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I was considering storing financial and personal information on my phone in the form of files and realized that though the fingerprint scanner is ok to prevent the casual browser from logging into the phone when it is left unaccompanied, a real hacker could easily see whats on there with very little effort.
The Atrix on the face of it looks like a secure phone with the fingerprint reader; however XDA users would know that nothing prevents a thief from entering fastboot and mounting the files and folders to see whats on there. No security app can prevent that.
Using the android built-in option and encrypting the entire sdcard is NOT an option for me at this time. I think its going to slow down the phone operation if the OS files are encrypted and each time it needs to decrypt each and every file and folder. Also it may present issues when testing new ROMs. (And I am dual booting - so my extSD also has a ROM which I would not want to slow down anymore than it already is)
So I searched for methods and apps to encrypt individual files or folders on the Atrix. There are quiet a few in the market and a few are free as well with good reviews. However most -even the ones with the best reviews seem to be just changing the file name and location and not doing real encryption. Also most of these use proprietary algorithms or methods to hide information. A really good app would be one that uses an open source algorithm to encrypt the files and folders - so that the algorithm would be tested and verified as being strong by the world.
Also another requirement was for the ability to frequently sync and update the files on the phone with the PC. The app should have a PC equivalent - that is the file can change on my PC and then I should be able to sync the changed file with the phone in some automated way.
Yet another requirement would be the ability to quickly encrypt and decrypt huge audio or video files. A few good apps could encrypt small audio and video files but not files of size 1GB or more. The apps would either freeze after some time or not encrypt them at all.
Finally I was looking for an option by which the files if I unencrypt them to be available across all apps for the duration of that session - not just in the app that encrypts and decrypts them. So in other words, once I enter the password, the folder should be mounted and available in any app that can browse the phone - until I decide to end or unmount the encrypted store.
I found only Cryptonite doing all of this. Unfortunately Cryptonite does not support Truecrypt containers on Motorola phones. There is some info here on the truecrypt port to android here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=872297&page=7
However I could not get it working with the Atrix. Has anyone had success getting Kryptonite and Truecrypt to work on the Atrix?
Cryptonite also supports Dropbox, but I am not a big fan of storing sensitive info in the cloud - however well known the company is.
Cryptonite does support encFS and I was able to successfully create encFS encrypted folder on my Atrix. I would have liked to have TrueCrypt than encFS, just because I have been reading that Truecrypt has better overall support.
The method I use now for storing and synching encrypted information is:
for the first time only: create the encfs folder on the PC, then mount Atrix as a USB drive and copy the encrypted folder to Atrix.
To sync the encrypted files with the PC, I have to connect the Atrix as USB drive, open EncFS on the PC and select the folder on the Atrix to mount as a drive volume. Also mount the PC encFS folder as another drive. Now sync with the PC using any sync tool like MS SyncToy.
I went through a lot of searching and came to this which I think is good enough at the moment. I would like to hear if anyone else has a better app or method to secure and sync secured files on the Atrix - especially if you have got Truecrypt to somehow work on the Atrix. And I post this so that is anyone else needs this information, it is here.
shenoyh said:
Yet another requirement would be the ability to quickly encrypt and decrypt huge audio or video files. A few good apps could encrypt small audio and video files but not files of size 1GB or more. The apps would either freeze after some time or not encrypt them at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about the rest of it, I never used any strong security on my phone nor do I intend to, but I think you shouldn't ever expect to be able to "quickly encrypt and decrypt huge files". You're pretty much asking for impossible here. It's like asking to build a full-featured house, furnished and all, in 30 minutes or less. A lot of data will always require a lot of time to process. Heck, even, say, straight plain copying such a file to a computer would take quite a while.
No.
Your not going to get business class security on your atrix, or any current phone most likely.
LUKS manager is the closest thing to legitimate encryption (not gimicky BS) i have seen, but it has some fatal flaws.
Passwords and such are safe and easy to store with KeePass, which is also on windows/linux for syncing and has years of reputation (also free/open source). It isnt for files though.
-------------------------------------------------
Atrix 4G
Rom: Cyanogenmod 7.2 [20120805]
Recov: Romracer 5.0.2.7-atrix5
Radio: N_01.97.00R
Kernel: Faux 1.00ghz-026b1
UV: -0/-25/-50/-100/-150/-225/-300
After hearing multiple user support is coming with the latest jelly bean, I decided to buy a Nexus7 (32GB 3G) immediately - will share it with my girlfriend and this way we both can comfortably use gmail for example. First I thought the profiles will not be separated too heavily. The opposite turned out to be true: profiles are completely isolated - apps have to be installed/purchased/configured separately, I can live with that, at least we don't mess with each other's data. But I observed another functionality when connecting to PC through USB - switching a user on the tablet is followed by a plug&play sound on the computer, the "Nexus 7 - Portable Media Player" disappears and reappears with all different files and folders. What you open this way is the user-specific /sdcard folder which points to /storage/emulated/0 for the first user and to /storage/emulated/10 for the second user. Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be a permissions setup to adjust.
But now... where should I copy movies and music so that it's visible for both users? Does anyone happen to have a suitable solution preferably not involving the need to root the device? Thanks.
P.S. -- for those interested in the feature, I forgot to mention, that the overall user experience while switching profiles is very good. It's quick and you'll find your apps running. There are little circles with google avatars on the bottom of the lock screen to pick a user.
With multiuser, there is no need to purchase and install multiple copies of apps. Check the other topics on multiuser.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
rmm200 said:
With multiuser, there is no need to purchase and install multiple copies of apps. Check the other topics on multiuser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fact is, that in the other account, there is none of my applications visible, only those coming pre-installed. I can find the applications I'm using in my first account in Play market, and it offers me to either INSTALL or BUY depending on if it's paid - a user has no access to applications installed by other users - no speculation, this is how it works for me. Nexus 7 3G, 4.2.1.
The only message that suggests shared application is when I run Settings -> Users -> Add User, this appears: "... Any user can accept updated app permissions on behalf of all other users".
data file sharing to another user
jozin said:
After hearing multiple user support is coming with the latest jelly bean, I decided to buy a Nexus7 (32GB 3G) immediately - will share it with my girlfriend and this way we both can comfortably use gmail for example. First I thought the profiles will not be separated too heavily. The opposite turned out to be true: profiles are completely isolated - apps have to be installed/purchased/configured separately, I can live with that, at least we don't mess with each other's data. But I observed another functionality when connecting to PC through USB - switching a user on the tablet is followed by a plug&play sound on the computer, the "Nexus 7 - Portable Media Player" disappears and reappears with all different files and folders. What you open this way is the user-specific /sdcard folder which points to /storage/emulated/0 for the first user and to /storage/emulated/10 for the second user. Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be a permissions setup to adjust.
But now... where should I copy movies and music so that it's visible for both users? Does anyone happen to have a suitable solution preferably not involving the need to root the device? Thanks.
P.S. -- for those interested in the feature, I forgot to mention, that the overall user experience while switching profiles is very good. It's quick and you'll find your apps running. There are little circles with google avatars on the bottom of the lock screen to pick a user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nexus 7 4.2.2..
example,on first user,just put any file folder to android/data/ then switch to second user,go to android/data you will see that folder,then cut and paste to any folder you want in second user...that the way how I share file folder to second user....
file transfer to second user nexus 7 4.2.2
in first user,go to file manager find android/obb,put any file to obb not data,if no obb in android just make new one,then go to second user,in file manager,open android/obb,you can see your file in it,just cut and paste to any folder you want in second user...
I'm having trouble with this too. I'm running 6.01 and trying to move data between two users on the same phone (Nexus 5x). There is no obb folder, if I create one on one side it doesn't show on the other side. Creating a "share" folder in the Android folder? Same thing.
Hi All, I seem to have a repeating error where my Windows 8 Pro Libraries keep breaking. The error message is "<libraryname>.library-ms" is no longer working. Fixing the error is well documented, here for example: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-error-library-ms-is-no-longer-working-windows-7/
My problem is that it keeps happening, and it's happening the day after I fix it with the above solution. Plus it's happening for all 4 libraries (music, documents, videos, pictures). So it's a bit of a hassle.
