[Q] apk installer zip file to bootstrap app re-installs - General Questions and Answers

Hi all.
I play with quite a few different roms, and currently add a little program apkinstaller to the rom before I load it.
I use the apkinstaller to first re-install TB off the SD card, and then I use TB to re-install everything else, then I go setup my accounts for market and syncing (don't need the cloud servers to do the re-installs wasting bandwidth).
It would be even better if I could put this apkinstaller and TB into a zip file which I could install after loading the rom.
If I can get it to load from a zip file, then I wouldn't even need the apk installer; I would just install TB from the zip file, reboot, and reload from there.
Where can I find information about what I need to do in a zip file to install an apk?
Thanks all.

Yeah I have the same question. Any one have any suggestions?

no-one able to assist
Seems there isn't much interest in replying - I assume this rather than no-one actually knowing.
I need my post count up anyway so I might as well reply with what I have seen. There was a thread somewhere else that I saw someone had a fresh_install.zip script to delete a set of files, and add launcher pro. I guess I need to pull that apart and see what I can work out from it. I only want to do the single file add, so it hopefully will be simple.

easier solution already available
Adding to my own thread again in case anyone else is interested.
I have been looking at the file, and have information about what would need to be done, but now find an easier alternative. It seems that many (most?) of the file managers have an apk installer built in. The roms typically come with a file manager, so I can just use that to start off my re-install process- nothing else required.
Will probably still play with the .zip file though just to understand what it needs.

Related

Fatality Hero Rom... Is there a way customize it???

Ok I will put all my questions here rather than starting multiple threads.
I dont use twitter, Facebook, Flicker., Peep, Teeter, Footprints, Google Talk, LearnMore, Stocks... Is there any way to remove any of these and reduce the number of screens down to 3 or 5? I love the ROM but it is painfully slow some times and even after I task kill some processes come back. It would be nice the get a striped down rom and add the features that you like and make a backup.
Can we extract those for future distributions or cooking our own ROM's?.. the weather, clock, contacts and calendar widgets are the best out there. Love the office, wifi tether and flash implementations.
With WinCE there were kitchens and OEM's making custom ROMs easy to build. Is there something like that for Android???
At last... Can the apps be installed on the SD card instead? I never remove the card.
Using testsign,jar and adb you could remove SOME of the apps you want to.None of the google ones can be removed or you get process.gapps.com error and cant sign in to google.it really is trial and error really, Ive spent the last 2 weeks working out what i can remove from cyanogenMOD roms!
Can you elaborate on the procedure some more...Im new with Android... I have decent exp in WInCE but this is like learning a whole new world.
Have you been using android sdk at all? Im unsure on what exactly ive done to get it all lol
I could upload my android tools folder which has it all in if that makes it any easier?All i know is now when i right click a zip file it comes up with resign as an option.
I have found a helpfull thread here
I have used the ADk to flash devices not so much for rom building...
My understanding on the process...
get rom...
extract....
figure out what is needed and what is not in the data/app_s folder???
*.apk files ( Android Program Pack....right??? ) and .odex files (BTW what is this file i could not find any information on it.)
resign and repackage...
Flash recovery...
Wipe...
Flash UPDATE.zip...
hope that it works....
That sound right or am I missing something?
bonesy said:
Have you been using android sdk at all? Im unsure on what exactly ive done to get it all lol
I could upload my android tools folder which has it all in if that makes it any easier?All i know is now when i right click a zip file it comes up with resign as an option.
I have found a helpfull thread here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or if you are using Ubuntu:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=538021
Thank you all for your help...
I got the apps uninstalled much easier. =)
SU File Manager & Terminal $$$. It costs money but it is well wort it. Makes editing files on the system much easier. It gives you root access to browse the system.
/data/app_s/...
change what you dont want to *.bak
make sure the system doesn't hang up.
When you are satisfied that its not a vital file move to SD card for later use or delete.
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! You can screw up your phone bad... !!!! Its a powerful tool!!!
zambezy said:
Thank you all for your help...
I got the apps uninstalled much easier. =)
SU File Manager & Terminal $$$. It costs money but it is well wort it. Makes editing files on the system much easier. It gives you root access to browse the system.
/data/app_s/...
change what you dont want to *.bak
make sure the system doesn't hang up.
When you are satisfied that its not a vital file move to SD card for later use or delete.
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! You can screw up your phone bad... !!!! Its a powerful tool!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's also root explorer.
As i understand removing/adding apps to the app_s or app folder means you can uninstall them. Putting them in system/app means you can clear the data only?

