Develop Bugs

How to Theme JFv1.51 CRB43-US using Ubuntu

One may think that it was nearly imposible to theme or modify a Us cupcake rom from JesusFreke because of his method of saving space on the system partition. In fact we have extra room for bigger sized themes. Here I will explain to you how to easily open and close the Cramfs files to modify /system/framework folder.
Cramfs can be opened and closed only through a Linux based shell.
To do this in windows, you should download Virtualbox.
After you finish installing it go and download Ubuntu.
Open Virtualbox and click on new. Follow directions to create your new Virtualbox Ubuntu OS.
Make sure you enable usb sharing. So that you can transfer files back and forth to both OS's.
Once you got Ubuntu running, open the terminal.
Type:
Code:
sudo -s
enter your password
apt-get install cramfsprogs
This command loads the Cramfs program files to your (Virtualbox Ubuntu OS).
Once the package installs, your ready to go.
-Opening Cramfs files:
Open terminal on your Virtualbox Ubuntu OS.
Type:
Code:
cramfsck -x /home/username/Desktop/opened 'framework.cramfs'
Cramfsck -x /home/username/Desktop/opened= Where the un cramfs-ed folder will be placed and what the folder is called.
Replace username above, with your user name.
framework.cramfs= the cramfs file you want to open.(Drag and drop in terminal)
The system will create a folder called "opened" on your desktop. (Feel free the change the name of folder from /opened to your liking)
That folder contains the /system/framework files un Cramfs-ed.
-Closing Cramfs files
You MUST be logged on to ROOT before closing Cramfs!!!
You MUST use the ORIGINAL files from the framework and app's folders of CRB43-US to prevent problems!!!
Open terminal on your Virtualbox Ubuntu OS.
Type:
Code:
sudo -s
enter password
mkcramfs '/home/username/Desktop/opened' framework.cramfs
mkcramfs '/home/username/Desktop/opened'= Location of the cramfs file.(Drag and drop in terminal)
Replace username above, with your user name.
framework.cramfs=The name of the cramfs file.
The system will create a cramfs file, located in the /home folder.(Click Places)
I have uploaded a CRB43-US Theme template to make it easier for you.
CRB43_US_Theme_Template.zip
Edit the template's framework and apps files to prevent forcloser!
I hope that you find this information useful in any way.
Here's some helpfull links:
How to manuals for creating themes
How to edit XML's
How to edit .9.png

Great technique. I've not tried it yet however I tried it with Cygwin. Unfortunately I don't think I was able to get it to work with it. Any thoughts?

From the other thread:
You need linux to do this! I mean come on, Android is not a Microsoft product, it's Linux based....Time to get your hands dirty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try it on SUSE Linux soon.

blackknightavalon said:
I'm going to try it on SUSE Linux soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ****. I did the sudo -s and password instructions and when I typed in the "apt-get install cramfsprogs" one I got "bash: apt-get: command not found" error message. HALP!!!1!
/SUSE Linux 10

blackknightavalon said:
Well ****. I did the sudo -s and password instructions and when I typed in the "apt-get install cramfsprogs" one I got "bash: apt-get: command not found" error message. HALP!!!1!
/SUSE Linux 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
apt-get is for Ubuntu and (i think) other Debian based Linux system. You'll need to use Redhat Package Manager (rpm) or some similar package manager.
http://en.opensuse.org/Libzypp/Package_Management
-Andy in Indy

Binary100100 said:
Great technique. I've not tried it yet however I tried it with Cygwin. Unfortunately I don't think I was able to get it to work with it. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it through Cygwin and I gave up because of the long process. I had to download a mirror site to download the cramfs program. Then I had to relocate most of the folders I wanted to modify because of that shell. Then I got more errors, so I said ...... that!!! And did it the way I posted it. I'll try to get it running on Cygwin and I'll let you know if I'm successful. FYI- you have alot more options on Ubuntu to Open ,see, and modify files on the Android packages, then you would on Cygwin.

So this maybe a newb question for some of you but I installed VirtualBox and Ubuntu 9.04 and followed the instructions. But I've hit a bump.
When I opened Terminal and entered sudo -s it will not let me enter my password. It just stays as a black box that doesn't move. I can type everywhere else... just not there for some reason. What am I missing?

Binary100100 said:
So this maybe a newb question for some of you but I installed VirtualBox and Ubuntu 9.04 and followed the instructions. But I've hit a bump.
When I opened Terminal and entered sudo -s it will not let me enter my password. It just stays as a black box that doesn't move. I can type everywhere else... just not there for some reason. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't show **** or anything, but its entering. Type password and press enter!

RichieDaze said:
It doesn't show **** or anything, but its entering. Type password and press enter!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh. I was hoping it was that easy. Thanks. I'm playing with it now.

Andy_in_Indy said:
apt-get is for Ubuntu and (i think) other Debian based Linux system. You'll need to use Redhat Package Manager (rpm) or some similar package manager.
http://en.opensuse.org/Libzypp/Package_Management
-Andy in Indy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I checked with my laptop's bin folder and I have rpm installed already. Today's n00b question is "now what?"

