Database Info

Man Pages

If anybody is interested I split the busybox man page up into lots of different text files and wrote a small script to call less on them when the 'man' command is invoked (because I missed having man pages in the terminal)
[UPDATE] Added install script because updating ROMS removes files and I don't want to types this crap everytime I update my ROM.
Using Install script:
Extract man_pages.zip and place folder on sdcard
$ sh /sdcard/man_pages/man_install (as root of course)
Using ADB to install:
Extract man_pages.zip onto Desktop
$ adb remount
$ adb push Desktop/man_pages/man.txt to /system/bin
$ adb push Desktop/man_pages/man /system/usr/share/man
$ adb shell
# mv /system/bin/man.txt /system/bin/man
# chmod 755 /system/bin/man
# exit
Using your phone to install:
Put Extracted man_pages.zip folder in /sdcard
$ mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
$ cp /sdcard/man_pages/man.txt /system/bin/man
$ chmod 755 /system/bin/man
$ cp -r /sdcard/man_pages/man /system/usr/share/
$ mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
Usage:
$ man [program]
If no program name is given, all possible options are listed (highly
recommended that you pipe it through more).
$ man | more # enter for next line, space for next page.
When viewing a man page use the following to navigate:
back one page: 'b'
back half page : 'u'
backward one line: 'return', 'e' or 'j'
forward one page: 'space' or 'f'
forward half page:: 'd'
forward one line: 'k' or 'y'
quit: 'q'
Updated files [6-22-09]
-renamed ckear.man to clear.man (just in case anybody forgot how to
invoke 'clear')
-updated man script to show possible pages when invoked with no
argument.
-combined files to one zip file which includes an installer script)
Known Issues:
-Formatting is corrupted when using through adb shell on Windows machine (affects the entire instance of cmd.exe).

thx a ton for this...
i, for one, really appreciate it!
bump for night crew.
also, I added this to the informative threads list

A few other noob tips
This is awesome! Thanks so much!
A few helpful tips:
--If you get the "cannot copy: Read-only file system" error when you're trying to push the files in adb, enter:
adb remount
--From within a man page, hit spacebar to scroll forward, b to scroll back, and q to quit.

Thanks ohnoezmafone for the tips. Didn't even think of noobs wanting man pages, but I guess they need them more than anybody. I added them to the post as well as a few more and cleaned it up for people that need steps to follow. I also included an install script and changed the man script to output all possible pages when invoked with no argument.

Very helpful, thank you.

what are man pages?

temporizer said:
what are man pages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man is short for manual
describes usage information for executables, config files, etc
so, if you wanted usage information for the "ping" command, type
man ping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_page

cool
I'm gonna try it. If it works as well as in linux I'm gonna cook it in my future releases.
Thanks. When I think the forums full of takers, I come across a giver.

I'm getting some really messed up formatting. I installed via the ADB method.
Code:
C:\>adb shell
# man ls
man ls
←[0;0H←[Kls
←[Kls [-1AacCdeFilnpLRrSsTtuvwxX" USE_FEATURE_HUMAN_READABLE ("h") "kK] [filenames
←[K...]
←[KList directory contents
←[KOptions:
←[K -1 list files in a single column
←[K -A do not list implied . and ..
←[K -a do not hide entries starting with .
←[K -C list entries by columns
←[K -c with -l: show ctime
←[K --color[={always,never,auto}] to control coloring
←[K -d list directory entries instead of contents
←[K -e list both full date and full time
←[K -F append indicator (one of */[email protected]|) to entries
←[K -i list the i-node for each file
←[K -l use a long listing format
←[K -n list numeric UIDs and GIDs instead of names
←[K -p append indicator (one of /[email protected]|) to entries
←[K -L list entries pointed to by symbolic links
←[K -R list subdirectories recursively
←[K -r sort the listing in reverse order
←[K -S sort the listing by file size
←[K -s list the size of each file, in blocks
←[24;0H←[K←[7m/system/usr/share/man/ls.man←[0m
From that point on, my prompt is messed up and I have to control-c to get back to a C: prompt.
What did I do wrong?
UPDATE: If I change "less" to "more" it seems to work better...

What did I do wrong?
UPDATE: If I change "less" to "more" it seems to work better...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did nothing wrong, just tried it myself. Its a bug. Works fine using adb from linux(gentoo) or from command prompt on phone itself. But apparently "less" screws up cmd.exe when using adb from windows(xp). I'd say leave it as "more" if your gonna use it through adb shell on a windows box.
Honestly when I did this I never even thought about using it through adb shell. I would switch it to "more" myself but "less" is traditional and besides "more" is less and "less" is more.
I'm gonna try it. If it works as well as in linux I'm gonna cook it in my future releases.
Thanks. When I think the forums full of takers, I come across a giver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm Not really a giver...I've taken soooo much knowledge and fun stuff from this forum I figured I would share something I did for myself with you people as a way of saying thanks...I owe it.

dumfuq said:
You did nothing wrong, just tried it myself. Its a bug. Works fine using adb from linux(gentoo) or from command prompt on phone itself. But apparently "less" screws up cmd.exe when using adb from windows(xp). I'd say leave it as "more" if your gonna use it through adb shell on a windows box.
Honestly when I did this I never even thought about using it through adb shell. I would switch it to "more" myself but "less" is traditional and besides "more" is less and "less" is more.
I'm Not really a giver...I've taken soooo much knowledge and fun stuff from this forum I figured I would share something I did for myself with you people as a way of saying thanks...I owe it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i love ur membership name dumfuq... lmao cheers thx for the manuals. i could def use this to learn a thing or 2... and as for being a taker or giver, i'm def the taker =/ (no homo) i wish i was smart enough to learn more but i am trying and hopefully one day i can cook something up, but as for now all i can do to pay the community back is take care of the n00best of the n00bs with their questions to keep the forums from being soo err.. well u kno... lol

Hi
Thank you very much!:good::laugh:

I ressucitetate the thread...
THAT'S AWESOME.
Thanks.

Ash as login shell

Hi All,
The Ash shell provides a few advantages over the Android default sh shell such as command history and cursor handling at the prompt. There are other benefits, but these are the first that come in most handy (to me).
The following tutorial will get you ash as the login shell with as yet no ill effects:
Note: that in my case, I'm using my android2sd construct and thus this modification is being done to my active overlay profile setup, thus to undo it I can simply boot into "safe\\normal" mode and undo the changes without possibly locking me out of the console should it have failed (which it didn't) But you can edit the Android /system/bin/sh file in this manner directly.
Ash as Login Shell:
OK, make the /system fs read-write:
mount -o remount,rw /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note: that the fs type is not needed, and in my case is not yaffs but ext3, Android will figure it out proper.
Next,
cp -a /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(this is for backup purposes and allows us to undo the change if so desired, or delete it if no longer needed).
Note: I'm using JF1.51 roms, so busybox ash is available as /system/xbin/bb/ash, so that is what I am using here; use ash however you are able to access it.
echo "#!/system/xbin/bb/ash">/system/bin/sh
echo "/system/xbin/bb/ash \[email protected]">>/system/bin/sh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please note the use of (redirect\\overwrite)> and (redirect\\append)>>.
This will overwrite sh with a script to load the desired shell, executing any command-line arguments passed, and preserve the permissions of the original sh file. You can manually set the permissions the same as they are for our sh0 backup if the permissions (root.shell)(0755) don't seem to keep.
Finally reset the read-only state of /system:
mount -o remount,ro /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now if you shell-in\\telnet-in you should get the ash prompt which unlike the Android sh default prompt, includes the present working directory(pwd) ie: '/#' instead of just '#'.
Note: A reboot should not cause the loss of the modification, but if does, copy the new sh script to your /data/local/bin location or something and copy it back via boot script or something.
Shell Scripts:
If you're like me, you discovered that Android didn't need the interpreter declaration comment in scripts, and thus may not have used them...Well, you will need to update your scripts to include them by adding something similar to the following as the first line of your scripts:
#!/system/xbin/bb/ash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, please note that I am using JF1.51 roms and the location of the busybox ash shell is what I'm listing; put the full location to the shell you intend to use as this location.
Without the interpreter declaration, ash simply complains 'not found' at the first command, as ash doesn't know how to interpret the script, and doesn't seem to default to the login shell.
Hope someone finds this helpful!

