Database Users

Help with creating keystore...please

Hey everyone...I can't seem to find any help on creating a keystore. I created my first live wallpaper and have the apk, but I cant upload to the market until I create a keystore and sign the apk. I don't know how to do this. I have the jdk and sdk installed, along with Eclipse, but all the tutorials out there are way above my head.I don't know anything about java code and all tutorials assume that I do. Is anyone willing to help walk me through this? I don't even know how to get my apk file into Eclipse properly to start. Any help is appreciated.

* to make key
enter this into cmd prompt: cd C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_01\bin
and then this: keytool -genkey -v -keystore C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_23\bin\keystore1.keystore -alias (your name) -keyalg RSA -validity 10000
*then to sign apk
(this is how I do it)
1.copy/paste the apk onto your desktop
2. change the extension to .zip
3. open the now .zip file
4. delete the "META-INF" folder
5. convert it back to .apk
6. open cmd prompt
7. paste this in (without quotes): "cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_23\bin " (change the path if you have to first)
8. then paste this: "jarsigner -verbose -keystore (pathway to key file) C:\Users\(name of user)\Desktop\(appname).apk (name of key)"
*that is to sign it, not sure if that will work or if your key saved properly when you tried, let me know
It took me about 8 hours to figure it out when I first started too

yeah, or you could just use eclipse
go to file -> export project
and then it'll walk you through the whole process
it takes like 30 seconds
it still amazes me the number of people who do not know this
it's about 500 times easier if you just do it in eclipse
you can spend 8 hours trying to figure it out like hyperbyte did
or you can just use eclipse and be done in a few minutes

smaskell said:
yeah, or you could just use eclipse
go to file -> export project
and then it'll walk you through the whole process
it takes like 30 seconds
it still amazes me the number of people who do not know this
it's about 500 times easier if you just do it in eclipse
you can spend 8 hours trying to figure it out like hyperbyte did
or you can just use eclipse and be done in a few minutes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW really!? Why the heck didn't anyone else tell me that!? LOL I'm gonna try it now. Thanks for quick responses.

StoopidNoob said:
WOW really!? Why the heck didn't anyone else tell me that!? LOL I'm gonna try it now. Thanks for quick responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also right click on the project and go to Android Tools > Export signed application package

hyperbyteX's method also doesnt zipalign the package which the export wizard does and is reccommended.
http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/zipalign.html
Eventually advanced users would want to use an ant build script (and possibly proguard to optimize) but the export tool is fine for most stuff.

alostpacket said:
hyperbyteX's method also doesnt zipalign the package which the export wizard does and is reccommended.
http://developer.android.com/resources/articles/zipalign.html
Eventually advanced users would want to use an ant build script (and possibly proguard to optimize) but the export tool is fine for most stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alostpacket said:
You can also right click on the project and go to Android Tools > Export signed application package
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this is going to let me publish in the market?? For sure?? LOL I'm sorry. Been going in circles with this. I'm completely new to Droid and everything that comes with it.

StoopidNoob said:
And this is going to let me publish in the market?? For sure?? LOL I'm sorry. Been going in circles with this. I'm completely new to Droid and everything that comes with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My method is just a different menu/way to get you to the same "export wizard" as smaskell reccommended.
And yes, once signed, you should be able to publish to the market.

Ok this is gonna sound even more stoopid...but how do I package the apk? I used a program someone provided and it automatically made the .apk file for me, which I was able to upload and install in my inspire, but I assume there's more to it than just exporting the .apk itself right?

There are basically two keys developers come across when developing.
1) The debug key that comes with the SDK and just allows devs to test their apps
2) Your private personal developer/publisher key (that you generate yourself)
In eclipse whenever you build the project it makes an apk signed with the debug key (you can't use this to install on other devices unless they have debugging enabled and cannot upload to the market with this key). This is just a standard key built into android for debugging.
When you go through the export wizard that we posted, it will save an apk that is signed with your key. You can give this apk to others to sideload and upload to the market. It will also help you generate a key and alias and password if you havent generated one before.
Whatever you do, SAVE your key and and remember your alias and password and do NOT give it out to anyone else.
This is how the market will know that an apk comes from you. If you lose this key, you wont be able to upload new versions under the same package name.
hope that helps.

Also, in your manifest.xml make sure you have
Code:
android:debuggable="false"
in the <application> tag
example:
Code:
<application
android:icon="@drawable/my_icon"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:debuggable="false" >
<!-- your acitivities, services, and broadcast recivers are here-->
</application>

[FM TRANSMITTER] (dev needed)

