[APP] Samba Server for Android

HardCorePawn · Aug 3, 2010

XDA had a fit and posted my message twice

FadeFx · Aug 3, 2010

HardCorePawn said:
Hmmm... I take it back...

After a phone restart, I seem to be having some issues with this... it's not showing on the network anymore... and I can't even connect via \\192.168.0.2

it seems like if the device goes to sleep, the SMB disappears... even though WiFi is still running??

if you disable and reenable wifi does the problem resist? as i understood samba server should be started by dhcp and so when wifi starts the server should start again.

HardCorePawn · Aug 3, 2010

Unfortunately not... if I disable WiFi (wifi icon disappears, replaced by 'H' data icon) and then re-enable WiFi (data icon disappears, wifi icon appears)... I am still unable to browse the SMB...

using \\ANDROID\ or \\192.168.1.2\

and nothing shows up in Explorer in Network (using Windows 7 Pro x64 btw)

Bit annoying, as when it was working, it seemed to work really well...

I've checked logcat using adb... and I can see the dhcpd hooks running, but I don't see any output to indicate that the samba is starting or not...

If I manually run the samba-rc script from terminal or adb then it will startup...

any ideas???

EDIT: I've checked with "ps" and have noticed the following:

- If smbd is running, it continues to run after toggling WiFi off
- If smbd is not running, it does not start after toggling WiFi on

So it would appear that the dhcp hooks isn't running correctly??

HardCorePawn · Aug 3, 2010

Ok... so I've done some more testing (and hacking of scripts) and have achieved the following:

1. The DHCP script is now successively being executed when the WiFi is toggled ON, and it is starting up smbd
2. The DHCP script is NOT being executed when the WiFi is toggled OFF, so the smbd process is not being stopped
3. Occassionally, the nmbd is being killed immediately after the process is started, which is why I am sometimes unable to connect to \\ANDROID\ but can connect to \\192.168.1.2\

Not sure where to go next... I'm guessing for some reason my Samsung Galaxy S is not releasing the DHCP lease when the WiFi is shut off... so the dhcp hooks are not used and the process is not killed properly...

FadeFx · Aug 3, 2010

sorry, i have no possibility to check at the moment, but could you check if there are some more paths in the script set to system/bin that should be system/xbin for the galaxy s?

otherwise we´d have to wait for JimmyChingala to check your (and supposedly also soon my) problem...

JimmyChingala · Aug 3, 2010

hi HCP,

HardCorePawn said:
Looking at the PATH in betterterm... it was showing that /system/xbin was at the end (after /system/bin)... However, it would appear that the "standard" rm lives in /system/bin... DOH!

so I juggled the PATH to put /system/xbin before /system/bin and presto! the script seems to run without errors... YAY!

Thanks - will make this change in the scripts.

HardCorePawn said:
Ok... so I've done some more testing (and hacking of scripts) and have achieved the following:

1. The DHCP script is now successively being executed when the WiFi is toggled ON, and it is starting up smbd

Nice work - can you let me know what changes you made to get this going on your Samsung and i'll look at adding it in.

HardCorePawn said:
2. The DHCP script is NOT being executed when the WiFi is toggled OFF, so the smbd process is not being stopped

Does nmbd stay running too? (its not much of a problem i dont think, apart from using 4 or 5 MB memory) but I think I need to make a change in the hook script arrangement to fix it. (smbd exits eventually after the wifi interface disapears when wifi is toggled off, phone goes into sleep mode etc - i read on a samba list that this is by design).

HardCorePawn said:
3. Occassionally, the nmbd is being killed immediately after the process is started, which is why I am sometimes unable to connect to \\ANDROID\ but can connect to \\192.168.1.2\

Not sure where to go next... I'm guessing for some reason my Samsung Galaxy S is not releasing the DHCP lease when the WiFi is shut off... so the dhcp hooks are not used and the process is not killed properly...

Using DHCP hook scripts is just a quick hack to auto start/stop the samba daemons in unison with the wifi interface until I can create a proper Android package and (hopefully) get it happening via the appropriate Android mechanism.

Thanks for your testing & feedback!

What sort of xfer rates are you getting when copying files to/from the phone shared folder?

- jc

HardCorePawn · Aug 4, 2010

Ok, so I did some combined testing using adb logcat and echo'ing messages to /data/local/log from the hook script...

For the following, WiFi was initially OFF, and I had manually run the samba-rc STOP command...

