The purpose of this thread is to provide a list of desktop apps which have been recompiled to run on hacked Windows RT devices. A secondary purpose is to request or discuss such ports. Listing apps which run without recompilation (.NET 4.x) and providing libraries which are ported and/or known to work are also good uses of the thread. However, major apps, or those expected to lead to significant discussion, should probably get their own thread. Please help keep this one organized.
Please post links to compiled apps for Windows RT desktop, and if possible also link to their source code. I will make minimal testing of the apps before listing them, but nothing extensive; apps may have known or unknown issues, and it's even possible that somebody will link malicious apps here. Use at your own risk.
DO NOT request ports of closed-source applications! It's not possible (unless they're pure .NET 4.x, in which case they don't need to be ported) and you will look like a fool and waste your time. Additionally, at this time, code which requires GCC to build (i.e. can't build under MSVC) is impractical to port.
Latest changes
06 Apr: Updated link for IceChat to a newer version (thanks @TheExileFox!)
03 Sep: Updated the link for Process Hacker (thanks again, @bfosterjr!)
10 Apr: Added pForth and Python's LibFFI.
22 Dec: Added TeXStudio.
20 Dec: Added Nethack and Greenshot.
12 Dec: Added MicroEMACS. Updated Subversion and Notepad++.
21 Aug: Added AvP Classic.
20 Aug: Added Paint.NET, highlighted the step needed to use ClassicStartMenu.
16 Aug: Added Subversion and AutoHotKey.
10 Aug: Added Fossil.
22 Jul: Added ffmpeg, Halite, and Lua.
8 Jul: Added QupZilla, SPGT client, and QuiteRSS.
26 Jun: Added Snes9x, FileZilla, and WinMerge.
25 Jun: Added OpenSSL, QT4, and Perl, updated Synergy.
10 Jun: Added Coolplayer (Update: now with FLAC plugin).
7 Jun: Added GlDirect library and ioQuake3.
5 Jun: Updated link for Quake to the D3D version.
12 May: Added MFPDemo (sorry I was late posting it).
2 May: Added WinDjVu.
28 Apr: Added an updated version of MFC.
truncated...
Apps which have been recompiled:
Bochs. x86 Emulator. Known issue: no network support. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1625048&d=1357575232
TightVNC. VNC server and client. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1624600&d=1357561475
PuTTY Suite. SSH/Rsh/telnet client and helpers. Printing fixed in this build. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1637160&d=1357948281
7-Zip. Utility for file archives and disk images. https://mega.co.nz/#!FhQV3SZA!MWayY1mV4b7Bvjs9nJNq_yiQxDEaJFQpnnA3ZNApq7g
Notepad++. Powerful but simple text/code editor New update and Compare plugin. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2556112
SciTE. Code editor (http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html). http://fearthecowboy.com/stuff/wscite.zip (Thanks to XDA-Devs member FearTheCowboy)
IP Messenger. Peer-to-peer chat/file transfer (http://ipmsg.org/index.html.en). Binaries at http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1633711&d=1357842066, source at http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1633715&d=1357842310
Unikey 3.6. Known issue: without RtfIO, the "Toolkit" and "Conversion on the fly" features won't work. Older 3.1 build posted below https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8557161/rt/unikeyNT3.62_arm.7z (Thanks minhtuan99bk)
CrystalBoy. Nintendo Gameboy emulator. Known issue: uses GDI+ instead of DirectX, may reduce performance. Conflicting reports as to whether it works. http://sdrv.ms/11kcXXL Thanks to DXA-Developers member daveoggy.
ClassicStartMenu. Provides a hierarchical Start menu on the desktop taskbar. Restart Explorer after you run it! http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1640579&d=1358061318 (Thanks Netham45).