this is an older tutorial i found for the evo way back. it needs to be updated..
this could possibly work on other android htc phones to that have the fm transmit capability....
the evos Broadcom chip has a built in fm receiver and also a transmitter.
according to some threads and diagrams ive seen the transmitter does have a power source, it just doesnt have and software code to actually work.
like hdmi the hardware was there but there was no code set up, therefore we didnt have full hdmi out. it had to be built from scratch.
the hardware for the fm transmitter is there we just need some one to build the code for it.
some one please take this on!!
This tutorial was originally posted in > android development and hacking > android software development.
i am reposting it here in the evo forums for guidelines
its a nice tutorial but its old. i think it was for android 2.0 ive followed the tutorial but i couldnt get it working, and i by no means have the experience to switch things up and get it working.
[TUTORIAL] Reverse engineering HTC FM Radio for noobs (on EVO 4G)
Okay, I'm writing this because I want to help any other newbies trying to learn how to reverse engineer. The technical details involved in this are extremely daunting, so the purpose of this tutorial is to first explain in layman terms exactly what you're trying to accomplish and what to expect. Then we'll go over the details. That way you're not completely blind going into this. I'm fairly new to the scene, so I'm not as knowledgeable as everyone else. If you see any errors in my post, let me know so I can change. I'm going to assume you know a little bit of Java, can find your way around a computer, and know nothing about Android. The techniques used should work with other Android phones. For this tutorial I'm using Windows 7, Cygwin, and my stock (not rooted) EVO 4G mobile phone.
The FM tuner for the Evo is run by a Broadcom chip: BCM4329. This chip is pretty amazing in that it does wireless, bluetooth, and it has an FM receiver/transmitter. We're interested in the FM receiver / transmitter.
Now, all android phones are based on a Linux kernel. Basically they're Linux running computers. The Android operating system is then installed onto the linux system. Every app is then run off of Android.
Android is based on Java but it is not a Java system. It uses a virtual machine called Dalvik. Google did this to get around licensing issues with Sun Microsystems. So they pretty much invented their own machine language (called byte code) for the Java language. This makes things complicated for the reverse engineer because from what I've read, once Java is converted into this machine language or byte code, it can't be converted back.
So let's rehash.
If you were programming strictly in Java, you would see these extensions:
Java source code = .java
Compiled Java source code = Java byte code = .class
Compressed file to package your program = .jar (Java Archive)
But since you're programming in Android and Dalvik, you will see these:
Java source code = .java
Compiled Java source code = Dalvik byte code = .dex
Compressed file to package your program = .apk
(I haven't mentioned this, but HTC further Optimizes their .dex code)
Optimized Dalvik byte code = .odex
I'm writing all of these down because it's very easy to get confused with all of the extensions. (for me at least!). remember how I said once you go dex, you can't go back to java? That's where JesusFreke comes in. He's a senior member of XDA, and he created "baksmali" and "smali", two programs that can convert the Dalvik code back into a human readable format. These files have extensions of .smali
Decompiled Dalvik byte code = .smali
But what can you do with .smali files? That's where this other senior member, brut.all comes in: He developed apktool. apktool takes JesusFreke's work to the next level. This program in conjunction with NetBeans, actually lets you trace through any program using the .smali code taken from JesusFreke's programs!
apktool does this by converting those .smali files into "fake" .java files that can be used by the NetBeans (program that compiles and makes java programs) IDE. I say "fake" because apktool embeds the .smali code into java files as comments. However, once you attach a debugger to NetBeans, you'll see that the debugger will follow line by line every execution statement found in the smali code!
So...... you can take the program you want, plug it into Net Beans using a debugger (using the default ddms command provided by Android SDK), and you can trace everything you do in the program. I have it connected to my phone, so whenever I push a button while running my HTC FMRadio app or unplug my headphones,I see the corresponding response to the HTCFMRadio code I have loaded in NetBeans. I can now see in real-time how the program operates from my own interactions... JAM.
Technical Aspects: How to get from ground zero to tracing HTCFMRadio?
1.) Download Android SDK - Go to google development site and follow instructions: Make sure to download the latest Java JDK. Once that is installed, download NetBeans 6.8. Unfortunately, smali debugging does not work with the lastest versions of NetBeans.
Download the "Java SE" version for minimal space
http://netbeans.org/downloads/6.8/index.html
You can follow the rest of Google walkthrough and download Eclipse and ADT plugin, but it's not pertinent to this. You're going to be using adb and ddms from the android SDK extensively, so make sure the path for </android SDK/tools> is included in the PATH variable in your ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS. To get here, right click My computer, click properties, Advanced Settings, ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS.
2.) Search for 7z and download it. It is an awesome and free compression tool that will be extremely useful. It can be used to "unzip" .jar, .apk, and other compressed formats.
3.) Get the Radio app. You can do this by going to "shipped-roms" website, downloading the latest Supersonic image, and following the directions in the unlockr tutorial for HTC kitchens at the unlockr website... (once you have extracted the files from the image, you can look in the system/app and system/framework directories to get the files listed below) or:
you can pull the following files from your phone:
Using the command prompt type (and with phone plugged in, and with USB debugging enabled on phone):
adb pull /system/app/HtcFMRadio.odex
adb pull /system/app/HtcFMRadio.apk
adb pull /system/framework ./framework
This will put HtcFMRadio.odex and HtcFMRadio.apk in the current directory and create a framework directory with more files. A couple of the files in the framework are needed for the HtcFMRadio app, but for simplicity, we're just going to pull the whole directory.
Now that we have the files, we have to make a few changes to make the app installable and to be viewable by the debugger. To do this we have to decompile the .odex format into a human readable format we can edit. That brings us to:
3.) Download baksmali and smali from Project Hosting on Google Code (google search smali).
Usually an Android application is made up of one file, an apk file. Inside the apk file is an AndroidManifest.xml file, a classes.dex file (compiled Java code for the program), and other folders. The other folders contain either graphics or other .xml files that tell the program how it should look to the user. We don't have to worry about those for now. This is important because APKTOOL only opens programs set up this way. But wait up? We didn't download one .apk file, we downloaded an .apk file and an .odex file! What gives? Well, if you right click the apk file and open it (using 7z), you'll see that it's missing the classes.dex file. The dex file for the app is actually the HtcFMRadio.odex file we downloaded. So, to make this system app more like a nominal app, we have to find a way to convert the HtcFMRadio.odex to a classes.dex file. That's easy with baksmali and smali!
Once you download goto command prompt and type:
java -jar baksmali-<version>.jar -d framework -x HtcFMRadio.odex
(Remember to match baksmali-<version>.jar with the filename of baksmali you downloaded)
If done correctly, you should see a newly created \out directory
This creates an out\com\htc\fm directory with many .smali files.
Now let's reverse the process and put it back as a dex file. Type at command prompt:
java -jar smali-<version>.jar out -o classes.dex