To be clear, I always add my Windows Home Server 2011 folders to the libraries, as that's where my files are stored. I am wondering weather adding a network location is causing the repetition of this error. Has anyone else experienced this? To note, the files on my WHS 2011 server are not mapped to a drive on my Windows 8 Pro PC, and furthermore I have not added the WHS 2011 to the Homegroup - I prefer to keep things basic, but obviously will try something if it might help.
Also, I was running Windows 7 in the exact same configuration for over a year and this problem never happened. So it's definitely Windows 8, I'm just not sure if it's Windows 8 plus WHS 2011 not playing nicely. Any help appreciated.
>I always add my Windows Home Server 2011 folders to the libraries, as that's where my files are stored. I am wondering weather adding a network location is causing the repetition of this error.
Then you should find out. Replicate the WHS content on local storage and use that vs WHS for a few days to see what happens. The mantra of troubleshooting is to minimize your config until you have a known-good setup, then add new stuff one-by-one until you hit the bug. Then (hopefully) you'd have narrow down the culprit.
It's a good thing the corruption happens quickly, as ascertaining cause should be easy. The worst are the intermittent ones that occur over weeks or months.
Assuming there's no permanent fix, a workaround is to write a script for the delete/add fix mentioned. Then at least the hassle is limited to a single click per day.
Just to follow up on this. Thanks for the suggestion, I did try and reset the library's without adding the Server locations. All was fine for a bit, but then the same corruption happened and and the links to the libraries corrupted again. Not sure why. As you can see in the attached, all the libraries except the Videos one is now corrupted Seems like no one else is having this issue though (on XDA anyway).
I've experienced it myself, actually, on the machine where I moved my Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, etc. folders out of %USERPROFILE% and onto my data drive (as in, D:\Music) then changed the library links. I just added actual links and stopped bothering with the libraries; I pretty much only use one folder for each of those content types anyhow.
Suggest reviewing your search hits more thoroughly for underlying cause(s) and not only the fix.
http://google.com/search?q="music.library-ms+is+no+longer+working" nets
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...89?msgId=a51a4bb9-5c62-4881-bfa2-fa8e56fce092
suggests possible user account corruption.
http://all4naija.blogspot.com/2012/06/musiclibrary-ms-is-no-longer-working.html
"The cause of the problem is not far fetched. It could have been a program one installed previously. It could as well have been shutting down a program using the folder without following appropriate means. Like powering of Windows when a program making use of any of the Library folder is working. For example, when converting video files and shutting the computer off without finishing with the converting files."
http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/...y-ms-is-no-longer-working-error-in-windows-7/
"Windows 7 introduced libraries as a way to allow users to easily access folders containing certain data from all over their file structure without having to keep them in a specific documents directory within their user profile. The library itself can be accessed and controlled by third-party programs using an API. Unfortunately, that opens the library structure up to occasional crashes and other bugs."
Etc.
If searches don't help, minimize to a known-good setup: clean reinstall, install drivers (and nothing else), create your libraries, and run this minimal setup for a few days. If problem persists, then hardware could be the cause, and you'd need to minimize hardware config. More likely, problem disappears; add your programs back in small batches to ferret out the cause.
From the frequency of search hits, it does appear WMP libraries are susceptible to corruption. The ultimate workaround is to use a 3rd-party media manager as replacement.
BTW, I assume this isn't a hacktivated Win8, ie no system files were modded to bypass activation. If the latter, replace it. An upgrade install can also be problematic, and a clean install is suggested.
I've spent the past 3 weeks pretty solid working out how I want to transform the 3 Fire's I got for $35 for my boys, 10, 8, and 4. I figure I'd post where I've finally landed along with some other things I've tried both with success and failure, and hopefully save some people some effort. I'd suggest reading through this before you use it as a stepbystep guide to make sure this works for you. I apologize if it's a bit jumbled, but everything should be here for you to convert your Fire. Again, I'd suggest reading through the whole thing to come up with a plan of action for you.
Goal: Turn this Fire into a glorified gameboy, used ONLY by kids, not shared with parent(s) and child
On 5.1.1
Assuming you've purchased an SD card, you will want to repartition in preparation for moving files and content.
Pointers for this:
Make two partitions, 1 which is about 70% of the card formatted as Fat32, must be a PRIMARY partition.
Second partition will be the remaining space, make it ext2, must be a PRIMARY partition. (From what I can tell the reason people suggest using ext2, and not 3 or 4, is because with 3 and 4 there is some built in backup and recovery operations which is great for when you're running a full Linux operating system, but for our purposes all it does is cause more writes which in THEORY will shorten the life of your SD card)
I formatted the Fat32 partition as the first partition, and the EXT partition as the 2nd. Not sure if the order matters or not, but I've had no problems doing it this way thus far.
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/increase-internal-memory-phone.html/
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/how-to-use-link2sd-tutorial-guide.html/
Note:
During initial setup, don't bother with multiple user profiles (reasons explained later).
Using root junky's super tool (Thanks root junky, you made this all possible!!! http://rootjunkysdl.com/?device=Amazon Fire 5th gen&folder=SuperTool) do the following:
Root
Prevent OTA
Install Google Play
Install NovaLauncher (this is important if you're not going to use the built in Kids Mode in FireOS)
In Google Play Store download the following:
Link2SD (This is assuming you've purchased an SD card)
Kids Place - The VERY SIMPLE reason I went with using this app (which essentially becomes an alternative launcher) instead of using the built in FireOS's profiles and kids mode, is because the built in kids mode will ONLY allow you to use apps which you've downloaded FROM the AMAZON app store. I understand why they do it this way, I mean, the whole point of the fire is to keep you inside the Amazon ecosystem after all. But, I have MANY games I've paid full price for on Google Play that are appropriate for my kids. Since I can't put them into the kids profile built into the FireOS (If anyone can link me to a guide which is different, I'd love to hear about it) I couldn't use the built in stuff. In addition, the built in kids mode really is a pretty awesome feature on the fire, but the icons are freaking huge and kind of a waste of space.... going with this alternative method of Kids Place gives you smaller icons therefore you can "shove" more icons on a single view. Icons which take up half the screen are great, but if you're a dad like me who's going a little overboard and putting 100+ games on these things, it'll be a bit of a pain to scroll through them for your kids using the built in profile in the OS.
Note:
You can get Link2SD from the Amazon app store, but the version there is older than what's in Google Play and ultimately didn't work. Once I got the Google Play version, worked like a champ. NOTEx2: For whatever reason (this was frustrating for me to figure out), even though I partitioned 70% of the 64GB Samsung microSD to Fat32, and the other 30% I partitioned to ext2 (BTW I did the Fat32 first and ext2 second... not really sure if it matters the order or not but that's what worked first time for me so I went with it), when I launched Link2SD and it asked me which partition to use, I had to choose ext4 for it to finally work. Choosing both ext2 and Fat32 would both result in basically it saying: "yeah, you chose the wrong one punk" (or whatever it says).
Kids Place - similar to the one above, there is weirdness in the version on Amazon vs Google Play. On Amazon it actually claims the version there is slightly newer than Google Play, but when I'd launch apps on the one I got from Amazon it would kill the WiFi for that app. I realize that this is a built in option into Kids Place, being able to choose WiFi on or off per app (which is really cool), but the one from Amazon seemed to do it when and how it wanted instead of what I was telling it to do. Google Play's version had no such problems.
(( A word of caution using Link2SD's "feature" of being able to "Link Internal Data". DON'T DO IT. I've not been burned HARD CORE by it. The symptom is that if you POWER DOWN, and POWER ON the tablet, Apps go missing. Through reading and troubleshooting, it appears via this forum (http://androidforums.com/threads/link2sd-missing-apps-after-reboot.858565/) that the culprit is when you choose the Link2SD option to "Link Internal Data" to the SD Card. There's even a nifty batch way to enable it on ALL apps. Well, after powering off and powering back on the tablet (after I was COMPLETELY done putting on 150 games), when it came back up I only had like 15 apps on it. Everything else was POOF, gone. I've noticed sometimes after a power cycle like that the apps might take a few moments to 'come alive', but even after 15 minutes of waiting I had nada. Went in search and found I'm not the only one. I've now since completely redone (including reformatting the SD Card) all 3 Fire's and so far after multiple reboots, I've not lost a single app. So for now at least, this does seem to be the problem ))
You will need to spend the $2.35 on Link2SD Plus (striking out due to my caution above, that being said I'm glad I threw this guy $2.35 because my tablet would basically be worthless without the app), and after you install Kids Place, you'll need to upgrade to premium for $4.99. Here's why:
Link2SD - Plus - This is what allows you to automatically move files and content to the SD card when an app is installed. This is mega important to me because that piddly 5.x GB of usable space gets eaten up ridiculously fast otherwise. Dive into the settings once you have plus, and just go turn everything on. Auto move everything. Be sure to go into all menus and sub menus.
