Connect to Android stick[Rockchip RK3188] via OTG on a Mac

If you're having trouble connecting to an Rockchip Android stick through ADB via a Mac, the below link might help:

http://forum.yarvik.com/forum/xenta-series/yarvik-xenta-general-discussion/1916-device-not-listed-using-android-adb-tool 

[Sony Xperia Tablet Z SGP311] Lost ROOT after Android 4.3 upgrade

My Sony Xperia Tablet Z(Wifi Only - Model SGP311) lost ROOT after upgrading to Android 4.3.

However, the Vroot tool I shared in a previous post no longer works in Android 4.3.

The XDA link below helped me ROOT my tablet again.

I was confused about the prerequisite files required. After going through the entire thread, below is the list of files I used to successfully ROOT my Android 4.3 tablet.

Prerequisite:
1. Your tablet's bootloader should be unlocked. Please follow the official sony instructions here:
http://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/

1. boot.img - Link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97918958/boot.zip
2. flashtool(not to be confused with Sony's Emma Flashtool). - Link: http://www.flashtool.net/download.php
3. Android 4.3 ftf. - Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2589894


Reference:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2590602

[Sony Xperia Tablet Z] Make /system/ writable

Next, I needed to make /system writable on the Tablet Z.

The instructions below worked for me:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2329771

I used almost the same commands except busybox was not available on my tablet.

Instead, I used ps and kill command to remove the /sbin/ric process.

shell@android:/sdcard/hydrive $ ps | grep ric

root      308   1     1316   616   ffffffff 00000000 S /sbin/ric

u0_a171   981   295   861364 37460 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.textinput.uxp

u0_a157   1009  295   839100 18580 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.devicemonitor

u0_a159   1018  295   837388 15992 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.android.wakeup

u0_a32    1051  295   877932 46728 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.home

system    1472  295   840024 17952 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.usbux

u0_a32    2628  295   838152 21256 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.advancedwidget.clock:lockscreen

u0_a59    7295  295   837996 19768 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.idd.agent

u0_a162   7573  295   839820 19296 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.nfc

u0_a105   7592  295   843036 18636 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sonyericsson.dlna

1|shell@android:/sdcard/hydrive $ su

root@android:/storage/emulated/legacy/hydrive # kill -9 308 

NOTE: This is a temporal solution, meaning you will need to do it again after your system reboots.

[Sony Xperia Tablet Z] Rooting Model SGP311

 The chinese app at this russian site worked for me.

http://sony-xperia.mobi/programmy/247-poluchenie-root-dlya-xperia-tablet-z-dlya-proshivok-10-3-1-c-0-136-sgp311-312-i-10-3-1-a-0-244-sgp321.html

You need to install the app on your pc, and connect Xperia Tablet Z to your pc using USB.

However, please ensure usb debugging mode is enabled by
1) Tapping on "Settings > About Tablet > Build Number" multiple times to reveal the "Developer Options" in Settings.
2) Ensure " Settings > Developer options > USB debugging " is CHECKED.

Reference:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2428830&page=2

[Android] iOS-like Pin Entry/Challenge view for Android

One of my user requested for an iOS like Pin Entry View on the android app.  I created a repo at github to share this code, https://github.com/chinloong/Android-PinView#readme.

This sample app uses:
- free texture pattern from http://subtlepatterns.com/
- free fonts from http://fontzone.net

[iOS] RestKit Tutorial Code For Version 0.20

I was trying to follow the RestKit tutorial at

RayWenderlich's Intro to RestKit Tutorial

but encountered various problems due to significant changes in the version 0.20 RestKit.

After searching for solutions at stackoverflow as well as RestKit.org, I finally found the missing pieces and got the example code working with RestKit version 0.20.

Firstly, after adding "#import <RestKit/RestKit.h>" in AppDelegate.m, there was a missing header file error when compiling the app. I found the solution here in stackoverflow.

To resolve this, I need to pull in additional files by running the command below in RestKit directory:

git submodule update --init --recursive

The following is code I used in MasterViewController. You should be able to reuse the other code found in RayWenderlich's tutorial for Location.m, Location.m, Venue.m, and Venue.h.

One key resource that help me was the wiki entry for RKObjectMapping at Restkit.org below:

