Let me preface my question with some info. I know my way around android and have been flashing roms since the first non-google rom was created. I also have extensive linux/windows/cli experience. My experience falls a little short when it comes to the more modern (and customized) android internals (such as which packages are required by what these days).
I already have the GlobmallX1 and while experiencing issues I decided I wanted to further clean the junk off of it. I also have an H96 Pro + ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W2L2WTY ) that will be here on Monday that I would like to clean off before we start using it. The only things I really need on these boxes are going to be Kodi and Netflix. I would like the play store installed and obviously anything required for the remote/wifi to function.
I am seeing a ton of packages installed that at first glance I would assume are not required, however I want to avoid killing the box by removing packages that are required by others. The Globmall came with Kodi and a Kodi updater preinstalled. I am probably going to backup the kodi install and wipe both of those out and install manually so I know the package has not been tampered with. I found a lot of stuff in /system/preinstall that I would like to get rid of, but again unsure if any are required. I looked into finding a clean rom to use instead for the H96 but it seems they all are missing something (sound, 4k, wifi, etc). I also searched for apps that might have some internal bloatware database however everything I found seems to be trash and just shows all apps and sends you to settings to uninstall.
My questions:
1: Is there an easy way to check a package to see if its required/important/malicious (either an app, or something I can do via adb)?
2: On these china kodi boxes, can the entire /system/preinstall dir be wiped out and the device reset safely?
3: I am seeing word that as long as the cpu and wifi chip match, roms from similar boxes can normally be safely flashed. I know flashing is in general not "safe" and has risk, but am I likely to find clean android roms that are fully working?
4: Does anyone know if there is a good place to find bash precompiled for arm(v8l)? I really hate this 'toybox' shell that I am finding on the boxes I have.
5: Last question is regarding a netflix issue I am having that I think is a problem on the box. Has anyone seen this before?:
Netflix was previously working a few weeks ago. I didnt use it frequently so I dont know when it broke. Basically what happens is I can load netflix and click on a show. The show will load and play about 1-4 seconds of video and a popup will appear (error 0013) saying it could not connect to the netflix service. While this popup is playing, the video sometimes pauses with audio continuing for a few seconds and sometimes freezes on a single frame. This happens on about 80% of the shows I try to play, however the 3 shows we want to use netflix for are all in that group.
This morning, I tried a couple older Netflix apks (I was running 4.13.3):
4.11.0, 4.12.1, 4.13.0, 4.13.1, 4.13.2
All experienced the same issue (again, why I feel the issue is with the box and not the app). A few other things Ive tested are resolution (1080p and 2160p) and enabling/disabling HDR (heard this can cause netflix/kodi issues).
I know this is a massive dump, but any help on any of the questions above will be appreciated. I have googled and searched forums for each of these, so If the answers are there I may be searching for the wrong thing. Thanks in advance.
Nothing? Is this a bad forum to post this on?
Related
I used to have a huawei ascend p1 phone with gapps preinstalled (good phone). People first complain about its build quality but it that plastic they used on it can withstand many drops without even scratching the phone. I sort of found the gapps annoying because the first time I set it up, it asked me for my physical location and a google account and asked me to store home wifi passwords, contacts, etc in google servers and all that those data stuff google wants from people. I know I can back up my own things so I don't need google to do all these things for me, I tried to disable as much of these features as I could and it was okay for a while until my phone got stolen at a sports center and couldn't find it back despite having installed tracking apps on it.
So I got a new phone, the nexus 4 because it had a booloader that was easy to unlock. I decided to start fresh without all those data sucking features and remove the stock firmware to flash cyanogenmod on it. It was my first time using cyanogenmomd and I gotta say it's wayyy better than the stock firmware in terms of useful features. I really liked it because of all the customizations it offered. As a replacement for google play I installed 1mobile, and fdroid/slideme they worked wonderfully without a google account (I never had one). When I started to install apps from these markets, some apps would work and some would not and some wouldn't even install. I used adb logcat to figure out what was wrong with them and it showed that they required some permissions from the gapps package mainly "com.google.android.maps.xml" and few others. I decided to just copy this file over to the permissions folder on my device and the apps that wouldn't install before installed but most of them would crash easily. Subway sufer was one of my favourite games but it wouldn't work without gapps along with other apps. I figured I had to install gapps and all the data sucking questions and features poped up after I rebooted my phone prior to the installation so I set it up just like previously did on the huawei ascend p1. I noticed that 1modile wouldn't work as smoothly as it did anymore because the searches don't return the official apps. It's like something's been changed in its search algorithm because it when I search for subway surfers it used to return the official game as #1 result but after gapps it dosn't show at all, it just shows tricks, cheats and other apps for the game. The same things goes with other apps I tried to find from it.