sweet. This is going to be very useful

BAM. thats sexy. i just did this on CM3.6.7.1. works like a charm.

scratches head. i'm lost. what does this do and how does this make my g1 better?

temporizer said:
scratches head. i'm lost. what does this do and how does this make my g1 better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im not sure about the other features, but the one i installed it for is to have your working directory in front of ur prompt. ex:
Code:
/# cd /sdcard
/sdcard # cd /system/sd
/system/sd #
etc...
EDIT: Also, if you use ConnectBot, you'll notice with the regular sh, if u scroll up with tracball, you get BS characters on the prompt. with THIS one, when you scroll up, you get last command entered. VERY handy for when you mistype one character on a long-ass command.

I love you

Couldn't you do this?
Code:
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh0
ln -s /system/xbin/bb/ash /system/bin/sh

great job, i'm going to get ash working on my G1 (CM-3.6.7.1)
Thanks.

kanstin said:
Couldn't you do this?
Code:
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh0
ln -s /system/xbin/bb/ash /system/bin/sh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this and it worked even after a reboot...
Sweet, I love the scroll back with trackball in the terminal!!! Me thinks this should get absorbed into the next Cyan release.

kanstin said:
Couldn't you do this?
Code:
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh0
ln -s /system/xbin/bb/ash /system/bin/sh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I reckon you could. Though I had done a few experiments where the symlink failed, but I'm fairly sure it was do to the link: /system/xbin/bb/ash -->../busybox and /system/bin/../busybox not existing...so I did it via script. Many ways to skin a cat they say.

Thank you all... this is fricken awesome!!

temporizer said:
scratches head. i'm lost. what does this do and how does this make my g1 better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gives a more advanced shell for when you use the command line interface or telnet into your G1. If you don't use the command line a lot, it won't help you.
As for specific benefits to the advanced version, it was listed in the first post.

Hi,
imho this is rather a hack that exposes you to the risk at least on CM to loose your
shell during boot as xbin.sqf the compressed squashfs filesystem containing
busybox is mounted rather late in the boot process. A cleaner solution would be to
move busybox to system/bin and link it to sh. That way you ensure that sh will
always be accessible during boot and also later on, thus not interfering with
further developments. A alternative could be to compile a standalone version
of busybox containing only ash (for size reasons, as size in /system/bin is precious)
copy that to /system/bin and link sh to it.

Seems to work fine on Dude's. Not really sure how it should open, but I type "ash" at the prompt and I get the /$ and /# if superuser. I also get the command history by rolling the trackball, which is a very nice feature.

Can i install this without using my PC?

temporizer said:
Can i install this without using my PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should work using terminal.

Tried it on JACHero 2.7.1
I tried the hard link one and I get a read only fs error on the first move command. What should I chmod to get past that?

mugafuga said:
I tried the hard link one and I get a read only fs error on the first move command. What should I chmod to get past that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do this first before the mv and the symlink.
mount -o remount,rw /system

farmatito said:
Hi,
imho this is rather a hack that exposes you to the risk at least on CM to loose your
shell during boot as xbin.sqf the compressed squashfs filesystem containing
busybox is mounted rather late in the boot process. A cleaner solution would be to
move busybox to system/bin and link it to sh. That way you ensure that sh will
always be accessible during boot and also later on, thus not interfering with
further developments. A alternative could be to compile a standalone version
of busybox containing only ash (for size reasons, as size in /system/bin is precious)
copy that to /system/bin and link sh to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this in any way accurate? I dedicate my g1 to cyan's roms and wouldn't want anything to hinder any of the goodness that is cyanogenMod. Advice?

Load ash when terminal is started?
temporizer said:
Is this in any way accurate? I dedicate my g1 to cyan's roms and wouldn't want anything to hinder any of the goodness that is cyanogenMod. Advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Safest method will be to change to ash shell once terminal app is started (same as typing "ash" to switch shell from sh to ash). I don't know how to do it in android (in linux you could add it to your login script).
So if someone knows how to execute a command when we login using the terminal app, then switching to ash shell would work without fear of breaking any other functionality.

[GUIDE] Full bash shell with nano, tab completion, and color over ssh and adb

Posting this here because I think it will be of more interest to the tinkerers/devs than general users, if not, feel free to move it. I cobbled all of this together from various places on the web, but I think the credit for the binaries goes to Paul @ MoDaCo.
Nandroid before going any further!
Files you'll need:
For WiFi and CDMA SSH access - QuickSSHD (Download this from the Market. $1.50). I'm just going to assume if you're still reading, you know what this is for and how to use it. It's braindead simple. I think dropbear can be installed and configured manually, but for the $1.50...meh.
adb for tethered access.
The rest are zipped up here: terminfo, nano, bash, profile**
Unzip bashnano.zip onto your SDCard.
adb remount
From adb shell:
Install Terminfo:
cp -r /sdcard/terminfo /system/etc
Setup Bash:
cp /sdcard/bash /system/bin/bash_new
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh.old
ln -s /system/bin/bash_new /system/bin/sh
mv /sdcard/profile /sdcard/bash_profile (Thanks to jjvcuyler for finding adb bash profile location.)
Setup Nano:
cp /sdcard/nano /system/bin
I'm not sure if this setup will have any impact on sh scripts being used in the various ROMs, so use this at your own risk. I think it would kick ass to see this type of bash functionality baked into the custom ROMs.
If anybody would like to make this a flashable.zip, please do. I don't know how to do that yet.
Anyway, hope y'all find it useful.
**profile reflects a few personal choices for aliases and colors, but you can edit to your personal taste.

