yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Questions and Answers] bnyrbl:
Google Android Market

So, when you try to register the Kobo Vox with your Google Account, here's what is really going on:

I/CheckinTask( 2545): Sending checkin request (11133 bytes)

E/CheckinTask( 2545): Checkin failed: https colon slash slash 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)

The problem here is that Android is reporting to the application the mac address of the device, formatted with periods between the digits.

If the app is querying a config file, it should be as easy as taking the periods out saving the file and trying again.

If the Google Initializer App is querying another process (the Atheros wireless driver, etc) then you'd have to re-compile that program to report the mac without separators (periods, colons, spaces).

If all you want is Google Android Market, you shouldn't need to root the tablet. Just install the GoogleFramework apk's, and somehow present the devices mac address without separators. Even once the device is registered with your Google Account, all Google Apps will probably need the mac formatted properly to sync, etc.

So, if someone can figure out if this is a value in a config file somewhere (easy fix) or if a process is what's reporting this (not so easy but doable), that's probably all that's preventing Google Android Market access on the Kobo Vox.
[General Questions and Answers] inoo:
finally made it

Thanks a lot for this info. I have successfully downloaded/installed apps from market.

To get this done:

1. follow necessary steps listed in #44

2. download&install adbWireless (from getjar IIRC)

3. install android sdk, jdk6 (jdk7 doesn't work!), apktool to your PC

4. copy the GoogleServicesFrameWork.apk to your PC (tons of ways. I used adb pull)

5. apktool d GoogleServicesFramework.apk framework

6. open framework\smali\com\google\android\gsf\checkin\CheckinRequestBuilder.smali in a text editor

you can find this @ line 2238, or by searching "getMacAddress"

.line 190

invoke-virtual {v4}, Landroid/net/wifi/WifiInfo;->getMacAddress()Ljava/lang/String;

move-result-object v3

.line 191

.local v3, mac:Ljava/lang/String;

if-eqz v3, :cond_1

.line 192

const-string v5, ":"

const-string v6, ""

invoke-virtual {v3, v5, v6}, Ljava/lang/String;->replaceAll(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/String;

it is so obvious, right? It gets mac address string first, and then replace all ":" with nothing.

Now ,change the line to:

const-string v5, "."

7. apktool b framework GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk

now you get the fixed one. But you have to sign it so it can be installed.

developer_dot_android_dot_com/guide/publishing/app-signing.html, "signing in release mode".

8. create a a keystore:

keytool -genkey -v -keystore my-release-key.keystore

-alias alias_name -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

9. sign it:

jarsigner -keystore my-release-key.keystore GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk mykey

10. now, switch to your kobo. unstall market and googleservicesframework first.

11. run adbWireless.

12. on PC: adb connect <ip>:<port>

adb install GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk

13. Use AndroidTerminal, or adb shell, copy Vending.apk to /system/app, chmod 644 /system/app/Vending.apk (you need to mount the directory to rw, and mount back to ro after done), run "sync" (maybe not necessary)

14. install /system/app/Vending.apk with File Expert.

(maybe you need to reboot your kobo vox after this. I'm not sure)

15. install youtube.apk and run it

switch to my channel, sign in with your gmail account.

then click "allow" when it asks for permission.

(in settings, make sure auto sync and background data is on.)

16. now, open Market app. Enjoy.

P.S. you can try other later Vending.apk. I updated to a transparent v3.1.1 I downloaded somewhere a few days ago.

Cheers!
[General Questions and Answers] danifunker:
Help! I tried following those instructions, and I got to the part where it asked me for permissions (I needed to use an older Youtube APK). But it's giving me server error when I try to go into the market. I need to use a v3 because I want to use the apps I bought on my phone.

Any ideas?

I also noted that my sync was off in the accounts.

OK, I managed to get gmail, contacts and calendar setup through sync, but Google market is still saying "server error". Same problem though.
[General Questions and Answers] inoo:
I also got "server error" again when trying to downgrade Market and prevent its auto-update. Now it works again.

Seems youtube should be first installed.

Try this:

1. uninstall all Google apps including GoogleServicesFramework, and remove Vending.apk from /system/app. reboot.

2. install youtube first.

3. copy Vending.apk to /system/app, chmod.

4. install GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk with "adb install".

5. in file expert, install /system/app/Vending.apk.

6. run youtube. log in with your gmail account. wait allow permission twice.

7. run market app.

what I exactly did:

1. cleared everything but I didn't remove Vending.apk from /system/app

2. installed GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk with File Expert.

3. installed youtube and log in with my google account.

4. it didn't work....

5. then I uninstalled GoogleServicesFramework and remove Vending.apk from /system/app

6. rebooted device.

7. ran youtube, went to my channel and saw authentication error.

8. adb install GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk. tried to add google account from settings, but exit at the "create new account or log in with existing" dialog.