If done correctly you'll see a newly created classes.dex.
now, right click on HtcFMRadio.apk (select 7z and open). Drag classes.dex into the file. Say yes to the prompt. Now you have a normal apk file APKTOOL can read!
4.) Download APKTOOL from Project Hosting on Google Code and the helper apps for your OS. (If you're extracting files for windows OS you should have apktool.bat and aapt.exe). Extract (again using 7z, don't you love this program?) apktool.jar (keep it as a jar file, don't extract the stuff inside of it), apktool.bat, and aapt.exe to the directory you're working on. To make things neat, you can also delete HtcFMRadio.odex (you don't need it anymore) and classes.dex (make sure you put it in the HtcFMRadio.apk file first!)
If this is the first time you're using apktool, then you have to install the htc framework so apktool can baksmali the Radio app. You only have to do this once:
apktool if ./framework/com.htc.resources.apk
Alright, at the command prompt:
apktool d -d HtcFMRadio.apk
This extracts the contents of HtcFMRadio.apk and places them in the HtcFMRadio directory. However, there are two major differences between this content and the content created in step 3. If you go into the smali directory you'll see that instead of .smali files, you'll see .java files. And if you go back and edit the AndroidManifest.xml file, you will also see that it's in text! Android applications convert their xml files to binary format. Now that APKTOOL has converted everything to an IDE friendly format, we can use NetBeans to edit everything. The first thing we're going to do is edit AndroidManifest.xml (using notepad) and add the following:
android:debuggable="true" to the Application tag.
IT should now look like this:
<application android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Black.NoTitleBar" android:label="@string/fm_app_name" android:icon="@drawable/fm_radio" android:taskAffinity="android.task.fmradio" android:description="@string/htc_corp" android:allowTaskReparenting="true" android:debuggable="true">
This permission lets the debugger watch the program while it's running on the phone.
We are going to run into two problems if we try to install this program. One is that Android doesn't let you install more than one copy of a system app. The second issue is that if we change the signature of our system app, then we'll have to change the signatures of our other system apps as well! Ahh.... So, to get around that, we're going to trick Android into thinking we have a completely new program. We're going to do that by renaming the com.htc.fm class to com.htc.modradio class. Next step:
5.) Cygwin (or Linux virtual machine)
The easiest way that I can think of to replace strings in multiple files is by using linux. You can most definitely do it in WIndows, but I dont know how. If you let me know how, I can put it in this tutorial.
(update: you can use Notepad++ to easily find/replace strings in multiple files for Windows. You still, however, want to download Cygwin if you're going to develop with Android-NDK.)
For now, just search for Cygwin (Cygwin is a program that lets you run Linux commands from a command prompt using your Windows directories), and install it. Make sure to have the Perl option selected. You'll need Perl to make the following commands work.
Once you get Cygwin up and running
cd <to your HtcFMRadio directory>
in my case it's
cd /cygdrive/c/Users/Jerry/Desktop/HtcFMRadio
now type the following commands in this order:
this command changes all occurances of htc/fm to htc/modradio in your xml and .java files.
find ./ -type f | xargs perl -pi -e 's/htc\/fm/htc\/modradio/g'
this command changes all occurances of htc.fm to htc.modradio
find ./ -type f | xargs perl -pi -e 's/htc.fm/htc.modradio/g'
If you don't follow this order, your source code will get messed up.
If using cygwin, a bunch of .bak files will be created. Using windows search, find all .bak files in your HtcFMRadio directory, then select them all and delete them (Make sure they are only files with .bak!)
Now just rename the fm directory to modradio. It is located in HtcFMRadio/smali/com/htc
Now go to your windows command prompt and type:
apktool b -d .\HtcFMRadio modradio.apk
Now sign and install modradio.apk on your phone.
adb install modradio.apk
If you have never signed before, then you need to use keytool and jarsigner. These two files are in your JDK directory, so make sure you include your JDK directory in the PATH variable of your ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS. (To get here, right click on My Computer, click Properties, Advanced Settings, Environment Variables. Once you make change, open up a new COMMAND prompt to see changes).
cd to the directory which has modradio.apk
now type:
keytool -genkeypair
Answer all questions, then use the same password for all password prompts.
Next type:
jarsigner -verbose modradio.apk mykey
Type in the password you created in the above step. Your apk should now be signed.
Next install:
adb install modradio.apk
Success!
6.) Testing the app on phone
Go to your phone and you'll now see a new FMRadio icon next to your first. Click on it and watch it open. It should now be able to play music. Keep it open.
7.) Using Netbeans
Go into HtcFMRadio and delete the build directory created by APKTOOL.
Now open up Net Beans and click on File, New Project, Select Java Project with Existing Sources, click on Next
Select HtcFMRadio directory for Project Folder, rename Project Name to whatever you want. Let's type in ModRadio. click on Next
Next to "Source Package Folders" click on "Add Folder" and select the smali directory.
Click Finish. For a quick tutorial by Brut.all, search APKTOOL in youtube and click on: Apktool Demo 2 - Smali improvements
Right click on Libraries. Click on "Add Jar / Folder". You want to add Android.Jar. Since I have Android 2.1 loaded I went to /platforms/android-7 located in my android SDK directory.
Your project is now ready for editting!
8.) Running the Debugger to trace through program.
Next go back to Windows command prompt and type ddms. This runs the Dalvik Debug Monitor. A window should open up. In the left hand side you should see com.htc.modradio. That's our app! To the right you're going to see 2 numbers, you're interested in the one to the right, 4 cells away from com.htc.modradio. This number is a port number, and you're going to use it to communicate with NetBeans. (In my case it is 8603)
Go back to NetBeans and click on Debug, Attach Debugger.
In the host field type: localhost
In the Port field: type in the second number you saw. (8603)
If everything is working you'll see a bug appear next to com.htc.modradio in the Dalvik Debug Monitor. Look at the bottom bar of NetBeans for feedback. If you get errors make sure the numbers match, or try port 8700 and make sure you select com.htc.modradio in the Dalvik Debug Monitor. Port 8700 is the default port used for whatever program you select in Dalvik Debug Monitor.
9.) Setting a breakpoint
I'm making this a seperate step because it is completely arbitrary. When creating a break point be sure to follow this rule:
You must select line with some instruction, you can't set breakpoint on lines starting with ".", ":" or "#".
Rather than looking for a spot to breakpoint, though, I'll tell you where to put one so you can quickly see how the debugger traces through the code. You aren't "REQUIRED" to do the next step, but if you want to trace you have to put a breakpoint somewhere.
In Net Beans click on the Project tab, click on Source Packages, com.htc.modradio, and then doubleclick on BroadcomFMTuner.java
We're going to insert a breakpoint. Scroll down to line 3226 and on your keyboard press: CTRL-SHIFT-F8, select line in dropdown box and hit ok. (To keep it simple, I usually look for "invoke" instructions to set breakpoints at)
Now go to your phone and click on the physical "back" button on your phone. This will clear the radio,(you should still be able to listen to music). Drag your status bar down. You should see a radio icon. Click on it again. The radio backgroudn will appear, but you wont' see any text or anything. Now go back to your netbeans application. You should now see debug options highlighted! Click on Step Over (F8) to step through!
{
"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"
}
i found a few things.
http://pdf.eccn.com/pdfs/Datasheets/Broadcom/BCM4329.pdf
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Bluetooth/Bluetooth-RF-Silicon-and-Software-Solutions/BCM4329