Install Script

Does anyone know can point me to the right direction on creating an install script that can be flash from recovery to install apps? I've tried searching but can't find a solution. Someone suggested from previous threads about using adb to do it but I want to be able to just flash an update and have all the apps install on the phone, thanks in advance.
You can save all apks on your computer and make a .bat file to push. Discussed in this thread for the opposite purpose of rm. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=663014
Another alternative is to just use Titanium backup, the paid version in Market even saves your market apps link to market.
danknee said:
You can save all apks on your computer and make a .bat file to push. Discussed in this thread for the opposite purpose of rm.
Another alternative is to just use Titanium backup, the paid version in Market even saves your market apps link to market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can do a batch file for it but there are times when I flash a ROM while away from my computer which I can't use batch file for.
As for the thread you mentioned I did read through all the posts on there and that is how I got my update.zip to remove all the stock apps before the first load after flashing a new ROM. But I also want to add apps that I've already downloaded and apps that I download that is not on the market on the phone.
I found a thread that I can just put the apks in either
Code:
/data/app
or
Code:
/system/sd/app
that it will automatically show up but it only show up for some not all the apps that I have.
Anyone??? What about the developers?
coderli said:
Does anyone know can point me to the right direction on creating an install script that can be flash from recovery to install apps? I've tried searching but can't find a solution. Someone suggested from previous threads about using adb to do it but I want to be able to just flash an update and have all the apps install on the phone, thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download A2SD v2.5: http://www.darktremor.com/files/misc/a2sd-2.5-signed.zip
Then break it out (unzip it).
You should see an install.sh in the root of the zip. Grab that.
Also grab the /META-INF/com/google/android/update-script. That will show you how the install.sh is launched.
That should give you a starting point.

[Q] Is it safe to remove files from a custom rom zip for android?

Hopefully this is a simple answer. I'm using a custom rom on my phone, flashed through CWM. I would like to delete most of the ringtones that come inside the zip file, prior to flashing it to my phone, to make the process quicker/easier than doing the cleanup after they are installed on my phone in /system/media.
If I open the custom rom zip file, and simply delete the ringtones, will CWM simply skip those files? Or will this error on me and cause the installation to fail?
If i cannot simply delete these files, what process would i need to do to remove these from the rom zip?
I have been lurking for a while, and slowly digging in more and more on my android phone, getting more comfortable doing things with it, without being afraid of breaking it. I'm still a bit cautious so far though.
Thanks in advance for any help with my question!
It should be safe. I haven't removed ringtones before, but i have deleted apps before flashing.
Do not unzip the file, but just open thg zip file with WinRAR or something and delete the stuff from within WinRAR. Then flash it.
If you don't feel good about doing this, check out ROM Cleaner (google it). If you want to completly delete stock apps and stuff after you've flashed, use "Root App Remover" from the market
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Some apps such as system ones will cause errors on the final product once done flashing, but removing such unimportant files as ringtones will cause no problem what so ever. Go ahead with it.
Sent from my tiamat hammerhead xoom
P.s. if this helped please press the thanks button
Thank you very much for the answers!

How to modify ROM (add/remove stuff)?

