This guide had been on the Thunderbolt forum for quite some time and I decided it was time to share with the rest of the community
Having reviewed almost every other option I can safely and honestly say this is the most simplified, thorough, and customizable install available since its original launch. I will gladly retract this statement when it becomes false, but until then...
Installing Ubuntu onto Thunderbolt/Droid/Droid2/Etc:
Create a folder on the sdcard named ext2ubuntu, which is /sdcard/ext2ubuntu when listed in terminal or adb
Required files for Ubuntu install:
Ubuntu.sh http://db.tt/KgDNlMtb
Custom Packages for AutoConfig:
Coming soon
You will also want to download either an ubuntu image or archive. The major difference is that the image must be the same size as your ubuntu installation, so they are larger downloads, or need to be resized before you use them.
Ubuntu Prebuilt tar and img downloads:
(img: Extract only ubuntu.img and place in /sdcard/ext2ubuntu)
(tar: Rename, if desired, and put archive in /sdcard/ext2ubuntu)
10.04: http://android-cruft.googlecode.com/files/lucid-on-android-0.1.tar
(This image DOES need to be resized, see next post)
10.10 img: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=56AT71WD
(This image file does NOT need to be resized)
11.04 tar: http://db.tt/fuzoy8Te
Backtrack img: http://bit.ly/kJweA9
Borrowed from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1146255
(This image file does NOT need to be resized)
How to build your own Ubuntu Image:
http://androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-build-chroot-arm-ubuntu-images-for-android/
Notice:
The ubuntu mount folder is symlinked to /system/sd-ext allowing access to it there also.
First off you should have a running ubuntu install on your computer or at least a live cd running to create the ext2 partition.
Use gparted to add a 4gb (or whatever size you want) ext2 partition to your sdcard. I did this while the phone was mounted in disk drive mode, so you dont need to take the card out.
Ubuntu: Get gparted in synaptics or in terminal enter:
Code:
sudo apt-get install gparted
Widows: *Paragon Partition Manager*
If you do not need to partition, skip this step.
Use adb to run /sdcard/ext2ubuntu/ubuntu.sh
Code:
adb shell
su
sh /sdcard/ext2ubuntu/ubuntu.sh
Or from terminal (only supported on some ROMs)
Code:
su
bash /sdcard/ext2ubuntu/ubuntu.sh
All required scripts will download and install themselves automatically. Currently only ubuntu.sh and the chosen ubuntu image need to be placed in /sdcard/ext2ubuntu for proper install. Scripts include an autoupdate feature that will also keep them current.
Follow the instructions and select the appropriate options for your system configuration and download choices.
You can now open terminal and type "bootubuntu" to test install
A new Sdcard Direct option was added allowing user to replace the installed scripts with a unified "ubuntu" command that runs the scripts directly from the sdcard. This option was offered due to the frequency of updates to allow the user to simply replace the files in /sdcard/ext2ubuntu with newer versions that would run without any further steps.
If you get a localhost prompt, you are in but still need a couple things to move past command line.
Here is where we part from borrowed and modified instructions that recommend lxde and ice and all the dinky handheld ubuntu shells, and move to the Thunderbolt method.
Update vs Restore scripts: Update will base what scripts are put in system on the ones currently there, while restore determines what scripts are currently available on the sdcard.
For automatic installation of ubuntu applications, you will want to enter these commands next:
Code:
su
backubuntu
4
Choose your options
To view your ubuntu desktop, you will want a vnc viewer for android. I use real vnc, but android-vnc-viewer is free and has all the same features (i just liked the layout of realvnc)
The address for ubuntu is 127.0.0.1
The port is 5901
The password is the tightvncserver one you set.
i recommend making a folder named android in "your mounted ubuntu folder"/home/ for your personal files since /root is your local folder, but causes permission issues.
From your new ubuntu you can use synaptics and download eclipse there, but it can also be downloaded from the localhost prompt using "apt-get install eclipse" I also recommend downloading the android-sdk. To run the sdk from the localhost prompt, simply cd to the android-sdk directory and issue the command:
Code:
tools/android update sdk -u -s
and if you want to specify the downloads performed add
Code:
-t [specific items such as platform, platform-tool]
If you need help with any commands you can add
Code:
-h
to your existing command
The htc kitchen can be downloaded from ubuntu using the same instructions found: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246
After it is installed, you have the option to launch this kitchen either from inside your ubuntu install, or from the localhost prompt, which avoids having to run vnc to use it.