Quake 2. First-person shooter game. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1640830&d=1358070370
OpenTTD. Open-source clone of Transport Tycoon Deluxe (transportation simulation game). Known issues and download link HERE: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36674868&postcount=151
DOSBox. DOS on x86 emulator. Updated again with better performance. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36620852&postcount=117
Node.JS.: JavaScript program/web server execution environment. Will be slower than usual due to lack of v8 JIT. More info: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36694633&postcount=1
FAR Manager. 2-panel terminal-based File/Archive manager (think Total Commander, etc.). Updated with plugins. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36733772&postcount=1
Miranda IM. Multi-protocol chat/IM client. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1649674&d=1358334467
Vim, GVim, etc. Code and text editor. Info and download links here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36930991
SumatraPDF. Document reader (PDFs, possibly some other formats). Read and download here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2098594
Audacity. Digital audio recording and editing. Info and downloads: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2103779
VirtuaWin. Virtual desktop utility. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2110131
Mini vMac. Emulator for very early Macintosh computers. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1662947&d=1358737954
Rainmeter. Desktop customization / skinning tool. Many but not all features work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37018422&postcount=282
OpenSSL. Crypto tool, can generate keys and certificates. May have some issues with large ECC keys. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2113595
MiKteX. LaTeX compiler (typesetting tool). Script is interpreted instead of JITed but works fine. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2113634
Greenshot. Advanced screenshot tool. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2114273
Iperf. Network performance testing tool. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37346221#post37346221
MongoDB. NoSQL database. Mongo shell doesn't work correctly locally, but the server works and other clients should as well. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37475852
ScummVM. Game platform for many older games. Known issues: many disabled features and some crashes reported in this early build. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37583092&postcount=402
ResidualVM. Platform for many old-ish 3D games. Known issues: many disabled features, most engines don't work yet. More info and download: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37632363&postcount=411
Superputty. Enhanced version of PuTTY Suite with more features. http://sdrv.ms/151FWzT (Thanks to Erwan12)
NZB-O-Matic. Newsgroup post downloader (NZB download tool). http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37886354&postcount=438
WabbitEMU. Texas Instruments graphing calculator emulator and dev tools. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37928562&postcount=442
Regshot. Registry shapshot/comparison tool. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37933687&postcount=1
CorsixTH. Engine for the game Theme Hospital. Includes demo, easy to use full version if you have it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38067653&postcount=466
FreeRA. Command & Conquer Red Alert (RTS game) engine. Requires game data files. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38072727&postcount=468
FreeSynd. Syndicate (game) engine. No cutscene sound, requires game files. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ca0n0atmfl74306/Freesynd.zip
Pentagram. Ultima VIII (game) engine. Required game files. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38295828&postcount=518
Free Download Manager. Standalone file downloader and bittorrent client. Has some known issues but works: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2170002
PrBoom. DOOM game engine (can use the included shareware WAD file or other game files). http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2175449
ChocolateDuke3D. Duke Nukem 3D game engine. Requires game files. Has a known sound bug with workaround. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38752618&postcount=561
GemRG. Infinity game engine clone (used for games like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment). Runs pretty well although some of the newer games may stutter a little. Requires the game files from a standard install. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2177954
Process Hacker. Advanced process inspection / control tool similar to Sysinternals Process Monitor. Updated to 2.33! http://forum.xda-developers.com/windows-8-rt/rt-development/app-processhacker-2-33-t2865384
FinalBurn Alpha. Arcade game emulator. Port is still considered "alpha" quality. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2187370
SharpDevelop. C# IDE. Debugging is not yet supported and some setup work is required: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39276938&postcount=615
MAME. Arcade machine emulator (requires ROMs). Not yet fully tested; performance issues reported with some games. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2237754
