So almost everyone here should be pretty familiar with android, and that means you've probably heard of (and maybe even used yourself) the windows tool APK Manager by fellow XDA member Daneshm90.
Early last year I started to port the windows 4.9 version to mac using the outdated linux script for a base. And I had some early success at the time with simply using macports to install sox, optipng, etc. And then my computer crashed (double drive failure in July, 2011) and I gave up for the time being. Recently though I was excited to find that someone else tried to do the same thing, XDA member MAD Industries released a very basic port for mac.
Sadly though, a quick diff of his script and the outdated linux version shows that it was still woefully behind the windows version. And so I started working (once again) on my own port of APK Manager for Mac OS X, with my goal to not only bring this current to the windows feature set, but exceed it in many ways.
I've built in 32/64-bit architecture checking, and compiled and include the required missing binaries to re-enable optimizing png images and ogg files. I'm also including a .terminal file for easily configuring the default display, and a copy of my NEW favorite fixed-width font, Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.
And now some notes, and requests:
PLEASE note: this is currently INTEL only, but it supports both 32-bit and 64-bit all-in-one with architecture checking built-in to the script.
PLEASE note: if your computer is running OS X 10.7.X, "Lion" then it does not include a java runtime by default, please download it here first: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1421
PLEASE note: due to the length of some of the strings used in the menus, etc., in order to not need to scroll your terminal window, you must adjust your default columns and rows settings. You can set this automatically by using the include "JocelynCustom.terminal" file, and you can also find simple instructions to set this yourself in the README.txt
PLEASE read the included readme for installation and very basic (for right now) usage instructions. I welcome any and all feedback on improvements for the readme file.
PLEASE report any and all bugs or generally wonky behavior, preferrably by posting here in this thread, or by posting a comment back on my blog.
LASTLY, please if you re-post this anywhere else, including blogs, other forums, etc. I would greatly appreciate if you would at least give me credit, and link back to my blog (http://girlintroverted.wordpress.com/) or at the very least, link back here to this post.
WHEN UPGRADING, DO NOT COPY OVER THE CONTENTS OF THE "other" directory or the root directory unless you absolutely know what you're doing.
IMPORTANT: Please see the second post in this thread for update notes, issues, concerns, etc. thanks
Download apk manager v2.2.5 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?o4idx4en9ldnwx4
Download migration tool v1.4 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?hbhftv9195tk86t
v3.0 BETA INFORMATION
May 11, 2012 - beta version of v3.0 is online now on github, if you want to help test it, I suggest backing up your old apk_manager directory entirely, and then going here, and reading the simple install instructions:
https://github.com/jocelynmallon/apkmanager
The basic install is pretty simple though: open terminal, cd into whatever directory you want the apkmanager folder to be created in, and run:
cd into whatever directory you want the apkmanager folder to be created in, and run:
Code:
git clone git://github.com/jocelynmallon/apkmanager.git
launch APKManager.app and follow all the instructions.
Also, git is utterly retarded when it comes to the OSX 'icon' resource files (for custom folder icons) so by default, the folder icon isn't included with 3.0+, but you can download it and apply it yourself still. Link is on the wiki here:
https://github.com/jocelynmallon/apkmanager/wiki/Basic-Information
and thank you very much to anyone that helps test this!
Cheers everyone
IMPORTANT!
5-11-2012 - v3.0 BETA notes
Some notes about the new v3.0 beta released today.
First, please backup your entire old apk_manager directory before you install/clone the 3.0 git repo. My OCD got the better of me when it came to releasing 3.0, and I ended up trashing my entire git repo/history (from v1.0-2.2.5) and starting a new history when I was ~90% through the 3.0 dev process. Because of that, your old directory will cause problems, DO NOT CLONE/INSTALL 3.0b into your old 1.X/2.X directory.
Second, for those comfortable with the command line that really want to help test APK Manager, there are four 'hidden' menu options in most menus (main menu, debug/settings menu, auto-updates menu, signing menu, clean menu) that turn on a variety of debugging options.
96) turns on 'trace mode' (set -x) for the entire script, once the main loop starts. This will make the script basically unusable for people, please only use this if you can reproduce a bug, and are saving the entire terminal output to submit an issue/error log.