A compiler toolchain is available http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm by choosing download the latest release. I use gnu/linux even though it seems to be eabi included in the android source, but I have never used it to be sure. I have been told this one is a lot easier to use anyway.
I recommend backing up the ext2 once everything is done. This can be done by (entering "exit" at the localhost prompt and then) entering "backubuntu" in terminal.
backubuntu can also update newly downloaded scripts without having to use root explorer or worry about permissions. Just put any new versions in your sdcard/ubuntu folder and select the update option.
This replaces the ubuntu2.img with your backup so you dont have to "apt-get" everything over again. This will also save your tightvnc password so make sure you remember it.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Screenshots:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110545...authkey=Gv1sRgCLDd48n2oMWzpAE&feat=directlink
References:
Personal insanity and the inability to accept whats already available
http://code.google.com/p/android-cruft/wiki/LucidWithAndroid
http://androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-android/
http://nexusonehacks.net/nexus-one-hacks/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-your-android/
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/15702-ubuntu-on-your-g2-anyone/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246
http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=987740
http://androidclone.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=23
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Dear All,
I have been building some custom Android ROMS for the past few years, and my latest toy is a Flytouch 3 I wanted to share some of my findings and methods here, perhaps other newbies like me will find it useful.
1. FT3 ROM contents:
FT3 ROMs will be in RAR or ZIP format and have 2 or 3 files in them as explained below. Just unzip or unrar the package to use them:
firmware2 - flash tool which burns the firmware ( I guess...lol)
bootloader-discovery - 7zip file which contains the bootloader
IMPORTANT! Do not flash a wrong bootloader to your device or it will be bricked! Actually this is the only way you can brick the thing, it's pretty sturdy in that sense. If you are not sure, do not copy bootloader-recovery to your sdcard when flashing, it will boot with your existing bootloader anyway.
firmware-discovery - 7zip file which contains the firmware and it's the main file you want to edit.
2. firmware-discovery contents:
This is the easy part! Modifying this file will let you modify system and data partitions. You can also use different ramdisks and kernels compatible with your device. It's a 7zip file and you can unpack and repack easily with the 7-zip file manager (http://www.7-zip.org/).
I use 7-zip on Windows although I use Ubuntu Linux as my main OS. There is something wrong with my 7-zip installation most probably, but I was too lazy to check it If you are on Windows anyway, you are good, just download and use 7-zip from the URL above. I advise that you do all your firmware-discovery editing within 7-zip file manager. That way, you won't have to worry about re-packing with the correct 7-zip settings. At least, that's how I do it and had no problems.
firmware-discovery will have these files in the 7zip package:
uImage - kernel
Very important Your kernel will make the difference between having and not having certain functionality, even if your hardware supports it.
uImage_recovery - recovery file - I beleive this is what runs when you push menu+power.
ramdisk.img - ramdisk
This is one of the interesting files you might want to play with. Ramdisk is a simple file system with some crucial files, mainly init.rc that lets you control the boot process. You can also stick a initlogo.rle image here to display a splash image in initial boot. More details below at title 4.
data.tar - /data partition - tar archive
All user data is stored here, including apps and user definable settings. This is what gets wiped when you do a recovery by pushing menu+power.
system.tar - /system partition - tar archive
System data, drivers and apps, including Android OS itself (except kernel). Certainly the most interesting part for the average modder
3. Editing system.tar and data.tar:
This might be the bulk of your modding, and most probably what will be most visible to the end user.
I very strongly suggest that you use a Linux system to edit these files. If you use Windows, file permissions will not be saved! If Windows is your main OS, simply install a VM host such as VirtualBox and install your fav Linux distro inside it. Most of them will have an Archive Manager with a GUI and will certainly support TAR. Even without a GUI, you can use "tar" and "untar" commands from a terminal to unpack and repack these files. When you are on Linux, TAR files will preserve file ownership and file permissions. This can be very crucial in your modding.
For modders who are new to Linux, I can recommend Ubuntu. It's very user friendly and easy to use in my opinion.
When you are done editing system.tar and data.tar copy them to your Windows box and drop and them to firmware-recovery file within 7-zip file manager.