I didn't read all of this but I have to mention that byte code is not a type of machine code..
byte code is what is created when you compile a java file. The JVM or dalvik-VM in this case, then converts this byte code to machine code at run time.

Getting Android source in Eclipse on Windows 7 [solved]

Hi all, I'm just starting getting into App development and I want to attach the Android source code into Eclipse so that I can reference it locally. Is there anyone here who has experience doing this on Windows who is willing to walk me through it?
Alternatively, I'll go it on my own if someone could help me get past this one roadblock. Thus far I've installed Python and msysGit (and updated my PATH variable accordingly) so that I can use git and repo. Something isn't working however and repo runs into an error that I can't seem to figure out. I'm contemplating uninstalling all that and starting from scratch with Cygwin.

Here's a tutorial on setting up Eclipse on windows (albeit over a year old so no guarantees) link
personally I would dual boot linux... it was a breeze setting it up and there's plenty of tutorials for that.
You could install ubuntu (i think) side by side with win7 using wubi, as if it were a program or something. That way you're not messing with partitions.

I already have Eclipse set up. This is not the problem. I'm having trouble downloading the Android source code - NOT the SDK - on my Windows PC. Specifically, I always run into errors when I try to use "repo init -u blah blah" as instructed on the android source page. If someone has successfully done this on Windows, I'd like someone to give me some guidance, because either I'm doing something wrong or my setup is not correct.
Right now I'm trying to use Cygwin (basically creates a linux environment inside Windows). The last time I tried using repo, I got this:
EDIT: Code removed. I found a solution, outlined below, for anyone else who wants to get the Android source into Eclipse.

Okay, I got the source code, it was actually pretty easy to do, and I didn't even need repo to do it . For those who may find this useful, here's how.
0. It is assumed you have already installed both Eclipse and the Android SDK. If you don't have those yet, download them and set those up. If you aren't on Windows but still want to know how to get the source and import it into Eclipse, you can skip step 1.
1. Install Cygwin on your computer. During the installation, you will be presented with a package explorer and you can choose specific packages to install. Choose whatever you like, but make sure to include automake, bison, curl, flex, gcc, git, gnupg, python, zip, and an editor of your choice, like nano or vim (you can use the search field at the top to find these quickly).
This will basically give you a Linux shell on Windows whose root directory is something you've designated, like C:\cygwin.
2. A few more things to set up. Fire up Cygwin and make a bin folder in your home directory. Add this directory to your PATH variable, then cd into it.
Code:
mkdir ~/bin
PATH=~/bin:$PATH
cd bin
This blog post has code for a python script that will be used later. Make a new file using an editor of your choice. Copy the code and save the file as anything you want (I named it "pack.py"). When you're done, cd back to your home directory.
3. Downloading source. From your home directory (or a subdirectory if you wish), use git to clone the platform frameworks base into a new directory (here I've called it "android").
Code:
git clone http://android.git.kernel.org/platform/frameworks/base.git android
cd into that directory and examine the git tags.
Code:
cd android
git tag
You'll get a list of tags. Choose the one that matches the API level you want to build your project(s) in. I'm using API level 10, so I chose android-2.3.3_r1. That's what you're going to check out.
Code:
git checkout android-2.3.3_r1
4. Reorganizing the source code. You need to locate all the java source files and restructure everything into a directory structure that matches the package naming. Fortunately, that script from earlier does exactly this and then zips it up into a nice little package for you called "sources.zip".
Code:
python ~/bin/pack.py
5. Move this zip file to the proper SDK platform folder. Since I downloaded sources for API level 10, I want to move this zip file to
Code:
C:\android-sdk-windows\platforms\android-[B]10[/B]
You can do this with your regular old file explorer on Windows. Extract the contents into a subfolder named "sources".
6. Get Eclipse to recognize them. Open up a project (or start a new one) whose target is the API level you just did all that stuff for. In the package explorer, right-click the project root and click "Refresh". Now when you browse the class files under project-root/android 2.3.3/android.jar/whatever, you'll see actual source code instead of that nasty "Source not found" page.
Enjoy ^_^

[How to] noobs guide to decompile/recompile android application

Guide to decompile android application​
REQUIREMENT
Apktool [click here to download][Thanks to brut.all for this apktool]
Java JDK/JRE 32 bit [please google it guy's]
Little knowledge on cmd
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Preparation before WORKING
Process :-
1)now install the java in your pc/lappy
then copy the apktool.zip & goto directory C:/
make a folder name apktool (u can name it by watever u like)
now goto that folder & paste the zip
extract that zip there...
2) now copy the .apk or jar file which u wnt to decompile
& paste it on apktool folder.....
also copy the framework-res.apk of that rom &
paste it on that folder..
Decompiling application
3) now open cmd
Your cmd will probly look like this..
C:\users\yourname>
so type in
cd.. (yes include the '..' and press enter after you type each command)
this will get you to back directory so now you will see
C:\users>
so type again
cd..
you should now see this:
C:\>
now type
cd apktool (and you are in the apktool directory)
4)Installing Framework
Now that you are in directory we need to install the device's framework to your system for it to compile correctly so type this:
apktool if framework-res.apk
this will install the devices framework to your system (need to do this)
5)now to decompile the apk you want to edit.. type this:
apktool d music.apk mod
music.apk is the apk your decompiling
mod is the folder you're creating for the decompiled apk
do whatever you want to do with your apk...
NOW RECOMPILING
6)now to recompile your new apk type this:
apktool b mod music-new.apk
mod is the folder with your edited files
music-new.apk is your new apk file
Now we are NOT done... we cannot use the new apk's...
now make two separate folder a & b
copy-paste the original music.apk in 'a'
& music-new.apk in 'b'
use something like 7zip, take the 'resources.arcs' file and any other xml files you edited out of the "new-edited" apk and copy them into Original apk
now add to archive ...the origanl apk in zip format
& at the end of the file name .apk ( i mean give the file format name as .apk insted of .zip)
Now you are almost done.....:thumbup:
IF it is a system app then don't sign it....otherwise u have to sign that app....
[=>Guide On How To Sign The Moded App<=]
NOTE:- If you are getting this error =>" java is not a recognized internal or external command "
[=>Then Follow this Guide<=][Thanks to KartzXDA]:good:
That's all
don't forget to hit thanks or comment....:good:
All Mod-Rom by Abhijit Guha(mee)
1} X-zooM[V2] (Netlock free : Transparent Rom):good:​
2}Tutorial On Decompiling Android Apps​
3.Guide To Make Transparent Power Widget​.
4.Guide To Change Statusbar Clock & Notification colour​.
5.Guide On How To Sign The Moded App​.
6.Guide On How To SetUp Environmental Variables​

cool.........