WinDjVu. DjVu document viewer. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40931011&postcount=687
MFPDemo. A desktop player for video files. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40997441&postcount=691
Quake (original version) running in Direct3D (runs faster than the one that was listed here before). Instructions and downloads: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2312019
ioQuake3 (Quake 3 Arena). Requires game files. Instructions and download: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42338198&postcount=1
Coolplayer. Skinnable music player, now with FLAC support. Extra themes are available for download from the site. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2318000
Synergy. Use one mouse and keyboard across PCs (including Linux & Mac). Now with 1.4.12 beta. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37609926
Snes9x. Super Nintendo console emulator. Some features are disabled but games appear to work fine. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2339228
FileZilla. Graphical file transfer program. No support for encrypted protocols in this build, only plain FTP. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2340616
WinMerge. Diff(erencing) and merging tool. All features should work but this version is a little old; a newer one may come later. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2340560
QuiteRSS. Stand-alone RSS feed reader with embedded browser. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2355277
Single Player Game Transmitter client. Streams 3D apps with good quality and responsiveness. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2355051
QupZilla. WebKit-based web browser. Uses interpreted JS. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2353048
Lua. Scripting language, most commonly used for games. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43808775
Halite. Nice BitTorrent client somewhat like uTorrent. Currently only includes English support. Magnet links may not work...? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2372058
ffmpeg. Video player. May be very slow with some codecs. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2368706
Fossil SCM. Distributed version control software (sort of like Git or Mercurial). http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2400099
Subversion. New update 1.8.5 with OpenSSL 1.0.1e. Widely used version control software. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2494931
AutoHotKey. Keyboard macros and powerful automation of Windows functions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2408417
Paint.NET. Image manipulation program. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2411497
Alien vs. Predator Classic. First-person games based on the movies. Requires game files. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2414431
MicroEMACS. Small, EMACS-like text/code editor. Thanks to @acrossland! Binary available at Download link. https://bitbucket.org/adamcrossland/microemacs-for-surfacert
Nethack. The venerable and classic "roguelike" RPG. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2576998
TeXStudio. IDE for LaTeX documents. Requires a compiler such as MiKteX (linked above). http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2493219
pForth. Interpreter for the Forth programming language. Docs and samples available as well as binary: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51795065
Python 2.7.3. Programming/scripting language and runtime. New: Experimental FFI should make much more code work. (Thanks @e13000!) Runtime: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50687352&postcount=921 LibFFI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByNfJPIJQw6hRnlPMHM3b1FFUFU/edit?usp=sharing
Apps which run un-modified
Keepass Portable. Password storage wallet. http://downloads.sourceforge.net/keepass/KeePass-2.20.1.zip
Mouse Without Borders. Use one mouse across PCs (like Synergy). Install instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36428923&postcount=258
Transmission.Net Remote. Remote control of a Transmission BitTorrent service. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2101891
ShareX. Screen capture/upload utility. https://mega.co.nz/#!VxYVDZAS!KyyL8gGvjrcZWjEIOp3j_WnZqDsSucB_b3YcS0f-TbE
IceChat. IRC client. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3221171&stc=1&d=1426912901
IKVM. Java, implemented in .NET (can run many pure-Java apps). http://www.ikvm.net/
Fiddler 4. Advanced HTTP proxy. To install, unpack the .EXE as an archive using 7-Zip. To run correctly, copy the file Microsoft.JScript.dll from \Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\ on a Win8 machine (older Windows versions may also work) to the Fiddler "install" (unpacked) directory. http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/version.asp
Boxie. Multipurpose utility (image conversion, file management stuff, etc.). http://boxie.codeplex.com/ (Info: http://boxie.codeplex.com/documentation)
DtPad. Text/code editor. You can use the installer; there will be a warning but it's reported to work after clickthrough. http://dtpad.codeplex.com/
BoxWorld. Sokoban game. Extract the binaries from the installer using 7-Zip. http://boxworld.codeplex.com/
AstroGrep. Regular expression file/text search tool (basically, Unix grep). http://sourceforge.net/projects/astrogrep/
Notepad Enhanced. Simple text editor with tabbed interface. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37370164&postcount=374 for info.