4. Unpack, Edit and Repack ramdisk.img:
Now we are on to more serious stuff ramdisk.img consists of a 64 byte U-Boot header, followed by a gzip compressed ramdisk cpio image. So we need to strip the first 64 bytes, and use gunzip to extract it to a folder. After making the changes in the folder, we need apply cpio+gzip compression to the folder and add the 64 byte u-boot header again. You will need to use Linux and install the mkimage tool for these operations.
Here's the command to install mkimage tool in Ubuntu:
Code:
sudo apt-get install uboot-mkimage
It sounds complicated, but no worries, I have some shell scripts that can do all that for you! Thanks to leeh33 from Techknow for the scripts below:
unpack_ramdisk.sh
Code:
mkdir ramdisk
cd ramdisk
dd if=../ramdisk.img bs=64 skip=1 of=ramdisk.gz
gzip -dc ramdisk.gz | cpio -idmv
rm ramdisk.gz
repack_ramdisk.sh
Code:
cd ramdisk
find . | cpio -o -H newc -C 512 | gzip -n > ../ramdisk.cpio.gz
cd ..
mkimage -A ARM -O Linux -T ramdisk -C none -a 0x41000000 -e 0x41000000 -n hRamdisk -d ramdisk.cpio.gz ramdisk.img
rm ramdisk.cpio.gz
Create the scripts above using a text editor or download the attachment to this post and put the scripts together with your ramdisk.img file in a new folder. Executing unpack_ramdisk.sh will create a folder named ramdisk and extract the ramdisk contents here. You can edit e.g. init.rc in this folder, or add a static bootlogo. To add a custom bootlogo create a initlogo.rle image file by following this guide: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-hacking/438-how-setup-static-bootlogo-before-animated-boot-animation.html Then place the resulting initlogo.rle file directly in the ramdisk directory.
After you are done editing the ramdisk folder, simply run repack_ramdisk.sh and your new ramdisk.img will be created, replacing the old one. Copy the ramdisk.img file to your Windows box again and drop it to firmware-recovery file within 7-zip file manager.
That's it, you have a custom ROM now! Please feel free to ask questions or correct me if you think I have any errors in the info above.
Happy Modding!!!
Tolga
Big problem about my device...
Thank you for this useful post!
I have seen a good knowledge about these devices(flytouch 3) and decided to post my question here:
I have a big problem! I used IUW Burning tool to flash my device. my device is:
SuperPad III (As box says)
Model: ANDR P1001
I decided to try tim's custom rom. It doesn't work. After restarting the device, screen become black (There was no connection
with screen, it was not turned on). The device had vibration when I pressed power button. It continued vibrating periodically(like it was restarting).
After that I flashed my device using IUW with most likely firmware, but during the process I FORGOT TO CHOOSE userdata.img FILE!
Now the device can't even communicate with pc.
OTG method is not working. The device no more vibrates at start up! At motherboard led is lighting when pressing power button.So IS MY DEVICE DEAD? Or is there any solution in this situation(Alternative communication, or whatever...)
What is an android adb backup?
An adb backup is a file with ab extension, generated by android's backup manager when we request it via adb shell. This allows you to backup some data of the phone, but is not a replacement of a clockworkmod backup:
- Java 7 or higher is required because of SYNC_FLUSH mode for the Deflater.
- If the backup contains apk+data for an app, restore will work. If contains only the data, you must install the app first on the device and then restore. Installing the app later won't work.
- Some apps include a policy where the apk is never backed up even if specified.
- Inside an ab file is a tar file, which contains files and folders in a certain order. You have you respect that order, which is not necessarily alphabetical like tar does by default. Such order is listed in "Full local backup infrastructure".
- Inside the tar file, directories must not have trailing slash, for that reason pax, star or equivalent has to be used.
- There are some bugs present in the android source code.
- 'adb backup' or 'adb restore' are pretty slow, between 1 and 2.6 MBps.
- The adb backups (usually with .ab extension) can be password protected or not. If the device is encrypted this is a must and has to be the same used for the device.
- Star is recommended instead of pax, which supports path length only up to 100 characters, so will fail in some cases. This usually happens with browsers history.
- ADB backups are not a replacement for a Nandroid backup. The whole /data partition is not backed up, only a part of it. Also, other partitions like /system, /preload, /cache, modem, RIL, efs, kernel or recovery are never backed up because are not user data. This is to prevent issue when restoring on a different device. It has also the biggest
- If you have the device encrypted with a password, you must use that particular one for backup creation and restore. You can't create a backup without password or a different one in that particular case, or if you try to restore will fail.