thank for nice guide
sent from my ass ®

Insted of so much to cd folder just right click the folder while holding shift button and you will see adbance options... now open command prompt.. It will save time and is very easy ....
Sent from my GT-S7500 using xda premium

lokeshsaini94 said:
Insted of so much to cd folder just right click the folder while holding shift button and you will see adbance options... now open command prompt.. It will save time and is very easy ....
Sent from my GT-S7500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you haven't followed something...... this guide is for begginers...so it should be simple one.... not eeky

This is simple method to cd a folder in cmd without all that long commands.... I always use it... Try it once and you will know what i am trying to say....
Sent from my GT-S7500 using xda premium

Thank s for this awesome guide
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Awesome guide, very simple to decompile and recompile with it.

Cool guide! I will use it to do some tests with my apks

solved problem lol ... good tutorial ...
xda facebook page should share more tutorials like this!!

Yeah mine says java is not a recognized internal or external command, operable program or batch file. I probably have to add the environment variable, but im not sure how to.
EDIT: got it.

AlwaysDroid said:
Yeah mine says java is not a recognized internal or external command, operable program or batch file. I probably have to add the environment variable, but im not sure how to.
EDIT: got it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You getting this error coz you giving those command in some other directory.........
Note:- First u have to go th that directory or folder where ur apktool files are kept...... then u will not get such error......
Follow that guide from begging then u will get wat I wanna say. best of luck :good:

aguha1044 said:
You getting this error coz you giving those command in some other directory.........
Note:- First u have to go th that directory or folder where ur apktool files are kept...... then u will not get such error......
Follow that guide from begging then u will get wat I wanna say. best of luck :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I just forgot to add the java bin to PATH variable. All good
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

For the OP. Some ROMs like miui ROM use two frameworks ( framework-res.apk and framework-miui-res.apk) so you need to specify that on the guide. I am just trying to help
tapatalked² cowsquadGnex®

AlwaysDroid said:
No, I just forgot to add the java bin to PATH variable. All good
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you tell how to add JAVA bin? I am getting the same error on cmd. thank you

How to setup the environment variable
zain0300 said:
can you tell how to add JAVA bin? I am getting the same error on cmd. thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The PATH is the system variable that your operating system uses to locate needed executables from the command line or Terminal window.
The PATH system variable can be set using System Utility in control panel on Windows, or in your shell's startup file on Linux and Solaris.
SOLUTION
Here PATH represents the bin path of installed version of Java that contains classes. (e.g. C:/jdk1.6.0/bin)
Setting Path on Windows
Windows 7
1. Select Computer from the Start menu
2. Choose System Properties from the context menu
3. Click Advanced system settings > Advanced tab
4. Click on Environment Variables, under System Variables, find PATH, and click on it.
5. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH,
you may select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
6. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Windows XP
1. Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced
2. Click on Environment Variables, under System Variables, find PATH, and click on it.
3. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH,
you may select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
4. Close the window.
5. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Windows Vista
1. Right click My Computer icon
2. Choose Properties from the context menu
3. Click Advanced tab (Advanced system settings link in Vista)
4. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH, you may
select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
5. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Setting Path on Solaris and Linux
To find out if the java executable is in your PATH, execute:
% java -version
This will print the version of the java executable, if it can find it. If you get error java: Command not found. Then path is not properly set.
To find out which java executable the first one found in your PATH, execute:
% which java
Below are the steps to set the PATH permanently,
Giving instructions for two most popular Shells on Linux and Solaris.
For bash Shell:
Edit the startup file (~/ .bashrc)
Modify PATH variable:
PATH="$PATH":/usr/local/jdk1.6.0/bin
export PATH
Save and close the file
Open new Terminal window
Verify the PATH is set properly
% java -version
For C Shell (csh):
Edit startup file (~/ .cshrc)
Set Path
set path="$PATH":/usr/local/jdk1.6.0/bin
Save and Close the file
Open new Terminal window
Verify the PATH is set properly
% java -version
Hit "Thanks" if anyone helped you. :good:
Xperia Arc LT15i
Rooted/Bootloader Unlocked
JellyBean - FXP137/CM10

KartzXDA said:
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The PATH is the system variable that your operating system uses to locate needed executables from the command line or Terminal window.
The PATH system variable can be set using System Utility in control panel on Windows, or in your shell's startup file on Linux and Solaris.
SOLUTION
Here PATH represents the bin path of installed version of Java that contains classes. (e.g. C:/jdk1.6.0/bin)
Setting Path on Windows
Windows 7
1. Select Computer from the Start menu
2. Choose System Properties from the context menu
3. Click Advanced system settings > Advanced tab
4. Click on Environment Variables, under System Variables, find PATH, and click on it.
5. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH,
you may select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
6. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Windows XP
1. Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced
2. Click on Environment Variables, under System Variables, find PATH, and click on it.
3. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH,
you may select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
4. Close the window.
5. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Windows Vista
1. Right click My Computer icon
2. Choose Properties from the context menu
3. Click Advanced tab (Advanced system settings link in Vista)
4. In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH, you may
select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
5. Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.
Setting Path on Solaris and Linux
To find out if the java executable is in your PATH, execute:
% java -version
This will print the version of the java executable, if it can find it. If you get error java: Command not found. Then path is not properly set.
To find out which java executable the first one found in your PATH, execute:
% which java
Below are the steps to set the PATH permanently,
Giving instructions for two most popular Shells on Linux and Solaris.
For bash Shell:
Edit the startup file (~/ .bashrc)
Modify PATH variable:
PATH="$PATH":/usr/local/jdk1.6.0/bin
export PATH
Save and close the file
Open new Terminal window
Verify the PATH is set properly
% java -version
For C Shell (csh):
Edit startup file (~/ .cshrc)
Set Path
set path="$PATH":/usr/local/jdk1.6.0/bin
Save and Close the file
Open new Terminal window
Verify the PATH is set properly
% java -version
Hit "Thanks" if anyone helped you. :good:
Xperia Arc LT15i
Rooted/Bootloader Unlocked
JellyBean - FXP137/CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i read all this but still could not figured it out since there were few options i did not find on my windows 7 laptop.
Edit: Ok i found all the options now but what does this mean "modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH"?

