Database Users

FPSECE - Setting it up

With the amount of people who use this, there must be an easier way of setting it up, in terms of all the virtual buttons etc. I tried to set it up a while ago, I though I'd done it ok, so I put Crash Bandicoot on and tried to play it, and it was a nightmare! It just didn't work well at all, I guess I must have gone wrong somewhere. Also to have to do it for each game is a ball-ache.
Is there not a .cab or something that sets it all up for you, so you just have to copy over a game image and away you go?

[Q] On The Downloading Of .swf and .flv Files

I have recently bought a Samsung Vibrant (T959) and being new to the Android universe I have been doing quite a bit of head scratching. Before you jump to the conclusion that I am one of those that just refuses to do research when faced with a problem (and resort to spamming help forums with threads like: “how do I make a call?” or “I know my phone is ON but why is my screen BLACK!?!?!?!?!?”) or that I am simply a dumbass, let me say that I since flashed to Trigger ROM 3.2 on the suggestion of (and with help from) the all around awesome fellow s15274n, and am learning more about the Android system every day. I believe that most of you will be familiar with the saying, "you can't go swimming without getting wet," (or similar paraphrasing), but it seems to me that in the realm of Android moding the saying goes a bit different, "you can't get wet without jumping in the deep end."
Now that I have "jumped in the deep end" at the nudging of s15274n I have a much better understanding of flashing, ClockworkMod Recovery, ROM Manager and more, however in the case of downloading flv and swf file I have run into so many dead ends that I am starting to wonder if I really am just a dumbass. I have searched Google and xda without much success, some people mention Download Crutch (the last posts on this were dated late 2008) and some replied that the abilities of the aforementioned program are available in Linda and Astro, but after downloading I can't figure out how to make them actually "download" anything. I know there is a way to download stuff from YouTube, but I don't really surf YouTube that much. On my PC I use Orbit Downloader for ALL my downloading needs (if you don't have it, GET IT!), but I can't find something similar for Android.
Before I close I’ll fill you in on my situation. I have a Samsung Vibrant (3G). I am running Trigger 3.2 and have Flash 10.3 and a number of Flash “Players.” I am on the $30 a month T-Mobile plan which only gives me only 30MB per month, I can get a “unlimited day pass” for $1.50, but after the first 30MB the data rate slow so that video streaming is impractical to say the least. I would like to be able to download a movie or tv show (or mayhap something even less PG…or even R) using wifi to view later.
I suspect that there is a way to do so and that I am just missing something very fundamental as there are almost no recent threads on this and some people seem to imply that they are doing it, they just don’t say how.
I know that this is probably just a wee bit long for such a noobishly simple question, but hours of frustration have left me with some issues to work out. While I am on the subject, has anyone been able to watch megavideo without being redirected to that STUPID F%^&ING game website?
In closing, I find Flash withdrawal to be quite drag and I would be eternally grateful help getting my fix.
Robert
P.S. I think I may have posted this in the wrong forum, oops...

PSXperia conversion: Games not showing up

So, i tried to get this work during sunday and monday with no succes.
I have ripped some of my own games (Tombi 2 and crash bandicoot 3 PAL releases) via program Imgburn which i found from neoseeker forums after some googling.
I couldnt do ISO files so Imgburn did BIN files for me, i read that BIN files should work with PSXperiA, yesterday the author of the tutorial video, and possibly a member of XDA, confirmed that BINs should work by replying my utube comment. After this i updated my play to 2.3.4 and PSXperia to beta 2
I retrieved proper files (com.playsration something from phone memory and ZPAK from the memorycard i had crash 1)
After this i copy both files into "important 1" and "important 2" folders under (harddrive 2)/D:/PSX/
Extract folders is being created in same folder named as "data" after this i go to convert and fill the fields, mark the "analog box" and set paths (extracted content, game BIN and output)
When PSXperia is ready i take the game file and put it into my phone SD card to right directory (i dont excatly remember the path, its either way same path as described in the tutorial video i watched)
I unplug my play and check all the menus and places only to discover that games arent showing up anywhere
I think the problem could be either A ) minor detail i didnt notice or B ) something went wrong while ripping the game.
I believe both have some share in my problem, i tried original BIN files on PSX4droid (i had SPC10001 or something ~~ bios) but with all sort of tricking i didnt get any reaction (tried crash 3)
Soooo, what went wrong ? Can you help me ?
I did everything in that specific order so if something is missing, please do tell me
PS: i didnt mark box "yes this is a question" on these forums since this is call for help and not one question, i think i shouldng mark it ?

