OK.
Click on the APK file and select install.
Once the install has completed (should be almost instantly) reboot the phone.
Now you have an app that is capable of setting APN information.
When the phone has booted back up, open the app and select Backup & Restore. Make a backup. If the new APN doesn't work properly, you will have a backup you can fallback to.
Enter the information and hit save. Once you have done that you can select the APN and set it as the main. If you lose functions then restore the backup.
I hope this works out!!

What's the information u have to input?

jaysmi32 said:
What's the information u have to input?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what company do you need the info for

Boost mobile!

[Q] cant see addons

I'm using adbfire to setup amazone fire tv stick it sideloads kodi fine, but when i use restore feature to install addons it tells me that restore is complete and i check kodi on the stick and it shows the right amount of data installed but when i startup kodi it does not show any of my addons. any help or ideas are appreciated.

Open Kodi up, Goto System>Apperance>File List > show hidden files, exit system
Now Goto system on home screen, select file manager add source, Select external storage, select andriod select data, select org.xbmc.kodi select files select kodi press ok, press ok again. Now In File Manager select addons and see if they are there.
If they are go to userdata, select database, now delete addons16.db and restart kodi. It should pick up all installed addons

This may be due to a bug in adbFire, fixed for the next release, imadder's workaround is correct. Also the backup format changed after v1.18 to one similar to the backup addon available in Kodi. Older adbFire backups will need adjustment.
Older backups can be updated pretty easily. The new format requires that all of the folders under .kodi reside in the top level of the backup folder. With the older format, the container folder had the structure Backup Folder/.kodi/userdata,addons,etc. Simply move everything under .kodi up one level then delete the .kodi folder. So the new backup will be Backup Folder/userdata,addons,etc.

jocala said:
This may be due to a bug in adbFire, fixed for the next release, imadder's workaround is correct. Also the backup format changed after v1.18 to one similar to the backup addon available in Kodi. Older adbFire backups will need adjustment.
Older backups can be updated pretty easily. The new format requires that all of the folders under .kodi reside in the top level of the backup folder. With the older format, the container folder had the structure Backup Folder/.kodi/userdata,addons,etc. Simply move everything under .kodi up one level then delete the .kodi folder. So the new backup will be Backup Folder/userdata,addons,etc.
Thankyou guys for that help and info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Export playlists from Sony Music App

I would like to transfer (export) playlists I've made using the Sony Music app, to a new (non-Sony) device.
The playlists are all referencing files in my downloads, which I'll transfer to the new phone as well.
I don't know the format of these files, such as .M3U, .PLS, .XML etc, but if I search for a playlist name with my phone connected to my PC via USB (Internal Storage) - no results are found. I was hoping I could transfer playlist files to the new phone.
Anyone know a way of doing this please?

No?

It can be done... I just copied the Music Center database from my FIIO DAP to my Samsung phone, but it does require effort to change entries in the database to make it work. The database is in SQLite format.
If you're copying the same audio files from phone A to phone B in the same directory structure, it is less of a hassle.
On the source phone there should be a database file - [root]\MusicCenter\metadata.db. Make sure you completely close the Music Center app, then copy this file somewhere on your PC.
Create a temporary playlist on the new device with a couple random tracks and copy it to your PC.
Using something like DB Browser for SQLite, open the database from the new device. Go to Browse Data and select the "storage" table. Copy the data from the "system_storage_uuid" and "app_local_storage_id" fields into a text editor.
Select the "playlist_members" table and note the "storage_uuid" field (it should match one of the entries from the "storage" table).
Close that database file and open the one from your original phone. Change the entries in the "storage" table to match those in the database from the new device. Then select the "playlist_members" table and update the "storage_uuid" for each entry to match as well -- there is a search/replace option in DB Browser for SQLite that can change them all at once. Write the changes and copy the updated database to your new device.
YMMV... but this worked for me.