I've searched all over the net but to no avail.
I want to add some apps into the /system/app folder of the ROM, but whenever I flash the ROM (I did all the procedures - sign the ROM and all), the apps do not work. Instead, they force close everytime I try to open them, and in App Manager, they have absolutely no storage at all - they're blank. 0MB.
I extracted the 31/08/2012 nightly build of CM10 for Samsung Galaxy Mini, then edited all that I needed before compressing and signing the .zip file. However, that doesn't seem to work, although I can flash the ROM.
Is there a way where I can add in my own apps (as system apps into /system/app) and remove selected ringtones(.ogg)? A tutorial would very much be appreciated! Thanks in advance
Brilliance8257 said:
I've searched all over the net but to no avail.
I want to add some apps into the /system/app folder of the ROM, but whenever I flash the ROM (I did all the procedures - sign the ROM and all), the apps do not work. Instead, they force close everytime I try to open them, and in App Manager, they have absolutely no storage at all - they're blank. 0MB.
I extracted the 31/08/2012 nightly build of CM10 for Samsung Galaxy Mini, then edited all that I needed before compressing and signing the .zip file. However, that doesn't seem to work, although I can flash the ROM.
Is there a way where I can add in my own apps (as system apps into /system/app) and remove selected ringtones(.ogg)? A tutorial would very much be appreciated! Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the ringtones, you can simply delete them. For the apps, you need to make sure they're compatible with your Android version/device and they must also have the correct permissions.
What sort of apps are you trying to add?
Theonew said:
For the ringtones, you can simply delete them. For the apps, you need to make sure they're compatible with your Android version/device and they must also have the correct permissions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I get the correct permissions? (How do I tweak them?)
aka_bigred said:
What sort of apps are you trying to add?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Things like replacing Trebuchet with Launcher Pro, basically replacing apps of my choice and adding in some more like Go Keyboard.

How to manually, I said manually, install an APK

I have an APK that will not install. Just will not. "Package conflicts with another package with the same name", it says. The truth is that the package DOES NOT conflict with any package of the same name, but the system believes it does. So I need help. I've tried to troubleshoot this various ways, looking for any traces of old installations, but so far, I haven't been able to remove anything that makes a difference.
So listen, here's what I want to know. How do I manually install an apk? And when I say manually, I MEAN MANUALLY. I find all kinds of search results that claim to tell me how to manually install an APK, BUT THEY'RE LYING. They just tell me how to install an APK that I have downloaded using the existing system installer, WHICH DOESN'T HELP ME. Sorry, but I'm frustrated with all the guides that claim they're going to tell me what I need but don't deliver.
Manually. I mean manually. I want to put the APK into a folder in data/app, create any other folders that are needed, add the application info into whatever files Android has that tell it what is installed, do whatever else is necessary. I want to do a fully manual installation. No using the system installer. No using any root installers. Putting all the files where they go and making all the changes MANUALLY.
Can anyone please tell me how to do this?
Can you install the app via adb? adb install appname.apk? Sorry, I don't know how to install one manually. I understand what you're asking for but I don't know the answer.
I'd like to give the update that I did finally manage to install the app. I'm pretty sure what finally got me there was deleting its information from /data/system/packages.xml and rebooting. But I'd still like an answer to this question for the future. Failing that, though, if need arises, I would be inclined to take the steps in this guide, https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/200974/how-to-manually-remove-an-app, and follow them in reverse.
"Package conflicts with another package with the same name".
In fact, what identifies an app is its package id. So it means that they have a same package id.
For example, the package id for Instagram is 'com.instagram.android'.
FailSafeNow said:
I want to put the APK into a folder in data/app, create any other folders that are needed, add the application info into whatever files Android has that tell it what is installed, do whatever else is necessary. I want to do a fully manual installation. No using the system installer. No using any root installers. Putting all the files where they go and making all the changes MANUALLY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need a way to install an app manually without using package installer, by putting the apk and any related files in the correct places, anyone know how to do this? i have a rooted phone, I'm just not sure which files need to be edited so the phone "knows" the app is installed. Please help! Thanks!

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