QuickSharp. C# IDE. Info at the same link as Notepad Enhanced, and also here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37385385&postcount=378
Remote TrackPad Server. Allows controlling a PC using a Windows Phone as a server. Use the.NET 4.5 server build: http://www.luecho.com/trackpad/
ImageGlass. Image viewing program. Runs fine but crashes on exit. https://github.com/d2phap/ImageGlass (Thanks igator)
Be.HexEditor. Simple editor capable of opening any file, including binary, and editing in text or hexadecimal. Requires changing a config file. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39152904&postcount=611
WindowsAppBoss. Simplifies managing sideloaded or provisioned (i.e. not-from-the-store) Metro apps. http://windowsappboss.codeplex.com/
Perl 5.12.4. Popular scripting language, especially for working with strings. Official Microsoft-signed binary will run even without jailbreak: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2331691
Greenshot. Advanced screenshot tool. Plugins may not work. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48682150&postcount=905
Native-ported libraries (mostly for developers/porters)
LZMA (compression): DLL
SDL (Simple Directmedia Layer). Used for a lot of game software, among other things. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36620852&postcount=117
OpenSSL (cryptography toolkit). Used by a great many open source programs that do any crypto. May have some problems with elliptical curve crypto. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2113595
Zlib (compression). Used by many open-source libraries that need to handle compressed data. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2113684
libFLAC_static, libmad, libogg_static, libpng, libtheora_static, libvorbis_static, libvorbisfile_static (media codecs). Support popular audio and video compressed formats. https://www.dropbox.com/s/rhxn7pwygfh6pka/ARMlibs.zip
Boost. Commonly used C++ library/framework. Please do not download unless you need it, as doing so will use considerable bandwidth from the host. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=38313568&postcount=524
wxWidgets. Common C++ library/framework for cross-platform graphical apps. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/39887/wxMSW-2.8.12-libs.7z
MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes). C++ library/framework used by many older Windows programs. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40802296&postcount=59
GlDirect (OpenGL-DirectX wrapper). Adds support for OpenGL code by wrapping Direct3D 9. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42271138&postcount=4
QT 4.8.4 (C++ utility and graphics framework). Used by many cross-platform open-source programs. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2339014
Apps removed for known issues:
MonoTorrent Client. BitTorrent client, both GUI and CLI. Currently experimental/alpha quality, many people have reported that they can't download anything. GUI, CLI, More info.
Please recompile the Unikey (app helps typing Vietnamese on x86) since rt have no vietnamese keyboard. This is the app that everyone in Viet Nam is waiting to make the rt perfect for daily use. Thank you so much.
Here is its website: 'unikey.org'
http://ipmsg.org/index.html.en
a open source lan chat tool.I was able to compile it but it cant send message.you can have a try on it.
Netham45 posted a link to someones compiled notepad++ V6.2
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36516405&postcount=337
Thanks all. I'm looking at compiling UniKey (although it will be an old version, as the development 4.x branch is not yet open sourced). I'll also look into ipmsg. Appreciate the links.
EDIT: Ugh. The GPL for UniKey is a lie (ironic, since the author *****es about people violating the GPL with his code... yet doesn't comply with it himself). It relies on a library which is only distributed in binary form, RtfIO. I can probably build the 3.1 version (which is from 2006, and should be pre-RtfIO) since, aside from the occasional piece of truly awful code practices (lots of implicit types and improper use of variable scoping) that may have been permitted by older compilers but don't work in VS 2012, there's nothing difficult about building the app. I could even build 3.6 if the author would release an ARM version of RtfIO... I couldn't legally distribute it under the GPL at that point, but I could build it.
Unless you want me to give 3.1 a shot, you're going to have to ask the author for either the source to RtfIO or an ARM-compiled .LIB file of it.
Can you give a go at a TransmissionBT console as well?
http://www.transmissionbt.com/resources/
I've been looking into a bittorrent client already.
Transmission, unfortunately, is one of those many open source apps which technically compile on Windows, but only within a GNU-like environment, and in particular it expects to use GCC. While it may be possible to use MinGW to cross-compile for Windows on ARM, that's not the native behavior and will take more investigation.
EDIT: Hadouken, at hdkn.net, appears to be a pure .NET app. It's distributed as a .MSI which doesn't work on ARM< but it may be possible to build it for .NET 4.5 architecture-independent, in which case it should run on Windows RT. It's a BitTorrent client the runs as a Windows service rather than a normal desktop apps, and uses a web interface to control it. Should work fine, though...
GoodDayToDie said:
I've been looking into a bittorrent client already.
Transmission, unfortunately, is one of those many open source apps which technically compile on Windows, but only within a GNU-like environment, and in particular it expects to use GCC. While it may be possible to use MinGW to cross-compile for Windows on ARM, that's not the native behavior and will take more investigation.