To sum everything up, my question would be something like "Is there a way to have all those dependencies apps rely inside cyanogenmod without gapps?".
Hey guys I need some help not in resolving this but in finding a way to resolve it...as weird as that sounds.
I've searched on google and here in the forums and there doesn't appear to be any clear answer to the problem.
The problem is that last week, my battery was drained like crazy (no this is NOT a battery drain post!), so after going over the usual BBS stats and logs, I narrowed it down to Media / Download manager / DRM protected media (each app will report it differently). I also noted that my data plan got sucked up with more than 300MB downloaded. Since then it's happened twice more, downloading about 90MB each time.
Going into settings, data usage and disabling background data use for Google services will fix the data use but it doesn't address the problem.
A bit of background: I've been using custom ROMs for years, and finally settled on Slim ROM (which is based on CM10), running on a Galaxy Nexus, so an OTA is out of the question. Also, this is the first time this has ever happened. Ever.
What I need help with (I've also searched and found nothing yet that could help me):
I want to know what the hell is downloading and from where.
That's it. How can I do that? Is there a way to check active connections, bw used and where they're coming from? Some log? Some app that will monitor this for me and tell me where it's downloading all this crap from? I've tried to use disk usage apps to see if any directory is larger than 350MB but all I can see is my photos and music which has always been there, nothing new. Maybe one of the privacy apps that could scream at me something like "this app is trying to connect to this server here". I need details.
I could easily wipe the device and install OS again, but I feel I should really find out what the hell is going on before anything else.
Many thanks to all in advance,
Hello guys and thanks for reading this. I'd like to require your knowledge and collect your expériences, opinions about wether or not I should root.
1 / So here's the deal, what I wish for is a device with which :
-I could prevent selected apps from launching in the background by themselves (see attached picture - i never asked for any of those to launch - seriously the phone was on for only 5 minutes or so) in a one time configuration process. For example, I'd block Facebook but let Messenger do its thing freely.
-I could completely uninstall the following apps : Hangouts, Google+, Gmail, News & Weather, Chrome, Play books, Play Music... Basically everything Google except Maps, YouTube & The Play store..
2 / I Wonder, if it's possible to accomplish (some of) those things by rooting but without flashing another rom. What I mean is, can we change the governor, install super SU, other tweaking solutions... but at the same time keep the stock rom as it is whith all the apps installed as they are... and simply applying tweaks on top of it?
3 / Also, never have I once went back to factory settings, since day one, and I can feel that some apps take a bit longer to load. When receiving the SENSE 5 / 4.2.2 update, I could definitely sense a big boost in responsiveness in the OS but it now feels like before the update. Maybe it's due to those background processes, starting and ending by themselves? Or because the internal memory chip is beginning to die (I did use the phone like an animal in its early days by doing things like downloading torrents and unzipping files between 500mb-5gb) and still do sometimes. And I rarely uninstall apps. I have like 200 (every shortcuts included - like settings, help,... so basically 170 apps maybe?) and i need them at least every once in a while, so I'm the preventive type, not a hoarder.
Here are 2 attached pictures :
-the first one showing you those unwanted background processes.
-the second showing you the storage status
Enough with the background, what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
true2you said:
Hello guys and thanks for reading this. I'd like to require your knowledge and collect your expériences, opinions about wether or not I should root.
1 / So here's the deal, what I wish for is a device with which :
-I could prevent selected apps from launching in the background by themselves (see attached picture - i never asked for any of those to launch - seriously the phone was on for only 5 minutes or so) in a one time configuration process. For example, I'd block Facebook but let Messenger do its thing freely.
-I could completely uninstall the following apps : Hangouts, Google+, Gmail, News & Weather, Chrome, Play books, Play Music... Basically everything Google except Maps, YouTube & The Play store..