- star for cygwin for windows is attached (move it to C:\cygwin\bin\star.exe) since there is no package available. It can be compiled from the schily (ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/schily/).
- The best way to test if an adb backup has errors, is to convert it to tar and then check.advantage that doesn't require root to operate, so is totally compatible with stock roms, locked bootloaders and device encryption.
- There's also a bash script called adb-split.sh that creates individual adb backups for each recognized app from the full one, so you can restore apps individually. Same encryption is preserved to them, if any.
You can use java or perl, although with perl can be more complicated because requires downloading some modules from cpan and some ssl headers.
To know more information about types of android backups:
[Guide] Types of Android backups
Software needed
The entire process can be done from Windows, but is better to use a unix-like operating system, like Linux, OS X or BSD, since we should extract the files on a filesystem that preservers file permissions and owners and repack the tar archive. Furthermore some tools like star are easier to get for linux. In such cases, using Virtualbox or VMWare Workstation is highly recommended. Using Windows should work in any case whatsoever.
Cygwin
Preferably 32 bits: has more packages and is less prone to errors. Furthermore, the star for cygwin attached is 32 bits.
Java 7 or higher
Java 7 or OpenJDK 7 (more builds here)
Oracle Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files 7 if you are going to work with password encrypted backups.
You need to install the files local_policy.jar and US_export_policy.jar under jre's lib/security folder, for example:
- For Windows:
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_09\jre\lib\security\
C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\lib\security\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.7.0_07\jre\lib\security\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\lib\security\
- For Linux or BSD:
/usr/local/jdk1.7/jre/lib/security/
/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-*/jre/lib/security/
/usr/local/openjdk7/jre/lib/security/
- For OS X:
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_09.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/lib/security/
Perl
Perl is available for several operating systems
libssl or openssl headers. If you are using Linux or Cygwin is much more easier
cpan modules required by use functions
pax or star
pax is an archiving utility that compresses in ustar by default. In this case is extremely useful because stores directories without trailing slash. Is available for all operating systems, and in windows can be installed via cygwin's setup.exe or download a native version like gnuwin32 (sometimes available via bsdtar with pax option). pax doesn't work when paths are more than 100 characters lenght, so I recommend star instead.
star allows storing directories without trailing slash. You can get the ubuntu version 1.5 here. For Windows you can use Cygwin's version included.
Android Backup Extractor
Android Backup Extractor is the java application that does all the job. It includes the perl scripts.
How it works, better with an example
I will use an example to demonstrate how it works, with java version. If you like to use perl, just grab the perl scripts and is nearly the same.
This is extracted from the readme file, and will extract a whole adb backup and repack only the data for the game Grand Theft Auto III for android.
1) Convert the original adb backup to tar format:
Code:
java -jar abe.jar unpack nexus7.ab nexus7.tar <password>
2) Extract the contents of the tar archive. This should be done on a filesystem where the permissions of the files inside the tar are preserved, for example using linux, mac or bsd. Up to two folders may appear, apps and shared:
Code:
tar -xvf nexus7.tar
3) Make a list of all the contents of the original archive in the order they are archived:
Code:
tar -tf nexus7.tar > nexus7.list
4) Create a new list only with the files and folders you want, in proper order. For example for the GTA 3 (you can try savegames instead of all data):
Code:
cat nexus7.list | grep com.rockstar.gta3 > gta3.list
5) Create the new tar archive. The directories stored on tar shouldn't contain trailing slashes, so I use pax or star instead of tar. Pax works also if paths are up to 100 of lenght:
Code:
cat gta.list | pax -wd > gta3.tar
OR
Code:
star -c -v -f gta3.tar -no-dirslash list=gta3.list
6) Create the adb backup from the tar archive. Password is optional:
Code:
java -jar abe.jar pack gta3.tar gta3.ab <password>
Note: if the backup is not encrypted zlib can be used instead for both unpack and pack the ab archive:
- Quick unpacking:
Code:
dd if=nexus7.ab bs=24 skip=1 | openssl zlib -d > nexus7.tar
- Quick packing:
Code:
dd if=nexus7.ab bs=24 count=1 of=gta3.ab ; openssl zlib -in gta3.tar >> gta3.ab
Split an Android backup
Use Android Backup Splitter (is a shell script). Works on Cygwin too:
sh adb-split.sh backup.ab [password if needed]