Kids Place - The premium features is key for me. For example: A) You can make this app launch upon reboot, thus it basically "forces" this into a kid only/friendly device. If your kids are sneaky, or bored, they'll try to break out of Kids Place. Then they'll delete apps, make folders, sabotage they're brothers devices, etc. B) You can change the name that's displayed on top from "Kids Place", to something else like their name, give them a fun nickname, whatever. For my 10 year old he won't feel like it's just a little kid thing. C) You can do this part without premium, but it's critical for me to mention it: You can change what the home "button" does so that it directs you back to Kids Place instead of the regular home launcher. The reason you need to install NovaLauncher above is because if you still have the stock firelauncher, you can NOT replace the home button with another launcher otherwise. [Word of caution, if you enable the 'background' premium feature, Kids Place is still running, just more in the background. Took me a few minutes to figure out that's what I had done. I kept thing something was wrong and wondering when whenever I launched Kids Place it kept asking me if I want to shut it down or go into settings.... it's because it was running the whole time already)
Once you've done all that, simply download apps (Amazon Underground still seems too good to be true, but I'm hopeful), sideload apps, get apps from Google Play, then go into the Kids Place settings and choose which apps you want (Manage Apps).
Other things worth noting:
SlimRom. So, this is cool. It's fast, and pretty awesome. For me however, at the end of the day, it didn't make sense to introduce something in addition that could go wrong. If you're like me and you have no intention of using this device yourself and you ONLY want this to be a device for your kids, I don't think SlimRom is worth putting in. If it's a shared device, it might be worth it. The only thing I really forgot to test when I had put SlimRom on one of the devices was how the Amazon App store would work, and whether or not the device would be recognized properly with the Amazon Underground portion.
That's it, I hope you find this helpful. I welcome any feedback or suggestions on how to make this a more gooder guide for anyone like myself who's first jump into amazon tablets has been these fires. They truly are AMAZING devices for the price.
hobojester said:
The only thing I really forgot to test when I had put SlimRom on one of the devices was how the Amazon App store would work, and whether or not the device would be recognized properly with the Amazon Underground portion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems pretty comprehensive guide for those using it the same way, very nice work
And when I had Slim on it worked fine with my amazon app store and underground apps. And the music and video ones for that matter. I couldn't get the kindle app to show my books but someone solved that by using older apk after I went back to stock.
@hobojester, THANKS so much for posting.
I purchased the $35 Fire Tablet for my 3 girls (9, 7, 5).
I've rooted at 5.0.1 and disabled OTA, disabled ads, Installed GooglePlay store, and loaded Nova launcher. Although I haven't taken it another few steps with Kids Place, I feel that I'll start with just locking down and hiding the apps via Nova Launcher will be enough for now. My kids are pretty savvy at navigating interfaces and even when they touch/exit an app, they know how to get back to it. I know there are holes with settings and NovaLauncher settings so when they figure them out, they can reenable certain functionality.
I'll look into Kids Place though, that might be my next step.
Also, about the whole SD card partitioning, I've installed a 32GB card and the tablet stated that it would start using the card as the default storage device. I'm guessing your method moves EVERYTHING to the card, and the default behavior for the Fire Tablet is to install some things on internal memory and 'other' storage is routed to the card? I've installed quite a bit of applications since I plugged in my SD card and it doesn't seem to be full... although I didn't check the storage stats before I wrapped the tablets.
Also, I've heard some good press on the Circle (with Disney) router, so I did order one for the home as yet another piece of the parenting puzzle:
[edit] sorry, didn't have sufficient permissions to post outside links. Google up: "Circle router with Disney"
Pond-life said:
Seems pretty comprehensive guide for those using it the same way, very nice work
And when I had Slim on it worked fine with my amazon app store and underground apps. And the music and video ones for that matter. I couldn't get the kindle app to show my books but someone solved that by using older apk after I went back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know about Slim and the Amazon store. Again, if I were going to use the tablet in a 'shared' environment where I'm using it AND my kids are using it, I'd totally use Slim. It was awesome. In this particular instance where this $35 device is a glorified gameboy, Slim is just something that is an extra layer of complexity that's really not needed and *could* get in the way. I have no intention of my kids even getting on the internet with this device. Not until there's a real need, and even then, I'd probably go get the K9 browser and use that.
TheTruthKC said:
@hobojester, THANKS so much for posting.
I purchased the $35 Fire Tablet for my 3 girls (9, 7, 5).
I've rooted at 5.0.1 and disabled OTA, disabled ads, Installed GooglePlay store, and loaded Nova launcher. Although I haven't taken it another few steps with Kids Place, I feel that I'll start with just locking down and hiding the apps via Nova Launcher will be enough for now. My kids are pretty savvy at navigating interfaces and even when they touch/exit an app, they know how to get back to it. I know there are holes with settings and NovaLauncher settings so when they figure them out, they can reenable certain functionality.
I'll look into Kids Place though, that might be my next step.
Also, about the whole SD card partitioning, I've installed a 32GB card and the tablet stated that it would start using the card as the default storage device. I'm guessing your method moves EVERYTHING to the card, and the default behavior for the Fire Tablet is to install some things on internal memory and 'other' storage is routed to the card? I've installed quite a bit of applications since I plugged in my SD card and it doesn't seem to be full... although I didn't check the storage stats before I wrapped the tablets.
Also, I've heard some good press on the Circle (with Disney) router, so I did order one for the home as yet another piece of the parenting puzzle:
[edit] sorry, didn't have sufficient permissions to post outside links. Google up: "Circle router with Disney"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you can find this useful.
As far as the storage card piece, you are correct in that "my" method moves EVERYTHING. Some apps are "self contained" as I like to think of it, when you download it. Popular games like Geometry Dash have everything contained in the downloaded app (or the .APK file). That is just the app itself. You can tell the OS to auto put the "app" on the storage card, and that works out great, but it's a little misleading. The problem comes in when you have games like Knights of the Old Republic. That app itself is something like 40 MB or what not, but after you launch the app, it'll download this extra content, which in this particular case is 2 GB. The kicker: it'll ONLY store that "content" (as I call it) into what the device considers "External Storage", which is ACTUALLY on the INTERNAL storage. That whole emulated SDcard business Android does. It's all funky. For fear of sounding like a commercial, Link2SD fixes all of that. Linux (what Android is built off of (oh, and hi iPhone users, so is iOS for the record)) has this thing called "Symbolic Links". You can google it up more about it, but think of it as an uber shortcut. You create a symbolic link on internal storage to the actual physical SD card, and the program THINKS it's writing to internal storage when in fact it's writing to the SD card. The kicker: you can only create symbolic links if you're rooted. The nice thing about Link2SD, is that it'll symbolic link EVERYTHING. The "app", the "content", and all of the saved game data and what not (which take a game like MineCraft, can get pretty big if your kids (like mine) go crazy building worlds). And you can have it to it all automagically. But you will need to pop that SDCard out, put it in your computer, and get it re-partitioned (visit the links I posted in the original guide for more in depth details).
I have heard really cool things about the Disney router. For now, my kids don't really have any need (or business) getting on the internet unsupervised. When they do, I'll probably give them the K9 browser.
Sorry for the questions but I can't figure it out, searching doesn't find it, and I'm trying to get these wrapped.
Do I need to still select Fire OS" install supported apps to sd". Or do I do it all with LInk2DS? I haven't Rom'd these yet and I probably won't until we get back from vacation. They are only rooted with stock rom. I also don't need to do the whole kids place thing as my kids are a little older...Thanks for taking the time to write this all up!
Also I have partitions shown in my Disk usage app that are named "External", "SDcard1", system and "SD Card". I know "SD Card" is the exfat 2 part I made base on the size, but as for the "external" and SDcard1, they are both roughly 5 gb ( my sd was only 8 gigs so I made the FAT 32 5 gigs and the rest the exfat 2. But now I am not sure of the naming and I can't tell based only on size. So, is "External" really the built in amazon storage, and "sdcard1" is my microsd?