2 / I Wonder, if it's possible to accomplish (some of) those things by rooting but without flashing another rom. What I mean is, can we change the governor, install super SU, other tweaking solutions... but at the same time keep the stock rom as it is whith all the apps installed as they are... and simply applying tweaks on top of it?
3 / Also, never have I once went back to factory settings, since day one, and I can feel that some apps take a bit longer to load. When receiving the SENSE 5 / 4.2.2 update, I could definitely sense a big boost in responsiveness in the OS but it now feels like before the update. Maybe it's due to those background processes, starting and ending by themselves? Or because the internal memory chip is beginning to die (I did use the phone like an animal in its early days by doing things like downloading torrents and unzipping files between 500mb-5gb) and still do sometimes. And I rarely uninstall apps. I have like 200 (every shortcuts included - like settings, help,... so basically 170 apps maybe?) and i need them at least every once in a while, so I'm the preventive type, not a hoarder.
Here are 2 attached pictures :
-the first one showing you those unwanted background processes.
-the second showing you the storage status
Enough with the background, what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a challenge then "I'm a proud owner since January " Well , welcome aboard the sailing ship of the HOX+
Well for starters, everything you said can be acheived by root WITHOUT installing a custom ROM. That actually answers all your questions, HOWEVER, keep in mind, that the first stage of rooting , will require you to WIPE all your data during the stage of unlocking the bootloader. So , your music , apps,pics all will be wiped, and you won't be able to backup your apps the first time. So I hope it's still worth it .
For starters read this guide I wrote : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46057784 about the difference between different stages, if you can't understand the forum is full of other threads that explain the same thing.
Moving on,
The list of apps you will need is as following:
1-Super SU or SU whatever is a necessary ofcourse.
2-Xposed framework (google it, its not on the play store) Function:
Its a program that you will need to install other tweaks to your phone. Its basically a manager for those tweaks incase you want to turn one off.
Thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1574401
3-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "BootManager"
Its a module (thats the term for those "tweaks") that allows you to setup the programs that you dont want to boot. Sadly It doesn't have a full list of apps, but its useful nonetheless.
3'-Greenify:
The reason I named it 3' was because its an alternative for BootManager. Greenify hibernates the apps , making them not run in the background, but when you open the app it wakes up, so its not similar to "disable" function since you can still open the app to work on it.
4-Titanium Backup
Now thats a program I must install everytime I switch roms, if you read the thread you will know whats it's use, but let me sum it up. You backup all your apps and progress and when you switch roms (since everything is wiped again) it restores everything back.
ALSO: It allows you to totally uninstall all the apps even stock ones, but TAKE care not to uninstall anything messy, advice: backup everything before you uninstall.
5-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Sense5 Toolbox" :
It allows you to make tweaks for the stock rom, rearrange quick settings, add new ones, change lock screen ..etc. Really worth it.
6-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Recent apps RAM":
When you open up the recent apps lists, there will be a bar at the top displaying the ram used and free ram. When you see that less than 100mb left, then thats when you know the phone will lag. Just clear all the apps and it should be fine
7-Xposed Framework > Downloads > "Recent Apps kill all Button":
The only thing missing in sense is the ability to kill all apps without manually swiping up on each app in the most recent list. That enables a button for that.
IMO: Rooting was the best move I have ever made, and since we have S-ON, then you can't really brick your phone. So life is good.
Anyway, I hope I helped and that you will live a long life with that HOX+
Many days later, thaaaaaaank youuuuuuu!
So I read your thread on the link you proved provided (again thanks), read and seen videos and tutorials about titanium backup, and also read about - and tried Xposed + sense5 toolbox without rooting just to get a glimpse - and it's both easy to use and ergonomic. Of course I couldn't get any benefits of it yet since still not rooted, but hey, you've pretty much served me all the steps on a golden plate.
Also, as a warming up session, I did a factory reset and neck, I backed up everything before doing so and all I lost was my games data + 1 or 2 phone numbers + my text messages. Overall not a big deal + reinstalling everything took nothing more than a couple of downloading hours.
What's left for me is to test out greenify and the other module (boot something) or any other alternative, I'll figure it out you've already done more than enough.
As for the main task, rooting and getting super user access, again I now have enough info thanks to you + the stickies + the whole one x+ section.
