Hi, i'm trying to access /system/app/ so i can put apps in there, since i couldt figure out how to install apk files form Eclipse. I'm running Eclipse with the SDK installed, any help or example would be awesome. Thanks
/system is typically read-only (is on every android I know of). On many (most?) devices, the partition containing /system is also write-locked in the eMMC firmware. User apps should be installed into the /data partition.
What do you mean by installing from eclipse? Eclipse uses adb to push the package to the device and launch the package installer.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
There are two ways that may be of help that I know of.
ADB Install:
1. In your Android SDK manager you should have a tool called ADB (Google how to add it to your system path to make life easier)
2. Navigate to your apk file you are trying to install and shift right click in the windows explorer windo and select Open Command line here.
3. then using command line (Console) type in:
Code:
adb install nameofapphere.apk
Note: If the app has spaces in the installer name either take out the spaces or add quotes to the command line as shown below.
Code:
adb install "name of app here.apk"
Second choice is gaining command line root and remounting the system directory with rw permissions.
1. Gain console root access.
2. in console type in:
Code:
adb shell
Note if you see $ you are not in root and # if you are in root.
3. (Please double check)
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /dev/null /system
This will remount your system drive so you have read/write access to it.
4. Push the file to /system/app
5. Set the permissions you want for the application
JavaChips said:
There are two ways that may be of help that I know of.
ADB Install:
1. In your Android SDK manager you should have a tool called ADB (Google how to add it to your system path to make life easier)
2. Navigate to your apk file you are trying to install and shift right click in the windows explorer windo and select Open Command line here.
3. then using command line (Console) type in:
Code:
adb install nameofapphere.apk
Note: If the app has spaces in the installer name either take out the spaces or add quotes to the command line as shown below.
Code:
adb install "name of app here.apk"
Second choice is gaining command line root and remounting the system directory with rw permissions.
1. Gain console root access.
2. in console type in:
Code:
adb shell
Note if you see $ you are not in root and # if you are in root.
3. (Please double check)
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /dev/null /system
This will remount your system drive so you have read/write access to it.
4. Push the file to /system/app
5. Set the permissions you want for the application
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What i mean i'm writing an app in eclipse. And i have a listview with the apk's, i want when the user clicks on the items, it gets installed. Any ideas?
spxc said:
What i mean i'm writing an app in eclipse. And i have a listview with the apk's, i want when the user clicks on the items, it gets installed. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did this thread get moved. Took me forever to find it.
Anyway, it seems you want to programmatically install an APK from within an android app, is that correct? Just launch an intent with the package installer as a target:
Code:
Intent installIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
installIntent.setDataAndType("/path/to/my/apk","application/vnd.android.package-archive");
startActivity(installIntent);
Moderator: this is definitely development related. Why was it moved to Q&A?
Gene Poole said:
Code:
Intent installIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
installIntent.setDataAndType("/path/to/my/apk","application/vnd.android.package-archive");
startActivity(installIntent);
Moderator: this is definitely development related. Why was it moved to Q&A?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll agree, and secondly I think it was moved to Q&A because the original question was asked in a way that was not clear to it's intents.
So yeah, just pointing the apks to be run by the package installer via intent will launch the installer and install the app selected.
Related
is there a way to remove icons from the start menu? i have a custom rom (modaco and there are a few apps i cant remove i was wondering if i can just remove ther icon? thanks!
I presume you are trying to remove apps that are installed on the system partition. (ie. most of the standard HTC apps).
If so, you can do so from your PC, but follow these instructions in case you remove something you shouldn't (!)
1. Take a Nandroid Backup before starting
2. Connect phone to your PC and set up ADB from the SDK if not already done.
3. Run command
Code:
adb remount
4. Type
Code:
adb shell
5. Type
Code:
su
6. Type
Code:
cd /system/app
7. Type
Code:
ls
8. Now have a look through the list for what you want to remove. Be aware that low-level things like the dialer are listed here, so be careful
9. When you find the app you want to uninstall, type the commands
Code:
exit
adb pull com.name.of.apk.file.apk C:\HTCHeroBackupApps
to copy the apk file to your PC in case you want to put it back
10. Then type
Code:
adb shell
cd /system/app
rm com.name.of.apk.file.apk
11. Application removed. Repeat for other apps you want rid of. Reboot phone when done.
(11.) If you need to restore an app in future for any reason, use the following command:
Code:
adb remount
adb push C:\HTCHeroBackupApps\com.name.of.apk.file.apk /system/app
and reboot the phone.