Like your thinking.
How are you getting past the "Apps with usage access" request for Kids Place?
howzitnow said:
Sorry for the questions but I can't figure it out, searching doesn't find it, and I'm trying to get these wrapped.
Do I need to still select Fire OS" install supported apps to sd". Or do I do it all with LInk2DS? I haven't Rom'd these yet and I probably won't until we get back from vacation. They are only rooted with stock rom. I also don't need to do the whole kids place thing as my kids are a little older...Thanks for taking the time to write this all up!
Also I have partitions shown in my Disk usage app that are named "External", "SDcard1", system and "SD Card". I know "SD Card" is the exfat 2 part I made base on the size, but as for the "external" and SDcard1, they are both roughly 5 gb ( my sd was only 8 gigs so I made the FAT 32 5 gigs and the rest the exfat 2. But now I am not sure of the naming and I can't tell based only on size. So, is "External" really the built in amazon storage, and "sdcard1" is my microsd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will be a good chance for me to point out (I'll edit the guide in a second): DO NOT LINK "INTERNAL" Data via Link2SD. It has caused apps to disappear and never come back. I actually had to start completely over on all there of my devices. That "option" to Link the Internal Data is only available when you purchase the Plus version of Link2SD, DON'T CHOOSE THAT OPTION!!!
Now, with that out of the way, Link2SD is clever in how it works, and I am barely out of the n00b stage on this so I'll give a disclaimer that I may be totally feeding you false information here, but here's how I understand it: First of all, what I did was leave the SD card settings inside the OS all 'defaults', which installs the "App" to the SD Card. Now with that, I believe what happens is Link2SD intercepts that 'transfer' and puts the actual apps on the EXT partition. There is the incredibly critical option in Link2SD to put all other data (except "internal" data of course) on the SD Card. That's what moves the really big parts of those big games and apps. So when the App is relocated, it's put onto that EXT part and the Content on your FAT32 part. To address your question regarding External, SDCard#, and 'where in the heck is the EXT' part.... the EXT partition is mounted and 'located' under the 'local' storage under something like the /data/sdex2 folder. Welcome to the world of Linux... on a computer Linux (if my really old dusty Linux knowledge still works) when you need to access the CD drive you have to MOUNT it, and than LINK that mount to basically a local folder (something like /MNT/CDROM). Your EXT partition is mounted the same way as a folder, and for whatever reason in an app like ES File Explorer you won't see it as another drive, you'll only see the FAT32 drive. Maybe that has something to do with it being FAT32, I'm not sure. ...... the long point here is that Link2SD intercepts or coordinates with the OS's moving of apps to locate the App data to your EXT partition (mounted to that /data/xxxxx folder) and all the other really big stuff to the FAT32 partition. Again, I may be way off here, but hey, makes sense in my brain right now .
Inside of Link2SD there's an option in the menu to see the storage consumption, and THERE it'll actually show you the EXT partition as well as the FAT32 partition.
If my kids were a little older and I truly didn't care about them mucking around in settings, potentially deleting things etc., I'd probably give SlimRom a go for that. I've been messing around with it some more and it is just simply more 'pure' Android OS so it'd give the more 'true' Android experience.... if you really care .
cogito808 said:
Like your thinking.
How are you getting past the "Apps with usage access" request for Kids Place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not, simply because FireOS doesn't have that option. I just have to hit 'Cancel' and move on. If you were to put on SlimRom you'd have that option. From what I can tell the biggest thing we're missing out on by staying on FireOS and not having this option would be limiting time in Kids Place for certain apps and what not. For me personally, I'll just set a timer, but if it's something you want to use, I'd absolutely suggest putting SlimRom on there and then basically following the rest of the guide. Everything still applies.
If anyone cares, I set up SlimLP for my mom who is a bit less technologically advanced than I am and I put smart launcher on the device and just hid the apps I thought would be bad if she were to accidentally open them and not know what she was doing. (I thought his could be useful for some of the people here as well)
How do I avoid using the "Link Internal Data" feature? I do not see this option anywhere in the App.
Edit: OK. found it. I was looking in settings (before moving anything) but once I move an app the options come up.
chemie99 said:
How do I avoid using the "Link Internal Data" feature? I do not see this option anywhere in the App.
Edit: OK. found it. I was looking in settings (before moving anything) but once I move an app the options come up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I found out the hard way how bad this can be.... like... 6pm on the 24th, type of thing, RIGHT when I had finished it all up. I had some kind of heavenly help nudge me into thinking "you should turn these off completely, and simulate Christmas morning, see how long it'll take to fully boot back up".... and you can imagine my stomach drop when I went from having 150 games down to something like 3... it was painful. So, yeah, avoid that setting AT ALL COSTS!
How do you partition the SD card on the tablet? Also is this worth doing when you can install xposed SD card modules and be able to move obb files
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
just wondering on the reason for 70/30 FAT32/EXT2. What gets installed in each partition?
tonyt3rry said:
How do you partition the SD card on the tablet? Also is this worth doing when you can install xposed SD card modules and be able to move obb files
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I"m not familiar with the xposed SD card modules so I can't help there. As far as HOW you do it, I linked to some articles in the first post that might help (Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/increase-in...ry-phone.html/
Reference: http://rootmyandroid.org/how-to-use-...al-guide.html/)
chemie99 said:
just wondering on the reason for 70/30 FAT32/EXT2. What gets installed in each partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically the "app" gets installed to the 30% EXT2, and allt he "content" goes tot he 70% FAST32. Content will typically be data that gets downloaded after the app is installed. Take Knights Of The Old Republic for example, the "app" is like 50MB, but the "content" which gets downloaded upon the first time launching the actual program, is 2GB.
An Alternative Solution
I also gave my kids 3 Fire tablets for Christmas. My kids are mostly older (12,11,4) and the older two have had other Android devices. I went a different direction from the OP, which I'll discuss here for posterity's sake. This is a bit harder than the OP's method but ends up with a more conventional Android environment.
As background, I used FireOS on the Fire Phone for a few weeks, and ran into many problems. I installed CM11 on the Fire Phone and bought another in the final sale. You can read about that on the Fire Phone forum if you're interested.
Also, I've used Screen Time Parental Control for a couple years now, and while somewhat expensive it's great for monitoring without being too invasive. I can let the kids have a lot of freedom with their devices, without having to be worried about them either being on them all the time, or doing weird things. Screen Time nominally works with FireOS but in the end I did not use the tablets as-is long enough to try installing it.
For these tablets, I decided the easiest path was to install CM12. This avoided waiting for Amazon for security updates, and any FireOS incompatibilities, as I'd experienced with the Fire Phone. Also, the kids are familiar with CM, and frankly any replacement Android device will be easier in the future. After my experience with the zombie Fire Phone from Amazon I'm less concerned about CM/ggow/XDA bugs than I am Amazon's.
I decided to create separate user accounts for each child, as opposed to having both my Google account and the child's Google account** under a single user. I've done this before, but it's awkward to have to switch between accounts when using Gmail/Hangouts/Drive/etc., and sometimes things get mixed up.
Thus, for each of the three tablets I went through this process:
[I don't have the tablets in front of me, so if one of these steps doesn't seem obvious ask and I'll look up the exact names/buttons.]
1) Install CM12 using the well-documented methods
2) Boot into CM
3) Configure for my primary Google account
- Download interesting applications that have been purchased on my account
- Open SuperSU, enable multi-user access
- Open Contacts, select "ME", change name to "Dad" (or whatever)*
- Open File Manager
- Settings / Enable multi user access
- Open main Settings app:
- Set screen lock / PIN
- Users / Add user / OK / Set up now
4) "Switching to new user"
- Google Launcher always
- Log in with the "child's" account** in the wizard
- Open Contacts, change "ME" to the child's name
- Open File Manager
- Settings / Switch to Root access mode
- Browse to /data/app/
- Change into interesting packages and pick the .apk file
- Select "Install"***
- Repeat as necessary
Here I installed Screen Time Parental Control from the Play Store and went through the steps for Child device. Also any customization for the account should go here, then you can switch back to your regular user.