You should have watched all of the tutorial, You missed the part where you actually install the game. Watch my video again and see the part where I use a file manager to install the apk.

bubblegumballoon said:
You should have watched all of the tutorial, You missed the part where you actually install the game. Watch my video again and see the part where I use a file manager to install the apk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaaahh holy.....
I did see that part but because i was watching the video with my play i couldnt see file names and i think i just didnt hear that part correctly.
Though my excuse for sucha noob mistake must be that my PC read APK file as "Gamespy Arcade Custom Service" so all i could think was "WTH does this file do here ?"
Well, now i have instaled "Tombi 2" but its shutting down by itself (black screen and extremely quiet sound "sssshhhhhhh" from the speakers which stops after screen goes away)
But i think this problem is more common and can be found from "PSXperia beta 2.0" thread so i think i take a look at it
I will bump this thread if i need more help.
BTW, i cant get even PSX4droid to work, black screen and freeze, there seems to,be no topics solving or even containing the problem in the interwebz (tried PAL BIOS too but without luck)
It seems emulation god's are not on my side today

Thewonderboy said:
Aaaahh holy.....
I did see that part but because i was watching the video with my play i couldnt see file names and i think i just didnt hear that part correctly.
Though my excuse for sucha noob mistake must be that my PC read APK file as "Gamespy Arcade Custom Service" so all i could think was "WTH does this file do here ?"
Well, now i have instaled "Tombi 2" but its shutting down by itself (black screen and extremely quiet sound "sssshhhhhhh" from the speakers which stops after screen goes away)
But i think this problem is more common and can be found from "PSXperia beta 2.0" thread so i think i take a look at it
I will bump this thread if i need more help.
BTW, i cant get even PSX4droid to work, black screen and freeze, there seems to,be no topics solving or even containing the problem in the interwebz (tried PAL BIOS too but without luck)
It seems emulation god's are not on my side today
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my tomba 2 rip works fine except during white screens at the end of loading scenes where the it freezes for 5 seconds. try reconverting it and and putting the new zpak there

Sniper Spr3e said:
my tomba 2 rip works fine except during white screens at the end of loading scenes where the it freezes for 5 seconds. try reconverting it and and putting the new zpak there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem might be that im using EU APK and ZPAK of crash bandicoot with Tombi 2
(i checked from github compatibility list and there was no sing about PAL release working, only Usa)
Tombi 2 is EU/PAL release while you are using USA version with possibly USA APK and ZPAK.
I try USA release of Tomba 2 with my current APK and Zpak, i will report in shortly
EDIT: didnt work, same deal as with PAL, i think next step is to get Usa Crash bandicoot APK and ZPAK and try with those, i think APK was in that PSXperi thread somewhere.

Small update.
Tombi 2 PAL works perfectly with US apk and ZPAK, minor graphical glitches and bugs (some edges of models look blue and few chains in second world are "hot" while they shouldnt be, this doesnt alter gameplay though.)
I have shared thanks for you two
Tombi 2 is by far, my favourite PSX tittle with countless hours of gameplay, im looking foward in trying Tombi 1 that i never had a chance to play and to play extra missions that are being unlocked in Tomba 2.
I wanted to try Zero Divided 2 but i had an error while ripping, today i will proceed trying out Croc 2, Crash Bash... Infact, all of my PSX PAL tittles.
crash 3 didnt work, ill try US release.
One last question, could converted game and the APK for for other xperia 2011 range devices, Arc is PS certified so i dont see why not on it, but im more thinkig about NEO.
My sister would like to play some PS classics too and the only PSX4droid version i could get working, performed horribly.
I know its kinda illegal, spreading software that is not desinged for centrain phone on purpose that is.