I then toggled WiFi ON (got the PREINIT and BOUND)... then after confirming that samba indeed running by connecting from PC and browsing dirs etc. I toggled WiFi OFF and got the STOP.

NOTE: This is just a subset of the MANY lines of output from logcat... I just copied the ones relating to dhcpcd

Code:

I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): dhcpcd 4.0.1 starting
I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executing `/system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks', reason PREINIT
I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executed run_script

I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executing `/system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks', reason BOUND
I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executed run_script

I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executing `/system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks', reason STOP
I/dhcpcd  ( 4557): executed run_script

So it looks like the dhcpcd-run-hooks is being executed when the WiFi is toggle off. Unfortunately, looking at my /data/local/log... I can only see the output for the PREINIT and BOUND... so while dhcpcd-run-hooks is being executed, for some reason it is not executing the hook script on the STOP

...or maybe it is... I added some debug into the hook script... and it starts to execute it... and then seems to stop?!!? I added 2 lines to echo some text and the datetime to the log just before it does the "case {$reason}" and it outputs the echo to the log... but not the date command?

It is like the process is being paused or something???

I should note, that after I got up this morning, I checked the /data/local/log... and at some point during the night, the STOP commands were being run, as I could see the output... but I didn't have the timestamps in the scripts, so I couldn't tell when they actually ran...

I'm going to guess that it is something to do with the the DHCP lease being held even after WiFi is taken down, so the hooks are being paused while the system waits to see if the connection is coming back... after a certain timeout period, it will release the DHCP lease, and then the scripts continue executing??

Just a theory...

JimmyChingala · Aug 4, 2010

HardCorePawn said:
So it looks like the dhcpcd-run-hooks is being executed when the WiFi is toggle off. Unfortunately, looking at my /data/local/log... I can only see the output for the PREINIT and BOUND... so while dhcpcd-run-hooks is being executed, for some reason it is not executing the hook script on the STOP
...
It is like the process is being paused or something???

Are you seeing a notification on your phone about permitting superuser rights?

You mentioned you had to change /system/xbin to be in front of /system/bin in your PATH to get this to install in the first place - the install script may have used the wrong shell for the setuid dhcp shell, lets check the output of:

Code:

md5sum /system/bin/sh   /system/bin/dhcprootshell  /system/xbin/sh

- jc

HardCorePawn · Aug 4, 2010

No... I never got a notification about superuser rights... should I? and if so, when?

The output of the md5sum is:

Code:

md5sum /system/bin/sh /system/bin/dhcprootshell /system/xbin/sh
0467311b1712ed9a9a5b173bdd2a0e40  /system/bin/sh
0467311b1712ed9a9a5b173bdd2a0e40  /system/bin/dhcprootshell
831e7f23e12678e4a77e4d1258bcb2b1  /system/xbin/sh
#

So it looks like I'm using the 'standard' shell instead of the busybox one...

tbh, I've screwed with these scripts soooo much, that I think I'm going to need to reflash the phone, because everything is so messed up

I guess I needed to move from JM1 to JM2 anyway

The thing is, I've lost track of what scripts I changed... and how... but basically due to the whole $PATH issue with busybox ending up "after" the default /system/bin... whenever there is a "rm -(r)f" it fails, as the standard rm doesn't support the -f arg...

I tried to edit init.rc but it looks like that is overwritten on every reboot... so I'd need to mod the actual ROM image to get it to put /system/xbin first...

I'm beginning to think it might be easier to install the samba stuff, then code a service that monitors the WiFi status (you can register for broadcasts etc) and executes the samba-rc stop and start's based on those

HardCorePawn · Aug 4, 2010

I'm pretty sure all of the below is only relevant to Samsung Galaxy S - GT-I9000, ymmv

Ok... so after trying absolutely everything I could think of to get the DHCP auto start/stop working... I gave up...