To switch user, drag down the system tray, pick the head image in the top right corner, and then the appropriate name.
Notes:
* This is in a wacky place, but this contact is how CM identifies the user name to display in the switch screen. If you don't see "ME" don't add it, just browse around; it's there somewhere.
** Apparently Google only allows accounts for people >=13. Thus, if you are reading from Google, know that these are my own accounts and my children happen to use them.
*** This will actually not re-download the application, but it makes a temporary copy while installing. Application user data is always separate between users, but for the most part download data is shared. For most applications things work on either user; however, Electronic Arts applications don't work with separate users, and Terraria will print an error (but still worked once the core data was downloaded with my purchasing account). I'm sure there are other apps that roll their own security and will be in this situation, but out of a very large family library these are the only apps with which I've had trouble.
Finally, a last note that Screen Time does not presently block creating new users from the system tray. In theory a youngling could create a user that would not have Screen Time limits, but then they wouldn't be able to delete it without getting in to Settings, which you should block anyway. Depends how devious your children are; for me I'm just waiting until they figure it out to do anything about it... just keep an eye on it if you go this route.
Hopefully this helps someone, eventually!
Best,
Tim
I got two fire tablets for the kids for Xmas, one is the kids edition (with the 1yr of apps,etc) the other is a standard fire. Used root junkies tool on both to block lock screen ads and OTA and hide Apps. They were both running OK, occasionally have the odd situation where you try to open an app and it looks like it is reloading it or redownloading it, not sure if this is because internal space has ran out and its redownloading on the fly but its quite frustrating.
Decided to flash slim LP rom on the standard tablet as there were apps that weren't available(better choice on play store and it wasn't tied into the 1year subscription).
So glad I did, was pretty straight forward to get it up and running and the latest build is so solid, fast and stable, was expecting it to be a bit quicker than fire OS as it had a lot less bloat but it seriously impressed me. So I have kids place set up on it to control apps and play time. I also installed hilocker from the play store to help simplify/lock down the lock screen. For example you can disable the status bar in kids place,but the child is still able to turn the screen off and on, they can then access the pull down toggles and mess with things, but with hilocker you can disable it which is great. Battery life is just as great if not better and your also up to date with all Google's security patches to boot.
It is a very good value tablet, as its just been reduced to just £40 in the UK. One thing that would be a major improvement is I just wished they had put 16GB of storage instead of 8GB. I know it has the sd card option which is great but in reality you only get around 5GB of actual internal storage for apps, a lot of which can't be moved to the sd card or still take up internal space when they are. Again I can't recommend slim rom enough as it really makes a big difference to the tablet (besides providing full play store access) and makes it perfect for consuming media, browsing, or just handier for when you want to use a bigger screen than your phone.
Sent from my InFocus M810t using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
One thing that would be a major improvement is I just wished they had put 16GB of storage instead of 8GB. I know it has the sd card option which is great but in reality you only get around 5GB of actual internal storage for apps, a lot of which can't be moved to the sd card or still take up internal space when they are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@gsmyth, look into Link2SD if you haven't already. Between that and a 32GB MicroSD I don't feel especially constrained by the 8GB onboard.
tdcrone said:
@gsmyth, look into Link2SD if you haven't already. Between that and a 32GB MicroSD I don't feel especially constrained by the 8GB onboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you formatting your 2nd partition for links2sd?. I keep getting 'unable to mount' error, trying to setup as ext4, which I thought was the standard on newer hardware. I believe I tried ext 2 as well. Without 2nd partition obb and data stay on internal. Thanks
I wish to thank the OP for this, as I am trying to use, and bought the recommended apps... haven;t had the time to set this all up, and it gets a little confusing having all these other devices, but eventually I'll get it.
Hello, I've rooted my Nook Simple Touch using NookManager. It seems to be fine except that I have no browser, so cannot get on line. (I can't even access the Nook store because Barnes & Noble have dumped UK users like me.) I want to install NTGAppsAttack but since I can't go on line I presume that Google Market won't load unless NTGAppsAttack fixes the problem.
I'd be very grateful for help with this. Best regards, Caromcm
caromcm said:
Hello, I've rooted my Nook Simple Touch using NookManager. It seems to be fine except that I have no browser, so cannot get on line. (I can't even access the Nook store because Barnes & Noble have dumped UK users like me.) I want to install NTGAppsAttack but since I can't go on line I presume that Google Market won't load unless NTGAppsAttack fixes the problem.
I'd be very grateful for help with this. Best regards, Caromcm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Searching these forums will yield several suggestions for multiple browsers that "work" (note quotes) on the Nook. If you download the apk for one of these, you should be able to install it with adb.
David0226 said:
Searching these forums will yield several suggestions for multiple browsers that "work" (note quotes) on the Nook. If you download the apk for one of these, you should be able to install it with adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Thanks for the advice, David. I've downloaded Opera Mobile onto my PC, to transfer onto the Nook (tho' not sure where). But on going back to the Nook I did manage to get into a browser. It may be the original Nook browser as there's a lot of Nook stuff in the history and the keyboard has no full stop - so it's impossible to type in any website address. A different keyboard, with full stop, appeared first (and I got into Ebay as an experiment) but I can't get back to this keyboard. I got onto Google, but couldn't sign in because I couldn't type the '.com'. There are all sorts of symbols, but no stop!
I think there must be some sort of conflict here which needs to be sorted out first. I'd be very grateful for a steer as I'm a complete novice in the Android world. I have a Android smartphone but only downloaded a couple of Google apps when I first got it and then just poked around and got things to work. - Caromcm
caromcm said:
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Thanks for the advice, David. I've downloaded Opera Mobile onto my PC, to transfer onto the Nook (tho' not sure where). But on going back to the Nook I did manage to get into a browser. It may be the original Nook browser as there's a lot of Nook stuff in the history and the keyboard has no full stop - so it's impossible to type in any website address. A different keyboard, with full stop, appeared first (and I got into Ebay as an experiment) but I can't get back to this keyboard. I got onto Google, but couldn't sign in because I couldn't type the '.com'. There are all sorts of symbols, but no stop!
I think there must be some sort of conflict here which needs to be sorted out first. I'd be very grateful for a steer as I'm a complete novice in the Android world. I have a Android smartphone but only downloaded a couple of Google apps when I first got it and then just poked around and got things to work. - Caromcm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you can uninstall the old B&N browser. Locate the app in the system/app folder (you may need to set ReLaunch to see root folders). Or, you can just ignore it.
To sideload apps using ReLaunch (or a file manager app), drag the apk file via USB into a folder you have created on your SD card that you're using for storage. Then after disconnecting the USB, navigate to the folder from the file manager section of ReLaunch. Touch the apk and you should get a dialog that includes "install". I'm not too familiar with ReLaunch, but I believe you can uninstall by touching and holding on an apk file.
If you want GApps, of course, you need to run the package install you mentioned. Just a warning: a number of people have been having trouble with the sign-in process lately. Maybe they've been a little confused or maybe (more likely) Google is not too fond of dealing with these old devices. There is an older method for sign-in (and eventual Market access) that apparently does still work, but you can try what's described in the GAppsAttack posting and then if that doesn't work, try the older method [the method itself is a little ways down in the post I linked]
Also, based on my observations, you can no longer successfully select an app on your PC and expect to see it show up on your "phone" (which is how Google sees the NST). That used to work, but doesn't seem to any longer. So you really need to get Market working on the NST if that's how you intend to get apps. Otherwise, sideload.
nmyshkin said:
First, you can uninstall the old B&N browser. Locate the app in the system/app folder (you may need to set ReLaunch to see root folders). Or, you can just ignore it.
To sideload apps using ReLaunch (or a file manager app), drag the apk file via USB into a folder you have created on your SD card that you're using for storage. Then after disconnecting the USB, navigate to the folder from the file manager section of ReLaunch. Touch the apk and you should get a dialog that includes "install". I'm not too familiar with ReLaunch, but I believe you can uninstall by touching and holding on an apk file.