9. logged in google account in youtube. allowed permission twice.

10. copied Vending.apk to /system/app, and chmod

11. installed Vending.apk from File Expert.

12. ran Market app and crossed fingers...

Wow it works!
[General Questions and Answers] fddekker:
Kobo Vox: install google market

Thanks for the detailed postings.

I don’t seem to find adbWireless (from getjar or anywhere) I downloaded the windows SDK Manager {Android 4.0 (API 14)} and ran that. I now have adb.exe in my platform-tools folder, but no adbWireless)

Know where (or how) I can get adbWireless?
[General Questions and Answers] cmstlist:
You can get it on AppBrain: http://www.appbrain.com/app/siir.es.adbWireless
[General Questions and Answers] bnyrbl:
Ok...

So it looks as if my original post was correct, removing the separators from the MAC address is enough to allow Market Access.

It appears that the GoogleServicesFramework apk is the only one that needs to be actually modified. Have installed Android dev kit and Eclipse and all system requisites, and trying to follow the instructions here.

Is there any way someone could post the updated "GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk" binary somewhere instead of every Kobo user needing to re-compile the binary themselves?
[General Questions and Answers] danifunker:
My Kobo has become completely unstable now, every time it sleeps I need to do a hard reset. Is there any way I can restore it? I've been looking around on the forums but haven't found anything.
[General Questions and Answers] fddekker:
Thanks. Found adbWireless on this site. Got it to work. New to Android, so not too sure how do do the edit to GoogleServicesFramework.
[General Questions and Answers] ershun:
Hi there. I met same problem since updating the firmware. It seems related to WiFi. Keeping WiFi always on works for me. Settings->Wireless & network settings->Wi-Fi settings->Menu key, Advanced->Wi-Fi sleep policy->Never.
[General Questions and Answers] bnyrbl:
Got it! Works like a charm thanks a whole bunch! Kobo Vox on the Market! Woot!
[General Questions and Answers] danifunker:
Ok, so I got the market without rooting this time.

But nothing will download! Market crashes whenever it tries to d/l... is there something i'm missing?

Please note, I only installed youtube, market (latest version) and the modified googleframework.
[General Questions and Answers] fddekker:
Congrats ... so do you have a "GoogleServicesFramework-kobo.apk" that you can share?
[General Questions and Answers] danifunker:
I'm not sure if it works... but here goes nothing!

Here is the stack trace I get when the latest version of the market crashes:
D/Finsky ( 6955): [1] DownloadQueueImpl.startDownload: Download com.anahoret.android.dots starting
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264): Writing exception to parcel
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264): java.lang.SecurityException: Invalid value for is_public_api: null
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at com.android.providers.downloads.DownloadProvider.enforceAllowedValues(DownloadProvider.java:686)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at com.android.providers.downloads.DownloadProvider.checkInsertPermissions(DownloadProvider.java:624)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at com.android.providers.downloads.DownloadProvider.insert(DownloadProvider.java:442)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.insert(ContentProvider.java:198)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at android.content.ContentProviderNative.onTransact(ContentProviderNative.java:146)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:320)
E/DatabaseUtils( 2264):	at dalvik.system.NativeStart.run(Native Method)
W/dalvikvm( 6955): threadid=20: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x2aac0560)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955): FATAL EXCEPTION: download-manager-thread
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955): java.lang.SecurityException: Invalid value for is_public_api: null
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1322)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.database.DatabaseUtils.readExceptionFromParcel(DatabaseUtils.java:160)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.database.DatabaseUtils.readExceptionFromParcel(DatabaseUtils.java:114)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.content.ContentProviderProxy.insert(ContentProviderNative.java:408)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.content.ContentResolver.insert(ContentResolver.java:604)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at com.google.android.finsky.download.DownloadManagerImpl$1.run(DownloadManagerImpl.java:44)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123)
E/AndroidRuntime( 6955):	at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:60)
W/ActivityManager( 2070): Force finishing activity com.android.vending/.AssetBrowserActivity

Okay, I figured out the solution to my woes.

The key is to have the Vending.apk file located in /system/app. For this you MUST be rooted on the kobo vox. Be sure to set the permissions properly, (644). I basically moved the installed market (com.google.vending-1.apk) to /system/app and renamed it to Vending.apk. Cleared the data, then restarted. Upon restart, the market started working. FYI The market I'm using is 3.3.1.1, latest to date.
[General Questions and Answers] fddekker:
Googlr market

Great .. thanks. I will try this weekend when I have time to play with my Kobo.
[General Questions and Answers] Typhoid-M:
Hi,

I'm very interested in getting android market working on my kobo. I'm a little lost on what steps are required to do this. Can anyone provide a step by step?