https://github.com/RestKit/RestKit/wiki/Object-mapping

 //  
 // MasterViewController.m  
 // CoffeeShop  
 //  
 //  
 // Copyright (c) 2013 uihelpers. All rights reserved.  
 //  
 #import "MasterViewController.h"  
 #import <RestKit/RestKit.h>  
 #import "Venue.h"  
 #import "Location.h"  
 #define kCLIENTID "REPLACE_WITH_OWN_ID"  
 #define kCLIENTSECRET "REPLACE_WITH_OWN_SECRET"  
 @interface MasterViewController () {  
   NSMutableArray *_objects;  
   NSArray *cafeArray;  
 }  
 @end  
 @implementation MasterViewController  
 - (void)awakeFromNib  
 {  
   [super awakeFromNib];  
 }  
 - (void)viewDidLoad  
 {  
   [super viewDidLoad];  
      // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.  
   self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem;  
   UIBarButtonItem *addButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemAdd target:self action:@selector(insertNewObject:)];  
   self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = addButton;  
   NSURL *baseURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://api.foursquare.com/v2"];  
   AFHTTPClient * client = [AFHTTPClient clientWithBaseURL:baseURL];  
   [client setDefaultHeader:@"Accept" value:RKMIMETypeJSON];  
   RKObjectManager *objectManager = [[RKObjectManager alloc] initWithHTTPClient:client];  
   RKObjectMapping *venueMapping = [RKObjectMapping mappingForClass:[Venue class]];  
   [venueMapping addAttributeMappingsFromDictionary:@{  
    @"name" : @"name"  
    }];  
   RKObjectMapping *locationMapping = [RKObjectMapping mappingForClass:[Location class]];  
   [locationMapping addAttributeMappingsFromDictionary:@{ @"address": @"address", @"city": @"city", @"country": @"country", @"crossStreet": @"crossStreet", @"postalCode": @"postalCode", @"state": @"state", @"distance": @"distance", @"lat": @"lat", @"lng": @"lng"}];  
   /*[venueMapping mapRelationship:@"location" withMapping:locationMapping];  
   [objectManager.mappingProvider setMapping:locationMapping forKeyPath:@"location"];*/  
   [venueMapping addPropertyMapping:[RKRelationshipMapping relationshipMappingFromKeyPath:@"location" toKeyPath:@"location" withMapping:locationMapping]];  
   RKResponseDescriptor * responseDescriptor = [RKResponseDescriptor responseDescriptorWithMapping:venueMapping  
                                           pathPattern:nil  
                                           keyPath:@"response.venues"  
                                           statusCodes:RKStatusCodeIndexSetForClass(RKStatusCodeClassSuccessful)];  
   [objectManager addResponseDescriptor:responseDescriptor];  
   NSString *latLon = @"37.33,-122.03";  
   NSString *clientID = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:kCLIENTID];  
   NSString *clientSecret = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:kCLIENTSECRET];  
   NSDictionary *queryParams;  
   queryParams = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:latLon, @"ll", clientID, @"client_id", clientSecret, @"client_secret", @"coffee", @"query", @"20120602", @"v", nil];  
   [objectManager getObjectsAtPath:@"https://api.foursquare.com/v2/venues/search"  
              parameters:queryParams  
               success:^(RKObjectRequestOperation * operaton, RKMappingResult *mappingResult)  
    {  
      //NSLog(@"success: mappings: %@", mappingResult);  
      NSArray *result = [mappingResult array];  
      cafeArray = [mappingResult array];  
      for (Venue *item in result) {  
        NSLog(@"name=%@",item.name);  
        NSLog(@"name=%@",item.location.distance);  
      }  
      [self.tableView reloadData];  
    }  
               failure:^(RKObjectRequestOperation * operaton, NSError * error)  
    {  
      NSLog (@"failure: operation: %@ \n\nerror: %@", operaton, error);  
    }];  
 }  
 - (void)viewDidUnload  
 {  
   [super viewDidUnload];  
   // Release any retained subviews of the main view.  
 }  
 - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation  
 {  
   return (interfaceOrientation != UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown);  
 }  
 - (void)insertNewObject:(id)sender  
 {  
   if (!_objects) {  
     _objects = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];  
   }  
   [_objects insertObject:[NSDate date] atIndex:0];  
   NSIndexPath *indexPath = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:0 inSection:0];  
   [self.tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:@[indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];  
 }  
 #pragma mark - Table View  
 - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView  
 {  
   return 1;  
 }  
 - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section  
 {  
   return cafeArray.count;  
 }  
 - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath  
 {  
   UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"Cell"];  
   /*NSDate *object = [_objects objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];  
   cell.textLabel.text = [object description];*/  
   Venue *venueObject = [cafeArray objectAtIndex: indexPath.row];  
   cell.textLabel.text = [venueObject.name length] > 24 ? [venueObject.name substringToIndex:24] : venueObject.name;  
   cell.detailTextLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%.0fm", [venueObject.location.distance floatValue]];  
   return cell;  
 }  
 - (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canEditRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath  
 {  
   // Return NO if you do not want the specified item to be editable.  
   return YES;  
 }  
 - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath  
 {  
   if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) {  
     [_objects removeObjectAtIndex:indexPath.row];  
     [tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:@[indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade];  
   } else if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleInsert) {  
     // Create a new instance of the appropriate class, insert it into the array, and add a new row to the table view.  
   }  
 }  
 /*  
 // Override to support rearranging the table view.  
 - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)fromIndexPath toIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)toIndexPath  
 {  
 }  
 */  
 /*  
 // Override to support conditional rearranging of the table view.  
 - (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canMoveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath  
 {  
   // Return NO if you do not want the item to be re-orderable.  
   return YES;  
 }  
 */  
 @end  

[iOS] Create static library

As mentioned in my earlier blog, 2 of my apps needed a pin challenge view. In order to share the code, it was better to create it as a library.

I managed to find a good base code in "PinView" at guicocoa.

However, I needed to enhance it to include a custom button on lower left corner as well as make the "delete(x)" key same color as other keys. I'll leave those code details for another posting.

Step 1. Download pinview at git

Step 2.  Below is the directory structure of "PinView" sample app, where the PinView code will be under "pinview" directory. Make a backup of this directory and save it at another location.

Step 3. open the SampleApp project by clicking on the SampleApp.xcodeproj.

Step 4. In order to create a clean directory structure, we need to first delete the pinview directory. Ensure "Move to Trash" option is selected in the confirmation dialog.

Ensure the "Move to Trash" option is selected.

Step 5. Create a new "Cocoa Touch Static Library" target, by selecting "File > New > Target".

Step 6. I maintained the "pinview" name.

Steps 7. Xcode generated some code for us, which we don't need. So, delete them and choose the "Move to Trash" option.

Steps 8. Notice the pinview directory now only contains the pinview-Prefix.pch.

Step 9. Copy all the code you backed up in Step 2. and paste them into pinview directory.
 Next, in xcode, add all the files under pinview directory.

Step 10. Next, add the new library by selecting "SampleApp" under Targets, > Build Phase > Link Binary With Libraries > "+". Next, select the libpinview.a and click "Add".

Now, you are ready to run the SampleApp.