Wubi
Why don't you guys just use the wubi installer for ubuntu?
Its pretty mind numbingly easy to set up... and i haven't had any issues with it for the last month I've been using it.
http://wubi-installer.org/
then you can just use apt

jonnybueno said:
Why don't you guys just use the wubi installer for ubuntu?
Its pretty mind numbingly easy to set up... and i haven't had any issues with it for the last month I've been using it.
http://wubi-installer.org/
then you can just use apt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I didn't like about that installation was that I had to reboot to use either OS. With Virtual Box I can run my Os + 1,2, or 3 other OS's at the same time. That how I had it installed before I started using the Live cd to do the work. Thanks for giving us an other option. I guess its up to the users preference. I do recommend its use if you don't mind to reboot.

n00b question time: Would I be able to use the mkfs.cramfs program using SUSE? If so, what are the terminal codes?
/seriously stuck on this

its not working wat am i doing wrong
[email protected]:~$ sudo -s
[email protected]:~# ******
bash: ******: command not found
[email protected]:~# apt-get install cramfsprogs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
cramfsprogs is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
[email protected]:~# cramfsck -x /home/ubuntu/Desktop/opened 'framework.cramfs'
cramfsck: stat failed: framework.cramfs: No such file or directory
[email protected]:~#
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the ****** is the password.
i have the framework.cramfs
i also have the CRB43_US_Theme_Template.zip file on the ubuntu dektop
i tried this also
[email protected]:~# cramfsck -x C:\Documents and Settings\******\Desktop 'framework.cramfs'
usage: cramfsck [-hv] [-x dir] file
-h print this help
-x dir extract into dir
-v be more verbose
file file to test
[email protected]:~#
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can someone help

bboy_201 said:
its not working wat am i doing wrong
can someone help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you pull the cramfs file from the zip onto your desktop before you dragged it onto the terminal?

yes i did..
its on my destop for my windows n my ubuntu desktop

Finally, progress!
Just to update you guys on one thing: After roughly 3 weeks of blindly thrashing about SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and its buggy BIOS screen like a n00b, I FINALLY got installed Debian on my laptop! Next step: Figure out how to make a cramfs image and test-port my personal modded Moon Dust theme (with the Firefox logo on the browser and Carbon Black trashcan) before I actually start porting other devs (and them submitting the ports to the original devs for their approval).
Am I the only one actually working on this?

Progress Part The Second
blackknightavalon said:
Just to update you guys on one thing: After roughly 3 weeks of blindly thrashing about SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and its buggy BIOS screen like a n00b, I FINALLY got installed Debian on my laptop! Next step: Figure out how to make a cramfs image and test-port my personal modded Moon Dust theme (with the Firefox logo on the browser and Carbon Black trashcan) before I actually start porting other devs (and them submitting the ports to the original devs for their approval).
Am I the only one actually working on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a few bugs to work out, but now Debian is working as good as I can hope to get it working on my laptop. Now I need to compare the differences between the CRB43 framework-res images and RC33's. After that, it'll simply be a matter of a one-for-one swap with the instructions courtesy of OP.
The main thing is that I got the "apt-get install cramfsprogs" part working!

G-Slate root

There's no G-Slate forum yet, so this goes here.
How to root your T-Mobile G-Slate
This process works under Linux. The hard part under Windows would be mounting a file as an ext4 filesystem, but if you can do that you win.
You need:
The four files in the gslate_root.zip archive attached to this post.
To root:
Put those four files in a directory and open a terminal to there.
Shut down your G-Slate and plug it into your computer via USB.
Hold down both volume buttons and press the power button. The G-Slate will not appear to turn on, but it'll go into APX mode.
Running "lsusb" should show an entry "0955:7820 NVidia Corp."
Run the command "sudo su" to get a root shell. Running "ls" should still show the four files.
./nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --getpartitiontable ptable.txt
./nvflash -r --read 8 system-orig.img
Wait while 400 meg of data copies.
cp system-orig.img system.img
mkdir system
mount -o loop system.img system
cp su system/bin
chmod 4755 system/bin/su
cp Superuser.apk system/app
umount system
./nvflash -r --download 8 system.img
Wait while it copies back.
./nvflash -r --sync
Press the reset button under the sim cover to reboot.
There's your rooted G-Slate. Making that process "one click" is going to suck.
Troubleshooting:
You may need to install the package libstdc++6 or lib32stdc++6 to get nvflash to run.
You may need to use "sudo" on the nvflash commands.
If you want to try to make this work on Windows, the nvflash.exe binary and the APX USB drivers are are available from nvidia.com

This is unbelievable! Can't wait to give it a shot.

EDIT: For future reference, DO NOT use Virtual Box to try and root your device. There are issues getting the drivers to work properly. Lsusb will not work. The following methods have been tested and work:
1. Wubi install of Ubuntu Linux
2. VMware install of Ubuntu Linux
3. Dual-boot install of ""
4. Dedicated Linux box (duh)
And remember: If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Then visit our IRC channel.
Trying this on Windows 7 is gonna be a trip. Never workt with ext4 before.

Install Ubuntu and you can dual boot into Windows or Ubuntu. That's what I do.
Sent from my LG-V909 using XDA Premium App

This method is confirmed working. Thank you so much for the hard work Chandon. It wasn't very hard to complete on Linux. I can't believe my G-Slate is rooted!!!! Hell yes! Oh and the device is not wiped during the process either just to let everyone know!

Some More Help
Would it be possible to pull the recovery partition off now?
Why I ask. I am in a bit of a pickle. My slate will get to the first LG boot screen and then freeze. It does not even go to the boot animation. I can still get into fastboot and APX mode and it is seen by my computer.
How did i get here. While poking around in fastboot I am pretty sure i wiped they recovery partition D'OH.
I was able to complete the steps listed (for root) with out issue but still cannot get past the boot screen since this is only modifying the system partition.
I am thinking that if that could be pulled from the device i could flash it to mine and bring my slate back to life?
Am I way off on this one?