97) turns on 'verbose mode' (set -v) for the entire script, once the main loop starts. This will cause some display issues, but the script will remain mostly usable.
98) turns on 'error mode' (set -e) for the entire script, once the main loop starts. This basically causes the script to exit if any condition/test/command fails. Not really useful on its own, but very useful in combination with option 96 or 97.
99) turns on a very (and I do mean VERY) simple debug information display between main apk manager header and most menus. This shows the current PID, the last exit/return code (Currently non-functional) and the last directory change.
So, if you can reproduce any bugs, please close apk manager, and delete your log.txt. Then open APK Manager again, and on the main menu, choose option 98, then next choose option 96. Then reproduce the bug, and copy/paste the entire terminal output into a log on pastebin.com, gist, etc., and send it to me. And of course, if you feel confident debugging and fixing it yourself, then fork the apkmanager repo, and send me a pull request with your changes.
4-14-2012 IMPORTANT!
An update to the issue below. This has been resolved in version 2.1 of APK Manager, and should not present any issues moving forward. However, because the old user settings and private keys were stored locally, inside the apk_manager directory, in order to save these before upgrading, I've created a migration utility/script, that needs to be run before you upgrade.
The link to this migration utility is in the original post in this thread, and the tool is also included in the APK Manager disk image starting with versions 2.1.1.
To run this tool:
mount the "Migration Utility.dmg"
Copy Migrate.app to your old root apk_manager directory.
Copy Migrate.sh to your old apk_manager/other directory.
From your old root apk_manager directory, run Migrate.app
Verify that the script completed without any errors
OPTIONAL - for those paranoid, you can double check that it worked manually. Execute the following commands in a terminal:
Code:
cd $HOME
ls -la | grep .apkmanager
cd .apkmanager
ls -la
4-13-2012 IMPORTANT!
AFFECTS all versions of apk manager prior to v2.1 (forthcoming release as of 4/13/2012.)
If you use any advanced signing functionality, you must backup your existing private key(s) and keystore(s) before upgrading to a new version of APK Manager.
Forthcoming version 2.1 will have a separate, automated, one-time backup & upgrade script to run, and all future versions will have automatic backup of key(s) and keystore(s) built in.
By default they get created and saved in the apk_manager/other/.keystores directory. This is a hidden directory by default. You can do one of several different things to unhide/view this directory, and backup your keystore(s).
I'm outlining one simple method here.
Enable 'show hidden files' in Finder. From a terminal copy and paste the following two lines:
Code:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
Finder will restart after those two lines, browse to your apk_manager/other directory and make sure you see the .keystores folder (it should be dimmed compared to regular folders.)
Copy this folder and all contents somewhere safe (desktop, user home directory, user backup folder, dropbox, etc.)
Proceed with your upgrade (usually just delete the old apk_manager folder and copy over the new one, you might need to manually move project folders, etc. too)
Copy/Paste your saved .keystores directory into your new apk_manager/other folder
Test advanced signing functionality to ensure everything still works.
Once you've verified everything is working, run the following code to turn off viewing all files/folders in finder:
Code:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder
CHANGELOG
10-8-2012
fixed a couple bugs that were introduced with some changes to homebrew and pngcrush
updated smali.jar and baksmali.jar to version 1.4.0
fixed a few various typos
updated the built-in pngout downloader to download the newest version (May 30, 2012)
changed the "view changelog" option on the debug menu to use "git log" if you used homebrew & git to install
added the ability to forcibly reset the "home" directory by holding the command/apple key when launching APKManager.app
removed all the little "b/beta" tags I could find since this seems good enough for a "real" 3.0 release finally
4-28-2012
v2.2.5 uploaded! - Fixed "adb log" function. I have no idea how or when I broke this, but it was yet another boneheaded mistake.
4-28-2012
v2.2.4 uploaded! - Fixed a bug in the "batch sign with private key" option that would cause the signing process to fail if the key and keystore password weren't identical.
4-24-2012
v2.2.3 uploaded! - I'm retarded and somehow failed to include zipalign in every release. Fixed.
Added zipalign path information to debug/binary info screen.
Replaced all instances/uses of 'which' with 'command -v' instead.
Fixed an obscure bug that could cause infinite loop in the function to check and set png optimization tool.