But, I think I have it at a stage that I can live with (for now

)

I reflashed the JM2 firmware... and rooted it with the "standard" update.zip for Galaxy I9000...

adb shell
su (click OK on superuser permission pop-up)
echo $PATH
/sbin:/system/sbin:/system/bin:/system/xbin (noted that /system/sbin doesn't actually exist)
mkdir /system/sbin
busybox --install -s /system/sbin

(this next bit is necessary, or when you try to su on subsequent connections it says "su:must be suid to work properly")

cd /system/sbin
rm su
ln -s /system/xbin/su su

EDIT:
(this bit is optional, but is required if you'd like your 'reboot' command to work properly!

cd /system/sbin
rm reboot

then we can install samba:

sh /sdcard/sambaAndroid.sh

everything seems to install OK... (I chose not to install the DHCP hooks and not to start samba)

Instead, I have installed Gscript Lite from the Android Market... it allows you to run shellscripts from the UI (and you can even create homescreen shortcuts)... so I created a "SMB-start":
/data/local/samba/bin/samba-rc start

and a "SMB-stop":
/data/local/samba/bin/samba-rc stop

and put shortcuts to the scripts on the homescreen... I can now start/stop samba at will with a single click

It also seems to now be consistently allowing connection via \\ANDROID\ as the nmdb process isn't being randomly killed immediately after startup anymore

I think I can live with this arrangement until this is all wrapped up in a 'proper' app/service...

One last FYI, the install script leaves the "sambaAndroidtmpfile" in /sdcard... you'll probably want to chuck a "rm" command in there somewhere to tidy that up

Before I forget, I must say "THANKS!" to all involved for providing the SMB stuff in the first place... it is infinitely more useful that all the other "file browser"/connection utils I've found... much faster[1]... and most importantly... it's FREE!

[1] I have been getting transfers to the phone of >800KB/second (transferring some large PDFs ie. 26meg, 12meg, 16meg etc.) but I do notice it pauses right at the end for a few seconds... some sort of read buffer in action I think...

It sucks at transferring lots of small files... just like every other method I've tried... which makes transferring over all these googleMap tiles I downloaded for use with BrutGoogleMaps a bit of a nuisance... woohoo 14KB/second...

FadeFx · Aug 4, 2010

there are actually more free alternatives to this, but each of them requires either browsing your computer from the device or starting a ftp server on device and using a client on your computer. none of them is as easy as using samba. and once that baby is packaged propperly i guess everybody will just love this.

JimmyChingala · Aug 4, 2010

HardCorePawn said:
No... I never got a notification about superuser rights... should I? and if so, when?

I hit it on a previous ROM but havent seen it since going to VR12 - shell command hangs waiting for phone user to confirm root access - but it was a while ago so i dont remember the exact circumstances. Thought it was worth mentioning tho.

HardCorePawn said:
I'm pretty sure all of the below is only relevant to Samsung Galaxy S - GT-I9000, ymmv

Ok... so after trying absolutely everything I could think of to get the DHCP auto start/stop working... I gave up...

But, I think I have it at a stage that I can live with (for now )

I reflashed the JM2 firmware... and rooted it with the "standard" update.zip for Galaxy I9000...

adb shell
su (click OK on superuser permission pop-up)
echo $PATH
/sbin:/system/sbin:/system/bin:/system/xbin (noted that /system/sbin doesn't actually exist)
mkdir /system/sbin
busybox --install -s /system/sbin

(this next bit is necessary, or when you try to su on subsequent connections it says "su:must be suid to work properly")

cd /system/sbin
rm su
ln -s /system/xbin/su su

EDIT:
(this bit is optional, but is required if you'd like your 'reboot' command to work properly!
cd /system/sbin
rm reboot

then we can install samba:

sh /sdcard/sambaAndroid.sh

everything seems to install OK... (I chose not to install the DHCP hooks and not to start samba)

Instead, I have installed Gscript Lite from the Android Market... it allows you to run shellscripts from the UI (and you can even create homescreen shortcuts)... so I created a "SMB-start":
/data/local/samba/bin/samba-rc start

and a "SMB-stop":
/data/local/samba/bin/samba-rc stop

and put shortcuts to the scripts on the homescreen... I can now start/stop samba at will with a single click

It also seems to now be consistently allowing connection via \\ANDROID\ as the nmdb process isn't being randomly killed immediately after startup anymore

I think I can live with this arrangement until this is all wrapped up in a 'proper' app/service...

You've been busy. Nice workaround

I'll include it in the next release README, and get the install script to point to it if it detects a GT-I9000 (can u tell me if 'getprop ro.build.product' reports that as that exact string, or something else?).

HardCorePawn said:
One last FYI, the install script leaves the "sambaAndroidtmpfile" in /sdcard... you'll probably want to chuck a "rm" command in there somewhere to tidy that up

Yep will do.