EDIT: Hadouken, at hdkn.net, appears to be a pure .NET app. It's distributed as a .MSI which doesn't work on ARM< but it may be possible to build it for .NET 4.5 architecture-independent, in which case it should run on Windows RT. It's a BitTorrent client the runs as a Windows service rather than a normal desktop apps, and uses a web interface to control it. Should work fine, though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://sourceforge.net/projects/wintransmission/ seems to be a c# port of transmission. less dev than the QT version, but more suitable for us.
I will be taking a look at the effort involved in getting a dev environment working (either monodev or sharpdevelop)
@windowsrtc: I got IPMsg working, it's fine send and receive. I had to remove some platform-specific debug code (I could have written the ARM portion, but was feeling lazy) but it shouldn't matter except that crash logs won't be generated.
Binaries, including installer, are in the smaller ZIP file. Modified source code used to build them is in the _SRC archive.
Also, any pure .net 4.5 app will work on the RT too.
I've gotten Mouse without Borders, a MS-made synergy alternative running great on the Surface.
Check this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36428923&postcount=258
OK, got a build of Unikey 3.1 here. Better than nothing, right?
VLC - do you think Surface RT has all the OS components required for VLC? I would like mkv support on Surface RT and VLC would be a good step in that direction.
ok... as bad as this will sound... java... don't judge me!
@programabd: I think VLC uses some assembly in its decoders, which will make porting difficult. I know there are ARM build already, do it's possible, but there are lots of thing which build on Windows, and build for ARM, but don't build for WIndows on ARM.
@apatcas: Already looked into it. Getting Java support would give a huge number of apps ready-to-go, and however distasteful I find the language or however bad the browser plugin security is, it would be good to have. Unfortunately, the only ARM-ready versions of Java currently available are for Linux, not Windows. It's possible to port, of course, but it'll be a lot of work.
programabd said:
VLC - do you think Surface RT has all the OS components required for VLC? I would like mkv support on Surface RT and VLC would be a good step in that direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't they started making their own port through the kickstarter campaign, they're making a windows 8 metro style app first then stating on an Rt version, probably not see it this side of Christmas though
Edit: here's the link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1061646928/vlc-for-the-new-windows-8-user-experience-metro
martyj999 said:
Haven't they started making their own port through the kickstarter campaign, they're making a windows 8 metro style app first then stating on an Rt version, probably not see it this side of Christmas though
Edit: here's the link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1061646928/vlc-for-the-new-windows-8-user-experience-metro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - I wish they would just bypass the handcuffed Metro environment, and just go for a full port to desktop ARM, but that's pretty unlikely
GoodDayToDie said:
Thanks all. I'm looking at compiling UniKey (although it will be an old version, as the development 4.x branch is not yet open sourced). I'll also look into ipmsg. Appreciate the links.
EDIT: Ugh. The GPL for UniKey is a lie (ironic, since the author *****es about people violating the GPL with his code... yet doesn't comply with it himself). It relies on a library which is only distributed in binary form, RtfIO. I can probably build the 3.1 version (which is from 2006, and should be pre-RtfIO) since, aside from the occasional piece of truly awful code practices (lots of implicit types and improper use of variable scoping) that may have been permitted by older compilers but don't work in VS 2012, there's nothing difficult about building the app. I could even build 3.6 if the author would release an ARM version of RtfIO... I couldn't legally distribute it under the GPL at that point, but I could build it.
Unless you want me to give 3.1 a shot, you're going to have to ask the author for either the source to RtfIO or an ARM-compiled .LIB file of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he leaves no contact information so I think there is no way to ask him for anything. In that case, if only you could help us building the 3.6 version which could be better with the open source on his website, I think 3.1 is enough for use. We, vietnamese, really appreciate your effort. Thank you.
apatcas said:
ok... as bad as this will sound... java... don't judge me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be amazing as hard as it might be to get a port. Minecraft, people
GoodDayToDie said:
@windowsrtc: I got IPMsg working, it's fine send and receive. I had to remove some platform-specific debug code (I could have written the ARM portion, but was feeling lazy) but it shouldn't matter except that crash logs won't be generated.