So I just did this. Is there any way to get this functionality into a local terminal?
Also I was able to do everything from a local terminal without adb. Just do the following first:
su
remount rw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

adb shell fires off bash, but it doesn't read profile from /etc. It's going to be a simple matter of figuring out where bash is looking for it. I just haven't found that out yet.
How do you like having full bash capabilities on EVO? Arrows/tab completion/color prompts, etc...
J

jmxp69 said:
adb shell fires off bash, but it doesn't read profile from /etc. It's going to be a simple matter of figuring out where bash is looking for it. I just haven't found that out yet.
How do you like having full bash capabilities on EVO? Arrows/tab completion/color prompts, etc...
J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Copy profile to /sdcard/bash_profile

jjvcuyler said:
Copy profile to /sdcard/bash_profile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WooT! There it is. I'll update the OP. Thanks jjvcuyler.
Edit: /sdcard/bash_profile works for ssh and adb. OP updated to reflect the change.

jmxp69 said:
Posting this here because I think it will be of more interest to the tinkerers/devs than general users, if not, feel free to move it. I cobbled all of this together from various places on the web, but I think the credit for the binaries goes to Paul @ MoDaCo.
Nandroid before going any further!
Files you'll need:
For WiFi and CDMA SSH access - QuickSSHD (Download this from the Market. $1.50). I'm just going to assume if you're still reading, you know what this is for and how to use it. It's braindead simple. I think dropbear can be installed and configured manually, but for the $1.50...meh.
adb for tethered access.
The rest are zipped up here[/URL]: terminfo.zip, nano, bash, profile**
Unzip bashnano.zip onto your SDCard.
Unzip terminfo.zip (from inside bashnano.zip) onto your SDCard.
adb remount
From adb shell:
Install Terminfo:
cp -r /sdcard/terminfo /system/etc
Setup Bash:
cp /sdcard/bash /system/bin/bash_new
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh.old
ln -s /system/bin/bash_new /system/bin/sh
mv /sdcard/profile /sdcard/bash_profile (Thanks to jjvcuyler for finding adb bash profile location.)
Setup Nano:
cp /sdcard/nano /system/bin
I'm not sure if this setup will have any impact on sh scripts being used in the various ROMs, so use this at your own risk. I think it would kick ass to see this type of bash functionality baked into the custom ROMs.
If anybody would like to make this a flashable.zip, please do. I don't know how to do that yet.
Anyway, hope y'all find it useful.
**profile reflects a few personal choices for aliases and colors, but you can edit to your personal taste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no terminfo.zip and there is nothing in terminfo directory from within the original zip... help?

Sorry, I missed the recurse flag zipping the terminfo directory. It's fixed now. Go ahead and re-download.
Here's a link for just terminfo.zip
J

I modified the bash_profile to get rid of the colors since the window's cmd.exe doesnt support ansi colors. probably a better way to do this but it works for me.
also found this useful for setting PS1 to my liking http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/howto-linux-unix-bash-shell-setup-prompt.html

jmxp69 said:
adb shell fires off bash, but it doesn't read profile from /etc. It's going to be a simple matter of figuring out where bash is looking for it. I just haven't found that out yet.
How do you like having full bash capabilities on EVO? Arrows/tab completion/color prompts, etc...
J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there a way to get tab completion through adb shell?

Yes. This works with adb shell. Just follow the directions in the OP.

jmxp69 said:
Yes. This works with adb shell. Just follow the directions in the OP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have and i do have everything done as stated in the OP, when i try tab completion via adb shell (phone tethered with usb) from my pc, it just puts in a tab, it doesn't complete.

Hmm....could be a dos thing with cmd.exe. I haven't tried on a PC, I'm on a Mac. adb shell via OSX works fine with tab completion. Try ssh'ing in instead with something like putty? Once you get ssh going, you don't need a cable.
Edit: Confirmed...tab completion doesn't work over Win cmd.exe and adb shell.

jmxp69 said:
Hmm....could be a dos thing with cmd.exe. I haven't tried on a PC, I'm on a Mac. adb shell via OSX works fine with tab completion. Try ssh'ing in instead with something like putty? Once you get ssh going, you don't need a cable.
Edit: Confirmed...tab completion doesn't work over Win cmd.exe and adb shell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for looking into it... I'll try getting it to work via linux instead. I guess ssh would be a solution, but i never turn wifi on.

Is anyone able to do a NAND backup/restore after doing this? With Amon Ra's recovery I was unable to NAND backup.
EDIT:
I think this is a big negatory. I was just able to do a NAND backup, so maybe the error I got was a coincidence after applying these changes.

Anyone else noticing that the time is always displayed as GMT in the prompt? The date command gives the correct time for my timezone but the bash prompt always shows GMT

Vinny75 said:
Anyone else noticing that the time is always displayed as GMT in the prompt? The date command gives the correct time for my timezone but the bash prompt always shows GMT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change PS1 line: \A to `date +%H:%M`

jmxp69 said:
Posting this here because I think it will be of more interest to the tinkerers/devs than general users, if not, feel free to move it. I cobbled all of this together from various places on the web, but I think the credit for the binaries goes to Paul @ MoDaCo.
Nandroid before going any further!
Files you'll need:
For WiFi and CDMA SSH access - QuickSSHD (Download this from the Market. $1.50). I'm just going to assume if you're still reading, you know what this is for and how to use it. It's braindead simple. I think dropbear can be installed and configured manually, but for the $1.50...meh.
adb for tethered access.
The rest are zipped up here: terminfo, nano, bash, profile**
Unzip bashnano.zip onto your SDCard.
adb remount
From adb shell:
Install Terminfo:
cp -r /sdcard/terminfo /system/etc
Setup Bash:
cp /sdcard/bash /system/bin/bash_new
mv /system/bin/sh /system/bin/sh.old
ln -s /system/bin/bash_new /system/bin/sh
mv /sdcard/profile /sdcard/bash_profile (Thanks to jjvcuyler for finding adb bash profile location.)
Setup Nano:
cp /sdcard/nano /system/bin
I'm not sure if this setup will have any impact on sh scripts being used in the various ROMs, so use this at your own risk. I think it would kick ass to see this type of bash functionality baked into the custom ROMs.
If anybody would like to make this a flashable.zip, please do. I don't know how to do that yet.
Anyway, hope y'all find it useful.
**profile reflects a few personal choices for aliases and colors, but you can edit to your personal taste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the steps exactly, but end up with "- exec '/system/bin/sh' failed: Permission denied (13) -" while typing "adb shell" in a windows or linux terminal. I cannot recover the original sh because the root is lost, and I cant root my phone anymore probably because something wrong with the new sh. Any idea how to fix this?
EDIT: Acutally nevermind. adb shell works in recovery mode. but still, not sure why the modified sh doest work for me

The Downloadlink is dead!
So the thread is useless.

francwalter said:
The Downloadlink is dead!
So the thread is useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.....no.
A simple google search would have shown you that the files are here: http://66.197.42.222/bashnano.zip
or here http://androidforums.com/attachment...ide-installing-bash-nano-android-bashnano.zip.
EDIT: I've also attached it in case the links above ever die, there will still be one which does not.

ya this is great and all but any decent busybox installer will setup bash for you.

Switching default shell

Having cross compiled an arm bash, I wanted to get rid of the limited ash shell. While trying to switch sh to bash, I've turned all the ramdisk scripts inside out, grepping the hell out of them, switching things like services and init scripts. But apparenty nothing I did switched the default shell.
I've even found the PS1 var in /system/etc/mkshrc and tried changing the shell there.
But I'm still missing the actual location where it gets set. Short of swapping out the file, replacing it with a bash softlink, I cant think of anything else. Does anyone know where the shell gets set?

I suspect it's hardcoded. For example, the following can be found in adb's service.c:
Code:
#if ADB_HOST
#define SHELL_COMMAND "/bin/sh"
#define ALTERNATE_SHELL_COMMAND ""
#else
#define SHELL_COMMAND "/system/bin/sh"
#define ALTERNATE_SHELL_COMMAND "/sbin/sh"
#endif
On most android systems, /system/bin/sh is the shell run when the system is booted, and that's usually a symbolic link to /system/bin/mksh. So, perhaps just change the symlink to point to something else.