When you get a spare moment, I've attached a zip'd /system/bin/sh from my ROM (HTC VR12) - can you test if it works ok as a normal shell on your phone+ROM, and if so try the DHCPshell start/stop with this version:

Code:

mount -o remount,rw /system
cp <this shell vers> /system/bin/dhcprootshell
chown 0:1014 /system/bin/dhcprootshell
chmod 4550 /system/bin/dhcprootshell

ln -s /data/local/samba/bin/dhcp-samba-script  /etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks/96-samba-startstop

And bounce the wifi service.

HardCorePawn said:
Before I forget, I must say "THANKS!" to all involved for providing the SMB stuff in the first place... it is infinitely more useful that all the other "file browser"/connection utils I've found... much faster[1]... and most importantly... it's FREE!

Keep'n it old skool - thats the plan

Thanks for your work!

HardCorePawn said:
[1] I have been getting transfers to the phone of >800KB/second (transferring some large PDFs ie. 26meg, 12meg, 16meg etc.) but I do notice it pauses right at the end for a few seconds... some sort of read buffer in action I think...

It sucks at transferring lots of small files... just like every other method I've tried... which makes transferring over all these googleMap tiles I downloaded for use with BrutGoogleMaps a bit of a nuisance... woohoo 14KB/second...

Yeah I see the same with small files. Try testing other values for SO_SNDBUF & SO_RCVBUF in /data/local/samba/lib/smb.conf. Those values in sambaAndroid-0.4a were what seemed optimal on my HTC Hero back on the samba2 build running on Android 1.5 (and will vary between chipsets/phone-models), have since re-tested and now that I'm on a 2.1 ROM with samba3 i get better large file xfer speeds using buffer sizes of 16384.

- jc

HardCorePawn · Aug 5, 2010

JimmyChingala said:
You've been busy. Nice workaround I'll include it in the next release README, and get the install script to point to it if it detects a GT-I9000 (can u tell me if 'getprop ro.build.product' reports that as that exact string, or something else?).

as requested:

getprop ro.build.product
GT-I9000

When you get a spare moment, I've attached a zip'd /system/bin/sh from my ROM (HTC VR12) - can you test if it works ok as a normal shell on your phone+ROM, and if so try the DHCPshell start/stop with this version:
...
And bounce the wifi service.

Ok... installed that shell... turned WiFi on... and it started up the service OK... I also noted that in /data/local/log, is was actually outputting the "reason" now too... so I think your samba-rc and my sh are not exactly liking each other...

you've just used $reason... and I note in the actual dhcpcd scripts they use ${reason}

But I digress... anyway, I tried turning off WiFi... but unfortunately, the samba service is still running

Code:

 9436 0         1412 S    /data/local/samba/bin/nmbd -D
 9438 0         3192 S    /data/local/samba/bin/smbd -D
 9503 2000       716 S    /system/bin/sh -
 9504 0          716 S    sh -
 9505 0         1088 R    ps

for some reason, that dhcpcd-run-hooks just refuses to kill the samba service...

Keep'n it old skool - thats the plan Thanks for your work!

Always happy to help... I like to give back as much as I can... I think it helps keep my Karma in balance

Yeah I see the same with small files. Try testing other values for SO_SNDBUF & SO_RCVBUF in /data/local/samba/lib/smb.conf. Those values in sambaAndroid-0.4a were what seemed optimal on my HTC Hero back on the samba2 build running on Android 1.5 (and will vary between chipsets/phone-models), have since re-tested and now that I'm on a 2.1 ROM with samba3 i get better large file xfer speeds using buffer sizes of 16384.

- jc

I'll have a muck around... I should also note, that I think part of getting the phone to show in my network using NETBIOS name thing, was actually turning off that stupid Windows7 "homegroup" thing... and actually joining a workgroup... I noted in the debug or one of the config files that this samba service is setup for MSHOME, so I joined my PC to that one

Let me know if you need anymore testing done...

JimmyChingala · Aug 5, 2010

HardCorePawn said:
Ok... installed that shell... turned WiFi on... and it started up the service OK... I also noted that in /data/local/log, is was actually outputting the "reason" now too... so I think your samba-rc and my sh are not exactly liking each other...

ok cool, half-way there (I can include my version of the shell in the release, test that it works at install time, then use it instead of the version installed on the phone).

HardCorePawn said:
you've just used $reason... and I note in the actual dhcpcd scripts they use ${reason}

The $reason variable is defined by dhcpcd to contain the cause of the DHCP state change (STOP, BOUND etc) so the scripts know what action to take when they are called...