SmellyTunic -
Attached are all the reasonably small partitions that I could pull off my device with nvflash. This should be everything except /system, /cache, and /data.
I suggest backing everything up before flashing any of these, on the off chance that there's some difference between devices.

Thanks so much for this! Is there a good linux live cd(or bootable usb flash drive) someone could suggest where this could be accomplished easily? Not ready to take the plunge actually installing linux on my system yet >.>

Here you go
shinkinrui
Info and steps can be found here http://www.ubuntu.com/download
Pretty easy to set up a dual boot machine.
Chandon,
Any chance you know off hand which one of those partitions is the recovery?

I suggest doing a Wubi install [1], where Ubuntu pretends to be a Windows app (which you can then uninstall like any other app later). Alternatively you could try using VirtualBox [2], but that's less guaranteed to work.
The only reason I wouldn't do this with a Live CD is that you'd risk losing your backup of the stock /system partition when you reboot. It would also make losing power in the middle of the flash really annoying.
[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide
[2] (edit: virtual box doesn't easily see the USB device)

Thanks guys, reading about that Wubi solution looks like the simplest way to have a dual-boot system. I like it! I'll be getting my root on later tonight

i prefer Ubuntu just cause you can install it in windows then simply restart and boot into Linux or Windows. This way you don't need to worry about not having Linux again.

SmellyTunic said:
Any chance you know off hand which one of those partitions is the recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure that /system is 8 and the kernel is 13, but don't know about anything else. You might be able to figure it out by reading the ptable.txt file generated by the --getpartitiontable command - it's pretty clear except for the part where it uses 3 letter partition names.

Thanks. I will take a look when i get home from work.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

While we are on the topic of development, we really need a forum over here at XDA for the G-Slate!

deez1234 said:
While we are on the topic of development, we really need a forum over here at XDA for the G-Slate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely concur.

thengkiu so much
works like a charm

I have no idea why I'd ever need/want to root my G Slate, I'm fairly simple in my desires for my device - but I have to say I'm delighted to see it is possible and am ever so grateful for folks who figure this stuff out because it keeps moving G Slate towards legitimacy.
Thank you!!

The hard part under Windows would be mounting a file as an ext4 filesystem, but if you can do that you win.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No kidding. Since the linux method failed miserably for me, I've decided to press forward with trying to do it on Windows. Problem is, I have yet to find any way to mount an ext4 filesystem on Windows. There are several options out there that will allow you to read ext4 filesystems on Windows, but not write. Any suggestions?

my friend will be happy to see that this is possible.

[GUIDE ME] I wanna Dev

[New Question.] So let's start with the first things I'll need to know.....
how do I build root into a stock rom?
How do I create a flashable .Zip from scratch for my rom to go in?
How do I edit the text from cwm when I flash this rom?
And yes this thread is going to become a guide once I learn all I need to know about Building roms for the epic =]
[ANSWERED]So I'm thinking about kicking windows out the, erm, window lol..... I want to start learning about developing and want to start a few projects to pay back the community..... I'm guessing I can't develop on windows so I was wondering what would be the best version of Linux to use?..... and would it be possible to port a driver from windows to Linux?[ANSWERED]
A little how to for this guide..... Thank you mkasick =]
mkasick said:
Download Superuser su-2.3.6.3-efgh-signed.zip. Unzip, and copy "su" to "/system/xbin/su" on your phone, and run:
Code:
chown root.shell /system/xbin/su
chmod 4755 /system/xbin/su
from an adb root shell or terminal emulator. Then optionally copy Superuser.apk to /system/app. The part is optional because you can also install it to /data like a normal .apk, or install it from the Market, there's nothing special about it.
Grab tws_fix_ringer_vib_silent-EC05-deodex.zip (from this thread). Unzip and delete "META-INF/MANIFEST.MF", "META-INF/CERT.SF", "META-INF/CERT.RSA", and "system/framework".
Now, place whatever you want in the appropriate subdirectory of "system", creating them as necessary. Edit "META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script" to match the description of whatever you want to flash. And zip everything back up, e.g.,:
Code:
zip -9r update-unsigned.zip META-INF system
Note the zip should contain "META-INF/com/google/android/update-binary" and "META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script", in addition to anything you've placed in "system".
At this point the update.zip is flashable in ClockworkMod, but it's nice to sign it so that it can also be flashed in a test-keys stock recovery. To do so, download the attached "signapk.tar.gz". Extract it, then run:
Code:
java -jar signapk/signapk.jar -w signapk/testkey.x509.pem signapk/testkey.pk8 update-unsigned.zip update.zip
The resulting update.zip of which you can now distribute.
As for the "from scratch", update-binary and signapk.jar are both build from Froyo AOSP sources, specifically the android-cts-2.2_r2 branch. If you get an AOSP build environment setup as described, update-binary is made with:
Code:
make out/target/product/generic/system/bin/updater
cp -a out/target/product/generic/system/bin/updater update-binary
and signapk.tar.gz with:
Code:
make out/host/linux-x86/framework/signapk.jar
mkdir signapk
echo "java -jar signapk.jar -w testkey.x509.pem testkey.pk8 update-unsigned.zip update.zip" > signapk/README
cp -a out/host/linux-x86/framework/signapk.jar build/target/product/security/testkey.* signapk
tar cf signapk.tar signapk
gzip -9 signapk.tar
See above, but basically just modify the "ui_print" strings in "META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you've never used Linux before I would recommend using something like Mint just to get your feet wet.