Isnt that the code for adb's default shell? I dont mind adb having ash as default, since one can easily exec 'adb shell bash' and start with bash.
On the Desire, the bootup shell had kernel level binaries in /sbin/sh. The system shell could be easily switched.

garyd9 said:
I suspect it's hardcoded. For example, the following can be found in adb's service.c:
Code:
#if ADB_HOST
#define SHELL_COMMAND "/bin/sh"
#define ALTERNATE_SHELL_COMMAND ""
#else
#define SHELL_COMMAND "/system/bin/sh"
#define ALTERNATE_SHELL_COMMAND "/sbin/sh"
#endif
On most android systems, /system/bin/sh is the shell run when the system is booted, and that's usually a symbolic link to /system/bin/mksh. So, perhaps just change the symlink to point to something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How dependent is the ROM on the existing shell? I attempted to (I just created a new ROM to flash with these changes) to just remove the mksh and replace it with bash. Naturally (and as I was expecting) this did not work.
Here is what I think. You are right, but also wrong.
My thoughts are that that mksh is hard coded like you have said but the symbolic link is the other way around, mksh(parent) is symlinked to sh(child). sh without the symbolic link doesn't exist.
Replacing mksh with bash causes complete catastrophic failure ROM does not boot and all hell breaks loose. Reflash back to previous LOL. That being said, symlinking bash binary to sh also doesn't work, because the system is reading from hardcode mksh first and foremost and then sh beyond that.
replacing the mksh with bash and renaming bash to mksh also doesn't work (in an attempt to satisfy the existence of a required system file)
Apart from rebuilding the entire ROM from sources with everything patched to utilise the bash shell, I can't see this being an achievable goal.
May I ask why you want to specificially utilise the bash shell over sh? I know that this is much closer to native linux and it probably has some functionality benefits and syntax serendipities (no I am not trying to be funny - I am just stupid and cannot think of the right wording to use right now so that will do).....but is there something that you are trying to do within the sh shell environment that you cannot do that you know you can do with bash?

Jarmezrocks said:
May I ask why you want to specificially utilise the bash shell over sh? I know that this is much closer to native linux and it probably has some functionality benefits and syntax serendipities (no I am not trying to be funny - I am just stupid and cannot think of the right wording to use right now so that will do).....but is there something that you are trying to do within the sh shell environment that you cannot do that you know you can do with bash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apart from the obvious advantages of bash completion, coloured shell output in ls, grep and others, and the init scripts?
ash interpretation of shell scripts is a bit different from bash. Try nesting more than two levels of loops, and it makes it jargon.

Droidzone said:
coloured shell output in ls
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's got absolutely nothing to do with the shell. ls is not a shell built-in. Install BusyBox and alias ls to 'busybox ls --color=auto' in mkshrc, just like CM's bashrc does.
Same with grep, except BusyBox does not provide a colour option for its grep, so I guess that's out.
As for init.d scripts: just change the scripts' shebangs to use bash? Ubuntu has dash as its default /bin/sh as it's able to run init.d scripts (provided that they don't have bashisms) quicker than bash would.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

qwerty12 said:
That's got absolutely nothing to do with the shell. ls is not a shell built-in. Install BusyBox and alias ls to 'busybox ls --color=auto' in mkshrc, just like CM's bashrc does.
Same with grep, except BusyBox does not provide a colour option for its grep, so I guess that's out.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dircolors needs an initialization script, and .bashrc was the easiest way I could find (short of using ramdisk scripts).
As per the manpages, dircolors has two formats-one for bourne and another for csh. So you need either of these as default shell to init .dircolors. If you dont need customization, it doesnt matter.
As for init.d scripts: just change the scripts' shebangs to use bash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup.

[Shell][mksh][Scripting]::mksh-R50e-static-FULL+mkshrc_mods:::

:::BRIEF DESCRIPTION:::
mksh is the official, currently-developed shell used for Android. It is not an app nor a virus (lol) like some people seem to think, looking at a quick xda search. And as the core shell for android, it is used to shell superuser, so if you're rooted and get a message saying "mksh requests root", that basically just means that superuser is being run correctly and is using the default Android shell that is in every Android device. (GOOD)
If you get a message saying bash(or any other shell) requested root, and you're NOT in the terminal interactively. That most likely is NOT GOOD! Almost all bash scripts I've seen will run shelled with mksh, so be safe and shebang with mksh. You'll have better performance and features, and when you see bash requesting root, you'll know when your security is likely compromised.
::: mksh Resources/links/info :::
mksh author: mirabilos (on xda forums)
mirbsd mksh main page: https://www.mirbsd.org/mksh.htm
mksh man page: https://www.mirbsd.org/htman/i386/man1/mksh.htm
edited 15Aug2014
Now that that's out of the way, I've attached a few zips in the 2nd post. The first contains my personalized mkshrc (startup mksh script), the full original mkshrc it's based on, and a diff for anyone who's interested. **This file belongs at /system/etc/mkshrc.** The rest of this first post details what I've cooked up in my mkshrc (and fpath functions). The other zips' contents are described in the 2nd post.
Features scripted into mkshrc:
--sudo: basic su executor
e.g.:
Code:
sudo mount -o rw,remount -t f2fs /system /system
sudo cat <<< $'\n' >> /system/build.prop
sudo 'sysrw; for i in /system/*; do chown 0 "$i" ; done; sysro'
--suid: (set user id) Uses chpst to run a prog setsuid, this is broken in most busyboxes so I included one with a working chpst. Usage:::
e.g.:
Code:
suid 1000 sh
--Rebind tab completion: unjams clustered words:
e.g.: <[cursor]> is cursor position
Code:
bind -m -- '^I= ^B^[=^D'
<<EXAMPLE USAGE>>
ec<[cursor]>12345 + tab ---> echo 12345
--Rebinded "control + u" to "cut-to-beginning of line" like bash. (As mirabilos points out, this is ksh incompatible behaviour since "control + u" is "kill-line" in *ksh shells. This can be removed from the (/system)/etc/mkshrc shell startup file if it presents any problems in editing.) The exact binds are:
Code:
bind -- '^[W=kill-region'
bind -m -- '^U=^[ ^A^[W'
<<EXAMPLE USAGE>>
ec<[cursor]>12345 + ctrl + u ---> <[cursor]>12345
--TMPDIR: mounts a tmpdir at /tmp for all users and random generates subdirs for individual secured tmpdirs. This fixes here-docs, here-strings, and here-executions.
e.g.:
Code:
su << 'eof'
sysrw; chgrp 2000 /system/bin; sysro
! (( $? )) && print -- -changed them bin group-
eof
--Basic "help" command: Android lacks this and the doc is still under development I believe. I added all the basic info/command-forms for mksh bultins to a command help(aliased to h):
e.g.:
Code:
help mkn
> mknod [-m mode] name b|c major minor
> mknod [-m mode] name p
or
Code:
help
(all help is printed, grep from here if you want)
--Complicated-programmed and colorful PS1 prompt, it looks good and I thought it through. Programming shows mksh potential for rich shell programming. It auto-turns off xtrace within itself (to 3 lines) so that 50 lines don't get printed each return with set -x. mksh small (R43 mksh) will be autodetected and give a different white and black classic ksh prompt.
--ton of ultra lazy aliases, got my android scripting speed up to ~70% my normal pc speed.
--dot.mkshrc functions from official mkshrc like pushd, popd, dirs, more, hd, Lb64encode, Lb64decode, hash optimizations
The scripting in this gets pretty complex, especially the inherent mkshrc functions. It would make a good scripting learning tool to say the least. I know I've learned twice what I knew from bash scripting back 3 months ago.
I've been working on modding the mkshrc a while, so I appreciate any error reports if you give mine a try. Shouldn't be any problems though.
Modifying the mkshrc file / mksh shell has system-wide effects, so PLEASE nandroid backup as usual!!! This should be COMPATIBLE with all androids, but has only been tested on my Galaxy Nexus thus far. **The binary is compatible with androids using an ARM cpu, but the steps in the 3rd post will generate a binary for whatever ARCH you're running.**
EDIT: reprogrammed sudo with pexec, so it can do parallel executions. pexec, grep, and a full busybox are included in a zip with some other bins.
For Jack Palevich's terminal emulator or connectbot, telnet, etc, I use this as my su'd "shell" command under >>Options>>Shell:
Code:
/system/xbin/su --shell /system/bin/mksh --command exec /system/bin/pexec -z -15 --shell /system/bin/mksh -m '/system/bin/mksh'
What's safer though is to just use a non-su shell command:
Code:
/system/bin/mksh -
...and then use sudo for your su commands. This is more linux'y.
EDIT2 (big update): Got static mksh R50 compiled. Ended up booting ubuntu in Android to compile instead of cross-compiling. mksh's Build.sh compiler script works great. I just had to "sudo apt-get install gcc" and bam it built with "LDSTATIC=-static ./Build.sh".
EDIT3 - Changed main.c source mkshrc file to /system/etc/mkshrc, perfect static mksh R50 now.
EDIT4 - Changed compiler to klcc to get size way down, now at 196KB with -O2 LTO speed optimizations.
EDIT5 - Binary is updated to R50d, compiled with CFLAGS=-Os, and stripped to get size down to ~140KB. (This is even smaller than the R43 dynamic mksh binary that is currently used in roms.)
EDIT6 - Added a mksh trunk (latest and greatest) binary with the printf builtin compiled in. Use with caution. Btw, if you read all the way down here, then yes, these binaries work in lollipop since they're statically compiled.