apps keeps stopping

So its summer and I'm getting bored, so i like to download hacked mobile games (modded apk) and play them. problem is almost every game and different versions of it (when I say almost every i mean all except one) keeps crashing upon opening. Those games all require an installation followed by transferring some folder under android/obb or android/data, and then afterwards when I try to open the app, they just crash. I figured it can't be a coincident that it keeps happening to me, so I was wondering if anyone know why this is happening and if there is a solution. Thanks a lot.

at XDA, people don't encourage piracy.

I know how to fix this. If you go to your play store and buy it, it should work.

[SOLVED?] The mysteries of the "now reading" button

I must have a unique way of using my devices because I've never seen this issue reported on the forum.
Firstly, I just want to say that lastreadingpoint.db seems to be something of a garbage bin. I'm working with one of my older devices right now (formerly my principal reader) and the db is filled with books that were deleted long ago. Now, perhaps, cleanup of this file is supposed to happen when books are removed via UMS since that's the only provision B&N made for removing side-loaded content, but I doubt it. Since I just use a file manager, I may be frustrating some grand design that would keep the db file tidy. NOT.
But I digress. My real beef is the unpredictability of the button. When I select a new book from the library and move along a few pages to the first chapter, I often return to the home page to deal with some other things and then set the device aside until I'm ready to start my new book. But when I do return and tap that button, I generally get the last book I just finished (at the last page....). If I have deleted that book already then I'll get some other book, maybe an anthology I frequent, wherever I left off.
Inspection of lastreadingpoint.db shows no indication that I ever selected a new book.
I have struggled with this for a long time and realize that without knowing exactly when and under what circumstances the db would actually be updated, this is really difficult to run down. I just tried another experiment and put the device to sleep manually after starting a new book (book still displayed). Then I woke it up and returned to the home screen (i.e., my launcher, not the B&N Home). The "now reading" button worked correctly! And repeatedly.
BUT...A look at lastreadingpoint.db still did not show that the new book had been opened! This helps explain why my overtures with sqlite were not having much effect.
It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, enclosed in a B&N box.
I just want the #$%&*% button to do what you would expect it to do without a lot of nonsense. It's easier to get it to consistently open a current Kindle book then to open an epub in the stock reader.
Why?
Edit: The next day: I accessed the book one more time this morning without any problem and copied out the database again. This time it finally showed an entry for the book with the correct access time.
Edit: 9-12-22 Nothing seems to work consistently except for one change. I have installed on my devices a little app called "NookReader". It's buried deep in the old posts of the forum and its purpose is to allow epubs to be opened via a file manager (which I never do). In effect it creates a "listener" which the stock system lacks.
Well, it seems the stock system doesn't like eavesdropping. When I uninstalled the app from the device I had been experimenting with the effect was immediate and I was able to move from selection to selection, each time returning to the most recent book correctly using the "now reading" button. Another device required an uninstall as well as a reboot in order to start behaving properly.
Moral: if you're not using it, get rid of it!

nmyshkin said:
I have struggled with this for a long time and realize that without knowing exactly when and under what circumstances the db would actually be updated, this is really difficult to run down. I just tried another experiment and put the device to sleep manually after starting a new book (book still displayed). Then I woke it up and returned to the home screen (i.e., my launcher, not the B&N Home). The "now reading" button worked correctly! And repeatedly.
BUT...A look at lastreadingpoint.db still did not show that the new book had been opened! This helps explain why my overtures with sqlite were not having much effect.
It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, enclosed in a B&N box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@nmyshkin ... even i've struggled with something like this ... inconsistencies of the last reading point actions ...
nmyshkin said:
Edit: 9-12-22 Nothing seems to work consistently except for one change. I have installed on my devices a little app called "NookReader". It's buried deep in the old posts of the forum and its purpose is to allow epubs to be opened via a file manager (which I never do). In effect it creates a "listener" which the stock system lacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you referring to the app that goes by 'dev.nookreader.apk' ? ... for now i've just renamed it to 'dev.nookreader.apk.bkp' so its as good as removed ...
some database problems i think i can report, one that i've annoyingly encountered, in this I've sometimes found the order of the books in the default library aren't displayed as they should have ... Iam referring to the 'Most Recent' sorting option where the last opened/accessed book should ideally show up at the top most ... BUT SADLY IT DOESN'T !!! ...
Most annoying is when i search a book open and read it and expect it to show up on the top or at least in the first few pages of the library ... but they don't ... search is the only option to reopen such a book ...
Aren't the books that are opened using the 'Search' option of the library not supposed to show high up the library ?
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET THIS ANNOYANCE RID OF ... i would love to find all the last accessed books in the topmost sorting order as its supposed to work ...
I don't even know what database records the last accessed book information ... any and all help appreciated to identify and fix this annoyance.
PS : Are "New"' books(Lend Me) installed from the B&N store supposed to show up at the topmost ?

Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???

aiamuzz said:
Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, well, I can't say that I know a lot more now than when I started this thread.
What I can say is that the device seems to work with a copy of the database in RAM or else keeps variables in RAM that are not written to the database until much, much later (like during or after a nap).
I began to think about how I use the device vs. how B&N intended it to be used so I made a few tests going from the B&N Home to the Library, to a book. Then, there is really only one way to get out of the book and that is through the QuickNav buttons. I thought that maybe the trigger to the database update was somewhere in there, but I saw the same inconsistent results and delayed updating of the file as with my own sequence.
This is why I eventually abandoned the database as a source of info for my SetCover app and started relying (at least partly) on my own data. All I can say for "sure" at this point is that a good nap on the open book seems to aid in the correct information making its way into the database. Not very technical, I know.
If you are getting really spurious behavior from your lastreadingpoint.db or you find that it is full of deadwood, you can clean out the entire thing as here. Of course you will lose absolutely everything in the database if you do that, so it's a "last gasp" scenario.
For me, things seem to have calmed down if I just leave an epub open in the stock reader for awhile. And after all, what's the rush to get back to the home screen? (in general). That's not how the reader was probably meant to be used.

aiamuzz said:
Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you run this test ?
1. Open stock library.
2. Search for some book that is buried in the last pages of the Library.
3. Open that book from the search results.
4. Flip a few pages to emulate that you've read that book.
Ideally that book should be the Last Read (Reading Now) ... WHICH INDEED DOES WORK SO !!!
Having been a recent book that one has read ...
The Library app should also show that book on the very first page as its the most recent one ... BUT IT DOES NOT SHOW SO IN THE LIBRARY !!!
I would really like the searched and opened books to move to the front pages of the Library App and stay there and get moved down as and when other books are opened ... at worst it should be easily locatable in the first few pages of the Library App ... the 'recent' book sorting option in the Library and the place where this info is stored may have to be trouble shot ...

aiamuzz said:
Can you run this test ?
1. Open stock library.
2. Search for some book that is buried in the last pages of the Library.
3. Open that book from the search results.
4. Flip a few pages to emulate that you've read that book.
Ideally that book should be the Last Read (Reading Now) ... WHICH INDEED DOES WORK SO !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there you are. I've never used the "search" function on the NST for anything! But I did, just to humor you, and I see that it actually turns up a "hit".
I use the Library almost exclusively in shelf format. What I personally would like is for the @%W$#% Library to remember that. Of course, it will not, because then I would not see all the nifty new books I just purchased (NOT) from B&N as they are delivered.
Any "adjustments" to the Library behavior are beyond my pay grade and you won't get you-know-who interested in that either, as she has her own Library app. I've looked at a lot of Library alternatives. There were many promising looking ones in the early days but all seem to have been abandoned at some incomplete point by their developers (except for the one mentioned above).
I just live with it. I don't have hundreds of books on my device. When I finish a book I actually delete it (gasp!) [except for something like the Bible].
But it would be nice to understand the rules or thinking behind the "reading now" business. However, since the database doesn't seem to accept input (although you can read from it), it doesn't matter much I guess.