02-28-2012, 07:39 AM | #1 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,041
Karma: 4694121
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S
|
There Has To Be An Easier Way To Update The eDGe
So I got to thinking (which is probably why my brain hurts) there has to be an easier way to do an update to the eDGe and Pocket eDGe. There are a couple of things driving this assumption. My son owns a Kindle Fire. Whenever there is an update to the Fire I download the update and copy it to the Kindle Update folder on the Fire itself, I go to Settings and select Update and the Fire performs the update and deletes the update file.
I believe the eDGe and probably most Android devices do the same thing, although most people would use an Over the Air (OTA) method for simplicity instead of downloading the update via a PC and then copying that file to the device. I have owned my EE and PE and my son has owned a PE for about a year. When I updated these devices I did so using an OTA update. I opened the Update App and here's what I think happened: The eDGe downloaded the update file, the file was copied to some Folder on the eDGe, the update was performed, and the update file was deleted after the update was performed. So I opened the update App for the heck of it just to see what would happen. I received an error message saying there was a problem performing the update and a system reboot was required. It's almost as if the Update App was looking for the update.zip file. All the LCD buttons were unresponsive and I had to long slide the power switch to turn the PE off. I turned the PE back on and everything was OK. It appears the eDGe was looking for the update file but couldn't find it. I understand the Update App normally goes out to the Entourage server to download the update. However, just like the Kindle Fire will ONLY go out over the air looking for the update IF it is not found on the device, I believe the eDGe may do the same. Although I have played around with SDK and AVD, I'm not an Android heavy (yet), so I'm not quite sure what folder the eDGe update should actually go in. I'm looking closely at me eDGe and Pocket eDGe to try and figure this out. However, I tend to believe that since updates were downloaded OTA while Entourage was in business there is a good chance that the file was simply downloaded to the root directory. I can't confirm this but if someone is thinking about updating or has an eDGe they experiment on (I'm thinking about getting one if a cheap appears on eBay) and would be willing to explore this would help a lot of people. If anyone has an idea what Folder the eDGe placed OTA updates when Entourage was in business this might make it much easier for future owners to update their device. Myself or someone else could name all the update files update.zip, place them in Dropbox or a similar hosting site, and the owner could download the file, copy it the appropriate folder, and open the Update App and the update is performed. This would mean no more errors renaming the file update.zip.zip, holding the Menu or Rotate buttons for 10 seconds, trying 6 different USB drives or SD cards, and all the other headaches that many new owners are still experiencing today. I welcome your comments and ideas. Last edited by obsessed2; 02-28-2012 at 05:46 PM. |
02-28-2012, 08:01 AM | #2 |
Gadget Freak
Posts: 1,169
Karma: 1043832
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: US
Device: EE, Note 8
|
Can the update 'function' be inspected IOT change the web address to a different one?
|
Advert | |
|
02-28-2012, 08:44 AM | #3 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,041
Karma: 4694121
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S
|
Quote:
I still think it would be nice and maybe easier overall to pinpoint the folder where the update downloads to in case you want to revert back to Dingo or even update Dingo, or update to Ermine, or pablob RC3. I think the eDGe will perform an update IF there is update.zip in the correct folder when the Update App is run. If it doesn't find the update.zip, it goes out to the Entourage server which we know no longer exists and tries to download it. Last edited by obsessed2; 02-28-2012 at 10:41 AM. |
|
02-28-2012, 08:48 AM | #4 |
ex se ens
Posts: 348
Karma: 1020253
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Italy
Device: enTourage edge & Pocket, Sony T1, Galaxy Note I, ex many others
|
very good idea!
|
02-28-2012, 12:11 PM | #5 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 98
Karma: 14416
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: enTourage eDGe Pocket
|
This would be all fine and dandy but there are a couple of problems here:
1> There really aren't enough of those going around to justify a central server to host the update files for OTA updating. 2> If someone volunteers to host the update files they open themselves up to possibility liability. Think of it, when a file has to be downloaded manually the person hosting the file can put whatever disclaimers on it.. you know.. "download at your own risk, don't hold me responsible if this bricks your device, etc". With an OTA update method then it can be updated automatically and if problems happen then whoever's EE/PE just got bricked will go to the person hosting the files and say "WTF did you do to my PE!?" Who is responsible when someone's EE accidentally OTA updates itself using a PE file? While in theory it's all fine in dandy, in real life it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's not like updates for these things are rolling out on a weekly basis or anything. |
Advert | |
|
02-28-2012, 12:17 PM | #6 |
ex se ens
Posts: 348
Karma: 1020253
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Italy
Device: enTourage edge & Pocket, Sony T1, Galaxy Note I, ex many others
|
According to Shustorovich, the eDGe rights owner https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=170553
devices sold were 10.000 in the world at the moment when he bought enTourage System patents I dont think people threw them away already. Btw less downloads = less troubles for band limit Last edited by lorenzoens; 02-28-2012 at 12:33 PM. |
02-28-2012, 12:29 PM | #7 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,041
Karma: 4694121
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S
|
Quote:
If you re-read my initial post this is not exactly what I was advocating. What I was suggesting is if we can pinpoint where the eDGe downloaded the OTA update to, and we were to copy the update.zip file to that location, and ran the Update App it might make life easier for those owners who are new to the eDGe or have been sitting on the fence about updating because of all the horror stories associated with the USB / SD card method. On my son's Kindle Fire which is an Android tablet, I have the option to either download an update via a PC and copy it to the Kindle Update folder and when I select Update it does so, OR, if the file is not present in the Kindle Fire folder the Fire will go out and seek an OTA version of the file. It looks for the file first by default and does an OTA if it is missing (I think the eDGe and most Android tablets do the same thing). Once the Fire competes the update, it deletes the update file. Since the eDGe did it's updates OTA originally, there has to be a folder (or maybe the root) where this file was saved in order to complete the update. By copying any update file to this location it may make the entire update process much simpler. The user could still download the appropriate update desired, rename it update.zip if necessary , copy it to the appropriate location, run the Update App and bingo. I'm also assuming the eDGe deleted any OTA file after completing the update to protect Entourage's property. What I'm proposing basically takes into consideration what you are saying. Make it so I can go to a central site like http://www.edge.ympsa.com/ where all the PE files are hosted for example and see the disclaimer. I can then click on say PE Golden Allmine, and the download I receive is named update.zip, and I move this file to the right location on the eDGe itself and run the Update App instead of fussing with renaming the file or using a USB and SD card and all the headaches associated with it. However, let's assume someone with Android programming skills did come up with a replacement Update App which could be used for an automatic download to say the PE Golden Allmine. If they are capable of modify the App itself they could probably include a disclaimer that would popup once the Update App is launched. Better yet, if they could just answer one simple question: Where is the Update File saved when performing an OTA update with the Update App? This location is possibly pointed to in the App itself. Last edited by obsessed2; 02-28-2012 at 01:19 PM. |
|
02-28-2012, 03:39 PM | #8 |
Groupie
Posts: 198
Karma: 1118
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Pocket Edge
|
If you know the apk of the update program you can disassemble it and read the java code to see exactly what directory it is looking for the update to be located. If I remember later tonight I will see if I can do that.