Oh I've used mint, opensuse,Ubuntu, fedora, and debian before..... but I don't know which one is best for developing roms and compiling kernels and all that jazz..... and I don't think my wifi USB has a native driver for Linux so that's what's really keeping me from overwriting windows.....

theduce102 said:
Oh I've used mint, opensuse,Ubuntu, fedora, and debian before..... but I don't know which one is best for developing roms and compiling kernels and all that jazz..... and I don't think my wifi USB has a native driver for Linux so that's what's really keeping me from overwriting windows.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Ubuntu, I know a lot of people use gentoo but it's definitely not like debian based distros lol
Like you said with the driver, it all comes down to what is available and compatible with your system. I recommend Ubuntu just because of the (duh) massive support base compared to other distributions in terms of drivers and such.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

thomasskull666 said:
I use Ubuntu, I know a lot of people use gentoo but it's definitely not like debian based distros lol
Like you said with the driver, it all comes down to what is available and compatible with your system. I recommend Ubuntu just because of the (duh) massive support base compared to other distributions in terms of drivers and such.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the advice =]
EDIT: I don't know much about command lines..... what do people mean when they say "cd" like "cd to the folder in the terminal"?

Change Directory
So something like cd /sys/app nvigates you in the "app" directory within the system *folder* you will then be installing / modify / editing or whatever to the files in that specified directory.

Okay well I just installed Ubuntu 11.04 on top of vista and I can already tell I'm going to be spending most of my time on Linux instead of windows if I can get this driver installed without causing wwIV
EDIT: Okay so everytime I type "sudo" to gain root the terminal asks for my password but it won't let me type it???? What do I dooo!!!!

For application and kernel development it doesn't really matter which distribution you're running as the commonly used packages (e.g., Android SDK/NDK, Java, Sourcery G++ Lite) are fairly agnostic.
If you wanted to compile the AOSP source tree, Ubuntu might be the best route, only because the documentation uses Ubuntu configurations and package names as examples.
And yes, it worth going through command line tutorials. I don't recommend that one specifically, it was just the first hit on Google.
As for your sudo issue, just type the password. It doesn't show you the password as you type it for privacy purposes.

mkasick said:
As for your sudo issue, just type the password. It doesn't show you the password as you type it for privacy purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I went ahead and typed it but no go..... ill boot back into Ubuntu and try it again but if its still not working what's my next move? Sorry for being such a Linux noob in xda lol

theduce102 said:
Yeah I went ahead and typed it but no go..... ill boot back into Ubuntu and try it again but if its still not working what's my next move? Sorry for being such a Linux noob in xda lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you install or are you running live?
Got this from http://ubuntuforums.org/
You can't login as root. Ubuntu does not use the root account. You can use sudo if you need to do anything as root, see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
As far as I know, the password on the live CD is empty. Just press Enter when it asks for a password after entering "sudo <command>".

Well I did the dual boot option so when I boot my system I choose between Ubuntu and vista..... I had to choose a password and it worked when I typed it this time..... but now I have another problem lmao.....
I can enter "sudo make" and it does its thing, then I enter "sudo make install" and all goes well, but then I enter "sudo modprobe rt3572sta" and it returns "Invalid module format".....
I copied the entire terminal convo if it would help I can post it?
Any ideas?
EDIT: yeah I made an account over their at the forums but it seems pretty slow especially when I need help with one specific device?

One way to avoid the nightmare of patching together a working wifi driver in linux, install it in a VM (Virtualbox or Vmware) on the vista side. Then you can use the wifi adapter through the windows driver.. And then you don't have to do a full reboot to get to windows or ubuntu/mint.. (love Mint btw.. it lives in my VM, laptop, seedbox and soon to be server)

pvtjoker42 said:
One way to avoid the nightmare of patching together a working wifi driver in linux, install it in a VM (Virtualbox or Vmware) on the vista side. Then you can use the wifi adapter through the windows driver.. And then you don't have to do a full reboot to get to windows or ubuntu/mint.. (love Mint btw.. it lives in my VM, laptop, seedbox and soon to be server)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I once compiled a driver to use my blackjack 2 as a modem on a 300mhz thin client rdp computer that I got puppy linux to run on in 2007
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

pvtjoker42 said:
One way to avoid the nightmare of patching together a working wifi driver in linux, install it in a VM (Virtualbox or Vmware) on the vista side. Then you can use the wifi adapter through the windows driver.. And then you don't have to do a full reboot to get to windows or ubuntu/mint.. (love Mint btw.. it lives in my VM, laptop, seedbox and soon to be server)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestion, makes things a lot easier. The only thing is performance, you will be running on (usually) half the power of the computer which will slow compile times to a crawl for example.
As far as the root password goes, use the passwd command to change it:
Code:
sudo passwd root whateverpassword

pvtjoker42 said:
One way to avoid the nightmare of patching together a working wifi driver in linux, install it in a VM (Virtualbox or Vmware) on the vista side. Then you can use the wifi adapter through the windows driver.. And then you don't have to do a full reboot to get to windows or ubuntu/mint.. (love Mint btw.. it lives in my VM, laptop, seedbox and soon to be server)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks that's what I was thinking about doing but like thomasskull said it likely gonna take a dump on performance but may be the only choice I have....
thomasskull666 said:
Good suggestion, makes things a lot easier. The only thing is performance, you will be running on (usually) half the power of the computer which will slow compile times to a crawl for example.
As far as the root password goes, use the passwd command to change it:
Code:
sudo passwd root whateverpassword
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I don't really care much about changing password anymore cause I was finally able to enter the password but as always there's another problem..... ill probably post the terminal readings later on tonight when I get back to my computer.... and as for using a virtual machine, is there another way to go without dumping performance and without dealing with installing drivers through the terminal.....
Thank you all so much.... you guys have no idea how much I appreciate your help =]

So I downloaded VMware Player, where do I go from there to get the drivers installed so that I can reboot into Ubuntu and use the wifi card?