Resulting files go in app-ab folder
# ADB Backup Splitter:
#
# This bash script utility generates an adb backup for each item
# on apps/ folder. That equals to generating an adb backup for
# each app.
#
# shared/0 and shared/1 (sdcards) are ignored, so that means that
# external data and OBB files, although may be backed up, may not
# be restored. For doing so backup the folder Android of the sdcards.
# Creating a backup with -shared flag has know issues (corruption)
# so is not recommended. Future releases of this script may add
# the option to automatically detect things from sdcards inside
# the adb backup file.
#
# This script works on Cygwin also, and in general where star does.
#
# There may be apps in the backup that don't include the apk. In that
# particular case, the data won't be restored, so the individual backup
# is generated for testing purposes only. Installing the apk afterwards won't work.
# There is generated an html file called apk-missing.html so you can open it and
# install all applications from Play Store on any of your devices.
Patch apps to allow adb backup
Some apps specify in the AndroidManifest.xml android:allowBackup="false" so it won't be backed up by adb backup. If you have root and use Titanium Backup or CWM or TWRP they will do the job, but if you don't want root the only solution is to modify the apk to edit that string. Read here how to do that and the pros and cons:
[GUIDE] How to enable adb backup for any app changing android:allowBackup
Links
Android Backup Splitter (@ Sourceforge)
Android Backup Extractor (@ Sourceforge)
Android Backup Extractor (@ GitHub)
Documentation at Blogspot
Full local backup infrastructure
[Guide] Types of Android backups
Backing Up Android Games
Titanium Backup Decrypter
Perl scripts to encrypt/decrypt adb backup files
[GUIDE] Full Phone Backup without Unlock or Root
[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery - Yes We Can!
[Q] [adb] backup not working for Temple Run
Related adb backup and restore bugs:
Issue 55860: adb backup skips the apk for certain apps and doesn't prompt for download when restoring
Issue 48126: device adb connecting to localhost adbd cannot execute commands anymore since 4.2.2 (error device offline)
Issue 3254: adb shell doesn't return exit code of program
Issue 53065: Debugging via ADB stopping the onClick action on ImageView widget
Issue 53668: ADB : An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Issue 54781: adb install: single quotes in filenames cause quoting issues
Issue 55173: (Game) Offroad Legends does not detect obb when restored via adb restore
Issue 55178: (Game) Carmageddon Promo does not detect obb when restored via adb restore
Issue 28303: adb backup doesn't respect -noshared flag
Issue 32830: adb restore errors not displayed on device
Issue 34311: Galaxy Nexus gets stuck when restoring adb backup
Issue 25780: BackupManager causes reboot when BackupAgent missing
Issue 40691: ab backup and restore Ski Safari does not restore saved data
Issue 16286: Restoration of phone not working properly
Issue 39014: Nexus 7 adb restore freezes when restoring udk.android.reader
Warning about Helium (Carbon): helium backups are just android adb backups that are not compressed with Java Deflater. It means they were created with the option static final boolean COMPRESS_FULL_BACKUPS = false.
A normal adb restore should work.
Great guide, and can confirm that it does work!
I managed to use this method to restore my angry birds data from a Froyo phone (HTC Desire), to a Jelly Bean phone (HTC One X+). This is no easy task since you cannot use adb backup/restore on Froyo, but you can use adb pull, and you can't use adb push on Jelly Bean, but you can use adb backup/restore. Just in case anyone is looking to do the same, here is the process I used (requires having adb up and running but does not require root)...
As the adb backup function doesn't work on Froyo, I had to use adb pull to grab the angry birds data files (highscores.lua and settings.lua). Then, making sure that you have angry birds installed on the jelly bean phone and have played the first level, use the adb backup command to backup just the angry birds app. You can then use scandiuns guide to extract a tar file from the backup file, and then extract the "app" folder from the tar file.
Once this is done, you will find the highscores.lua and settings.lua files in the apps/com.rovio.angrybirds/f directory. Replace these two files with your original ones that you pulled from the old device. Then package up the app folder using the guide. Then just use adb restore to restore the modified backup file to your new device, and you should have all your old scores restored!
Hope that helps and thanks to scandiun for the great guide! :good:
cn198 said:
Great guide, and can confirm that it does work!
I managed to use this method to restore my angry birds data from a Froyo phone (HTC Desire), to a Jelly Bean phone (HTC One X+). This is no easy task since you cannot use adb backup/restore on Froyo, but you can use adb pull, and you can't use adb push on Jelly Bean, but you can use adb backup/restore. Just in case anyone is looking to do the same, here is the process I used (requires having adb up and running but does not require root)...