HardCorePawn said:
I tried turning off WiFi... but unfortunately, the samba service is still running
...
for some reason, that dhcpcd-run-hooks just refuses to kill the samba service...

When you start the wifi interface again, are the old smbd+nmbd processes replaced with new ones?.

As root (with the default shell PATH) can you run /data/local/samba/bin/killsamba and see if that kills the processes?

If we can get auto stop/start working (or at least make sure auto-start is killing the previous daemons before running new) then along with your Gscript method for manual stop+start via the phone UI, all bases are covered until the proper Android package+UI is done.

HardCorePawn said:
I'll have a muck around... I should also note, that I think part of getting the phone to show in my network using NETBIOS name thing, was actually turning off that stupid Windows7 "homegroup" thing... and actually joining a workgroup... I noted in the debug or one of the config files that this samba service is setup for MSHOME, so I joined my PC to that one

One day workgroup name will be configurable. Also Samba periodically announces its self to broadcast (255.255.255.255) so it should show up eventually in your Windows network browser (firewall may be blocking the broadcast traffic).

HardCorePawn said:
Let me know if you need anymore testing done...

Appreciate your help!

- jc

HardCorePawn · Aug 5, 2010

JimmyChingala said:
When you start the wifi interface again, are the old smbd+nmbd processes replaced with new ones?.

As root (with the default shell PATH) can you run /data/local/samba/bin/killsamba and see if that kills the processes?

I believe it is killing the old processes when you re-enable the WiFi... as when I did this I saw it (once) run the "pkill" commands... (was repeatedly running ps via adb shell)...

It also works if you manually run the killsamba command... the processes are being killed...

If we can get auto stop/start working (or at least make sure auto-start is killing the previous daemons before running new) then along with your Gscript method for manual stop+start via the phone UI, all bases are covered until the proper Android package+UI is done.
- jc

As it stands now... I can have it either:

a. Auto-(re)Start samba whenever I switch on WiFi (using the DHCP hook)... but not kill the process when I switch WiFi off... not sure if having nmbd and smbd in the background when using 3G data is going to cause me any issues or suck any data??

and/or

b. Manually start/stop using Gscript...

The thing that bugs me the most is that I can see the dhcpcd-run-hooks being executed when you turn WiFi off... but it is not killing the samba processes... grrrr.... the "OCD" Virgo in me is finding it hard to let that go

brunen9 · Aug 5, 2010

Hi.

I uses Fedora 13 and mount my Nexus One through this command:
sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.101/sdcard /media/Nexus -o username=sdcard,password=111

When I go to "media/Nexus" and see permissions of existing files it seems like this: user 1000 and group 1015. So I can not delete or modify files on sdcard

.

I read smb.conf and found "force user=root". And I do not understand why I have not access to files. Can you help me to solve this problem?

P.S. Sorry for my English, I am Russian and it is some hard for me write on it

JimmyChingala · Aug 6, 2010

brunen9 said:
When I go to "media/Nexus" and see permissions of existing files it seems like this: user 1000 and group 1015. So I can not delete or modify files on sdcard .

I read smb.conf and found "force user=root". And I do not understand why I have not access to files. Can you help me to solve this problem?

Hi, try adding the following to the [global] section of smb.conf (this is included in the next version which i hope to post in the next week):

Code:

delete readonly = yes

- jc

brunen9 · Aug 6, 2010

I added this string but nothing changed, I also have no write access. What is the source of problem and have you it or it is only mine?

UPD: I tried open share on WindowsXP and it works - I may create and delete files! Now I very sad about linux, because it is my primary operation system but I can not configure normal acces on it... I will be hard thinking about this and waiting for next update of your script.

UPD2: I went to "Samba shares" in Dolphin file explorer and open Nexus share through gui and it also works! I think all problems is in "mount" or "cifs" but do not know in what exactly. Will be glad to got help with this.

WattoDaToydarian · Aug 7, 2010

I have problems using samba for android in Linux too. Using the Nautilus file manager I get "Invalid argument" whenever I do something that requires writing.
However it works fine in XP and 7.
My OS is Ubuntu 8.04 x64.

FadeFx · Aug 7, 2010

i remember having problems to access windows shares from nautilus on my last ubuntu installation, however this was not the case using a non gnome filemanager. but this is almost two years ago... dont know if they fixed that...

[APP] Samba Server for Android

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