Well, under vmware workstation you should be able to just install a vm with just the iso file or the cd of the ubuntu build you want to install, its prescripted, and easy t use. With vmware workstation you can define hoow many proscessors you want to use, threads, ram, w/e... then vmware also installs a network service under windows that uses windows to transfer the network data into your vm. No need to configgure your wifi under linux anymore

Also, I think you're missing the point of a Virtual Machine. A VM runs alongside your current OS install. Software like VMWare Workstation acts as if its a virgin computer and makes an image file on your hard drive that acts as a hard drive for the VM. You can be running windows and linux simutaneously with a VM. For instance, whenever I develop or need linux, I open my vm nd use it on my seccond monitor. One monitor windows, the other linux, and you can even drag and drop **** to each other os. Its amazing. Just make sure you allocate uenough threads and ram to your vm and you should be fine.

Can I use all the ram and threads because I only have 1GB ram and a 3GHhz dual core processor..... or is that enough to run it

with only 1gb of ram, you probably wouldn't want to run a VM since you'd really not want to use more than 512mb of your total 1gb.. With that little ram, your best choice is the dual boot setup.

Xperia on Ubuntu (Udev rules, Flashtool, ADB&Fastboot)

This is a thread written to try and get poor MilkyJoePD up and running with his Ubuntu build, but it should be of help to anyone.
First of all, what you need:
1) Any version of Ubuntu from 10.04 onwards, with superuser access. The upcoming LTS Ubuntu 12.04 will be a great idea when it comes out, as it'll be maintained for 5 years (so the instructions to install it there will be valid for all that time).
2) Your Xperia Play (or any Xperia phone actually).
3) A Micro USB cable to connect it.
4) An open mind about terminal emulators. They're useful because they allow you to do things quickly and cleanly, if you just know their syntax.
What will we be doing in this thread: we'll set up our Xperia Play so that it gets recognized properly by Ubuntu. In addition, we'll set up ADB and Flashtool, which are programs with which our Xperia Play can interact. Lastly, we'll cover how to summon the "adb" and "fastboot" commands from any point in the terminal, by adding them to the $PATH variable.
Setting up the Xperia phone: udev rules
Android devices don't need specific drivers to work in Linux: you can plug an Android phone and it will be recognised as a flash drive. However, if we want deeper levels of interaction, such as the ones which ADB, Fastboot and Flashtool provide, we have to set up udev rules. Long story short, udev rules allow us to give the proper permissions that these modes require without having to function as superuser the whole time (an undesirable state of things in Ubuntu). Much more about them can be found here for the curious minds out there.
But let's not get lost. We want to set up udev rules, so we'll do it. First of all, we need to know the following: a device connected while it functions normally is not "seen" as the same device when it's connected in the Flash or Fastboot modes. In order to identify it, we can run "lsusb" which lists all of the ports, and connected devices, in our computer.
So, let's connect a Xperia phone which is turned on. We don't have to mount the sdcard as a flash drive, just plug it in. Once you have done that, open a terminal and type
Code:
lsusb
It will list you a boatload of devices, but only one of them is relevant to you right now:
Code:
Bus 00x Device 00y: ID 0fce:aaaa Sony Ericsson blah blah
The device is identified with two alphanumeric chains. The first one is the vendor ID, and the second one is the Product ID, which are the identificators we're going to use for the udev rules later on.
Let's switch off our phone, and plug it in "Flash" mode (hold the Back button while you connect it). Run "lsusb" again in the terminal again, and you'll find:
Code:
Bus 00x Device 00y: ID 0fce:bbbb Sony Ericsson blah blah
The Vendor ID is the same (0fce) for all Sony Ericsson devices, but the Product ID is different, as you can see. This is consistent with the idea that it's identified as "another" device.
The last part would be plugging the phone in Fastboot mode, holding the Search key while we plug the phone. Typing "lsusb" in the terminal again will give us:
Code:
Bus 00x Device 00y: ID 0fce:cccc Sony Ericsson blah blah
Which is, as we know already, a different Product ID.
Now that we have the device ID needed for the udev rules, we can write them. The most expedite way is to write in that lovely terminal:
Code:
sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/99-android.rules
That means, we'll use the standard text editor (gedit) to create the file 99-android.rules in the /etc/udev/rules.d folder. If we visit said folder we'll find other udev rules created already, but they're not interesting for our task. Notice that we ask for superuser permissions with "sudo" as we need them to write or modify udev rules. Once we have put our password we'll find an empty text file. And now we just copy-paste the following syntax:
Code:
SUBSYSTEMS==”usb”, ATTRS{idVendor}==”0fce″, ATTRS{idProduct}==”aaaa″, MODE=”0666″
SUBSYSTEMS==”usb”, ATTRS{idVendor}==”0fce″, ATTRS{idProduct}==”bbbb″, MODE=”0666″
SUBSYSTEMS==”usb”, ATTRS{idVendor}==”0fce″, ATTRS{idProduct}==”cccc″, MODE=”0666″
In human language, this means "Give the devices that are connected through USB and which have the mentioned ID codes the permissions 0666 (read/write access), which need root access".
Once we've filled the gaps, we just save the file. After we close it, we have to type in the terminal "sudo restart udev" and we've taken care of that part. Rebooting the computer has the same effect, but it's a bit of overkill, really.
Flashtool
With the udev rules fixed, we can go to the next step, which would be using Flashtool. It is necessary to mention that unlike the Windows version, Flashtool doesn't need any installation of any kind in Linux, you just run the program (the file called Flashtool) and you're set. You have to download the Flashtool folder, uncompress it and run the program. The folder is compressed in .7z format: Ubuntu doesn't manage 7z packages "out of the box", but that's no problem: go to your terminal, type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install p7zip-full
and that should take care of it. If you're not familiar with that command, "apt-get install" is the way to install packages from your existing repositories in Debian/Ubuntu; installing software in Ubuntu requires superuser access, as I'm sure you know. p7zip-full is a package which adds 7zip support to the archive manager of Ubuntu.
I won't cover how to use Flashtool, since I already did so in this post. While I made the tutorial for an older version of Flashtool, the base functions are exactly the same as before.
Optional: ADB and Fastboot; setting them in $PATH
OK, now we're going to the stronger stuff: if you want to do a bit more than restoring official ROMs and flashing kernels you'll do well in using the ADB and Fastboot programs. They're part of the platform tools of the Android SDK. You can download the latest Android SDK here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Once you've downloaded and uncompressed the Linux version of the SDK, go to the "tools" folder and run the "android" file (you need to mark it as executable first, in the properties). That file is the Android SDK Manager. Once it's running, you only need to install the SDK Platform Tools package. The rest are not necessary for our purposes.
Once you install the package, you'll notice that the folder where you unpacked the SDK is bigger. You'll find there the "platform-tools" folder, which contains adb and fastboot. You can run them from a terminal, but that requires you to have your terminal running in the exact folder where your /<Path/to/SDK> directory lies. This can get old really quickly if you use ADB and/or Fastboot frequently, so we'll do a trick that will allow us to summon them from any folder: we'll add them to our PATH variable.
In order to do this, we need to open a new terminal. It will start in our home directory. There is a file called .bashrc in our home folder that we need to tweak, so let's go to it. You don't see it normally, as it's hidden. All files which begin with a . in Linux will be hidden by default. You can see them in Nautilus by pressing Ctrl+H, and in a terminal by typing "ls -a". At any rate, this file is hidden because you usually don't need to touch it, but we'll do it here.
In our terminal, we write
Code:
gedit .bashrc
Again, gedit is the standard text editor in Ubuntu.
We see a lot of stuff we don't need to touch. We just need to go to the final line, after the word "fi" and write below:
Code:
# ADB and Fastboot direct link (this is a comment, so we remember what we did)
PATH=$PATH:/home/Path/to/SDK/platform-tools/
export PATH
We save the modified file, close any terminal we had left open, and now we can use adb and fastboot directly from any folder. Just connect your device with debug mode on for example, and type "adb devices": you should see the ADB identificator of your device.
And with that, I cover the installation guide of Xperia phones in the Ubuntu environment. I hope it's useful to everyone, particularly to MilkyJoePD who has inspired me to write it. If I've missed something I should have mentioned, by all means say it.