zain0300 said:
i read all this but still could not figured it out since there were few options i did not find on my windows 7 laptop.
Edit: Ok i found all the options now but what does this mean "modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Under system variables, find for the variable Path. Click on Edit. Then one window will come up with two text boxes. One is variable name and another one is variable value. Edit the variable value of text box. Add the the path of bin ( e.g., ; C:\jdk\bin [Don't forget to add semicolon before the path]) to the text box.
Please have a look at the attachments.
Hit "Thanks" if anyone helped you.
Xperia Arc LT15i
Rooted/Bootloader Unlocked
JellyBean - FXP137/CM10

KartzXDA said:
Under system variables, find for the variable Path. Click on Edit. Then one window will come up with two text boxes. One is variable name and another one is variable value. Edit the variable value of text box. Add the the path of bin ( e.g., ; C:\jdk\bin [Don't forget to add semicolon before the path]) to the text box.
Please have a look at the attachments.
Hit "Thanks" if anyone helped you.
Xperia Arc LT15i
Rooted/Bootloader Unlocked
JellyBean - FXP137/CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thankx for your replies. I mistakenly deleted all the other paths that were already there, can I bring them back?
thanks button pushed.

zain0300 said:
thankx for your replies. I mistakenly deleted all the other paths that were already there, can I bring them back?
thanks button pushed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
copy this in the path variable value after that add ;C:\jdk....\bin
%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShel l\v1.0\
Hit "Thanks" if anyone helped you. :good:
Xperia Arc LT15i
Rooted/Bootloader Unlocked
JellyBean - FXP137/CM10

[TOOL][WIN]DroidShell - Windows Shell Integration for Android Development[02/02/16]

Greetings, and welcome to the home of a little set of utilities I'm calling "DroidShell".
What it is:
DroidShell is my attempt at bridging the gap between the various android utilities used for ROM modification and the Windows explorer system. It is a series of scripts that are automatically associated with .apk, .jar, and .iso files so that they are automatically decompiled on double-click or enter. Additionally, when a file is decompiled, a corresponding .dcp, dcf, or dci (decompiled package, decompiled framework, decompiled image) file is created, which allows for automatic recompiling, as well as optional cleanup, or resigning.
The goal of this project is pretty simple...to have all the tools needed for ROM work in one place, and have them easily accessible without having to have eighty command windows open or to have to go through a chain of commands to create a usable apk/jarfile.
Features:
One-shot setup. Extract the files, run install/installer.bat, and all of the necessary file associations and paths are created.
Batch terminal integration - provides integration for adb, fastboot, apktool, 7zip, zipalign, oat2dex, unpackbootimg, repackbootimg, baksmali and smali in windows command-line interface from path.
Automagic association with common android filetypes for decompilation.
Custom placeholder files - dcp, dcf, and dci - for packages, framework, and image files. Allows for automatic recompiling, and optional signing and cleanup of decompiled files.
Recompiled apks and jars are automatically repacked with modified files while excluding androidmanifest.xml, meaning signatures are unaffected.
For modifications requiring androidmanifest be changed, you can right-click a .dcp file to recompile with signature.
Auto-detection of framework-res file with prompting to install.
Popup dialogue boxes for errors and alerts.
(NEW) Right-click to decompile to java code. This cannot be recompiled, but is great for researching more complex mods. (Can also be invoked by using the command dj filename.apk)
(NEW) Support for sparse image system -> .img conversion.
(NEW) za command for zipaligning apk's.
(NEW)
Download:
https://github.com/d8ahazard/DroidShell/archive/master.zip
Source:
https://github.com/d8ahazard/DroidShell
Instructions...
You need the Java Runtime Environment (RE). Get it here.
Extract to a folder somewhere. Spaces in the path are probably not good. I put it in C:\DroidShell
Browse to the folder. Go into the install folder. Run installer.bat. (Installer needs admin priveleges. It will prompt for them, but in some cases, you may have to automatically run as admin)
Reboot.
You should now have shell integration. APKs, Jars, and .img files will automagically decompile.
It's late, I've been working on this all weekend...but it should be good to go. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.
CHANGELOG:
Code:
02.02.16 - v2.0
Update smali, baksmal to v. 2.1.1.
Add shell script for oat2dex (not implemented in context menus, just avaialable for now)
Update APKTool to latest version
Add dx.jar - for converting java classfiles to .dex (just available for now)
Add ext4 and ext2 tools - For manually unpacking images if needed. These are GUI based, not my work.
Add rimg2sdat - For converting .img to sparse (Not implemented yet)
Update sdat2img to latest version by xspirit, added python to installer as required.
Add zipalign function (Not implemented, can be called via "za filename.apk"
Add decompile to pure Java:
This utilizes a few tools to take apk's and jarfiles and decompile them to as close of an android package as we can get without having the actual source code. While we cannot at this time recompile these into apk's, it is very useful for analysis when trying to implement other mods. Like...really helpful. This one can be accessed by right-clicking a decompileable package and picking "decompile to java".
01.31.15 - v1.8
Added windows progress bar for file copies in system.img extraction.
Fixed some script errors.
01.29.15 - v1.7
Cleaned up installer, added more verbosity.
Better error checking in image extractor.
Add support for .list files, allowing double-click extraction of system.transfer.list and cm12-style image files.
Added custom language files for notepad++, allows syntax highlighting of .smali and logcat files.
01.27.15 -v1.6
Added support for system images. Requires installation of included OSFMount.
Added file associations for common plaintext android files to notepad++ if installed.
Converted several .bat files to .exe, allows for icons, inclusion of required files, and UAC prompting when needed.
01.26.15 - v1.5
Fixed fatfinger in APKtool detection causing error.
01.26.15 - v1.4
Added zipaligning
Added check to make sure apktool is present
Updated test-keys to latest AOSP version
Compiled batches to .exe with required files for AIO-packages
Fixed: Installer not always associating with files correctly.