If you want GApps, of course, you need to run the package install you mentioned. Just a warning: a number of people have been having trouble with the sign-in process lately. Maybe they've been a little confused or maybe (more likely) Google is not too fond of dealing with these old devices. There is an older method for sign-in (and eventual Market access) that apparently does still work, but you can try what's described in the GAppsAttack posting and then if that doesn't work, try the older method [the method itself is a little ways down in the post I linked]
Also, based on my observations, you can no longer successfully select an app on your PC and expect to see it show up on your "phone" (which is how Google sees the NST). That used to work, but doesn't seem to any longer. So you really need to get Market working on the NST if that's how you intend to get apps. Otherwise, sideload.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Thank you for this very helpful reply, Nmyshkin. With regard to GoogleApps, all I want is a way to download DRM books without tangling with ADE, which will not run on my Linux laptop. Google Market seems to be the answer. Last night I succeeded in getting into Google and registering with my gmail address, so this may help?
This morning in System/App I found HTMLViewer.apk and Browser.apk, hence the conflict and the 2 input screens. On the All Applications screen the browser is just called 'Browser', so perhaps this is the obstructive B&N one?
I did not find ReLaunch in System/App so I expect that I need to load it, or another file manager app. I did find some other apps which might be relevant: GoogleSearch.apk, GlobalSearch.apk, AffileDownloadService.apk, DownloadAdmin.apk, ApplicationProvider.apk, Packageinstaller.apk.orig. Is that last one disabled?
I cannot get into Root, and I'm not a Superuser, so these problems presumably need to be tackled.
I tried clicking on Amazon Appstore to see what I could download, but I got the message that it could not download 'because of a network connectivity error'.
My Nook now seems to have become unstable - when I close it I always find a different screen when I open it again, except when I close it on a book page.
I'd be very grateful for any suggestions. Meanwhile I'll look into downloading ReLaunch, or similar, onto my laptop. Best regards, Caromcm
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }
caromcm said:
Thank you for this very helpful reply, Nmyshkin. With regard to GoogleApps, all I want is a way to download DRM books without tangling with ADE, which will not run on my Linux laptop. Google Market seems to be the answer. Last night I succeeded in getting into Google and registering with my gmail address, so this may help?
This morning in System/App I found HTMLViewer.apk and Browser.apk, hence the conflict and the 2 input screens. On the All Applications screen the browser is just called 'Browser', so perhaps this is the obstructive B&N one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You want to get rid of Browser.apk, but there should not be a conflict with HTMLViewer.apk.
I did not find ReLaunch in System/App so I expect that I need to load it, or another file manager app. I did find some other apps which might be relevant: GoogleSearch.apk, GlobalSearch.apk, AffileDownloadService.apk, DownloadAdmin.apk, ApplicationProvider.apk, Packageinstaller.apk.orig. Is that last one disabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, did you say you rooted with NookManager? That should install ReLaunch by default so if you hit the "Home" quicknav "button" you should get a dialog for whether you want the B&N Home or ReLaunch. Or, install some other launcher if you have a preference and you'll get the dialog to select it. The problem with no launcher is that even installing a file manager won't do you any good because you will have no way to access the app without a launcher! That's why ReLaunch is included with NookManager.
I cannot get into Root, and I'm not a Superuser, so these problems presumably need to be tackled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, now we have an issue. Both should be taken care of with NookManager. It installs a copy of SU as well as enables side-loading. How are you looking at the files in system/app if you don't have root access??
So it sounds like the real problem is that you have not yet figured out how to launch ReLaunch (it's maybe not a system app? did you look in data/app?) so none of the rest of it is going to work for you.
I tried clicking on Amazon Appstore to see what I could download, but I got the message that it could not download 'because of a network connectivity error'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha! So you have found the app drawer!!!!! That is part of ReLaunch Whew..... Alas, the Amazon App Store is dead on the NST and should be uninstalled. It always caused instability on my NST (see your remark below). So now your task to to figure out how to find the file or folder manager in ReLaunch. There I cannot help you. I know it's there because I've seen screen images. Try the menu button when on the app drawer. Perhaps something will show up. There has to be a way to navigate to the folder screen and to access settings so you can enable viewing of the root folders as well.
My Nook now seems to have become unstable - when I close it I always find a different screen when I open it again, except when I close it on a book page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That should not happen, obviously. Since you haven't gone very far at this point you might just want to use NookManager to do a factory reset and try the whole process over again.
nmyshkin said:
You want to get rid of Browser.apk, but there should not be a conflict with HTMLViewer.apk.
Wait, did you say you rooted with NookManager? That should install ReLaunch by default so if you hit the "Home" quicknav "button" you should get a dialog for whether you want the B&N Home or ReLaunch. Or, install some other launcher if you have a preference and you'll get the dialog to select it. The problem with no launcher is that even installing a file manager won't do you any good because you will have no way to access the app without a launcher! That's why ReLaunch is included with NookManager.
OK, now we have an issue. Both should be taken care of with NookManager. It installs a copy of SU as well as enables side-loading. How are you looking at the files in system/app if you don't have root access??
So it sounds like the real problem is that you have not yet figured out how to launch ReLaunch (it's maybe not a system app? did you look in data/app?) so none of the rest of it is going to work for you.
Aha! So you have found the app drawer!!!!! That is part of ReLaunch Whew..... Alas, the Amazon App Store is dead on the NST and should be uninstalled. It always caused instability on my NST (see your remark below). So now your task to to figure out how to find the file or folder manager in ReLaunch. There I cannot help you. I know it's there because I've seen screen images. Try the menu button when on the app drawer. Perhaps something will show up. There has to be a way to navigate to the folder screen and to access settings so you can enable viewing of the root folders as well.
That should not happen, obviously. Since you haven't gone very far at this point you might just want to use NookManager to do a factory reset and try the whole process over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Many thanks, again. I really don't have ReLaunch, I have Launcher (Launcher.apk in System/App). I've been using the Launcher file menu system. I've also been using the app drawer - didn't know that's what it's called. I've now deleted the Amazon App Store.
I've also deleted browser.apk and discovered that the input screen which actually had a full stop in fact belonged to that. HTMLViewer is just that, not a browser - should have realised. I need to get a browser installer into the right place. Should I drag the Opera Mobile installer from my laptop into the Root folder which is one of 14 folders at the top file level? I can open this, but it appears to be empty, which I interpreted as inaccessible except to superuser. Or should I put the installer into the top file level along with various init files?
When I click Superuser in the app drawer the screen just re-writes. No message.
How would I do a factory reset? Also, I have Calibre on this Nook and my laptop. Is it possible that Calibre has upset the applecart?
caromcm said:
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } Many thanks, again. I really don't have ReLaunch, I have Launcher (Launcher.apk in System/App). I've been using the Launcher file menu system. I've also been using the app drawer - didn't know that's what it's called. I've now deleted the Amazon App Store.
I've also deleted browser.apk and discovered that the input screen which actually had a full stop in fact belonged to that. HTMLViewer is just that, not a browser - should have realised. I need to get a browser installer into the right place. Should I drag the Opera Mobile installer from my laptop into the Root folder which is one of 14 folders at the top file level? I can open this, but it appears to be empty, which I interpreted as inaccessible except to superuser. Or should I put the installer into the top file level along with various init files?
When I click Superuser in the app drawer the screen just re-writes. No message.
How would I do a factory reset? Also, I have Calibre on this Nook and my laptop. Is it possible that Calibre has upset the applecart?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow...it's like we're not even talking about the same device. If you do not have Relaunch how can you have an app drawer? How can you see any folders except for B&N user folders? When I connect my NST via USB to my PC all I can see in the "Nook" directory is what B&N intended for me to see, despite the fact that the device is rooted. That's the way the USB interface is designed to work. How are you even running Launcher.apk? That old, primitive launcher that B&N left on there is useless.
So here's what is says in the original NookManager post:
Technical stuff:
The actual rooting function is minimal and as non-invasive as possible:
uRamdisk is patched to enable ADB
the internal database setting is changed to allow installation of non-market apps
the DroidSansFallback font is replaced with the updated font from jellybean to add support for extended characters
the su/Superuser binary/package is installed
Relaunch is installed
ADB Konnect is installed for enabling/disabling ADB over wireless
on systems running firmware 1.2+, the ModManager jars and package are installed
on 1.2+ systems, the PackageInstaller.apk from the 1.1.2 firmware is installed to resolve issues with package installers
and, finally, the Amazon appstore is installed just to have some easy way of downloading new apps. You can uninstall it using ReLaunch if you don't use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Relaunch, as little as I know about it, has a few screens. One of them is a folder browser, like a file manager. It can see the SD card if you have one inserted, as well as the actual Nook "hard drive"--but not at the root level unless you have enabled that in the settings for Relaunch.