Haven't used Ubuntu for a while but I'm taking note of this for later. Thank you for the info.
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

don't forget to install de dependencies:
Code:
sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0
on 64 systems, you need 32bits libraries, so run:
Code:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

With the news of Sony not releasing ICS, I decided to try again to get fastboot working.
While installing the dependencies, I get this:
W: Duplicate sources.list entry cdrom://Ubuntu 11.10 _Oneiric Ocelot_ - Release i386 (20111012)/ oneiric/main i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/Ubuntu%2011.10%20%5fOneiric%20Ocelot%5f%20-%20Release%20i386%20(20111012)_dists_oneiric_main_binary-i386_Packages)
W: Duplicate sources.list entry cdrom://Ubuntu 11.10 _Oneiric Ocelot_ - Release i386 (20111012)/ oneiric/restricted i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/Ubuntu%2011.10%20%5fOneiric%20Ocelot%5f%20-%20Release%20i386%20(20111012)_dists_oneiric_restricted_binary-i386_Packages)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
Where do I go from here?

Remove CD-ROM reference from sources
Edit your sources and comment-out / turn off the references for the installation disk (CDROM/DVD). It should be the first thing you turn of after any install anyway. In my humble opinion.
Then run
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -f install
this should resolve any pending issues and get you running.

skeltonh said:
Edit your sources and comment-out / turn off the references for the installation disk (CDROM/DVD).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I do that?
Sent from my R800i using XDA

Or can somebody can tell me what it means so I can Google it?
Sent from my R800i using XDA

I have a problem, when I try to use fastboot even in the platform-tools folder it says:
fastboot: command not found

On what OS? If it's Linux, you have to add a Dotslash to execute the file.
Swypesation

I have created udev rules as said above, but flashtool still says 'Add udev rules'.
What I am missing here. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04.
Any help is appreciated.