I am so grateful for your time. After years with windows mobile and window phone 7 (and 8 months of unrooted use of my hox+, this is new to me and now it seems nothing but easy.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
A few questions about new root
Hey Guys!!
I'm very sorry if this is in the wrong section or if I sound a little bit on the dumb side, I'm a bit of a rooting noob, so I'm not as experienced on the ins and outs of a superuser enabled system quite yet.
I have a rooted Fire HDX 7" (thor) on version 3.2.8, and since installing google play, I keep getting an annoying pop up saying it's stopped, now I have done some reading on this, and people are saying that it's because google and amazon "aren't playing nice" what I want to know is, is there any way to disable the pop up window? I don't really care much for the application's instability at present, just the annoying pop up.
I am FAIRLY computer savvy, admittedly I'm more a hardware kind of lady, and I'm slightly weaker in the software side of life but I've done my A-Level computing and got a good grade, and I'm fairly able to interpret code and scripts if that's any help to you.
If it comes to installing ROMs, are there any ROMs compatible with such an old operating system version that will enable smooth running of google play apps?
if there aren't would I need to unroot and update, if so, how would I do that?
also, when referring to OS versions what does "stock" mean?
Again sorry if I appear a little ditsy, I would like to think I am fairly receptive to information, however.
Thanks!!
zeealex said:
Hey Guys!!
I'm very sorry if this is in the wrong section or if I sound a little bit on the dumb side, I'm a bit of a rooting noob, so I'm not as experienced on the ins and outs of a superuser enabled system quite yet.
I have a rooted Fire HDX 7" (thor) on version 3.2.8, and since installing google play, I keep getting an annoying pop up saying it's stopped, now I have done some reading on this, and people are saying that it's because google and amazon "aren't playing nice" what I want to know is, is there any way to disable the pop up window? I don't really care much for the application's instability at present, just the annoying pop up.
I am FAIRLY computer savvy, admittedly I'm more a hardware kind of lady, and I'm slightly weaker in the software side of life but I've done my A-Level computing and got a good grade, and I'm fairly able to interpret code and scripts if that's any help to you.
If it comes to installing ROMs, are there any ROMs compatible with such an old operating system version that will enable smooth running of google play apps?
if there aren't would I need to unroot and update, if so, how would I do that?
also, when referring to OS versions what does "stock" mean?
Again sorry if I appear a little ditsy, I would like to think I am fairly receptive to information, however.
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi - we all were Android/FireOS/HDX noobs at some point. Your questions are not out of the ordinary and show some knowledge of the relevant topics.
There is not an easy way to suppress the 'stopped' pop-up. Nor is there a way to prevent various Google services from occasionally crapping out. Happens on a wide variety of devices (even Google signature devices, ie: Nexus 4/5/7/10) with varying frequency. Amazon does not officially support Google Play Services so it's not surprising the failure rate is higher when run in conjunction with FireOS.
With 3.2.8 you can install Safestrap v3 (not v4) and Nexus v2 which brings AOSP to HDX including full access to the Play Store and other Google apps. Works great! You could also upgrade to FireOS 4.5.2, install Safestrap v4 and then flash a newer version of Nexus or CM11. However, there is risk and work associated with the upgrade. I would start with SS v3/Nexus v2 to see if it meets your needs.
Give it some thought. If you want to proceed I can provide links to appropriate discussion threads along with a quick overview of the process.
This is a known issue on Fire OS and some samsung devices. You either have to use a different rom on your device, downgrade to gapps 5.3 (i think), or just put up with the spamming until a fix is released. :/
Hey Davey and Terra_Byte_Tech,
Thanks for getting back in touch, I'm very sorry I wasn't able to reply earlier, I've been quite ill recently.
It's a shame there's no work around for the pop ups, I would normally stick with the older versions but youtube consistently harrasses me to update google play services.
I've found a make-shift work around though, and that's to freeze google play services with titanium backup and unfreeze it when you first start youtube, youtube only checks if Google play services is enabled when it first starts up, I'm assuming it's an update check of sorts, after that GPS can be disabled again with no issues.
Play store works fine with Google play services disabled.