Thanks a million

Version 1.5 uploaded.
Added Zipaligning
Check to make sure apktool.jar is found in %DROIDROOT% directory.
Updated signing keys.
Switch from .bat to .exe, allows modularization of functions, cleaner.
Modifications to installer to try and fix some issues with file associations.
Fixed issue between 1.4 and v 1.5 where I fatfingered a check.

Hell yes!

digitalhigh said:
Greetings, and welcome to the home of a little set of utilities I'm calling "DroidShell".
What it is:...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So many thanks for this! I'm going to use it like hell!

Excellent Job!

I'm bookmarking this, gona read it thuroughly at breakfas

So I'm curious - has anybody had a chance to give this a try yet?
Testing file association stuff is tricky, because Windows likes to keep track of the "user selected" association too. So, I had to add some extra commands to the installer script to clean up everything appropriately first.
Either way, I've ran it on like three different computers "clean" and had it work like a charm on all of them. I'd like to know how it works with WIndows 7 or XP.

I could be doing something wrong (windows is not my OS of choice, I use kubuntu 14.10 as my daily driver, and as such am mostly illiterate in dos/batch, I'm a sh/bash guy), but the installer bombed out (hung up without confirmation of success) on my windows 7 pro install (on a dell latitude e6400, with a dual core core2 @2.8ghz, quattro 160m graphics, 4gb of ddr2 @800mhz, booting off a 120gb Samsung evo ssd. Wouldn't think its relevant, but just in case).
Steps:
First I decompressed the .zip in the root of my C:\ drive, with 7zip (did not change file name, kept as "DroidShell_1.5").
Next I ran the installer script.
I then granted it admin privileges.
It killed my desktop, explorer.exe. I assume this is normal due to the terminal output:
Code:
SUCCESS: The process "explorer.exe" with PID 3260 has been terminated
Then I got:
Code:
file type 'apk_auto_file' not found or no open command associated with it.
Followed by 4 more identical errors, just replace "apk" with dfc, dcp, dci, img.
A bunch of successful operations.
Then:
Code:
ERROR: Invalid syntax.
Type "REG ADD /?" for usage
A bunch of successful operations.
Then:
Code:
ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.
The above output repeats 17 times.
Then 4 more operation success messages and it hangs, with my desktop killed.
Ctrl+alt+del, logout, log in, and I'm back in business. No noticeable increase in disk space, no newly installed programs (as expected).
I read the op, and from my understanding it doesn't require any dependencies? (Apktool, android SDK, android studio, etc). All the necessary dependencies are built in, right? It's a fresh install of windows 7 pro, with all available updates taken.
EDIT:
It worked perfectly regardless of the errors, see my post on page 2.

thisguysayswht said:
I could be doing something wrong (windows is not my OS of choice, I use kubuntu 14.10 as my daily driver, and as such am mostly illiterate in dos/batch, I'm a sh/bash guy), but the installer bombed out on my windows 7 pro install (on a dell latitude e6400, with a dual core core2 @2.8ghz, quattro 160m graphics, 4gb of ddr2 @800mhz, booting off a 120gb Samsung evo ssd. Wouldn't think its relevant, but just in case).
Steps:
First I decompressed the .zip in the root of my C:\ drive, with 7zip (did not change file name, kept as "DroidShell_1.5").
Next I ran the installer script.
I then granted it admin privileges.
It killed my desktop, explorer.exe. I assume this is normal due to the terminal output:
Code:
SUCCESS: The process "explorer.exe" with PID 3260 has been terminated
Then I got:
Code:
file type 'apk_auto_file' not found or no open command associated with it.
Followed by 4 more identical errors, just replace "apk" with dfc, dcp, dci, img.
A bunch of successful operations.
Then:
Code:
ERROR: Invalid syntax.
Type "REG ADD /?" for usage
A bunch of successful operations.
Then:
Code:
ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.
The above output repeats 17 times.
Then 4 more operation success messages and it hangs, with my desktop killed.
Ctrl+alt+del, logout, log in, and I'm back in business. No noticeable increase in disk space, no newly installed programs (as expected).
I read the op, and from my understanding it doesn't require any dependencies? (Apktool, android SDK, android studio, etc). All the necessary dependencies are built in, right? It's a fresh install of windows 7 pro, with all available updates taken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bombed out is a rough term. The installer is just writing a bunch of registry keys, and deleting some other ones to make sure other associations don't mess it up. So, some registry operations don't always work - there just there to be sure. I've actually worked on cleaning that up in the next iteration I'm cooking.
And yes, there shouldn't be any more size increase past extracting the original zip. All the files used are enclosed. "Installer" is just telling Windows that "droid shell is at location %CD%" and "use app xxx in %CD% to open file XX". A few extras for the right-click context menus and icons...so forth.
So, to know if it is working is really just a matter of finding an apk or .jar and double-clicking it. You should get a terminal window showing the process and a box confirming success or failure, plus a reason why if failure.
The only dependency is the Java Runtime environment, which is the same common necessity as for any other Apktool environment. You can get it here, and I'll throw that link in the OP in a second.
The next iteration of the installer is going to be a lot cleaner, plus be more verbose so you actually know what it's doing. My first thought in putting it out was just to see how well the decompile/recompile stuff worked.