You must start flashtool with root acces

is rooting ur play a wise decission?

wat is better 4 my play, ics or gingerbreadman?

where/what is the search key on a mini pro?
Thanks

Big Thanks for this Tutorial Logesman. :good: Just wanted to add that I think...anyone having trouble installing SDK + Manager has to install Java JDK first. Yes, I got stuck at installing SDK.:silly: I tried to run android file in tools folder (as executable) which opens manager.
From Terminal:
sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk openjdk-7-jre

i am unable to run "adb devices" command in ubuntu 12.04.. please help :crying:

roopz said:
i am unable to run "adb devices" command in ubuntu 12.04.. please help :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having same problem on 12.04! I did everything in this thread afaik, and the ubuntu forums. I could really use some help , because I also have problems with adb.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

install windows might be easier.
Sent from my Xperia Play using Tapatalk 2

roopz said:
i am unable to run "adb devices" command in ubuntu 12.04.. please help :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cyrusalmighty said:
I am having same problem on 12.04! I did everything in this thread afaik, and the ubuntu forums. I could really use some help , because I also have problems with adb.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried running adb as root? (After a week of testing 12.04, I left to go back to 10.04, a much better release, imo)
Pax
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk 2

IE-coRe said:
I have a problem, when I try to use fastboot even in the platform-tools folder it says:
fastboot: command not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seems like you didn't path the fastboot command correctly, try check back again at your .bashrc
roopz said:
i am unable to run "adb devices" command in ubuntu 12.04.. please help :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same case as the above
cyrusalmighty said:
I am having same problem on 12.04! I did everything in this thread afaik, and the ubuntu forums. I could really use some help , because I also have problems with adb.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would you mind telling what does the error says?

[GUIDE] ADB & Fastboot not working under Windows? UBUNTU WILL DO!

The keystone of this guide: make ADB & fastboot working in Ubuntu, when nothing else helps with with Windows. Resent Windows OS versions are getting less flashing-friendly and some brands (like Samsung) release new devices on the market without compatible USB drivers. Before losing countless hours trying to solve the problems, try this, possibly very easy solution.
Compatible devices: ADB will work on nearly all devices, fastboot should be also usable for very most of the devices with bootloader mode: Nexus, HTC, Sony etc.
The guide is posted here in Nexus 7 (2013) thread for high amount of reported bootloops right after unlocking the bootloader- or problems with executing fastboot commands in Windows, which must work to unbrick the device.
DISCLAIMER:
Code:
* [I]I am not responsible for bricked devices or PCs, personal crisis, depressions[/I]
* [I]sleeples nights, termonuclear wars, electricity blackouts, short circuits,[/I]
* [I]or for bad weather in your region that will brick your Android device or your PC.[/I]
* [I]I try to help here, but it may not work for you. You do all on your own risk.[/I]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
INSTALL ONLY FASTBOOT :
Windows can cause so many problems, that sometimes ADB & Fastboot simply won't work.
Run therefore ADB or fastboot in Ubuntu if Windows fails.
Installing ONLY fastboot in Ubuntu (should work with 10.x, 11.x and 12.x)
(internet connection required)
Run in the Terminal:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
Reboot isn't required.
Save all the flashing files on home folder, or navigate with "cd" to your files.
Happy flashing!
For the case it doesn't work after this, try THIS method which is little bit more complicated, but should work in actually all Linux OS variants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
INSTALL ADB AND FASTBOOT :
To fix a bootloop, for unbricking, to root, to unlock/relock the bootloader, for flashing of a stock firmware, kernel, or recovery: for all those things fastboot must work reliably. And in Windows, it sometimes simply won't work at all, whatever you try.
Windows OS is complicated. And needs drivers at all times. Successful use of ADB or Fastboot with Windows is totally dependent on perfectly installed drivers. And there we have the source of many problems. As way around all those in fact Windows related promblems, we will use here Linux instead of Windows. Linux needs no drivers. Linux is free. Linux needs no antivirus software. Linux gets optimized day by day. Your Android device is Linux based.
After reading how many users encounter day by day countless issues by attempt to run fastboot and ADB commands (especially here in Nexus threads), I've decided to make this guide. There are some longer and complicated guides here around. I like fast, easy and secure way- so I hope this will help.
STEP 1: how to run Linux on Windows PC
There are many variants of Linux OS, but to keep the things really simple I will refer here entirely to the most popular variant of Linux: Ubuntu.
Windows users have three common ways to run Ubuntu on their Windows PC:
OPTION 1: installing Ubuntu permanently (my personal preference)
Pros: you will gain Ubuntu OS besides Windows and possibility for dual-boot. Reboot between Windows and Ubuntu takes about 1 minute. Full functionality of both operating systems.
Cons: in very seldom cases the installation of Ubuntu doesn't work flawless and if Ubuntu gets installed on the same HDD, Windows OS can get partly damaged or unusable, or has to be re-installed. Part of HDD memory space has to be permanently reserved for Ubuntu (min. 10GB recommended) and won't be accessible from Windows anymore.
OPTION 2: running Ubuntu from bootable live-CD
Pros: Ubuntu won't get physically installed, it runs 100% virtually from bootable live-CD and uses only RAM of the PC. People who don't desire to install Ubuntu permanently will have no changes on their PSs. No potential risks due to unsuccessful installation. In general, works with most of the computers.
Cons: No data or settings can get permanently saved in Ubuntu, especially Linux novices will have to learn quickly about setting the permissions: each time again after restarting Ubuntu session from the live-CD. Ubuntu is considerably slower this way.
OPTION 3: running Ubuntu from VirtualBox (in your Windows OS)
Pros: easy way to run Ubuntu directly from Windows in kind of "sandbox"
Cons: doesn't work well with some PCs
STEP 2: INSTALLING FASTBOOT & ADB IN UBUNTU
Now when your Linux OS is working, we can finally go for it!
Make sure to have internet connection
open the Software Center in Ubuntu
install openjdk-7-jdk
install Eclipse
download adt-bundle for your respective OS (32-bit or 64-bit version) from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
extract the folder and paste the extracted folder to prefered folder and rename it to your prefered folder name
run the Terminal and navigate (cd) to the unzipped folder into "platform-tools"
Example for novices: I have pasted my extracted adt-bundle folder under "Home" and renamed it to "SDK", so I have to navigate to my platform-tools this way:
Code:
cd /home/tetakpatak/SDK/sdk/platform-tools
After this, you should be able to execute all the ADB and fastboot commands
Now just mind to paste all the files you desire to flash or push or sideload into your "platform-tools" folder!
Happy flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DOWNLOAD LINKS
Ubuntu OS: DOWNLOAD HERE
Virtual Box: DOWNLOAD HERE
Warning: VirtualBox supports only the 32-bit version of Ubuntu, so also owners of 64-bit PC-systems should make sure to download the 32-bit version of Ubuntu, and not the 64-bit version!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND USEFUL LINKS
Checklist for ADB:
for using in Android OS make sure to enable USB debugging under "developer options"
ADB works in Android OS and in the recovery mode, but not in the bootloader mode
make always sure at the very beginning that your ADB connection works by typing "adb devices" (the response must include a serial number on the left and "device" right after it!)
Basics about ADB: check for example this excellent ADB guide
Checklist for fastboot:
fastboot commands can be executed only in bootloader mode
fastboot commands will work also if USB debugging was disabled
make always sure at the very beginning that your fastboot connection works by typing "fastboot devices" (the response must include a serial number on the left and "fastboot" right after it!)
by using fastboot for the first time on a PC or Android device, never start with bootloader flashing! Missmatched bootloader flashing can hard-brick the device. Rather first execute "fastboot reboot-bootloader" and try to flash a kernel or recovery to make sure flashing commands are working and the connection is established.
Flashing with fastboot (example Nexus 7 v2012): check this excellent guide by @comminus
My self made video of flashing a full factory image with manually done fastboot commands in real time (example Nexus 7 v2012):
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please use "thanks" button beyond my posts if you find this guide useful. I've spent my time to help you, who read this.