4-20-2012
v2.2.2 uploaded! - Updated 32-bit optipng to v0.7.1 (Somehow I forgot to update the 32-bit binary when I last updated the 64-bit version)
Minor changes to the way debug/binary version info is scraped and displayed. I personally think this new method is cleaner, and more consistent.
Fixed bug in binary display screen (debug menu, option 2) whereby pressing "any key" did not actually close the screen and return to debug menu.
Updated other/Migrate.sh to dynamically pull the APKManager version banner from whichever other/Script.sh version is present, when its run. This should mean the end of unnecessary updates to Migration Utility.dmg, purely to bump the APK Manager version information.
4-17-2012
v2.2.1 uploaded! - Updated pngcrush to 1.7.27 (yep, that's it, lol)
4-16-2012
v2.2 uploaded! - Integrated color scheme selection into one single script, and removed the separate 'black text on light backgrounds' script file since its no longer needed.
Added new option to the "Clean" menu to reset/change color scheme.
Fixed a few obscure bugs with the apktool selection menu.
Added the actual apktool jar file in use to the debug menu information.
Changed the way the default apktool.jar symlink is created in order to prevent APK Manager from ever linking 'mod' versions by default.
Added a new custom icon for the apk_manager folder (CC by-nc-sa) Jocelyn Mallon, 2012
4-15-2012
v2.1.2 uploaded! - Fixed a bug causing decompile/compile errors due to old framework files not being deleted when changing apktool versions.
Added 2 new apktool versions, an upgraded 1.4.2 version, and 1.4.3 ICS Mod. For most instances, 1.4.3 is still the best option to use.
4-14-2012
v2.1.1 uploaded! - Fix brain-dead mistake regarding user settings & private key migration.
Packaged "Migration Utility.dmg" with APK Manager for easier upgrading from previous versions.
4-14-2012
v2.1 uploaded! - Migrated user settings and private keys to new location ($HOME/.apkmanager) to ensure preservation when upgrading.
Bumped copyright/CC info in various files to 2012
4-12-2012
v2.0.1 uploaded! - Quick hotfix for directory check/creation for advanced signing options.
4-12-2012
v2.0 uploaded! - Re-packaged into a DMG (mac disk image) file to alleviate potential unzip/setup errors.
Updated a lot of the various binaries to latest versions (adb, sox, optipng, pngcrush, etc.)
Added a new option to view java source, this has a lot of potential issues/caveats so please read the CHANGELOG.txt for more information.
Re-worked and (hopefully) simplified debug menu for the millionth time.
Added Chocolat.app to list of text editors/viewers http://chocolatapp.com/
Lots of stuff I probably missed, please read README.txt and CHANGELOG.txt for full details.
10-18-2011
v1.2.1 uploaded! - Mostly bugfixes for a few really stupid bugs I introduced in 1.2. If you had problems running APK Manager because of "missing programs" or "not in PATH" errors (from a clean install) it was my crappy coding skills, and it should be fixed now.
I honestly don't think I added any new features, just bug fixes and code cleanups.
10-10-2011
v1.2 uploaded! - Added another png tool option, pngout. Unfortunately, due to the licensing restrictions, it is illegal to redistribute the actual pngout binary, so instead, APK Manager will download and install the binary upon first attempted use of pngout. This means that if you never use pngout, it will never be downloaded.
Completely re-worked the adblog.txt function, now completely automated, and, with much clearer instructions.
Added two additional text editor/log viewer options: sublime text 2, and vico. Just like all the rest, they both require command line support to be installed in order to function.
Cleaned up adb shell, ddms, and draw9patch options so that they all now automatically close the new tabs that they open, and when necessary, will kill and re-start adb.
1.2 might be the last release. I had fun learning how to write shell script for this, but the overwhelming lack of interest in this project has already started to make it no fun for me. And well, its already basically good enough for everyday use, there's just not much else to keep adding.
10-8-2011
v1.1 uploaded! Please see Changelog.txt for full details.
switched some code back to a "portable" syntax and changed back to /bin/sh env in case users have a login shell other than bash set.
cleaned up and re-arranged debug menu again, it should be a lot less cluttered, and easier to use overall now.
fixed a few bugs in the startup check, hopefully nobody ever encountered them, they were pretty embarrassing, lol.
added option to choose between optipng and pngcrush for png optimization functions, and the setting is persistent between launches of APK Manager.