Bombed out is a rough term. The installer is just writing a bunch of registry keys, and deleting some other ones to make sure other associations don't mess it up. So, some registry operations don't always work - there just there to be sure. I've actually worked on cleaning that up in the next iteration I'm cooking.
And yes, there shouldn't be any more size increase past extracting the original zip. All the files used are enclosed. "Installer" is just telling Windows that "droid shell is at location %CD%" and "use app xxx in %CD% to open file XX". A few extras for the right-click context menus and icons...so forth.
So, to know if it is working is really just a matter of finding an apk or .jar and double-clicking it. You should get a terminal window showing the process and a box confirming success or failure, plus a reason why if failure.
The only dependency is the Java Runtime environment, which is the same common necessity as for any other Apktool environment. You can get it here, and I'll throw that link in the OP in a second.
The next iteration of the installer is going to be a lot cleaner, plus be more verbose so you actually know what it's doing. My first thought in putting it out was just to see how well the decompile/recompile stuff worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't mean to offend with the term "bombed out", it may have been a bit of a rough term. I just meant the script terminated my desktop and hung up.
It actually succeed regardless of the errors, and is working like a charm. I apologize, I should have actually tested it before posting. I shouldn't have assumed that it didn't work based off of the terminal output/behavior.
Also, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate the work that you put into this, and all your other projects here on xda. I'm running your 4.4.4 gpe port for the verizon m8 as my primary rom, and it is by far the most stable port I have ever had the pleasure of flashing.
Attached are screenshots of DroidShell successfully decompiling and recompiling an apk with a simple right click selection on windows 7 pro. Good stuff.

Thanks! tons

Thanks for the work. very useful.
The compiling and decompiling of apk is perfect on Win 7 pro.
From the OP, i also got the impression it would unpack / pack images, so i tried it with a system.img copied to the droidshell directory.
With the command c:\droidshell\unpackimg system.img, I got the error as shown in screenshot
Am I doing something wrong, or is this not supported yet?

arbit12 said:
Thanks for the work. very useful.
The compiling and decompiling of apk is perfect on Win 7 pro.
From the OP, i also got the impression it would unpack / pack images, so i tried it with a system.img copied to the droidshell directory.
With the command c:\droidshell\unpackimg system.img, I got the error as shown in screenshot
Am I doing something wrong, or is this not supported yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only works for boot images at the moment. System images are a different beast.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app

digitalhigh said:
It only works for boot images at the moment. System images are a different beast.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. Thanks for the info.

thisguysayswht said:
I didn't mean to offend with the term "bombed out", it may have been a bit of a rough term. I just meant the script terminated my desktop and hung up.
It actually succeed regardless of the errors, and is working like a charm. I apologize, I should have actually tested it before posting. I shouldn't have assumed that it didn't work based off of the terminal output/behavior.
Also, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate the work that you put into this, and all your other projects here on xda. I'm running your 4.4.4 gpe port for the verizon m8 as my primary rom, and it is by far the most stable port I have ever had the pleasure of flashing.
Attached are screenshots of DroidShell successfully decompiling and recompiling an apk with a simple right click selection on windows 7 pro. Good stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, no offense taken.
I came at this project, as I do with most, with the mindset of "OOOH, SHINY THING. I MUST SHOW EVERYONE." So, first thought was putting out the app, despite some of the install stuff being a bit dirty.
However, the next iteration is shaping up to be quite lovely. See below.
arbit12 said:
Okay. Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, it appears that this question has motivated me to try making that function a reality sooner than later.
However, as far as I can see, the *ONLY* application for windows that currently deals with system images right now is Ext2Explore, which is a bit old and doesn't have command-line support.
Fortunately, there's source code for it, so I'm currently downloading Visual Studio and will see if I can add command line functionality, as well as make it launch with UAC prompting.
If I can make this work, my plan is to make one handler for .img files that works like so:
1. Look at the file passed to it and see if it's a boot image. If it is, extract and exit.
2. If it's not a boot image, try to extract it as a system image. If it is, extract and exit.
3. If it's not a boot or system image - pass it to explorer and mount as usual.
I can do # 1 and #3 already...it's just getting #2 to go.
Also, I've added a check in the installer that looks for the installation of notepad++. If it finds it, it will create additional associations for .xml, .prop, conf, config, .smali, and whatever else I can think of that I could possibly need to edit in a ROM.
Then, lastly, with all these additions, I'd like to make the installer a bit more verbose. Give some options so it's not just an all or nothing install, make it prettier, etc.

digitalhigh said:
Oh, no offense taken.
I came at this project, as I do with most, with the mindset of "OOOH, SHINY THING. I MUST SHOW EVERYONE." So, first thought was putting out the app, despite some of the install stuff being a bit dirty.
However, the next iteration is shaping up to be quite lovely. See below.
So, it appears that this question has motivated me to try making that function a reality sooner than later.
However, as far as I can see, the *ONLY* application for windows that currently deals with system images right now is Ext2Explore, which is a bit old and doesn't have command-line support.
Fortunately, there's source code for it, so I'm currently downloading Visual Studio and will see if I can add command line functionality, as well as make it launch with UAC prompting.
If I can make this work, my plan is to make one handler for .img files that works like so:
1. Look at the file passed to it and see if it's a boot image. If it is, extract and exit.
2. If it's not a boot image, try to extract it as a system image. If it is, extract and exit.
3. If it's not a boot or system image - pass it to explorer and mount as usual.
I can do # 1 and #3 already...it's just getting #2 to go.
Also, I've added a check in the installer that looks for the installation of notepad++. If it finds it, it will create additional associations for .xml, .prop, conf, config, .smali, and whatever else I can think of that I could possibly need to edit in a ROM.
Then, lastly, with all these additions, I'd like to make the installer a bit more verbose. Give some options so it's not just an all or nothing install, make it prettier, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Captain_Throwback said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get too excited. I've never touched C++ before, and ext2Explore was done in VisualStudio.net and a WYSIWYG editor called QT. I found updated source for the program from 2012 and have gotten it to import into QT, however, it needs MingW and some other dependencies. I'll be lucky if I can even get it to compile again, let alone work, let alone work with added command-line stuff.
However, that's still the goal.
Also, I want to add wget (windows equivalent) stuff to auto grab and install java and notepad++ while we're at it.

So, I think Ext2Explore is more work than it's worth.
OSFMount, on the other hand, just let me mount a system.img as a removable disk with read-write access. I'm going to go down this road...

Good to hear that. Extracting system.img on windows can be a real pain at times - this would be great.