System apps can be installed as you have described: just drag the apk file into the system/app folder and reboot. But you can't install other apps that way. The apk file needs to be processed via the package installer (or through ADB....another story). Hence the need for a folder browser of some sort such as is part of Relaunch.
I repeat, if you have an app drawer, that is, a screen with a bunch of icons on it that represent and will start apps when you touch them, then you have Relaunch. If so, then you need to find the other screen with the folders, because that's how you are going to install, for example, Opera Mobile, by placing the apk file in some folder or another (create one called "Downloads" or something) and then touching on the apk file to bring up the installer. Again, while looking at the app drawer try the "menu" button--that's the little soft "button" at the top of the screen next to the "back" button.
If you are convinced that there is no Relaunch (I still don't understand how you can see any folders?!), then you MUST do a factory reset and try the process again because anything else is just piling problems on top of problems.
I'm not going to ask how you got Calibre onto your NST because you should not have been able to do so with all the issues you are having.
The presence or absence of Browser.apk has nothing to do with the system default keyboard, which certainly contains a period.
To do a factory reset: turn off the Nook and insert the NookManager card you made. Turn the Nook back on and wait for NookManager to load up. Factory reset is either an option on the first screen (after the dialog about Wi-Fi) or is found under "Rescue".
Before you try again, check your software version number (or just look at what NookManager says at the top of the screen when it is loaded. You should have 1.2.1
nmyshkin said:
Wow...it's like we're not even talking about the same device. If you do not have Relaunch how can you have an app drawer? How can you see any folders except for B&N user folders? When I connect my NST via USB to my PC all I can see in the "Nook" directory is what B&N intended for me to see, despite the fact that the device is rooted. That's the way the USB interface is designed to work. How are you even running Launcher.apk? That old, primitive launcher that B&N left on there is useless.
So here's what is says in the original NookManager post:
Relaunch, as little as I know about it, has a few screens. One of them is a folder browser, like a file manager. It can see the SD card if you have one inserted, as well as the actual Nook "hard drive"--but not at the root level unless you have enabled that in the settings for Relaunch.
System apps can be installed as you have described: just drag the apk file into the system/app folder and reboot. But you can't install other apps that way. The apk file needs to be processed via the package installer (or through ADB....another story). Hence the need for a folder browser of some sort such as is part of Relaunch.
I repeat, if you have an app drawer, that is, a screen with a bunch of icons on it that represent and will start apps when you touch them, then you have Relaunch. If so, then you need to find the other screen with the folders, because that's how you are going to install, for example, Opera Mobile, by placing the apk file in some folder or another (create one called "Downloads" or something) and then touching on the apk file to bring up the installer. Again, while looking at the app drawer try the "menu" button--that's the little soft "button" at the top of the screen next to the "back" button.
If you are convinced that there is no Relaunch (I still don't understand how you can see any folders?!), then you MUST do a factory reset and try the process again because anything else is just piling problems on top of problems.
I'm not going to ask how you got Calibre onto your NST because you should not have been able to do so with all the issues you are having.
The presence or absence of Browser.apk has nothing to do with the system default keyboard, which certainly contains a period.
To do a factory reset: turn off the Nook and insert the NookManager card you made. Turn the Nook back on and wait for NookManager to load up. Factory reset is either an option on the first screen (after the dialog about Wi-Fi) or is found under "Rescue".
Before you try again, check your software version number (or just look at what NookManager says at the top of the screen when it is loaded. You should have 1.2.1
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Many thank for the valuable info. Yes, I do seem to have tripped into a parallel universe. Perhaps I now have a quantum Nook - complete with wormholes in the operating system!
The menu button in the app drawer doesn’t work. I get to the folder browser via the library button: this opens the SD card (I think I set it to do this) and I go up through the folder levels. I'm not exploring the file system via USB/laptop, I'm doing it direct on the Nook. I should be able to transfer the Opera Mobile apk file to the Nook SD card and thence to an appropriate folder on the Nook itself. It might be better to do a factory reset - but wouldn't I have to re-register? I don't think that would be possible now that B&N no longer support the Nook in the UK. My Nook is v1.2. I was using Calibre before I rooted.
Re ReLaunch - I've now set the right-hand physical buttons to go to the menu. This works as expected now, but originally I was in file manager mode and every time I tried out my change the word 'ReLaunch' popped up - first time I've seen it on the Nook. It wasn't a menu, just 'Relaunch' and two buttons, Information and OK. 'Information' just gave me a version number - v.1.38 - and OK just took me back to the previous screen. With hindsight I think Relaunch was asking me to OK the change. NB Now I've gone back to read mode the Nook seems to have stabilized.
When I deleted the Amazon Appstore and the browser, I just did a long press (I think) and got a menu including Delete. I didn't use ReLaunch because I couldn't access it. Can it only be accessed via System/Apps? I don't seem to have a facility to do a search through the file system.
caromcm said:
The menu button in the app drawer doesn’t work. I get to the folder browser via the library button: this opens the SD card (I think I set it to do this) and I go up through the folder levels. I'm not exploring the file system via USB/laptop, I'm doing it direct on the Nook. I should be able to transfer the Opera Mobile apk file to the Nook SD card and thence to an appropriate folder on the Nook itself. It might be better to do a factory reset - but wouldn't I have to re-register? I don't think that would be possible now that B&N no longer support the Nook in the UK. My Nook is v1.2. I was using Calibre before I rooted.
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Click to collapse
I'm not going to ask how you got a Calibre app onto your Nook before rooting. Yes, you can copy the Opera Mobile apk file to the SD card and then use any sort of file manager/explorer to install it. If you want an ordinary file manager (since you have a sort of app drawer you should be able to launch it), I recommend an old version of ES File Explorer. It is among the apps I have bundled together that are hard to find which I have found useful on my NST. You can download the package here. In the settings for the app you can enable access to root folders.
Re ReLaunch - I've now set the right-hand physical buttons to go to the menu. This works as expected now, but originally I was in file manager mode and every time I tried out my change the word 'ReLaunch' popped up - first time I've seen it on the Nook. It wasn't a menu, just 'Relaunch' and two buttons, Information and OK. 'Information' just gave me a version number - v.1.38 - and OK just took me back to the previous screen. With hindsight I think Relaunch was asking me to OK the change. NB Now I've gone back to read mode the Nook seems to have stabilized.
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Click to collapse
It sounds like you really need a good launcher. The hidden one that's on the NST is pretty crippled. Many people like Relaunch because basically they use their Nooks to read and do little else. Relaunch was designed for that. If that sounds like you, one option to get a functioning/updated copy is to install Opera Mobile and use it to download/install Relaunch. Here's a link. Or you can download on a PC and transfer to the Nook to install.
When you install any new launcher you will get a dialog when you touch the "Home" quicknav "button" asking what you want to do. It's possible that in the past you had that for Relaunch and answered something different with the "always do this" checked and then it's nearly impossible to find the launcher again--unless you install a new one. I personally prefer a more traditional tablet approach and use ADW Launcher, but there are many other options. Almost anything has got to be better than what was hidden on the NST when B&N shipped it out (of course they never expected anyone would access it). I do not think launchers, in general, are system apps. My ADW is in data/app along with most installed apps. BUT, launchers do not typically appear in the app drawer (why would they?) so there is no way to start one except at the initial dialog when you try to access "Home" after installing a new launcher (or each time you access "Home" if you do not tick the "always do this").
I can understand now why you do not want to do a factory reset, seeing as how you are in the UK. It has been reported that running the NST without registering results in abnormal battery drain. I don't know whether that is correct, and there might be more than one way to set it up without registering, but it's a risk. That being the case, I can't stress enough how important it is to make backups frequently as you try to sort things out. Making a backup with NookManager is easy, but only one backup can exist on the SD card at a time. You can transfer backups to your PC when NookManager is running. So, for example, if you plug the USB cable in before you exit NookManager, you will actually be able to see the otherwise hidden backup folder and can copy the files to your PC. I usually make a folder with the date and include a small text file that describes what has been done since the previous backup. Keeping two or three backups on your PC can be a lifesaver if something that you try goes really wrong.
nmyshkin said:
I'm not going to ask how you got a Calibre app onto your Nook before rooting. Yes, you can copy the Opera Mobile apk file to the SD card and then use any sort of file manager/explorer to install it. If you want an ordinary file manager (since you have a sort of app drawer you should be able to launch it), I recommend an old version of ES File Explorer. It is among the apps I have bundled together that are hard to find which I have found useful on my NST. You can download the package here. In the settings for the app you can enable access to root folders.