HTH, and don't go deleting things if you don't know what they are
From the original post by cyricc in the G1 Android Development forum:
HOW TO: Manually backup 3rd-party application settings and data
I just didn't want to be the guy posting only a link. Please post any questions, comments, or thanks in the original thread I deserve NO CREDIT for this post.
##############################
This tutorial will explain how to backup application data and settings for 3rd-party apps that do not have an export/import settings feature. Looking to upgrade your ROM but don't want to lose your todos/highscores/whatnots after a data wipe? Then read on..
(I've never used apps to SD, so I'm not completely sure how the data is stored with that. I'm assuming the entire data partition is moved to the SD though, so the procedures outlined in this guide are not necessary / do not apply to apps2sd)
Tools needed:
adb
Backing up settings
Run a adb shell in the command prompt and navigate to /data/data
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb shell
# cd /data/data
Find the folder of the app whose settings you want to backup. In android 1.5, M/SMS are stored in com.android.providers.telephony and bookmarks are in com.android.browser. For third party apps, you can use ls to list all installed apps and find your app folder manually, or use find - say I want to find the app folder for the Astrid todo app:
Code:
# ls
<.....lots of directories....>
com.timsu.astrid
<.....more directories....>
# find *astrid* -maxdepth 0
com.timsu.astrid
Now open a separate command prompt and use adb pull to copy the application's data folder to your computer. This does not copy the app itself, only its saved data and settings. App .apks reside in /data/apps, which you can also adb pull out if you want. In this example I pull out settings for Astrid:
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb pull /data/data/com.timsu.astrid d:\desktop\com.timsu.astrid
Feel free to replace d:\desktop with the location of your choice, of course. Repeat the above for each app folder you want to backup.
Restoring settings after a wipe
First thing to do is reinstall the apk, from sdcard, adb install, market, whatever. After the app is installed, you can restore settings in one of two ways: the easy way or the hard but safe (paranoid) way.
The Easy Way:
This quick and dirty method will give everyone full read/write/execute permissions on the application's settings/data. This is normally a Very Bad Idea with a normal linux computer, but realistically there is very little risk of this posing any real security issues on a device like a phone.
First, adb push the settings into the data folder, overwriting the app's stock settings (in this example, the astrid data I backed up) then adb shell into the phone and navigate to /data/data:
Code:
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb push d:\desktop\com.timsu.astrid /data/data/com.timsu.astrid
Done
c:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r1\tools> adb shell
# cd /data/data
Now give full permissions to the app's data folder and its contents:
Code:
# chmod 777 com.timsu.astrid
# cd com.timsu.astrid
# chmod 777 * */*
And that's it. Launch the app and your settings/data should be restored.
The Hard Way
I'm not going to go into this in detail because if you're reading this, you probably know the commands to do this anyway. After you reinstall the app, the general idea is to run ls -l on the stock app data directory and its subdirectories to display the owner and permissions of each file/folder as setup by the android system. Write these down then adb push the backup app data folder in, which overwrites everything with directories and files owned by root. Then use chown and chmod to restore the original owners and permissions for each file and directory. Needless to say this can be quite a hassle if you're dealing with more than a few application backups.
i made a script that copies ALL of the applications off of the phone as a backup to a folder on your sd card. the sd card MUST HAVE a folder called "app" in order for this to work.
Code:
@ECHO OFF
adb shell cp data/app/* /sdcard/app
pause
then here is one to reinstall ALL of the apps from that "app" folder back onto your android, keeping the update notifications.
Code:
@ECHO OFF
adb remount
adb shell busybox install sdcard/app/*.apk /data/app
pause
exit
either type those commands into a command prompt or you can make a .bat file and put those commands in.
Hi,
I have rooted my Hero with the tutorial on villainroms page but when I try to delete the bootanimation.zip with astro file manager it doesn't work.
zulu1 said:
Hi,
I have rooted my Hero with the tutorial on villainroms page but when I try to delete the bootanimation.zip with astro file manager it doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you remount the system partition as RW first? The app should let you do this
I have just done what was said in the tutorial so I don't think that I have done what you say and actually I don't quite know what that is.