Good work man. Let me know if you'd like to collaborate or borrow ideas. I wrote Android-Utility and it is currently on v1.0.2 and development is active.
Tommy
Android-Utility Linky
tommytomatoe said:
Good work man. Let me know if you'd like to collaborate or borrow ideas. I wrote Android-Utility and it is currently on v1.0.2 and development is active.
Tommy
Android-Utility Linky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Tommy,
Thanks for the compliment and the offer to work together. I'm not really sure how much else I'm going to add, but I did take a nod from your tool and add the option to choose between optipng and pngcrush. Mostly I added that just because optipng hasn't been updated in forever, and pngcrush just had an update last month.
So I compiled both 32-bit and 64-bit specific binaries of the newest pngcrush (v1.7.17) and included them with v1.1 of APK Manager.
Anyway, your tool is pretty amazing, I'm rather intimidated by how many features you have, lol.
Thanks again, cheers
s0niqu3 said:
Hi Tommy,
Thanks for the compliment and the offer to work together. I'm not really sure how much else I'm going to add, but I did take a nod from your tool and add the option to choose between optipng and pngcrush. Mostly I added that just because optipng hasn't been updated in forever, and pngcrush just had an update last month.
So I compiled both 32-bit and 64-bit specific binaries of the newest pngcrush (v1.7.17) and included them with v1.1 of APK Manager.
Anyway, your tool is pretty amazing, I'm rather intimidated by how many features you have, lol.
Thanks again, cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back at you man. Yeah last week I went crazy. I went from version 1.0.2 to version 1.0.7 in three days. There's always something new that can be added.
Don't be intimidated! AU and apkmanager each have their places. I aimed to create a tool that encompasses everything to do with Android while apk manager focuses on modifying apks. Surprisingly however while I wrote the tool for mac users, I've had mote Linux users for au. But the mac community needed some love and attention, and now it has two tools to choose from
tapatalk signature here. lovely.
version 1.2 released, this might be the last release, I can't think of anything else to add really, and well, nobody really cares either, lol.
great work
1.2.1 uploaded with a few bugfixes, please re-download, and I'm really sorry I didn't catch them sooner until someone messaged me today.
Wow, this is amazing! So glad I don't need to boot into WinXP just to use apkmanager. I just downloaded the newest version, followed all instructions, and everything is working perfectly. Thanks for including all the extras such as terminal settings. Great for semi-noobs like myself.
Can't wait to try this tool out. Thanks for all the hard work in putting it together.
this not working anymore? Says applet version unsupported
Nhialor said:
this not working anymore? Says applet version unsupported
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes same here
Hey,
Sorry, I'm pretty much stopped doing any work on android, but if you can describe the error in more detail, I'll look into it and try and fix the problem.
Sorry about that.
s0niqu3 said:
Hey,
Sorry, I'm pretty much stopped doing any work on android, but if you can describe the error in more detail, I'll look into it and try and fix the problem.
Sorry about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK cool.
So it's not possible to start the setup file, because it's unsupported and starting the apk manager directly is also not possible because it has to be in the root directory
Gesendet von meinem Desire S mit Tapatalk
Kolo39 said:
OK cool.
So it's not possible to start the setup file, because it's unsupported and starting the apk manager directly is also not possible because it has to be in the root directory
Gesendet von meinem Desire S mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again,
Ok, so first, you can set the root directory manually if you open up the APKManager.command file with a text editor.
Look for the following:
Code:
# Set path to use this script in .command mode
# ENTER the POSIX path to your root APK Manager
# Directory between the quotation marks
MAINDIR=""
and inside the MAINDIR="" paste the full path to your apk_manager directory
for example, mine looks like:
Code:
MAINDIR="/Volumes/LappyHD/Android/apk_manager"
then you need to manually make the entire directory executable, so open a terminal window, and type:
Code:
chmod -R ug+x /Volumes/LappyHD/Android/apk_manager
But replace the path with the correct path for your setup (the same one you used in the .command file.)