:ownloads:: (#7 or #8 is the static binary by itself)
(1) mksh R50 source, binary, manual
(2) Highly compressed pack of extra bins/libs that are mentioned in my mkshrc (zsh, lz4c, grep, busybox, bash, nano, vim, curl, etc) and some other cool ones like macchanger and ed. Download #3 to extract on Android.
(3) 7za in case you need it to extract (2) on Android.
Code:
7za x name_of_archive.7z
(4) Classic unix text editor "ed" which mksh uses for edit functionality. (Copy to /system/bin along with mksh.)
(5) Official mkshrc (unzip and copy to /system/etc, set permissions to 0444)
(6)
My personalized mkshrc startup mksh shell script based on the official full mkshrc 2014/01/11 release. Described in first post. If you try this, make sure to symlink /system/xbin/busybox to /system/bin/busybox.ndk.
Official mkshrc 2014/01/11 release
"diff -ur /system/etc/dot.mkshrc--official.mkshrc mkshrc" (diff patch set from official mkshrc to my personalized mkshrc)
(7) mksh static binary! (Just unzip, "chmod +rx" it, and copy to /system/bin or run from anywhere, no libs required )
(8) mksh R50e with printf builtin (I know some people were looking for this)

::: Building mksh Static On Android (really Ubuntu though..):::
This is just for anyone who wants to try, and especially those without access to a PC.
Things we'll need besides your phone:
-"Android Terminal Emulator" app {get it from (http://jackpal.github.com/Android-Terminal-Emulator/downloads/Term.apk) or fdroid or gplay}
-"Complete Linux Installer" app {get it from (http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxonandroid/?source=typ_redirect) or gplay or maybe fdroid}
-internet/wifi
-mksh source {download from (https://www.mirbsd.org/MirOS/dist/mir/mksh/mksh-R50.tgz) or link in first post or DL in second post}
1) We need to get Ubuntu or Debian booted for a sufficient build environment. I've used both on Android but I like the better stocked terminal in the Ubuntu images. I used the app Complete Linux Installer which is free and works beautifully, very simple and easy too. In the app you want to follow the short instructions to download an Ubuntu image, rename it to ubuntu.img, and place it in a folder named ubuntu in /sdcard. Then hit menu in the app and click the terminal screen icon that says "Launch". An Ubuntu terminal will now open in Android Terminal Emulator. Super quick and easy.
2) Let's download GCC and ed so we can build and test with zero errors.
Code:
apt-get install -y gcc ed
3) Now the cool thing about this chroot Ubuntu environment is that we still have access to the sdcard to transfer files between Android environment and the chroot jail. Extract your downloaded mksh source to your Ubuntu home with something like:
Code:
cd
tar -xf /sdcard/Download/mksh*.tgz
cd mksh
4) Since we're building this for Android, the mkshrc file is at /system/etc/mkshrc instead of ~/.mkshrc, so we can change this with:
Code:
sed -i 's|~/.mkshrc|/system/etc/mkshrc|' ./main.c
Now we can build mksh statically:
Code:
chmod +x Build.sh
MKSHRC_PATH=/system/etc/mkshrc LDSTATIC=-static ./Build.sh -r -c lto && ./test.sh
Let the build script crank out the binary for a couple minutes and run the test suite. There should only be an error on a "mkshrc" test since we changed it for android. The "-r -c lto" flags/opt aren't needed but recommended.
Edit: (size optimization): Strip the compiled mksh binary to make it super small (~150KB with a CC="klcc" or CC="diet gcc" compile).
Code:
strip --strip-unneeded ./mksh
5) Now let's copy it to /system/bin to replace your old one.
Code:
cp ./mksh /sdcard
(Open a new terminal tab to get into Android Environment)
sysrw
cp -f /sdcard/mksh /system/bin
chmod 0555 /system/bin/mksh
sysro
.. and done. Run some scripts and enjoy your static mksh!
*** OPTIONAL EXTRA STEPS TO USE klcc or other compiler ***
In step (1), also do
Code:
apt-get install -y libklibc-dev
to get the klibc development tools, and then...
In step (4), this is how you specify to use klcc (aka build against klibc using the klcc wrapper):
Code:
CC="$(which klcc)" MKSHRC_PATH=/system/etc/mkshrc LDSTATIC=-static ./Build.sh -r -c lto && ./test.sh
:::Compile mksh in Android (for ARM):::
1) Download the attached cross-compiler and mksh source (https://www.mirbsd.org/MirOS/dist/mir/mksh/mksh-R50.tgz). Copy them to /data/media. If you don't have 7za, download that as well from the previous post but place it in /system/bin and "chmod +x" it
2) Extract contents:
Code:
cd /data/media
7za x -so 2014-10-01__simple-cross-compiler-armv4tl.stripped.tar.7z | tar -xf -
tar -xf mksh*.tgz
3) Compile the source with:
Code:
cd mksh
chmod +x Build.sh
LDFLAGS=-static CC=../simple-cross-compiler-armv4tl.stripped/bin/*gcc ./Build.sh -r -c lto
../simple-cross-compiler-armv4tl.stripped/bin/*strip -s mksh
4) Replace old mksh and mkshrc
Code:
mount -o rw,remount /system
cp mksh /system/bin
cp dot.mkshrc /system/etc/mkshrc
chmod 0555 /system/bin/mksh
chmod 0444 /system/etc/mkshrc
mount -o ro,remount /system

@7175 : Hello! Look like a bunch of hard work there. Very nice.
1. Would you have any clue to what's going on HERE?
2. Would you know if I can just install over my old mksh binary to get this working, or do I need "everything"?
3. And since I've heard that /system/bin/mksh will soon be permanently only /system/bin/sh perhaps this need to be changed?