Binaries, including installer, are in the smaller ZIP file. Modified source code used to build them is in the _SRC archive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you
finally I found I didnt use it in the right way.I must select a "user"before sending a message and it works.
UPD: It turns out bpf() syscall is blocked by seccomp.
From what I understand, Android seccomp whitelists all syscalls listed in bionic SYSCALLS.TXT, and then blacklists some of them, or whitelists missing in SYSCALLS.TXT.
Since bpf() is missing from SYSCALLS.TXT and not whitelisted for applications, we can't use bpf() on stock Android settings.
That sucks.
I want to implement IP-level packet filtering utility for Android which won't require root privileges.
Since RAW sockets or iptables require CAP_SYS_ADMIN/CAP_NET_ADMIN capability which is not available without root, I want to understand if it's possible to attach eBPF program to TCP/UDP socket on modern Android devices.
BPF is a filtering framework with virtual machine which executes bytecode inside Linux kernel. BPF could be used for many subsystems, but I'm interested only in sockets. Non-root BPF should be supported since vanilla Linux 4.4, and I want to check if BPF support is enabled on modern Androids, is available for non-root user, has it been backported to older Android kernels by SoC vendors and how many devices are shipped with BPF support enabled.
I'm asking the owners of Android 7+ devices to perform eBPF support test:
Download Termux terminal emulator (F-Droid, APK). Please use only Termux, it has minimal Linux environment and proper busybox, other terminal emulators likely won't work.
Run the following command inside terminal session (copy&paste):
Code:
wget -O - http://valdikss.org.ru/bpftest/bpf.sh | bash
Copy the output or take a screenshot and upload it here or send it to me using PM.
Source code for those who interested: https://valdikss.org.ru/bpftest/bpftest.c
Note the script is downloaded using unencrypted http. This is because Termux wget does not support https. I assume that developer section of the forum understands all concerns and will take precautions before executing it.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dec 2, 2021
Allow bpf() syscall
…
Allowing the bpf() syscall is safe as its usage is still gated by selinux and regular apps are not allowed to use it.
Allow bpf() syscall · aosp-mirror/[email protected]
The implementation of FUSE BPF requires the FUSE daemon to access BPF functionalities, i.e., to get the fd of a pinned BPF prog and to update maps. In Android the FUSE daemon is part of MediaProvid...
github.com
I tried to post this in the development forum, but I am not allowed.
I am tinkering with ARM architecture and Android device development and low level OS stuff. I am currently using QT C++ for Android for app development. This works great for all of my standard Android app development, but now I am digging deeper. I am doing an experiment where I have a small binary blob (64k) of ARM code that I want to load into memory at run time using mmap(). In order for this code to work, it needs to be loaded at address 0x22000000. In my C++ code i call mmap(0x22000000, ...) which would map the binary file to that address only if it were not in use already, which it is on a couple different android devices that I have tried, so it maps to another address, as it should by design. I tried using MAP_FIXED as a flag to mmap() and the application crashes, as expected, since mmap() overwrites memory that is already in use.
In order for mmap() to map the binary file to the address I want, I believe that I can do some sort of advanced Android / Kotlin / gradle level compile time linking modifications in order to make sure that the area of memory (the whole page at least I imagine) that I want to mmap() to is unused when execution reaches my C++ code that calls mmap(). I don't know the android build system very well though, so I hope some Android experts can help me. I am not trying to access real physical RAM though, only address 0x22000000 in the processes virtual address space. Because of this, I believe that with some custom hackery can be done during linking to modify the areas of RAM that are assigned for program/stack/etc use. I believe I am looking for the equivalent of LD script customization for standard GCC C/C++ compiled software, and possibly some direction on how to manipulate.
I have successfully done this on a raspberry pi running raspbian via a command line C++ application, as well as an x86_64 Fedora system using an x86_64 binary blob. In both cases I got lucky that the area of memory was not in use, so mmap() succeeded and I was able to execute the code as desired.