As the adb backup function doesn't work on Froyo, I had to use adb pull to grab the angry birds data files (highscores.lua and settings.lua). Then, making sure that you have angry birds installed on the jelly bean phone and have played the first level, use the adb backup command to backup just the angry birds app. You can then use scandiuns guide to extract a tar file from the backup file, and then extract the "app" folder from the tar file.
Once this is done, you will find the highscores.lua and settings.lua files in the apps/com.rovio.angrybirds/f directory. Replace these two files with your original ones that you pulled from the old device. Then package up the app folder using the guide. Then just use adb restore to restore the modified backup file to your new device, and you should have all your old scores restored!
Hope that helps and thanks to scandiun for the great guide! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried similar attempt to restore my save of another game but that doesn't work.
How did you replace the files in the .tar file? I am using 7z to replace the .tar file but nothing happen after i restored.
Thanks.
ball3t said:
I have tried similar attempt to restore my save of another game but that doesn't work.
How did you replace the files in the .tar file? I am using 7z to replace the .tar file but nothing happen after i restored.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the guide. 7z is not compatible, you have to use star or equivalent and meet the requirements.
scandiun said:
Read the guide. 7z is not compatible, you have to use star or equivalent and meet the requirements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
star
star is required since GNU Tar does not allow storing directories without trailing slash. You can get the ubuntu version 1.5 here. For windows or Cygwin I haven't found it yet, if exists.
Because i am using windows, so does it mean that i couldn't modify the .tar file in any way?
thanks.
ball3t said:
Because i am using windows, so does it mean that i couldn't modify the .tar file in any way?
thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, from windows you can use pax. You can download it from cygwin's setup.exe. I've updated the guide, see the step 5.
scandiun said:
Yes, from windows you can use pax. You can download it from cygwin's setup.exe. I've updated the guide, see the step 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it worked!!
thank you so much.
Maybe I'm missing something.
I've installed Java, ran cygwins setup.exe and I think it installed everything. Also downloaded the Android Backup Extractor. I try running a windows command prompt with:
java -jar abe.jar unpack nexus7.ab nexus7.tar
All I get is "java is not an internal or external command". I'm running the command prompt in the android backup extractor folder. Does everything have to be in the same folder? Where do I dump everything?
AAhrens said:
Maybe I'm missing something.
I've installed Java, ran cygwins setup.exe and I think it installed everything. Also downloaded the Android Backup Extractor. I try running a windows command prompt with:
java -jar abe.jar unpack nexus7.ab nexus7.tar
All I get is "java is not an internal or external command". I'm running the command prompt in the android backup extractor folder. Does everything have to be in the same folder? Where do I dump everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably java is not in your path, try
Code:
which java
It should result something like
Code:
$ which java
/cygdrive/c/Windows/system32/java
Add Java to the Windows Path
Then restart cygwin
Omg omg omg! Thanks for the guide you just saved my ass, i love you!!!!!
scandiun said:
2) Extract the contents of the tar archive. This should be done on a filesystem where the permissions of the files inside the tar are preserved, for example using linux, mac or bsd. Up to two folders may appear, apps and shared:
Code:
tar -xvf nexus7.tar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I'd like to try this out on a Windows 7 (virtual) machine. All software installed an clear what to do. But how do I manage to preserve the file permissions? Does Cygwin take care of that?
Thanks
ttv said:
Hi,
I'd like to try this out on a Windows 7 (virtual) machine. All software installed an clear what to do. But how do I manage to preserve the file permissions? Does Cygwin take care of that?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't preserve the exact permissions because of the operating system and the filesystem. While permissions will be somewhat similar the owner will change completely. While android has the owner encoded by a number windows will use your windows username. I made simple modifications of backups on windows and luckily worked, but of course can't promise you that will apply for all the cases.
If you know how to use virtual machines, why just don't use linux / unix? For example if you use PC-BSD or Linux Mint you can download directly the Virtualbox image and then share a folder or use ftp server.
http://virtualboximages.com/LinuxMint+14+KDE+Desktop+32bit+Virtual+Appliance
scandiun said:
If you know how to use virtual machines, why just don't use linux / unix? For example if you use PC-BSD or Linux Mint you can download directly the Virtualbox image and then share a folder or use ftp server.
http://virtualboximages.com/LinuxMint+14+KDE+Desktop+32bit+Virtual+Appliance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer.