Hey E.VA. thanks for checking out the thread. If you want to just test out R48 mksh, just copy(from zip root directory) the lib*.so from /data/media/shell to /system/lib and then copy /data/media/shell/mksh to /system/bin (and chmod 0555 /system/bin/mksh; chmod 0444 /system/lib/*.so). Then you'll have your whole system running full mksh R48.
As far as the ssh problem with android, this definitely becomes grey-zone material to my knowledge, which is limited in this area. I'm pretty sure android has udev amputated so it lacks a fully working /dev/tty. This could probably be patched over though with some terminal work, mknod action. I've gotten ssh working under "terminal ide", but haven't used the stock ssh stuff in /system/bin. Now that you mention this though, I will try and get stock ssh going as well as openssh which had a similar problem last time I tried (thx for mentioning your support thread, I'll be checking that out).
Here's what I searched to shed a little light on that ssh /dev/tty issue: duckduckgo.com/html5/?q=ssh+%27dev%2Ftty%27+error.
It looks like you've done a ton of searching though.
For su commands, I would try using, e.g.,
Code:
su exec [i]command[/i]
...opposed to "su -c", or better e.g.,
Code:
su -c exec /system/bin/sh -c '[i]command[/i]'
...and see if that gives any different results.
I just know from experience "su -c" hasn't always cut it.
*edit: Couple other things worth trying:
1) preappend command with environment variable: global TTY=/dev/pts/0 ...
2) use the -T option when calling mksh, i,e. ssh ... -e mksh -T /dev/pts/0 ...

@7175 : Hey thanks for looking into this. I will definitely try your suggestions.
However, I've already tried the -T flag to ssh, but never by specifying the pts to use, as it should be dynamically allocated by the ptmx. (As it could be already in use, by something else, like ATE.) Also, what does "global" do?
You also mentioned "stock ssh" in /system/bin. I've never seen that. Perhaps that could be a better solution, unless its' even more crippled. Does it also support sshd (i.e. ssh -D)?
In the mean time, is there any particular reason why you decided to dynamically link mksh? (I assumed it would have been more portable with static linking?)
I see that you did a huge amount of work on that mkshrc script. Looks crazy (in a good way)!
Finally, and aside, I also noticed that when I start mksh from ssh session, there are some aliases in there, that is not specified in the mkshrc, nor the .profile of my SSH server, so where the heck do they come from?
Code:
[SIZE=2][email protected]:home # alias
autoload='typeset -fu'
functions='typeset -f'
hash='alias -t'
history='fc -l'
integer='typeset -i'
local=typeset
login='exec login'
nameref='typeset -n'
nohup='nohup '
r='fc -e -'
source='PATH=$PATH:. command .'
type='whence -v'[/SIZE]
Perhaps they're hardcoded or sourced from somewhere? Have you seen this?

E:V:A said:
@7175 : Hey thanks for looking into this. I will definitely try your suggestions.
However, I've already tried the -T flag to ssh, but never by specifying the pts to use, as it should be dynamically allocated by the ptmx. (As it could be already in use, by something else, like ATE.) Also, what does "global" do?
You also mentioned "stock ssh" in /system/bin. I've never seen that. Perhaps that could be a better solution, unless its' even more crippled. Does it also support sshd (i.e. ssh -D)?
In the mean time, is there any particular reason why you decided to dynamically link mksh? (I assumed it would have been more portable with static linking?)
I see that you did a huge amount of work on that mkshrc script. Looks crazy (in a good way)!
Finally, and aside, I also noticed that when I start mksh from ssh session, there are some aliases in there, that is not specified in the mkshrc, nor the .profile of my SSH server, so where the heck do they come from?
Code:
[SIZE=2][email protected]:home # alias
autoload='typeset -fu'
functions='typeset -f'
hash='alias -t'
history='fc -l'
integer='typeset -i'
local=typeset
login='exec login'
nameref='typeset -n'
nohup='nohup '
r='fc -e -'
source='PATH=$PATH:. command .'
type='whence -v'[/SIZE]
Perhaps they're hardcoded or sourced from somewhere? Have you seen this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man lol it's a big rc. It was 50KB before I converted a bunch of the functions to fpath functions in /etc/fpath and stripped most of the comments. It should give a pretty quick shell in terminal though with the ulimit and renicing tweaks. The PS1 prompt is pretty awesome, probably the best thing in the mkshrc I included.
"global" is a function just like "typeset" or "declare" in bash. The difference is that global prevents an accessed variable from being localized/ different than the global value in a function. This is a mksh function, bash will use "declare -g". There are a couple of example usage in the mkshrc, like with the set -x spam fix for the command prompt.
I checked and stock ssh in /system/bin has the "-D" flag. I would also check rolo's zshaolin zsh project which comes with some afterstock ssh stuff, ssh keygen, ssh keysearch, different ssh etc.
Yeah I just symlinked sh to save space really and for portability to try out other shells like bash and zsh(this works!) to run the system. Recently I switched to using a copy of mksh as sh since "chattr +i" wasn't protecting the symlink from being over-linked.
The aliases you posted are in fact hard-coded. If you do "strings /system/bin/mksh | grep -C7 autoload" or something similar, you'll see them in the binary. I always wondered where those came from too until I read through the mksh manual over a couple months, that's some pretty dense reading lol. mksh is a superb shell though, so it's definitely well worth it.
Sorry I can't be of more help with the ssh /dev/tty problem. I will keep my eyes open though, and try not to be so lazy using telnet for all my remote connections. I mean that's basically using the internet without a condom lol.
(*Also, just something I should mention about the install zip contents: not all the /etc/fpath functions are finished yet. I still gotta tweak the ssh ports from /etc/ssh and finish my xargs. Most should work though and are safe and won't interfer with shell usage, even if autoloaded.)

@mirabilos :
Hi, why did you choose to hardcode the aliases (shown in post#6) into the mksh binary?
Also, do you have a later version than the R48 Android binary above?
The "r" alias is particularly disturbing as it is masking the native toolbox use of "r" to read a memory location.

