Things change, and they change fast in the Android world.
My trusty SSH client, ConnectBot, got abandoned by it's developers.
Luckily, development and maintenance now continues in two forked projects. Of those, my pick's Irssi ConnectBox. One of it's major feature is support for physical keyboards, including CTRL and TAB keys. Whether you've got a bluetooth keyboard or a tablet with a keyboard dock, that's a godsend.
On the server side, there's a new player: Dropbear SSH Server. It's a free, open source, full featured SSH server with a clean interface. It does seem to require root permissions to run though, so if you're on a stock unrooted ROM, you may have to stick to SSHDroid (free with ads).
Showing posts with label root. Show all posts
Showing posts with label root. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Got Ads?
I know money makes the world go round, and I also know that there's a bunch of developers making great apps that make our life easier and it's just fair that they're paid for their work.
But I can't stand ads. Banners on my screens are like flies in my soup or cockroaches in my bed.
Since I got my 1st Android, my tool to remove such annoyances was AdFree.
The concept is simple: To display ads, applications contact a web server on the internet and ask for a banner. Said server logs the information it receives and provides the banner, more or less tuned for your demographics.
To contact that server, it needs it's address. DNS is the directory service that provides computer's addresses to requesting programs. But before asking a DNS servers, a local "hosts" file that contains name-to-addresses mappings is consulted. If, instead of containing valid mappings it contains "broken" ones, it'll prevent the communication from happening.
There's a few online services that provides lists of ad servers for which broken entries can be created.
To leverage those lists, my pick is now AdAway. My previous app failed after an upgrade, at which point I found this one. It downloads a few lists, merge them, and updates your hosts file. Note that your device must be rooted for this to work. Otherwise you don't have the privileges necessary to update system files.
Some of the good features of AdAway include customizing the list of URLs from which to fetch hosts lists, adding whitelisted items and using an included local webserver to serve fake ads and prevent some applications from crashing or displaying lenghty error messages because they can't reach their ad server.
But I can't stand ads. Banners on my screens are like flies in my soup or cockroaches in my bed.
Since I got my 1st Android, my tool to remove such annoyances was AdFree.
The concept is simple: To display ads, applications contact a web server on the internet and ask for a banner. Said server logs the information it receives and provides the banner, more or less tuned for your demographics.
To contact that server, it needs it's address. DNS is the directory service that provides computer's addresses to requesting programs. But before asking a DNS servers, a local "hosts" file that contains name-to-addresses mappings is consulted. If, instead of containing valid mappings it contains "broken" ones, it'll prevent the communication from happening.
There's a few online services that provides lists of ad servers for which broken entries can be created.
To leverage those lists, my pick is now AdAway. My previous app failed after an upgrade, at which point I found this one. It downloads a few lists, merge them, and updates your hosts file. Note that your device must be rooted for this to work. Otherwise you don't have the privileges necessary to update system files.
Some of the good features of AdAway include customizing the list of URLs from which to fetch hosts lists, adding whitelisted items and using an included local webserver to serve fake ads and prevent some applications from crashing or displaying lenghty error messages because they can't reach their ad server.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Got root?
If you're not familiar with Unix, root is the equivalent of the windows administrator account. If you actually are familiar with Unix, please forgive me for putting it that way :-P
What does that have to do with your phone? Good question. Android is based on Linux. It's a multiuser system, with restricted user accounts and an unrestricted root account. All applications are "sandboxed" through their user account's privileges, which roughly translates as "use the device, don't mess with it". And that's good, as you don't want the latest Angry Bird app you installed to wipe your contact data or format your SD card.
But if you're a power user, you may want to do more than just install apps that will fill the screen and play sounds. Maybe you want to install apps that actually require root privileges to run, like DroidWall or Titanium Backup. Maybe you want to customize your system beyond what's available in the settings menu, like changing the splash screen, or installing a whole different ROM (that's a copy of the whole OS, that replaces the one provided by your device manufacturer). Or maybe, just being the power user that you are, you want to satisfy your curiosity, look inside those forbidden directories and tune things to your liking. That device is yours, isn't it? Why would you be prevented to do as you please with it?
Acquiring root privilege on your android device, or "rooting" it, can be a more or less challenging process depending on your device manufacturer, model, and firmware version. If you're lucky, it's as simple as downloading an application to your phone, running it and pressing the magic button. Or you may have to reboot into download mode, replace the kernel (that's the heart of the OS), put your device in debug mode and use PC software to enable the root account through it's USB connection. And if you're really unlucky, the manufacturer just provided a firmware upgrade that breaks all know rooting methods. Then you can either wait for some kind hacker to provide a new rooting method for it, or find a way to downgrade to a previous "unsecured" version.
What's the end result? A new program, called su (for Switch User) controlled by a "SuperUser" application. When an app wants to break free of it's restriction, it calls su and you'll be prompted by SuperUser to allow or deny access.
From that point on, you're free. You can mess with your system or replace it altogether. If you're familar with the Unix shell, you can login and play around. I strongly advise that your first step be doing a complete backup, using an application such as ROM Manager (if your device's supported). Then install a "normal" backup app, like Titanium Backup, and start backing up your configurations and applications data. That way, if things turn for the worst, you'll be able to get back on your feets without pain. I speak from personal experience here...
Want to know more? Just ask below
What does that have to do with your phone? Good question. Android is based on Linux. It's a multiuser system, with restricted user accounts and an unrestricted root account. All applications are "sandboxed" through their user account's privileges, which roughly translates as "use the device, don't mess with it". And that's good, as you don't want the latest Angry Bird app you installed to wipe your contact data or format your SD card.
But if you're a power user, you may want to do more than just install apps that will fill the screen and play sounds. Maybe you want to install apps that actually require root privileges to run, like DroidWall or Titanium Backup. Maybe you want to customize your system beyond what's available in the settings menu, like changing the splash screen, or installing a whole different ROM (that's a copy of the whole OS, that replaces the one provided by your device manufacturer). Or maybe, just being the power user that you are, you want to satisfy your curiosity, look inside those forbidden directories and tune things to your liking. That device is yours, isn't it? Why would you be prevented to do as you please with it?
Acquiring root privilege on your android device, or "rooting" it, can be a more or less challenging process depending on your device manufacturer, model, and firmware version. If you're lucky, it's as simple as downloading an application to your phone, running it and pressing the magic button. Or you may have to reboot into download mode, replace the kernel (that's the heart of the OS), put your device in debug mode and use PC software to enable the root account through it's USB connection. And if you're really unlucky, the manufacturer just provided a firmware upgrade that breaks all know rooting methods. Then you can either wait for some kind hacker to provide a new rooting method for it, or find a way to downgrade to a previous "unsecured" version.
What's the end result? A new program, called su (for Switch User) controlled by a "SuperUser" application. When an app wants to break free of it's restriction, it calls su and you'll be prompted by SuperUser to allow or deny access.
From that point on, you're free. You can mess with your system or replace it altogether. If you're familar with the Unix shell, you can login and play around. I strongly advise that your first step be doing a complete backup, using an application such as ROM Manager (if your device's supported). Then install a "normal" backup app, like Titanium Backup, and start backing up your configurations and applications data. That way, if things turn for the worst, you'll be able to get back on your feets without pain. I speak from personal experience here...
Want to know more? Just ask below
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