I didn't understand the bit about sharing a folder on Unix before, but now I think it clicks.... The Linux/Unix VM is only used to share a folder in which I can extract the Android backup from my Windows machine right? So that way I can still use the installed software and drivers for my Nexus 4 on the Windows machine. Do I understand this correctly?
If that's the case I am going to try right away. Otherwise I have to make the Nexus 4 software installation work on the Unix/Linux VM and that will take a lot more time I think.....
ttv said:
Thanks for the answer.
I didn't understand the bit about sharing a folder on Unix before, but now I think it clicks.... The Linux/Unix VM is only used to share a folder in which I can extract the Android backup from my Windows machine right? So that way I can still use the installed software and drivers for my Nexus 4 on the Windows machine. Do I understand this correctly?
If that's the case I am going to try right away. Otherwise I have to make the Nexus 4 software installation work on the Unix/Linux VM and that will take a lot more time I think.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I mean to access from linux the folder you share in windows, but then remember to copy the backup inside linux to extract it there, to preserve permissions.
You have the option to share folders in Virtualbox and VMWare Workstation. In case you use virtualbox, make sure the guest has Guest Additions installed. Some virtualbox images already come with it.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Well I got the java command to work, but now the "cat" command will not work? Your link to add java to the path worked for the latter, but how do I get 'cat' to work?
AAhrens said:
Well I got the java command to work, but now the "cat" command will not work? Your link to add java to the path worked for the latter, but how do I get 'cat' to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exact error are you getting?
scandiun said:
What exact error are you getting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Cat is not an internal or external command"
AAhrens said:
"Cat is not an internal or external command"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What shell are you using? cat is included on any default linux installation.
scandiun said:
What shell are you using? cat is included on any default linux installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8
On Cygwin you have cat and the other utilities you have to install them from the setup.
I can't find much of any information on hacking the microsoft android emulator. Ideally, I'd like to get it working with superuser, exposed, etc, so it can be a fully functional way to see how android itself and apps work in different environments, all from my desktop. Also, I can just play around with stuff that I wouldn't touch on my tablet for fear of bricking it. I like playing with things.
Disclaimer: I'm not interested in maintaining anything, but as mentioned above, I can't find any information. Therefore, I'm simply posting what information I have here, in the hopes it will interest someone else enough to take a harder look at it. My original post was over here, but I've expanded beyond simply adding supersu to the image.
Things I can't do:
- Install superuser
- Install Xposed
- Install Google Play for anything more recent than KitKat
- Install recovery scripts
Things I can do:
- Run commands as root.
- Install Google Play Services on KitKat
- Change the screen resolution
- Change the amount of internal disk space
- Change the amount of memory and cpu cores available.
- Install busybox
- Flash simple scripts that don't require recent versions of cwm/twrp/other modern recovery.
----------------------------------------
Background information: The Microsoft Android "Emulator" is actually a HyperV virtual machine. When you install it, it enables the HyperV virtualization service in windows*. The effect of this is that instead of running android by emulating an arm processor, it runs android natively, with far better performance, by using Microsoft's hypervisor that's built into windows (win8+). You can work with it with Visual Studio and with Android Studio, but I don't use either much, so I can't help you with that. You can download it from Visual Studio if you want to (VS 2015 is free), or you can download a standalone version. I don't know if there's a difference between the two.
* I'm not sure if it installs the HyperV GUI as well, as I already use HyperV for other things and had it already installed. If you need to do so, you can install the GUI by going to add-remove windows features in the control panel ('appwiz.cpl' from the control panel).
----------------------------------------
Modifying the properties of the emulated system.
Configuration file location: After you create a device, the .cfg file for it will be located in %localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudioEmulator\Android\Containers\Local\Devices
To change the resolution: So far, I haven't identified any supported resolutions other than those listed in the device profiles list. So far, supported resolutions that I've used successfully are 480x800, 720x1080. You can edit the .cfg file for the specific device that you want to change the resolution of, and change the `device.screen.resolution=` line to any supported (see previous) resolution.
To change the size of the internal storage, follow the instructions here. You'll need an ubuntu cd; minimal install cd is fine if you have slow internet/computer or low ram.
To change the amount of ram or processors allocated to the virtual machine: Open Hyper-V manager, right-click the appropriate VM and click settings.