Thanks
[General Questions and Answers] FriendlyFire:
I have an odd problem; managed to install YouTube after scouring the web for the proper APK (hopefully not picking up a nasty surprise or two along the way), got Vending and the framework up too, but whenever I try to login with either YouTube or the Market, it says my username/password don't match. I went as far as resetting my Google account password to make sure I had the proper one to no avail.
[General Questions and Answers] jefftheworld:
@FriendlyFire

Sounds like the Google framework isn't correctly installed. This is an issue I noticed before recompiling the .apk and whatnot.

More generally, you can still do the market install without rooting by using adb to push the files onto your device.
[General Questions and Answers] fddekker:
I am still having trouble getting market to work. I was able to register an account, but when trying to open market it crashes. I think it is because vending.apk is in the wrong place as per this thread.

I downloaded Root Explorer and found the installed com.google.vending-1.apk in /data/app but can't see a /system folder to move it to. I even downloaded mount/system(rw/ro) and mounted the system dir ... but still can't see the system folder.

Is this a hidden folder? If it is, how can I unhide it, or do I have to move the file with adb wireless? Or is this to do with the permission?

Thanks
[General Questions and Answers] FriendlyFire:
Sorry guys, I've figured out my issue. I'd forgotten that, with two-factor authorization enabled, I needed to enter an application-specific password. Generated a new one for my Vox and the Market works like a charm now!

EDIT: Well I spoke a little too soon. The Market stops me from installing a whole bunch of apps on the grounds of them being incompatible (worked around it and finding the APKs elsewhere, all apps work flawlessly).

Otherwise, I've noticed that my battery is absolutely terrible even with JuiceDefender enabled, and that my screen periodically lights up before going back to sleep. Anybody else having similar issues?
[General Questions and Answers] ershun:
I found that once kobo vox is rooted, its gyro sensor is enabled, so my kid can play games like Air Penguin
[General Questions and Answers] vsecarin:
I tried these steps, and doing "adb install" returns:

Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE].

This happens both with the apk rebuilt according to instructions, and also with the one posted in this stream. What could I be doing wrong?
[General Questions and Answers] FriendlyFire:
I've been working on the Market in the past few days and got a fair amount of success with it. Managed to remove the compatibility restriction on some apps (namely those that are listed as requiring special graphics capabilities) by spoofing the Nexus S in build.prop, but there are still a lot of apps that can't be installed and I do not know exactly why. I've tried spoofing the Nexus S and the HTC Vision, with the latter supposedly unlocking the full market for the Nook Color, to no avail.

A good test application is the Zeam Launcher, which is the closest thing I could find that doesn't lag the hell out of this thing (really underwhelmed by the performance). Works flawlessly if sideloaded, but can't be installed through the Market.

Has anybody managed to crack this last nut?
[General Questions and Answers] zoltrix:
My girlfriend just picked up a kobo vox. cant wait to get my hands on it
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Would you mind posting the link to the drivers? Thanks.
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
[HOW-TO] Install Android Market and Google Apps on Kobo Vox

I found the instructions (both in this thread and other sites) a bit confusing, so I've cleaned it up a bit and complied it into one post.

I take no credit for the method. Here is the reference where most of the info came from: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1890381&postcount=33

1) On your device, go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications and ensure "Unknown Sources" is checked, then press development and enable "USB debugging";

2) On your device, download and install GingerBreak-V1.20.apk from here;

3) Open Gingerbreak and click on "root device". Your device will reboot. You are now rooted;

4) On your device, download a file manager that has root access (like ES File Explorer or File Expert), and install it;

5) On your computer, downloaded and extract gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip from here;

6) Transfer the following files from the extracted zip (on your computer) in the /system/app folder to a microsd card, and place the microsd card in your device:

- GenieWidget.apk

- GoogleBackupTransport.apk

- GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk

- GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk

- GoogleFeedback.apk

- GooglePartnerSetup.apk

- GoogleServicesFramework.apk

- MarketUpdater.apk

- MediaUploader.apk

- NetworkLocation.apk

- OneTimeInitializer.apk

- Vending.apk

7) On your device, using your file manager, mount the /system partition as read-write;

8) On your device, copy all the apk's from step 6 to the /system/app directory using your file manager;

9) On your device, set the permissions to 644 (Owner : read/write, group read, everyone read) using your file manager; *see not below;

11) Restarted your device;

12) Go to Menu -> Settings -> Accounts & Sync, and add your Google account;

13) Launch market;

14) Download YouTube and GMail if you so desire.

15) Done. Enjoy!