Of course, that's not the solution for everyone, and I'd like to figure out why the setup script isn't working. I tried the setup script myself today on 10.7.3, x86_64 and it still works fine for me, so can you post some information about your mac, version information, java version installed, etc.?
sorry again about this, but hopefully I can get this fixed asap.
cheers,
s0niqu3 said:
Hi again,
Ok, so first, you can set the root directory manually if you open up the APKManager.command file with a text editor.
Look for the following:
Code:
# Set path to use this script in .command mode
# ENTER the POSIX path to your root APK Manager
# Directory between the quotation marks
MAINDIR=""
and inside the MAINDIR="" paste the full path to your apk_manager directory
for example, mine looks like:
Code:
MAINDIR="/Volumes/LappyHD/Android/apk_manager"
then you need to manually make the entire directory executable, so open a terminal window, and type:
Code:
chmod -R ug+x /Volumes/LappyHD/Android/apk_manager
But replace the path with the correct path for your setup (the same one you used in the .command file.)
Of course, that's not the solution for everyone, and I'd like to figure out why the setup script isn't working. I tried the setup script myself today on 10.7.3, x86_64 and it still works fine for me, so can you post some information about your mac, version information, java version installed, etc.?
sorry again about this, but hopefully I can get this fixed asap.
cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try this in the next days
My Mac Book Pro end 2011 has all updates installed (Lion 10.7.3)
---------- Post added at 05:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------
Ahh okay I fixed it!!!
The Unarchiver was not able to extract all files from the zip. So files doesn't work. But by using OSX Unarchiver everything works
Thanks a lot for this port!!
Kolo39 said:
I try this in the next days
My Mac Book Pro end 2011 has all updates installed (Lion 10.7.3)
---------- Post added at 05:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------
Ahh okay I fixed it!!!
The Unarchiver was not able to extract all files from the zip. So files doesn't work. But by using OSX Unarchiver everything works
Thanks a lot for this port!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again,
I'm glad you got it figured out. I think I'll start packaging it as a DMG file instead of a zip, and just made a custom background image to explain about copying the apk_manager folder somewhere.
I've also been working on updating it a little bit the past couple days, and will have a new version soon.
Cheers!
Uploaded version 2.0 update!
This adds a couple new features, some bug fixes, and re-packages the entire thing in a disk image, to hopefully alleviate those unzip/setup errors.
Please see OP for download link, and second post for changelog.
OP update with v2.0.1, hotfix for advanced signing options, please download the newest version.
Hello,
I am currently playing with MS ADK for ARM and creating nice install.wim with my specific drivers etc.
However the goal is to create WinRT v8-0 custom image and I miss two files needed (Czech language pack for WinRT v8-0 (CAB) and Off RT 2013 (EXE)).
I have WinRT v8-1 and don't want to downgrade currently, so I am asking if somebody kind with WinRT v8-0 is able to provide me those two files.
Here is the procudure to get them:
1. Temporarily move out everything from "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download" to speed up the searching for files.
2. Temporarily add new Czech language.
3. Click "download language pack".
4. Wait for download phase to finish
5. From path like: "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\123456789012345678901234567890ab\lp.cab" (number-hash will be different) retrieve the CAB (about 10-15MB)
6. From path like: "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\123456789012345678901234567890ab\singlelanguagepackhsplus.exe" or (I am not exactly sure here) path like "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\098765432109876543210987654321fe (no extension here - the number-hash is renamed EXE file not directory") please retrieve the EXE (maybe without extension) (about 60MB)
7. Uninstall LngPack, delete the added Lng and copy back your files to "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download".
8. Put those two files (lp.cab and singlelanguagepackhsplus.exe or "098765432109876543210987654321fe" (no extension)) somewhere where I can download them.
Is there anybody, who will do it for me? Thanks.
It is even worth for some small Paypal gift.
Hey,
I have the surface Windows 8.0 RT image on my ftp server but do not have the surface itself. You can expand the wim and grab the files you need. PM me for the ftp link.
I have a Microsoft Surface RT running Windows 8.0 and I was able to obtain the files you want. Let me know where to send them.
mbjun said:
Hello,
I am currently playing with MS ADK for ARM and creating nice install.wim with my specific drivers etc.
However the goal is to create WinRT v8-0 custom image and I miss two files needed (Czech language pack for WinRT v8-0 (CAB) and Off RT 2013 (EXE)).
