Installing Android Market on the Kobo Vox

[fddekker]

I just want Google E-Books on my Kobo, I don't really care about the rest of Android Market. Is there a way that I can get only that on my Kobo Vox? Is it included in the cyanogenmod download package mentioned earlier?

Thanks in advance.

[taming]

There is no cyangenmod available yet for the Vox. Once folks figure out how to get Market working, all the free Google Apps should be available. From what I have heard, the ones that cost money, probably not.

[sdt1]

Originally Posted by GoingDown

Here is something I have used for my Chinese-branded Android device with no official Android market.

WARNING! This procedure may render your device unbootable. Check first how you can reset your device to factory defaults if this happens. (happened to me few times, but factory reset helped every time). This may even brick your tablet, be careful!!!

WARNING! Do it on your own risk. If something goes wrong, warranty probably doesn't cover this mess.

So, now to the procedure:

Get Google apps from Cyanogenmod webpage (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.ph...on/Google_Apps)

Note that you must guess which package is good for your tablet (depends which Android version your tablet is running). If Kobo runs Android 2.3, then you could start with Cyanogenmod 6 builds). If you have Android 3.x then the Cyanogenmod 7 packages should work. If you try to run too new packages, they won't run (you may got some weird error messages...)

Install following apps to your device (if your device has some of these already installed, you may skip them):

GoogleServicesFramework
OneTimeInitializer
SetupWizard
Vending

Optional:
Gmail
Talk
Maps

After install, reboot the device and Google setup wizard should run... if not, then uninstall packages and try other version.

Good luck

I went about this a little bit differently...I tried some of what I read in various posts here and on xda. Thought I would share. The following WILL get Google Market installed on your Kobo eVox, BUT there is still the problem of being able to log onto their servers, which I haven't figured out yet. Maybe someone else who is also trying might have the solution?

I've also attached all the .apk's for side loading from your external micro SD card, to make this super easy for everyone (I like easy ) In addition to Google Market, other steps need to be taken to root the eVox, and to add easy reboot functionality that currently doesn't exist on the eVox (power off only gives option to shutdown, but not to reboot or quick reboot). Apps like Kindle, QuickOffice, etc. are impossible to install without access to the Google Market, but I've included these apps -- that's right, now your Kobo eVox can be a Kobo AND Kindle eReader!

Steps:

1. Run Gingerbreak.apk
2. (After reboot) Run stericson.busybox.apk
3. (after reboot) Run LiGux.apk
4. (after reboot) Run GoogleServicesFramework.apk
5. (after reboot) Run Market.apk
6. (after reboot) Run vending.apk
7. Run OneTimeInitializer.apk (*this would not install for me)
8. Run SetUpWizard.apk (*this wouldn't install for me)
9. Run kindle...apk (*optional)
10. Run QuickOffice...apk (*optional)

After all this, you'll have a PERMANENTLY rooted eVox, plus Kindle (optional), plus QuickOffice (optional), plus Market (partially working), plus LiGux reboot menu! Hope this helps, and to return the favour, please reply with any new developments in getting Market fully functional. For some reason I could NOT install the .apk's for "OneTimeInitializer" and "SetUpWizard" that are listed as required for successful install of GMarket? I get an error message on the eVox after clicking on "Install" that says "Application not installed". Cheers!

[pulsar]

I wonder if market.android.com IPs are somehow blocked? One could grep for "74.125.226" in all Kobo configuration files. According to ncftp lookup,

ncftp> lookup market.android.com
market.android.com:
Name: android-market.l.google.com
Alias: market.android.com
Address: 74.125.226.39
Address: 74.125.226.35
Address: 74.125.226.34
Address: 74.125.226.46
Address: 74.125.226.40
Address: 74.125.226.33
Address: 74.125.226.47
Address: 74.125.226.32
Address: 74.125.226.38
Address: 74.125.226.45
Address: 74.125.226.41
Address: 74.125.226.42
Address: 74.125.226.43
Address: 74.125.226.37
Address: 74.125.226.44
Address: 74.125.226.36

[kcarscadden]

Originally Posted by sdt1

... Apps like Kindle, QuickOffice, etc. are impossible to install without access to the Google Market, ...

Actually, it is fairly easy to install the Kindle app, with just a simple download. There are many places to get it. Here is one: Kindle App at FreeWareLovers

It is fairly easy to get any free Android app. Just do a Google search for android app name apk. It is more difficult to pay for non-free apps, although in many cases it is possible to get them.


Keith

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by fddekker

I just want Google E-Books on my Kobo, I don't really care about the rest of Android Market. Is there a way that I can get only that on my Kobo Vox? Is it included in the cyanogenmod download package mentioned earlier?

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried installing the Google Books apk found here?...
http://www.apktop.com/google-books-1-4-5.html

[jefftheworld]

It's good to see people trying, but I'm not sure how possible it's going to be to install a working version of the Android market like this.

[hieronymos]

Very possible and common. There really is just this communication problem, which I have with some other apps as well... (I just realized that Kobo actually renamed a few system components. Maybe that is the trouble...)