*Note: If you can't figure out how to change permissions in your file manager, you can download Terminal emulator, install it, open it, and type the following:

su

chmod 0644 /system/app/GenieWidget.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GoogleBackupTransport.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GoogleFeedback.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GooglePartnerSetup.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/GoogleServicesFramework.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/MarketUpdater.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/MediaUploader.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/NetworkLocation.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/OneTimeInitializer.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/Vending.apk
[General Questions and Answers] zoltrix:
Looks awesome

but whwat is the compatibility with the market. does stuff actually work or is this the best its gonna get
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Everything that I've tried so far works 100%.
[General Questions and Answers] tuxedo1954:
I tried installing all of the apps....stericson.apk etc. this ended up destroying my kobo..all it does now is continualy reboot......don't try it...
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Not sure what you did, but the instructions I posted a couple of posts back work perfectly. Everything went well, an I have a fully-functioning Android Market on my Vox. (Not sure what stericson.apk is, but I never mentioned that at all in my post...)
[General Questions and Answers] manxxr:
After installing the GingerBreak, remounting /system as rw, I'm having hard time copying all the apps (.apk) to the /system/app folder. It keeps failing with any file manager. In terminal mode I get an error:

failed on '/extsd/files/* /system/app/ - Cross-device link

I'm not sure what I'm missing...
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
I actually used Root Explorer -- it is a pay app that I purchased and transfered to my device, so I don't really know what would be the problem with the other file managers.

In terminal, are you typing su before you try to copy? Did you try copying one file at a time? What command are you using to copy? Did you try:

cat path-to-file/xxx.apk > /system/app/xxxx.apk

where xxx.apk is the name of the apk, and path-to-file is the path?
[General Questions and Answers] manxxr:
Yes, did use su. I was able to create a directory under /system/app just to see if the /system got mounted with rw access. I used the mv command to move files from various locations (internal/external sd card and LAN share).

cat did the trick!

Thanks
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Glad it worked! For future reference, I wouldn't use mv. I don't think it does what you think it does. Use cp (if you have busy box installed) or cat if you do not.
[General Questions and Answers] plowmon:
Thanks efrant, that really helped. I've now got the Google market installed and working. One thing I have noticed though is that there are several apps that are "missing" from the market. For example, The Weather Network app "WeatherEye" does not show up when browsing/searching for the app. Another that I can't find is RockPlayer.

Is the version of the market that you included in the zip up to date or modified in some way? Or is this something that google market is doing because it "knows" I'm on a tablet as opposed to a phone (maybe apps are not compatible for tablets)?

Thanks!
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
No, the market is not modified at all. It's probably because the market thinks those apps are not compatible. You could always download them onto another Android device, transfer the apk's to your sdcard then transfer them to your vox and install them. If you are having problems, let me know, and I'll get the apk's for you (only free ones obviously).
[General Questions and Answers] plowmon:
That's what I thought - I already downloaded the apks manually (from before I had the google market place), but was puzzled why they didn't show up in the "My Apps" section.

Great instructions!
[General Questions and Answers] ciccio70:
I followed the directions and have access to the market, although quite a few apps report not being compatible and thus I am unable to download them. Its frustrating as I do not have another android device to get the apks from.

I am getting a strange error on My Kobo Vox, on boot up the application Google Partner Setup (process com.google.android.partnersetup) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again, and makes me force close.

I am have deleted and replaced the file and rebooted, and still same problem.

Any ideas which direction I should go to solve this issue?

Thank you in advance.
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
You could always do a Google search... I'mpretty sure you'll be able to find everything you need. If not, I could get some for you, assuming that you are not looking for more than a handful, and that they are all free of course.

After you replaced the file, did you change the permissions on it? Permissions need to be at least 644.

If that doesn't work, try clearing the data for the market and for Google services framework and for Google partner setup. If that doesn't work, delete all the apk's you added in my step 6, reboot, and try again from step 6.
[General Questions and Answers] ciccio70:
Thanks I'll try that out
[General Questions and Answers] NuHalo:
I am having a weird problem.. I followed your steps and everything worked fine, but my vox just randomly restarted itself for some reason a few hours after I finished and it's like it reverted back to factory default settings. The background, my accounts, all of it was gone. I even had to go through the Kobo setup again.

All the programs were still in my apps, but most of them wouldn't run, they would just open then close. What is going on?

Edit:

I uninstalled all my apps and formatted the SD card, as well as starting from scratch again (including Gingerbreak, don't know if I needed to do that though). Everything seems to be working fine again, but I'm still weary about it restarting again. I don't want to have to do this every few hours, you know? Hopefully it was just a one time bug. o_o I'd still love to hear some theories and or reasons why it would do that?
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Hmmm. I have never seen that before. No idea what would cause it.
[General Questions and Answers] zoltrix:
just rooted my girlfriends vox. got rid of all the crap on it, put a real gmail app + google sync and its all awesome now.

However, in my excitement i removed the INQfacebook and INQwidgets application. Can someone please email the apks to me? my girlfriend thinks the facebook application is a little slow so she might want to use the old ones again...

frank_mazza@hotmail.com
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
I'll try to do it for you this weekend. I need to pry my daughter's Vox away from her. :)
[General Questions and Answers] efrant:
Here you go.