It sounds like you really need a good launcher. The hidden one that's on the NST is pretty crippled. Many people like Relaunch because basically they use their Nooks to read and do little else. Relaunch was designed for that. If that sounds like you, one option to get a functioning/updated copy is to install Opera Mobile and use it to download/install Relaunch. Here's a link. Or you can download on a PC and transfer to the Nook to install.
When you install any new launcher you will get a dialog when you touch the "Home" quicknav "button" asking what you want to do. It's possible that in the past you had that for Relaunch and answered something different with the "always do this" checked and then it's nearly impossible to find the launcher again--unless you install a new one. I personally prefer a more traditional tablet approach and use ADW Launcher, but there are many other options. Almost anything has got to be better than what was hidden on the NST when B&N shipped it out (of course they never expected anyone would access it). I do not think launchers, in general, are system apps. My ADW is in data/app along with most installed apps. BUT, launchers do not typically appear in the app drawer (why would they?) so there is no way to start one except at the initial dialog when you try to access "Home" after installing a new launcher (or each time you access "Home" if you do not tick the "always do this").
I can understand now why you do not want to do a factory reset, seeing as how you are in the UK. It has been reported that running the NST without registering results in abnormal battery drain. I don't know whether that is correct, and there might be more than one way to set it up without registering, but it's a risk. That being the case, I can't stress enough how important it is to make backups frequently as you try to sort things out. Making a backup with NookManager is easy, but only one backup can exist on the SD card at a time. You can transfer backups to your PC when NookManager is running. So, for example, if you plug the USB cable in before you exit NookManager, you will actually be able to see the otherwise hidden backup folder and can copy the files to your PC. I usually make a folder with the date and include a small text file that describes what has been done since the previous backup. Keeping two or three backups on your PC can be a lifesaver if something that you try goes really wrong.
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I think I've misled you about Calibre. I meant that I run Calibre on the laptop and had noticed a couple of Calibre files in the Nook filing system. I've just checked and found the're on the SD card.
Progress in understanding here, but no practical progress.
I put the Opera Mobile apk file on the Nook SD, but then found it couldn't be moved/copied onto the Nook itself. Do you think I could install direct from the SD - B&N seem to have set up a barrier. I also emailed various links to the gmail address I put onto the Nook, but the emails refuse to open. I think the Google stuff needs updating.
I re-enabled the B&N browser, but it keeps warning me that site certificates are out of date, even when I use addresses which work on my laptop. Occasionally something works.
Amongst t[/QUOTE]he galaxy of menus I found an option to 'Show all apps including this one'. I clicked and ReLaunch appeared in my apps drawer!
nmyshkin said:
When you install any new launcher you will get a dialog when you touch the "Home" quicknav "button" asking what you want to do. It's possible that in the past you had that for Relaunch and answered something different with the "always do this" checked and then it's nearly impossible to find the launcher again--unless you install a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's what I did - it was supposed to be reversible, but the trick didn't work.
I think I'll make another backup and try NTGAppsAttack. Might free up the email. Then I'll have a think about launchers.
Many thanks for all the useful suggestions. Will let you know how things go, but not tomorrow as I have other things I have to do.
caromcm said:
I think I've misled you about Calibre. I meant that I run Calibre on the laptop and had noticed a couple of Calibre files in the Nook filing system. I've just checked and found the're on the SD card.
Progress in understanding here, but no practical progress.
I put the Opera Mobile apk file on the Nook SD, but then found it couldn't be moved/copied onto the Nook itself. Do you think I could install direct from the SD - B&N seem to have set up a barrier. I also emailed various links to the gmail address I put onto the Nook, but the emails refuse to open. I think the Google stuff needs updating.
I re-enabled the B&N browser, but it keeps warning me that site certificates are out of date, even when I use addresses which work on my laptop. Occasionally something works.
Amongst the galaxy of menus I found an option to 'Show all apps including this one'. I clicked and ReLaunch appeared in my apps drawer!
Yes, that's what I did - it was supposed to be reversible, but the trick didn't work.
I think I'll make another backup and try NTGAppsAttack. Might free up the email. Then I'll have a think about launchers.
Many thanks for all the useful suggestions. Will let you know how things go, but not tomorrow as I have other things I have to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Calibre stores little files on the SD card if you use it to move over books. I might add that simply dragging over the epub files seems to result in a smaller chunk of memory storage. Perhaps those Calibre files don't get updated (and larger) when you do that. At least that was my experience. And the NST can't use the Calibre information, in any case.
I install all my side-loaded apps from a folder I have on my SD card called "Downloads", so yes you can install an app from SD card--or should be able to do so.
If there was already a resident Gmail app in system/app it is probably useless. Even the one in GAppsAttack only functions for awhile and then you have to reinstall it to get it going again (and again....). Apparently a known issue but "fixed" versions do not run on the NST. You can try the small and simple e-mail app that is linked from here. That's what I use. It works simply and reliably with imap e-mail and functions just like you would expect Gmail to.
The problem with certificates has recently been addressed and is not a problem of the old (albeit largely useless) browser, but of the device itself and it can limit its access to, for example, Kindle books as well as various websites. When you get to the point where you want to deal with it, read the thread here (and the next few entries for some simplification).
nmyshkin said:
Yes, Calibre stores little files on the SD card if you use it to move over books. I might add that simply dragging over the epub files seems to result in a smaller chunk of memory storage. Perhaps those Calibre files don't get updated (and larger) when you do that. At least that was my experience. And the NST can't use the Calibre information, in any case.
I install all my side-loaded apps from a folder I have on my SD card called "Downloads", so yes you can install an app from SD card--or should be able to do so.
If there was already a resident Gmail app in system/app it is probably useless. Even the one in GAppsAttack only functions for awhile and then you have to reinstall it to get it going again (and again....). Apparently a known issue but "fixed" versions do not run on the NST. You can try the small and simple e-mail app that is linked from here. That's what I use. It works simply and reliably with imap e-mail and functions just like you would expect Gmail to.
The problem with certificates has recently been addressed and is not a problem of the old (albeit largely useless) browser, but of the device itself and it can limit its access to, for example, Kindle books as well as various websites. When you get to the point where you want to deal with it, read the thread here (and the next few entries for some simplification).
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Click to collapse
Great! You're a mine of useful info - and, belatedly, I've just found the Thanks Button. I've also loaded Opera Mobile, which is working fine. In the process the email has been fixed too. I've copied all your links onto my Nook for future investigation. When I have time (next week) I'll run NGAppsAttack (making a backup first) and then I should be able to download books.
For clarification, it was Loader, not ReLoad which offered me the load options and an "Always do this" tick box after rooting. The action of the tick box was supposed to be reversible, but that trick didn't work. I still don't know where Loader fits in. Part of the Nook software? Part of ReLaunch? However, all works now, so I won't post any more into this thread as it's really about my browser problem. May thanks Nmyshkin.
caromcm said:
Great! You're a mine of useful info - and, belatedly, I've just found the Thanks Button. I've also loaded Opera Mobile, which is working fine. In the process the email has been fixed too. I've copied all your links onto my Nook for future investigation. When I have time (next week) I'll run NGAppsAttack (making a backup first) and then I should be able to download books.
For clarification, it was Loader, not ReLoad which offered me the load options and an "Always do this" tick box after rooting. The action of the tick box was supposed to be reversible, but that trick didn't work. I still don't know where Loader fits in. Part of the Nook software? Part of ReLaunch? However, all works now, so I won't post any more into this thread as it's really about my browser problem. May thanks Nmyshkin.
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Click to collapse
Glad we got some things squared away. If you install the ES File Explorer I directed you to, it comes with an app manager. You can find the Loader, or Launcher or whatever (more likely, "Home") and cancel the default behavior from your "always do this" mishap.
Good luck.