7175 said:
with the ulimit and renicing tweaks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do they need to be tweaked?
I checked and stock ssh in /system/bin has the "-D" flag. I would also check rolo's zshaolin zsh project which comes with some afterstock ssh stuff, ssh keygen, ssh keysearch, different ssh etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry my bad, I was sleepy and mistakenly understood "-D" as running SSH in daemon mode, when in fact it does the opposite and prevents it. Seem like his links are dead or I'm just looking in the wrong place.
Recently I switched to using a copy of mksh as sh since "chattr +i" wasn't protecting the symlink from being over-linked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you're saying here...
Sorry I can't be of more help with the ssh /dev/tty problem. I will keep my eyes open though, and try not to be so lazy using telnet for all my remote connections. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but if telnet works with tty/pts jobcontrol and vi etc, then I'm fine with that for now. I tried your command variations above and got this:
Code:
[SIZE=2]#ssh -2 [email protected] -p 2222 -T su -c exec /system/bin/sh -i # This worked!
#ssh -2 [email protected] -p 2222 -T su -c exec /tmp-mksh/tmp-mksh -T /dev/pts/0
/tmp-mksh/tmp-mksh: chvt: can't find tty /dev/pts/0
#ssh -2 [email protected] -p 2222 -T su -c exec /tmp-mksh/tmp-mksh -T /dev/ptmx
/tmp-mksh/tmp-mksh: chvt: new shell is potentially insecure, can't revoke /dev/ptmx
[/SIZE]
The fist one is good to get direct root prompt, the second fails, since pts/0 has not been created yet, and if it has, it fails with permission issue, since another process is trying to steal the pts. The reason why the third one fails, is very cryptic and I don't understand the error message and neither the code generating it.
Do you think one could use the ATE app to get a working root shell by the use of a more complex ssh command? Any suggestions how that would look?
Finally, I'm a bit worried about replacing the libc.so dependency, since the whole system depend upon it, and would probably not boot if an incompatible libc.so is used. This is why I asked about a static binary. I'd much rather have a bloated mksh than having to add library files. (We have plenty of memory and space these days.)
Regarding compiling, I would recommend using Linaro a build, rather than the crappy and often broken/outdated Code Sourcery junk.
Check this thread:
[LINARO GCC] Cross Compiler Toolchains [Linaro GCC 4.9 2014.07, 4.8 and 4.7 2014.04][19/07/2014]
Cheers!

7175 said:
--Better tab completion: unjams clustered words:
--Added "control + u" to "cut-to-beginning of line" like bash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! As the author of mksh, I am hereby explicitly requesting you to add a suffix to the shell version, similar to what the PLD Linux guys do here, because this changes the behaviour of the shell in an incompatible way. (Just add your own string there after a space, the @distro@ is just a placeholder that gets replaced with the PLD Linux package version.)
Do note that ^U in Korn Shell (and others) is “delete entire line”.
7175 said:
--Very complicated-programmed and colorful PS1 prompt, it looks good and I thought it through. Programming shows mksh potential for rich shell programming. It auto-turns off xtrace within itself so that 50 lines don't get printed each return with set -x. mksh small will be autodetected and give a different white and black classic ksh prompt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting idea, I think I will pick up the “set +x” thing.
Do you mind sharing a patchset of all your changes, so I can incorporate those I feel would be good to have in general?
7175 said:
EDIT: It appears the libc required for full mksh isnt always friendly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just link the shell statically, then.
E:V:A said:
1. Would you have any clue to what's going on HERE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are annoying me. I've told you times and times again to disable SEAndroid, or to fix its SELinux policies.
E:V:A said:
2. Would you know if I can just install over my old mksh binary to get this working, or do I need "everything"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Define “everything”. mksh in AOSP is /system/bin/mksh plus mkshrc.
E:V:A said:
3. And since I've heard that /system/bin/mksh will soon be permanently only /system/bin/sh perhaps this need to be changed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm working with enh of Google on that. I would like for mksh to be installed as /system/bin/mksh and /system/bin/sh to be a link/copy of it, always. He said he'd agree I could change that back.
E:V:A said:
Hi, why did you choose to hardcode the aliases (shown in post#6) into the mksh binary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are part of the shell, and have always been, even in pdksh times.
E:V:A said:
Also, do you have a later version than the R48 Android binary above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not deal in binaries normally. I'm somewhat working on updating AOSP to mksh CVS HEAD, in tandem with enh from Google, but when I had the time for that, it appears they changed the build system requirements. But it will be there.
It's not as if a newer mksh version would fix your SELinux problem, though…
E:V:A said:
The "r" alias is particularly disturbing as it is masking the native toolbox use of "r" to read a memory location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The “r” alias is especially required for the Emacs command line editing mode. Interesting that toolbox uses it too. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I will ask enh to change “r” in toolbox.

@E:V:A : Glad the first execution you mentioned worked. I would try messing with quotes/double quotes around the shell command, i.e. ssh ... -T su -c 'exec ...' or try ssh ... -T su -c exec "...", as something to test out further. This can make a lot of difference.
The ulimit shell function can control all sorts of performance related stuff, priority, max niceness, etc. You can see all values with "ulimit -a".
I understand your hesitance about the libc.so replacement. I would keep a copy of the old one and twrp backup before trying out a new one. I get what you're saying about statically linked binaries. I just fixed my i7 desktop that had a blown power supply, so I'll be looking into this. Thanks for the linaro link!
@mirabilos : Thanks for taking a look at this and providing us with mksh! I updated my OP with the specifics about the rebinds for "control I" and "control U" that you mentioned, and I added a suffix to the beginning comments of the file. Something like:
Code:
# $MirOS: src/bin/mksh/dot.mkshrc,v 1.88 2014/01/11 18:09:39 tg Exp $Android_mod by [email protected] 2014/08/04$
Not sure if that's what you wanted me to add in. I included an extra zip to download in the 2nd post that contains the official mkshrc 2014/01/11, my personal mkshrc, and a "diff -ur" patch (also attached to this post).
I will look into getting a statically linked mksh compiled, that sounds like something really handy to keep around.
edit: Here's basically what I added to the beginning and end of PS1 to trim down its "set -x" verbosity to 3 lines. I'd like to get it down more but haven't figured it out.
Code:
PS1=$'\001\r'; PS1+='${|
local e=$?
[[ -o -x ]] && set +x && global -x XTR_DBG=1 || global -x XTR_DBG=0
...
...
...
(( XTR_DBG )) && set -x
return ${e}
} '