I have WinRT v8-1 and don't want to downgrade currently, so I am asking if somebody kind with WinRT v8-0 is able to provide me those two files.
Here is the procudure to get them:
1. Temporarily move out everything from "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download" to speed up the searching for files.
2. Temporarily add new Czech language.
3. Click "download language pack".
4. Wait for download phase to finish
5. From path like: "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\123456789012345678901234567890ab\lp.cab" (number-hash will be different) retrieve the CAB (about 10-15MB)
6. From path like: "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\123456789012345678901234567890ab\singlelanguagepackhsplus.exe" or (I am not exactly sure here) path like "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\098765432109876543210987654321fe (no extension here - the number-hash is renamed EXE file not directory") please retrieve the EXE (maybe without extension) (about 60MB)
7. Uninstall LngPack, delete the added Lng and copy back your files to "\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download".
8. Put those two files (lp.cab and singlelanguagepackhsplus.exe or "098765432109876543210987654321fe" (no extension)) somewhere where I can download them.
Is there anybody, who will do it for me? Thanks.
It is even worth for some small Paypal gift.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is the purpose of yr thread?? don't really understand what u are trying to do here.
lewonsky said:
what is the purpose of yr thread?? don't really understand what u are trying to do here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, your understanding isn't needed. ))
JAmerican said:
I have a Microsoft Surface RT running Windows 8.0 and I was able to obtain the files you want. Let me know where to send them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got them already, but thanks.
ROM Explorer
From time to time I need to extract some files from various Android ROMs. So far I downloaded the ROM file and then started to search for further tools to extract files from the downloaded ROM. If all went well I ended up with an image I could open with ext4_unpacker to finally extract the files I needed. This whole procedure took a lot of time, involved tools from unknown sources and often simply didn't work. So I decided to create my own tool.
ROM Explorer can directly open the following files:
zip archives with img or new.dat entries
Samsung md5 archives
Sony ftf archives
Huawei update.app archives
img/ext4 image files
lz4 image files (used by Samsung)
sin fies (used by Sony)
In case you have a file which is not supported let me know. Maybe I find the time to add support. Or simply add it yourself - ROM Explorer is Open Source.
Usage
Download the installer and run it or build your own version with Visual Studio 2017.
Start the executable. You will see a window similar to ext4_unpacker. In the first line you select a file, in the second line you can choose an archive entry if the file is an archive file.
Loading a file or archive entry can take a significant amount of time and disk storage. ROM Explorer may need to create temporary files with several gigabytes. A fast flash disk helps a lot!
You can extract files or folders by dragging and dropping them to Windows Explorer.
Downloads
ROM Explorer 0.9
ROM Explorer 0.9.1
Thanks To
ROM Explorer would not exist without the distributed knowledge of this forum. Especially I want to thank worstenbrood, Androxyde, IgorEisberg for their work.
So I'm waiting for your comments - but be patient it may take some time for me to react
Reserved for whatever purpose...
Wew
Let me try and report you back
Thank you I will try this out. Thanks too for making it open source
Not Running on Windows 7 x64
samidos said:
Not Running on Windows 7 x64
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
0.9.1 should fix this. Be sure to first uninstall before installing 0.9.1.
After hours of google search and downloading countless apps that dont work I found this. This app is legit and works on windows 10 64bit. Thank you for your work.
Your app is GREAT! Thanks for sharing it.
Edit: Answered my own question. Windows 10 tip "Run As Administrator" and dont drag files "to the desktop" but instead to an Explorer window.
Can this program find the differences between compiled ROMs?
I ask this question because Xiaomi on the Mi 9 released an initial kernel with sourcecode that was changed over time without updating the GitHub https://github.com/MiCode/Xiaomi_Kernel_OpenSource/tree/cepheus-p-oss and because of this change, the ROMs have something different between how they connect to the cameras. The old ROM versions (4/1/2019 and before) connect fine to the cameras, but post that date, a custom kernel built from the GitHub source will fail to connect to the cameras. Since the change has not been made open source on GitHub, there has to be another way to find and patch new kernel builds in order for them to work. Would your software be able to extract these changes? If not, do you have any other ideas which may? Much appreciated.