I made myself a bootscreen and I tried to use that but it didn't work so I downloaded a bootscreen available on the web but that didn't work either.
The bootscreen I have at the moment is from here called drawing-froyo maybe it has to do something with that.
Nah, nothing to do with which one you have.
You need to find out how to remount system in astro (google maybe) and do that.
It will then be easy to overwrite
You could use adb, or downloader a popular root explorer for your pc to browse your phone
MacaronyMax said:
You could use adb, or downloader a popular root explorer for your pc to browse your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you provide the adb command to remount with the proper permissions?
Command prompt:
C:\ ..\> adb devices <-- this will detect your phone connect to pc
C:\ ..\> adb remount <-- remount the phone
C:\ ..\> adb shell <-- command to enter shell command, the drive letter C change to # meaning u have enter shell mode
# su <-- superuser permission
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system <-- changing permission of read/rewrite
# cd /system/media/bootscreen/ <-- change directory to /system/media/bootscreen/
# ls -l <-- list of apps/files in current directory, this is not important, just to ensure the file u seek is there..
# rm any_files_u_wanna_delete <-- remove aka delete command(make sure u already backup or pulled it before doing this)
# exit <-- exit shell command, type it again until the # change back to "C:\>"
C:\ ..\> adb push C:\any_files_u_wanna_push /system/media/bootscreen/ <-- push ur files, with directory of the file to push then directory of where the files should be pushed in
C:\ ..\> adb reboot <-- reboot command, reboots the phone, unplug it and see it runs.. if the bootanimation didn't play/just stalled, try redoing all these steps with the old bootanimation, or do a nandroid restore.
as far as I know, bootanimation in /system/media/bootanimation/ folder is not in zip files, it's in multiple files(in my stock 2.1, it's boot.gif, boot.mp3, boot2.gif, boot_animation.xml and boot_bg.gif). so I bet, u have to extract these files from the zip and push it one by one.
Good luck on adb
Hi guys,
I take no credit for this, as this method was already described in this forum:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/bar...ow-download-install-honeycomb-nook-color.html
The only thing I did was apply this to regular APK installs and they've been working well thus far.
Here's what you do (windows users):
1. Make sure the NC has ADB access, check the Honeycomb thread for more on this
2. Have the APK you want to install readily available.
3. Open a command prompt, Start -> Run -> "CMD" (No quotations) (Make sure you're admin when doing this)
4. cd into your android-sdk file by typing in the file directory, mine looks like this:
cd..
cd..
cd android-sdk\tools
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is because my android-sdk is in C:\android-sdk
5. Now type in the following commands:
adb shell mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /system
adb push [YOUR APK HERE] /system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where [YOUR APK HERE] is the file name of the APK you want to install. I've found the easiest way to do this is to type in "adb push" then drag and drop the file into the command prompt for easy access.
6. Finally, type in
adb reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
7. Enjoy your APKs! I can't guarantee how well they'll work, so far Pulse reader is working well for me
I also have to point out, that for many apps, the "adb install "program.apk" works well - its how i installed my copy of quadrant and dolphin HD.
Divine_Madcat said:
I also have to point out, that for many apps, the "adb install "program.apk" works well - its how i installed my copy of quadrant and dolphin HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is true, for that all you have to do is:
adb install [YOUR APK HERE]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, Divine_Medcat!
newer versions of the SDK moved the adb to /platform-tools/ folder
Where are the APKs on the NC to pull them from?
nm: read the post more thoroughly. It's /system/app
So I have been reading quite a few threads here on XDA, and the one thing I noticed for noobs to linux/unix world is that they are struggling with some basic command once adb shell is gained. I decided to whip out this quick tutorial to help those noobs out to become more of an expert...like me...lol j/k
Here we go:
Prerequisites:
You must know how to invoke a adb shell command already to drop into your phone.
ALL commands in Unix/Linux are case sensitive
For more details, go to this ADB tutorial (very good one): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=517874
Let's get going:
Once a shell is gained via adb, let's look at some of the basic commands you can do to navigate around the filesystem. Note: you must remove the double-quotes (") for the actual command.