- Change the ram allocation by clicking Memory in the list at left. I do not know what happens if you try using Dynamic Memory; if it works, it should be more memory-efficient, but I left that alone. Now update the `device.vm.ram.size=` line in the .cfg file.
- Change the cpu allocation by clicking the Processor field. Please note that if you have hyper-threading, you should only use half your logical processors as cpus; the hyperthreaded 'cores' won't work as well (according to information online; you can check number of logical processors in windows task manager's performance tab). Now update the 'device.vm.cpu.count=' line in the .cfg file
----------------------------------------
Info on "recovery" and "flashing" - Installing google play
So far, I have only managed to get Google Play Services working on KitKat. I can't get it to work on Lollipop or Marshmallow (and haven't tried earlier versions at all); the virtual machine does *not* have a recovery or fastboot because of the way it works, and I haven't figured out any way of installing such. Instead, there's a simple shell file called install_zip.sh. It does not work with modern flashable zips that require TWRP/CWM; it only works with the old style zip designed for a specific architecture. As such, opengapps flashable zips will not work.
To install Google Play Services on KitKat (4.4.4)
1. Inside the emulator, open the browser and go to http://www.teamandroid.com/gapps/ and download the file linked under Gapps CyanogenMod 11.
2. Open the window the the android VM from the Hyper-V Manager to get console access. If you have ADB installed locally, you can use that in the future, but getting the VM's shared IP requires terminal access anyways (run `ip addr` as root inside the emulator to get the list of IPs).
3. Run `adb shell` to get access to the root shell (yes, it's that easy).
4. Run `install_zip.sh /sdcard/Downloads/gapps-kk-20140105-signed.zip` (or whatever the name/path for the downloaded gapps file is).
5. It should complete successfully. Now type exit to exit the adb shell, and close the hyper-v console window (the android emulator will continue running).
6. Click the 'X' at the top right of the Emulator to shut down/close the VM
7. Start the emulator back up. You should now have access to Google Play Services.
----------------------------------------
Busybox
The emulator does not come with a preinstalled copy of busybox. It does come with the android toolbox, but this has only a very minimal amount of commands in it. The instructions below are for installing stericson's busybox.
1. Get a copy of stericson's busybox from somewhere--your personal device, etc, it doesn't matter. The easiest way is to either install it on a real android device and grab it with airdroid (or other), or to use a play store scanner to get it. The file name will probably be something like stericson.busybox.apk.
2. Rename it to .zip so you can access the contents.
3. Extract the busybox-x86.png file from the 'assets' folder inside the zip, and rename it to `busybox`.
4. In the Android Emulator, click the >> button for tools, and click the sdcard header. Choose a folder (a new one on your dekstop will do) and tell it to pull the contents of the sdcard to the folder.
5. Move the busybox file into the Download folder that you just pulled from the sdcard. If you created a folder for this, you can delete it now.
6. Back in the android emulator, push the folder structure back into the sdcard; this will move the busybox onto the emulator.
7. Open the HyperV console for the emulator or open a terminal app in the android emulator (installing it is up to you)
8. Run `adb shell` to get a root prompt.
9. Run `mount -o rw,remount /system` to remount the system partition as writable
10. Run `cp /sdcard/Download/busybox /system/xbin` to copy the busybox binary over
11. Run `chmod 777 /system/xbin/busybox` to make the busybox binary executable.
12. Run `busybox --install /system/xbin` to copy the busybox binary for all the included applets. I think the -s paramter will symlink the applets to the main binary instead, but I'm not sure.
13. Type exit in the adb shell.
14. You can now run busybox commands in the terminal, and use apps that require busybox to be installed.
Now that you have busybox installed, you can use unzip, etc.
----------------------------------------
Hacking the OS itself.
The android emulator uses a VHD file for the disks. I've mounted the vhd file inside an ubuntu server to play with, and discovered several things about the way it works. The first partition is the boot partition, it contains 3 files:
- kernel - the android/linux kernel
- ramdisk - the ramdisk for the root filesystem. gzipped cpio archive.
- cmdline - the kernel parameters(? not sure what to call this)
I've tried modifying the ramdisk to add the init files for the superuser, but this doesn't seem to work properly; when I boot up the vhd file, I can open the console with hyper-v manager (the android emulator machines show up there automatically), and when it gets to the ramdisk, it says so--then the caps/num/scroll lights start flashing and it hangs. I haven't gotten any further than that at this time.