7175 said:
@mirabilos : Thanks for taking a look at this and providing us with mksh!
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You’re welcome!
7175 said:
Not sure if that's what you wanted me to add in.
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Ah, so you did not patch the mksh binary, only the mkshrc file?
But then, that’s okay as you wrote, sure.
7175 said:
I included an extra zip to download in the 2nd post that contains the official mkshrc 2014/01/11, my personal mkshrc, and a "diff -ur" patch (also attached to this post).
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Click to collapse
OK, thanks. Will have a look at it within the next weeks (August is going to be a busy month for me).
I’m assuming you are okay with me adding some of your changes back to main mksh?
7175 said:
I will look into getting a statically linked mksh compiled, that sounds like something really handy to keep around.
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Click to collapse
Indeed, it is.
The first mksh run on Android actually was statically compiled against µClibc, though that’s cheating. (Also, dietlibc and klibc are better than µClibc). I think it should work against Bionic, too.
7175 said:
edit: Here's basically what I added to the beginning and end of PS1 to trim down its "set -x" verbosity to 3 lines. I'd like to get it down more but haven't figured it out.
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Click to collapse
I don’t think it works in less, considering you have to save the previous $?. There are a few handy tricks around. I tried these four:
#1 is:
Code:
local e=$?
[[ -o -x ]]; local x=$?; set +x
(( e )) && REPLY+="$e|"
[…]
(( x )) || set -x
return $e
This is about what you did. #2 is:
Code:
local e=$? x=$([[ -o -x ]]; echo $?); set +x
(( e )) && REPLY+="$e|"
[…]
(( x )) || set -x
return $e
This only looks different (I’d prefer #1 over this.) #3 is:
Code:
set +x $? $([[ -o -x ]]; echo $?)
(( $1 )) && REPLY+="$1|"
[…]
(( $2 )) || set -x
return $1
This reduces visual clutter. #4 is:
Code:
set +x $? $([[ -o -x ]]; echo $?)
(( $1 )) && REPLY+="$1|"
[…]
(( $2 )) && return $1
(( $1 )) && set -x && return $1
set -x
This reduces visual clutter even more, in that, when $? is 0, one line less is shown. But it makes the number of lines shown be not always the same. YMMV on whether to use this, #3 or #1.
This could be made even nicer *iff* mksh had the EXIT trap when leaving a function. The manpage says it’s TODO. This part of the manpage is from 1999 or older. (I started mksh in late 2002, early 2003.) Go figure… But now I have a reason to add it ☺
Another thing you could do is “set +o inherit-xtrace”, which makes functions not run with “set -x” when the main body runs with it. But wait, I see now that it does not affect ${|…;} blocks. This is a bug, which I’ll fix ☻

@mirabilos:
You Wrote:
1. Would you have any clue to what's going on HERE?
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You are annoying me. I've told you times and times again to disable SEAndroid, or to fix its SELinux policies.
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Well, you can be as annoyed as you like. First of all, that question was not aimed at you, and second, as I have also said repeatedly, I have already tried using SELinux in Permissive mode and it doesn't work either. In addition, your suggestion to "fix its SELinux policies" is rather ridiculous as there are no tools available to do so. At least nothing out of the box and no available binaries anywhere, and surely no instructions how to do so. So if you know how to do it, why don't you just explain for us how to do so. (My policies are updated to latest according Androids policy update tools.)
In addition there is no such thing as "disable SEAndroid". It's either in Permissive or Enforced mode. That is, unless you flash a new custom FW, which is out of the question. In addition, ATE works just fine, in Enforcing mode.
So believe me, I am far more annoyed by Googles lack of SELinux/SEAndroid developer support, than you will ever be from me asking these questions.
Thanks for explaining and helping with everything else above.
@7175:
The ulimit shell function can control all sorts of performance related stuff, priority, max niceness, etc. You can see all values with "ulimit -a".
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Yes, I know about all those things, but I was asking why you think they need to be tweaked? The defaults, seem to work just fine.

@mirabilos : Thank you for your detailed replies, and I would be more than happy to contribute if you see anything from the content I posted.
It is interesting to see the other possibilities for turning off xtrace within the PS1. I didn't even realize you could set positional parameters after the set -x... I think I like that one the most. It just seems more array-like and streamlined, although I guess the same number of variables is still used. I look forward to seeing what updates you'll have on the exit trap and localization. This is something I'd like to toy around with.
I took your advice and set out to get a mksh static built. I ended up compiling with GCC, running "LDSTATIC=-static ./Build.sh" in the mksh source directory. I'm pretty new to cross compiling, so I didn't really get that far or try that hard before chrooting to a fresh Ubuntu terminal on my Nexus, installing GCC, and compiling there. The only thing I changed in the source code was ${ENV:-~/.mkshrc} to ${ENV:-/system/etc/mkshrc} in the "main.c" source file. I can include this in the OP though as you mentioned before. (edit: just saw this as a compiler option with Build.sh)
Edit: I see the option now in the Build.sh for changing the mkshrc path. Also, got R50 rebuilt static with klibc. Damn that got the size way down from using glibc, 684K to 204K.

R50e is released
R50e is released -- see https://www.mirbsd.org/mksh.htm#clog

Hi @7175, good stuffs here man :good:
I've been using your modded mkshrc, and I can see a hell of a lot of work you put into it. Looks really cool. Plus it's really a good place to learn for someone like me, I definitely had learnt a lot for the past few days. Tons of aliases too, and I'm getting used to using it now. I really appreciate your stuffs here, hope to see more of it

alanthehat said:
R50e is released -- see https://www.mirbsd.org/mksh.htm#clog
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Thanks for the heads up. Updated the binaries posted in the 2nd OP to mksh R50e.
Reinkaos said:
Hi @7175, good stuffs here man :good:
I've been using your modded mkshrc, and I can see a hell of a lot of work you put into it. Looks really cool. Plus it's really a good place to learn for someone like me, I definitely had learnt a lot for the past few days. Tons of aliases too, and I'm getting used to using it now. I really appreciate your stuffs here, hope to see more of it
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback man! Glad it's been a good learning experience like it has been for me.

7175 said:
Thanks for the feedback man! Glad it's been a good learning experience like it has been for me.
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Well, thanks for the updated binary! Anyway, anything you can recommend me to read other than the man page in OP? And I have one more question, what's the difference between the busybox (I got one from your other thread) and yours busybox.ndk?

While I’m the upstream developer of mksh, hacking it has also been a good learning experience for me.
So it is for a friend of mine, who has taken some fundamental script frameworks I wrote, and extended it to an impressive management system, learning to code good shell while doing so.
I’m always happy when my stuff helps other people, and they share their joy! ☺
By the way: new mksh release announcements are sent over the miros-mksh mailing list (send an eMail to postmaster at mirbsd dot either org or de to subscribe).
---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------
Well, we have https://www.mirbsd.org/ksh-chan.htm which collects lots of Korn Shell-related resources, although most of it is for AT&T ksh93 (the “original” Korn Shell), much also applies to mksh, though the Android OS has some special handling (especially caused by the different user-space tooling) obviously.
The shell itself behaves exactly the same across *all* supported platforms though, so (once you have set $TMPDIR to something writable for your current user) you can write Pure mksh code exactly like on Unix or Cygwin or the Macintosh or even Haiku.

mirabilos said:
While I’m the upstream developer of mksh, hacking it has also been a good learning experience for me.
So it is for a friend of mine, who has taken some fundamental script frameworks I wrote, and extended it to an impressive management system, learning to code good shell while doing so.
I’m always happy when my stuff helps other people, and they share their joy!
By the way: new mksh release announcements are sent over the miros-mksh mailing list (send an eMail to postmaster at mirbsd dot either org or de to subscribe).
---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------
Well, we have https://www.mirbsd.org/ksh-chan.htm which collects lots of Korn Shell-related resources, although most of it is for AT&T ksh93 (the “original” Korn Shell), much also applies to mksh, though the Android OS has some special handling (especially caused by the different user-space tooling) obviously.
The shell itself behaves exactly the same across *all* supported platforms though, so (once you have set $TMPDIR to something writable for your current user) you can write Pure mksh code exactly like on Unix or Cygwin or the Macintosh or even Haiku.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the link, and for your works on mksh too! I'm really new to shell, I'm not even that familiar with unix/linux either. But I always have been interested in shell scripting, so I'm glad that I stumbled upon this thread
Whew, that's a lot of stuff in that link you gave, definitely gonna make use of it, thanks again!