Code:
"cd" = is change directory
to change to any directory, you type: cd dir_name (where dir_name is a full path)
Example: I want to go to /data/local/tmp in my phone, I would do
cd /data/local/tmp <hit ENTER>
You can also use the ".." to go UP one directory.
Example: I'm in /data/local/tmp and I want to go up to /data folder, a command would be: cd ../.. alternatively, if I do cd .. then i'll drop into /data/local folder instead.
Code:
"ls" = list files/directories
to list files/directories within a folder, the command should be:
ls <hit enter> => this will list all NON-HIDDEN file/directories within your CURRENT directory.
ls /data/local/tmp => this will list all NON-HIDDEN file/directories within /data/local/tmp directory.
ls -l => this will list all NON-HIDDEN file/directories within your CURRENT directory, plus additional details. Consider this is like a "Details" view in Windows Explorer.
ls -a => this will list all files/directories (including hidden files) within your CURRENT directory.
ls -la => this will list all files/directories (including hidden files) within your CURRENT directory, plus details.
Code:
"chmod" = change mode
Goes to wikipedia for more details: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Chmod
Most commonly used modes on android phones are:
"755" or "777".
So if you have a root.sh shell script that you downloaded from XDA, and uploaded to your phone and try to execute it with ./root.sh and it said "Permission denied". That means your script does not have the execute permission. You need to do:
chmod 755 root.sh <hit enter>
[B]IMPORTANT: There is *NO* negative sign (-) in front of the mode bit. So it is NOT chmod -755 root.sh[/B]
If you get a "File or directory not found" error, which means you are chmod-ing a file that doesn't exist in your current directory. To execute a chmod on root.sh in /data/local/tmp you do:
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/root.sh
If you want to chmod an ENTIRE DIRECTORY and ALL files underneath it you do:
chmod -R 755 /data/local/tmp => this will set /data/local/tmp and ALL files/folders underneath it to be 755.
Code:
"chown" = change ownership
Go to wikipedia for details: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Chown
Most common used chown for android is: "root:root" or "root:shell"
Example: if you want to change ownership of root.sh to root:shell then you do:
chown root:shell root.sh
NOTE: the -R (recursive) option is also available for chown.
chown -R root:shell /data/local/tmp
Code:
"pwd" = print working directory
so when you are within a directory and you want to know which directory you are in, then you issue the command:
pwd <hit enter>
The system will reply back with the currently directory you are in.
I'll try to add more if I think of anything else useful, or if you have suggestions, please feel free to add.
so what does it mean to add adb to your path? thats holding me back from temp rooting on my mac. Im a total adb noob clearly.
hockey4life0099 said:
so what does it mean to add adb to your path? thats holding me back from temp rooting on my mac. Im a total adb noob clearly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to explain it is that you can run ADB from anywhere...do a search and you can find a more detailed (and more proper) explanation and directions on how to set it up.
hockey4life0099 said:
so what does it mean to add adb to your path? thats holding me back from temp rooting on my mac. Im a total adb noob clearly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What OS are you using?
vboyz103 said:
What OS are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mac
______________
hockey4life0099 said:
mac
______________
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, do a search on XDA...there's a great guide on how to set up ADB properly. I'll link to it tomorrow when I get on the computer.
-- Sent from my 3VO Shooter --
hockey4life0099 said:
mac
______________
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use mac, open a Terminal, and you should be at your home directory and type:
nano ~/.profile
if the .profile doesn't exist yet, then you'll see an empty.
Put this into the file
PATH=$PATH:/path/to/your/android/platform-tools
export PATH
save and exit out of Nano, and type:
source ~/.profile
then after this type adb and if adb is in your PATH then you see adb help.
Overview Of Permissions via ADB SHELL
Example = drwxrwxrwx
To Check Permission at anytime in ADB just Type:
ls -l
The First character defines the Directory, Link, Binary.
Below are some examples
Example = d---------
d = Directory
l = Link
b = Binary
The next 9 characters define the file permissions. These permissions are
given in groups of 3 each.
The first 3 characters are the permissions for the owner of the file or directory.
Example = -rwx------
The next 3 are permissions for the group that the file is owned by.
Example = ----rwx---
The final 3 characters define the access permissions for everyone not part of the group.