I like the idea of safestrap v3, it seems like the easiest option when taking into account my software version, I'll admit I've been trying to find a link for it but I've noticed the mirrors in the kindle safestrap thread are both down. I've heard that the AOSP ROM doesn't have any headphone capability though, or has that bug been fixed?
I do have the 'update-kindle-13.4.5.2_user_452004120.bin' file available and ready to use, however I'm not sure why but the kindle doesn't detect the update file, I'm pretty sure it's probably the root and the workaround to disable OTA updates I put in but even removing the root and renaming the folder back I can't do it, but I'm sure if we can find a way around this little bump, we could try safestrap v4 and CM11.
Thanks!
zee
zeealex said:
Hey Davey and Terra_Byte_Tech,
Thanks for getting back in touch, I'm very sorry I wasn't able to reply earlier, I've been quite ill recently.
It's a shame there's no work around for the pop ups, I would normally stick with the older versions but youtube consistently harrasses me to update google play services.
I've found a make-shift work around though, and that's to freeze google play services with titanium backup and unfreeze it when you first start youtube, youtube only checks if Google play services is enabled when it first starts up, I'm assuming it's an update check of sorts, after that GPS can be disabled again with no issues.
Play store works fine with Google play services disabled.
I like the idea of safestrap v3, it seems like the easiest option when taking into account my software version, I'll admit I've been trying to find a link for it but I've noticed the mirrors in the kindle safestrap thread are both down. I've heard that the AOSP ROM doesn't have any headphone capability though, or has that bug been fixed?
I do have the 'update-kindle-13.4.5.2_user_452004120.bin' file available and ready to use, however I'm not sure why but the kindle doesn't detect the update file, I'm pretty sure it's probably the root and the workaround to disable OTA updates I put in but even removing the root and renaming the folder back I can't do it, but I'm sure if we can find a way around this little bump, we could try safestrap v4 and CM11.
Thanks!
zee
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Zee - sorry for your recent illness. Hope things are better now.
You should discard the 4.5.2 file you mentioned unless you are absolutely sure it came from this thread. Updating 3.2.8 with the 'wrong' variant of FireOS v4 can lead to an unrecoverable brick. The OTA block is probably what saved you if it's a stock update .bin.
Headphones work fine on CM11 and Nexus v2/v4. Whatever information you had is likely outdated.
Once you have the right 4.5.2 file in the root of the sdcard folder try using HDX toolkit to remove the OTA block. Make sure your device can not connect (airplane mode engaged; delete all wifi profiles)! Root status is irrelevant once the update file has been placed. Let's see if that works. Keep in mind there is risk associated with upgrading with consequences ranging from data loss to an unrecoverable device. Most survive the journey intact but you need to be aware things can go wrong.
If you make it to 4.5.2 skip the WiFi setup section as Amazon will immediately attempt to update your device to 4.5.5 (as of this writing) which is not rootable.
You should also download ES File Explorer and Kingroot apks and place them in a uniquely named folder of your choosing on sdcard before upgrading. You'll need to install these on 4.5.2 and you will not be able to easily download them without risking an unwanted OTA.
(FYI - I will be traveling the next few days will limited connectivity. Feel free to post questions; others will likely respond)
Okay, I'd first like to begin with the WiFi. This was and issue for me but was solved when I uninstalled McAfee Mobile Security. (Full story here)
Secondly, the Google (Now/Search) App. It keeps closing as soon as I open it unless I use Voice Search. A couple of others have also reported this on HUKD. (Though someone said that uninstalling updates on it then reinstalling them did the job, but then updated his comment saying it - in fact - didn't, so I'm in the process of doing that right now anyway, I'll make an edit to say how it went.)
Lastly, my biggest concern is that this phone boasts a 3GB RAM and an Octa-Core Snapdragon (6XX, can't remember specifically) processor, so I - (relatively) as a newbie - am struggling to understand why exactly the phone lags at times. (It also froze and restarted 3 times within my first few hours using it but hasn't done so since then. (2 out of the 3 times were when I was on Snapchat, and can't remember the other one. I think throughout that time my Play Store may have been updating apps though). Any ideas, anyone?
PS: Are there any custom ROMs for this device, as I've seen nothing on XDA, and some on other websites (mostly German, only one English) which I'm not entirely sure are reliable. I'll try and get the link here if I come across them them again...