TROUBLESHOOTING:
Occasionally, the device's storage doesn't get recognized in Ubuntu (something like MTP Camera error, can't mount camera, or so). The source of this problem is, that Ubuntu 12.04 doesn't support MTP natively yet, hopefully 13.04 will do.
This is the solution that should work with Ubuntu 12.04, enter in Ubuntu Terminal following:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gvfs
restart your PC, now everything should work (enable USB debugging if it doesn't)
If this method wasn't successful, you can try alternatively to do the same thing with these two repos:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/unstable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install go-mtpfs
After the last command just reboot the PC
Also this repo could work:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
If none of both repos works and you want to uninstall both of them, just enter:
Code:
sudo ppa-purge ppa:webupd8team/unstable
sudo ppa-purge ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp

great tutorial!
tetakpatak said:
reserved
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey brother, great tutorial...
I know this will help so many people in the future and i love to see anything linux based! I have been using linux/bsd based operating systems for years and i love the way linux and android work together!
Take care my friend and thanks again for all of the hard work.
-droidshadow

You can also put your computer in test mode which bypasses msm kernel mode code signing policy. This will enable the ability to install the drivers needed. From the administration profile on your PC open a command prompt and type
Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON
Then restart your computer.
Edit: This is for Windows 7 X64 and Windows 8 users alike.
Sent from my Nexus 7 Flo running CM 11 4.4.2 with ElementalX Kernel using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I keep getting a keyserver error when entering first command.

Got it to install the problem I see now is with java

Steve One said:
I keep getting a keyserver error when entering first command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Linux version do you use?
tetakpatalked from Nexus 7 flo

tetakpatak said:
Which Linux version do you use?
tetakpatalked from Nexus 7 flo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mint15

Here's another shot

Steve One said:
Here's another shot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please google a bit, I think you need another repo for Mint 15, I think I saw it somewhere in www last week. Sorry, I can't research right now until end of week.
tetakpatalked from P5110

tetakpatak said:
Please google a bit, I think you need another repo for Mint 15, I think I saw it somewhere in www last week. Sorry, I can't research right now until end of week.
tetakpatalked from P5110
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm truly stumped went from Windows Vista to all Linux to be able to use adb and still can't get it to recognize my device.
I installed the java 7 sdk but it still doesn't recognize my device..........guess I will try to get a Petra CD don't know what else to do ha ha and I thought this was the easy way to get adb to work. Thank you for your help kind Sir.

Steve One said:
I'm truly stumped went from Windows Vista to all Linux to be able to use adb and still can't get it to recognize my device.
I installed the java 7 sdk but it still doesn't recognize my device..........guess I will try to get a Petra CD don't know what else to do ha ha and I thought this was the easy way to get adb to work. Thank you for your help kind Sir.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should definitely work with Ubuntu versions 10. 11. and 12.04 even without extra installing Java. I didn't try it with other Linux versions.
Which Linux did you install? Did you enable USB debugging?
Check in www as there are different repos available for ADB and fastboot.

Opening post updated: added procedure for enabling all ADB and fastboot functions in Ubuntu, for the short way with enabling fastboot only doesn't work with every Ubuntu version.
tetakpatalked from the legendary i9000