Files are EsiUpdate.apk and EsiUpdateNow.apk I looked in the disassembled apk and it did not reveal it. There is a downloadLocation variable but it pointed to an int so it must be an index to the locations somewhere. Not sure where though. Last edited by tekknogenius; 02-29-2012 at 03:10 PM. |
02-28-2012, 04:54 PM | #9 |
Guru
Posts: 858
Karma: 1027478
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: South of France
Device: kindle dx; eDGe
|
The use of a central server shouldn't present too many problems. Those of us that did the original OTA update of Ermine for the EE were presented with a page that required us to agree that we were updating with a beta release and were doing so at our own risk. I assume it was the same for the PE.
The thing the OTA server would need to know is what device is it, EE or PE? Since the old entourage server was able to work that out any new server should also be able to - it might prevent the problems we have been seeing of late with people trying to use the PE update on the EE, prompted, I suspect, by the lure of having the market available. On a side note - we might even be able to attach to the Russian OTA server |
02-28-2012, 05:06 PM | #10 |
ex se ens
Posts: 348
Karma: 1020253
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Italy
Device: enTourage edge & Pocket, Sony T1, Galaxy Note I, ex many others
|
For your side note: my name is Evgenievich Shustorovich. Do you need a server?
(Hope that next time he does some ego-surfing he'll find these pages and help us!) Last edited by lorenzoens; 02-28-2012 at 06:12 PM. |
02-28-2012, 05:32 PM | #11 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,041
Karma: 4694121
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S
|
Quote:
I think the download link for the OTA update was likely embedded within the EE or PE Update App. I'm really interested where this OTA update was stored when it was downloaded by the EE or PE. By placing the update.zip into this location it may be possible to update the EE or PE using the Update App. Last edited by obsessed2; 02-28-2012 at 05:41 PM. |
|
02-29-2012, 03:15 PM | #12 |
Groupie
Posts: 198
Karma: 1118
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Pocket Edge
|
Try the /cache directory
File localFile = new File("/cache/update.zip"); which is a line in the EsiUpdate2.class from the EsiUpdate.apk file. |
02-29-2012, 04:43 PM | #13 | |
Guru
Posts: 858
Karma: 1027478
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: South of France
Device: kindle dx; eDGe
|
Quote:
In theory it should be possible to modify the update app to accept a different location for the update file, one that can be selected via a dialogue box and be either an OTA server or a local PC. If that was done the end user would not have to get into the workings of the system and would therefore have less likelihood of making mistakes, I am assuming there is some sort of checking for the correct device update file in the update app. On inspection it appears that update.sh in the root of update.zip looks at build.prop in tools.zip to check if it is the correct update.zip - edge or edgejr so at least some thought went into making sure the correct update was applied to the device. |
|
03-01-2012, 12:51 AM | #14 |
Book and Gadget Fan
Posts: 199
Karma: 19698
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NJ, USA
Device: Nooks GL3, ST w/GL, Color, HD+; Kindles Voyage & Paperwhite; PE, EE
|
I recall someone here on the forum claiming that they had installed an update by copying the file to the device itself as input. I haven't yet located that post, but this conversation reminded me.
|
03-01-2012, 09:59 AM | #15 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,041
Karma: 4694121
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S
|
Quote:
I understand what you are saying. Plus, write access to system folders is restricted and won't allow for simply copying and pasting a file. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Ermine Update Files for Edge and Pocket Edge | obsessed2 | enTourage eDGe | 41 | 11-20-2013 10:20 AM |
Android Entourage Edge Down After update to 2.2 | dsleg | enTourage eDGe | 25 | 03-15-2012 04:35 AM |
won't update...after completing the update cycle edge returns to the first screen | WeAreBorrg | enTourage Archive | 2 | 03-18-2011 06:39 PM |
First eDGe Update Just Released! | Batman Jr. | enTourage eDGe | 19 | 04-01-2010 11:52 AM |
Entourage eDGe Update | zetareticuli | enTourage eDGe | 53 | 02-27-2010 12:16 AM |