[jefftheworld]

Originally Posted by hieronymos

Very possible and common. There really is just this communication problem, which I have with some other apps as well... (I just realized that Kobo actually renamed a few system components. Maybe that is the trouble...)

I meant without rooting and modifying system files.

[pulsar]

Originally Posted by sdt1

I went about this a little bit differently...I tried some of what I read in various posts here and on xda. Thought I would share. The following WILL get Google Market installed on your Kobo eVox, BUT there is still the problem of being able to log onto their servers, which I haven't figured out yet. Maybe someone else who is also trying might have the solution?

I've also attached all the .apk's for side loading from your external micro SD card, to make this super easy for everyone (I like easy ) In addition to Google Market, other steps need to be taken to root the eVox, and to add easy reboot functionality that currently doesn't exist on the eVox (power off only gives option to shutdown, but not to reboot or quick reboot). Apps like Kindle, QuickOffice, etc. are impossible to install without access to the Google Market, but I've included these apps -- that's right, now your Kobo eVox can be a Kobo AND Kindle eReader!

Steps:

1. Run Gingerbreak.apk
2. (After reboot) Run stericson.busybox.apk
3. (after reboot) Run LiGux.apk
4. (after reboot) Run GoogleServicesFramework.apk
5. (after reboot) Run Market.apk
6. (after reboot) Run vending.apk
7. Run OneTimeInitializer.apk (*this would not install for me)
8. Run SetUpWizard.apk (*this wouldn't install for me)
9. Run kindle...apk (*optional)
10. Run QuickOffice...apk (*optional)

After all this, you'll have a PERMANENTLY rooted eVox, plus Kindle (optional), plus QuickOffice (optional), plus Market (partially working), plus LiGux reboot menu! Hope this helps, and to return the favour, please reply with any new developments in getting Market fully functional. For some reason I could NOT install the .apk's for "OneTimeInitializer" and "SetUpWizard" that are listed as required for successful install of GMarket? I get an error message on the eVox after clicking on "Install" that says "Application not installed". Cheers!

I tried to follow your instructions, installed GoogleServicesFramework.apk, but not the rest (there is no "Market.apk" in your package. If you meant market_update.apk, it wouldn't install for me). Now I have the option to add a Google account, but after I enter my login and password, it's trying to communicate with google servers for a few minutes, and then fails. I was running netstat at the same time, to see what communications are taking place. It looked strange - I didn't see any connections to external IPs during the google account sign-in step; only after it fails, netstat reports a connection to market.android.com IP in some WAIT state. I checked for any firewall issues, and at least ping (from inside Kobo) had no problem connecting to that IP. Of course, they can be blocking specific ports, not IPs.

[hieronymos]

Originally Posted by jefftheworld

I meant without rooting and modifying system files.

Ehhhhmmm... maybe we'll just have to push the stuff to /system/apps instead of /data/apps? (I'd need a working recovery first, though, as I'm not planning on opening the device yet.)

[eclare99]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Have you tried installing the Google Books apk found here?...
http://www.apktop.com/google-books-1-4-5.html

Thanx for this; so I *finally* was able to download an app! and I bought a book from google, and it says it is in my library, but I cannot find it, and it is not in this Book apk. Can you tell me where I might find it? (I don't seem to have a library on my vox)

[taming]

I believe they mean the Android Market library. If you don't have Android market working on your Vox (ut oh), you can see your library from the Android Market webpage. https://market.android.com/mylibrary

[hieronymos]

Does that mean what I think it does???

Spoiler:

I/CheckinTask( 2545): Sending checkin request (11133 bytes)
E/CheckinTask( 2545): Checkin failed: https://android.clients.google.com/checkin (request #0)
E/CheckinTask( 2545): java.io.IOException: Rejected response from server: HTTP/1.1 400 invalid hardware identifier: "xx.xx.xx.xx.xx.xx" is not a valid MAC address (expect 12 hex digits)

(inside the x'es there are real numbers and letters)
Is the other end rejecting because of the .'s instead of :'s or is it rejecting the actual mac??
Funny - the wifi mac does have :'s - but in the Android settings it shows .'s. Something going wrong there?

[jefftheworld]

Originally Posted by hieronymos

Does that mean what I think it does???

Spoiler:

I/CheckinTask( 2545): Sending checkin request (11133 bytes)
E/CheckinTask( 2545): Checkin failed: https://android.clients.google.com/checkin (request #0)
E/CheckinTask( 2545): java.io.IOException: Rejected response from server: HTTP/1.1 400 invalid hardware identifier: "xx.xx.xx.xx.xx.xx" is not a valid MAC address (expect 12 hex digits)

(inside the x'es there are real numbers and letters)
Is the other end rejecting because of the .'s instead of :'s or is it rejecting the actual mac??
Funny - the wifi mac does have :'s - but in the Android settings it shows .'s. Something going wrong there?

No, the periods rather than colons should be fine. Perhaps it's the vendor ID part of the MAC address it doesn't like? Try changing your MAC address to one of a known certified vendor (Samsung, HTC, Acer, etc).