Example = -------rwx
There are 3 possible attributes that make up file access permissions.
r - Read permission. Whether the file may be read. In the case of a
directory, this would mean the ability to list the contents of the
directory.
w - Write permission. Whether the file may be written to or modified. For
a directory, this defines whether you can make any changes to the contents
of the directory. If write permission is not set then you will not be able
to delete, rename or create a file.
x - Execute permission. Whether the file may be executed. In the case of a
directory, this attribute decides whether you have permission to enter,
run a search through that directory or execute some program from that
directory
In addition to the file permission, you can also modify the owner and
group of the file. The chown program is used here and its syntax is very
simple. You need to be the owner of a file or root to do this.
Understanding Owner Permissions:
The first command is for owner ID, the Second Command is for Group ID.
exp. root.root ( First Root is owner, Second Root is Group ).
Chmod 644 some file, Like Build.prop For testing & then Veiw the Resulted Changes!
Refer to the table below as a quick reference.
Command Line for Both would look like this
chmod 644 build.prop = -rw-r--r--
\/
Chmod Guide
0 - ---
1 - --x
2 - -w-
3 - -wx
4 - r--
5 - r-x
6 - rw-
7 - rwx
SH Chown Guide
\/
chown root.root build.prop
root.root = Root
root.shell = Shell
Busybox SH Chown Guide
\/
chown 0.0 build.prop
0.0 = Root
0.2000 = Shell
I'll update the chmod with more with More Complex Commands Later
Side Note:Always set owner ( chown ) before Setting Permissions ( Chmod )!
Hope this Clears up things & is Helpful to everyone
~Eugene373
Add adb to your path in Windows.
As has been explained above all it does is allowing your adb to be called out from any location.
To set it in windows you will need to add path to your adb.exe file to your PATH in widows XP or CLASSPATH in windows7.
You can find it in start->contro panel->system->advanced.
There is a tab called "Inviromental Variables".
Click on that tab and new window will pop up. New window has 2 field in it. We are interested in bottom field called "System variables".
Windows XP user should look for line with variable "Path".
Click that line and choose edit below. New pop up will apear and you can edit path line in there. You should add path to your adb.exe to that line.
Example.
I did install windows sdk in c:\android\android-sdx-windows so my adb.exe file is in that folder. I did add path to that folder in "Paht" line of system variables. Add path to your adb.exe after semicolon.
;c:\Location\of folder\where you have\adb exe file\
Save changes, apply them. Now you can use call for adb commands from any location.
Widows 7 users.
Same changed need to be appied as for Windows XP.
There is only one difference that that path in Inviromental variables in windows7 is called "CLASSPATH".
Rest is same. Just add the path to folder containing your adb.exe file to CLASSPATH line and you would be able to use adb in any location.
Hope this make sense and will help.
My mac keeps sayin no device but I can access adb from anywhere basically its in my path but won't pick up my phone
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
snoopy1e11 said:
My mac keeps sayin no device but I can access adb from anywhere basically its in my path but won't pick up my phone
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure your phone is in debugging mode.
ADB won't see phone if debugging is not enabled.
It is on
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
I'm a windows user.
Can't think of anything else.
Sorry.
agat63 said:
Make sure your phone is in debugging mode.
ADB won't see phone if debugging is not enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have USB debugging turned on, you should see a triangle with exclamation mark on task bar. Secondly, try to do this:
adb kill-server => kill off current server first
then
sudo adb devices => u need to enter password
Basically, you are running adb with escalated privilege, sometimes it needs root access.
This is Wat I got
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
snoopy1e11 said:
This is Wat I got
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm interesting...just wondering if you have your device turned on to be disk usage instead of just Charge Only?
Check on your desktop to see if you SD card had mounted, not sure if it makes a difference but worth a try. Another thought is that maybe your USB port doesn't work?? Did you check your phone to see if you have a triangle with exclamation mark in it on the task bar? (to the left)
Also, try it on a different computer if u can, and if it still doesn't work, afraid urs is defective.
I really appreciate ur help I re did the sudo command and hit "adb devices connect" and my device popped up
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
snoopy1e11 said:
I really appreciate ur help I re did the sudo command and hit "adb devices connect" and my device popped up
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, interesting cuz I never have to issue that command. Good to know you got it to work.