Xbox App: “Administrator approval required for installation.”

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So I got a new gaming computer last year, & as usual when I’m running Windows, I don’t login with a user account that has administrator rights. Instead, I login with a regular user account, & if I need to do something as admin, I’m either prompted (i.e.: Installing MSI’s) or I can “Run as administrator” through the context menu. Well it looks like that plan has a hole when trying to use the native win10\win11 Xbox app, & to install at least some games, the two I’m finding now are Halo Infinite & Halo: The Master Chief collection.

Halo Infinite: Administrator approval required for installation.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection

So I have a feeling I’m at least going to temporarily give my regular account admin rights to install the games, then I can remove, but it’s ridiculous that Microsoft can’t account for this. It’s not just the Xbox app either. It’s all the bundled “Metro” apps that are installed & updated through the Windows Store. If you try to run Windows Terminal as a different user, that user needs to have it installed. Apps are installed per-user, not for the system, so it’s just one more reason to continue using MSI \ installer EXE’s until this can be done a better way.

Fun Projects: Ubuntu Touch & LuneOS

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Two things I’m currently working on:
– Ubuntu Touch on my old Nexus 6P, just to see how it’s coming along. I did need to reference this comment in order to get mine booting properly.
– LuneOS on my old HP TouchPad… Which is giving me some problems. It started off rough because I was trying to find some files that were released between 2011-2014, & then trying to get them running… Then once I finally got that done, I still wasn’t able to get LuneOS to boot. Here are some of the files I collected while working on this:

➜  webOS ls -lah
total 4503576
drwxr-xr-x  17 smc  staff   544B Aug 25 21:43 .
drwx------+  7 smc  staff   224B Aug 25 22:00 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   6.0K Aug 25 21:43 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   268M Aug 23 22:17 HP_webOS_SDK-Win-3.0.5-676-x64.exe
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   264M Aug 23 22:18 HP_webOS_SDK-Win-3.0.5-676-x86.exe
-rw-rw-rw-@  1 smc  staff   224K Aug 25 18:11 UniversalNovacomInstaller-1.3.jar
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   354M Aug 25 21:42 luneos-dev-image-tenderloin-20170430092844-stable-050-86.rootfs.tar.gz
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   354M Aug 25 21:43 luneos-dev-image-tenderloin.tar.gz
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   369M Aug 25 21:39 luneos-dev-package-grouper-20170430100826-stable-050-307.zip
drwxr-xr-x@  4 smc  staff   128B Aug 24 19:39 moboot_038-tenderloin
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   185K Aug 24 19:38 moboot_038-tenderloin.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff    60K Aug 25 18:34 novacom-macos.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff    11M Aug 23 22:06 palm-novacom_all-platforms.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   341M Aug 23 22:19 palm-sdk_3.0.5-svn528736-pho676_i386.deb
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   6.4M Aug 25 21:40 uImage--3.0.101-20161117-94-r0-tenderloin-20170430092844-stable-050-86.bin
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   9.2M Aug 24 19:39 uImage.LuneOS
-rw-r--r--@  1 smc  staff   223M Mar  8  2012 webosdoctorp305hstnhwifi.jar
➜  webOS

webOS Resources

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Just making note of some webOS tools \ resources that could be useful as I start playing with my HP TouchPad (Tenderloin) again. Specifically, I want to install LuneOS on my device.

➜  webOS ls -lah
total 744704
drwxr-xr-x  5 smc  staff   160B Aug  9 22:53 .
drwx------+ 8 smc  staff   256B Aug  9 22:53 ..
-rw-r--r--@ 1 smc  staff   352M Aug  5 11:11 Palm_webOS_SDK.3.0.5.676.dmg
-rw-r--r--@ 1 smc  staff    12M Aug  5 12:09 WebOSQuickInstall-4.6.0.jar
-rw-r--r--@ 1 smc  staff    78K Aug  5 11:27 org.webosinternals.tailor_0.3.1_all.ipk.zip
➜  webOS sha256 *
SHA256(Palm_webOS_SDK.3.0.5.676.dmg)= c2cd8346fd8e92e7090766652160879b0416ee1d4922d4942159c8c33442464f
SHA256(WebOSQuickInstall-4.6.0.jar)= 3dec2ca6b724a763a69019c6e0ed1803f4a12e8809bbe79eb80595b7819d5d00
SHA256(org.webosinternals.tailor_0.3.1_all.ipk.zip)= 9cdbef200daf21ea33fff883ac42809c80a204d7d562aa5ec6126b3fbaa728fd
➜  webOS

org.webosinternals.tailor_0.3.1_all.ipk.zip: Needed this version because it has options included for LuneOS.
Palm_webOS_SDK.3.0.5.676.dmg
WebOSQuickInstall-4.6.0.jar: I didn’t actually need this, but downloaded it because I was nostalgic.

So WordPress is giving me an issue when I try to actually upload a ZIP of the above (I can appreciate them not wanting me to upload DMG or JAR files), but I keep just getting a generic error when I upload the ZIP. This is mainly for my own reference anyway, but if anyone else is reading this, feel free to reach out & I can send you what I have.

EDIT: 20210810-1019: Just making note of some helpful links, that are currently still active right now (one with SSL errors, but the site still works):
– GitHub: WebOS Internals
– WebOS Internals

Malwarebytes Labs: Relax. Internet password books are OK

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Source: Malwarebytes Labs: Relax. Internet password books are OK

So this was posted on April Fools’ Day, but I do believe it’s a serious post & I agree with the content. The author brings up the point early: Whether using a physical password book is a good thing depends on your threat model & risk. If you are not good with computers & can’t figure out how to use a password manager (see some of my other posts about passwords: Don’t Change that Pa$$w0rd, FINALLY: A Good Password Management Article, & ANOTHER GOOD article about passwords) & you don’t have to worry about someone you live with abusing access to the book, then this is a great way to store passwords without remembering them or re-using the same one over & over. Having the details saved in a book that’s kept in a drawer at your desk is a good way for some people to store different passwords. And it would obviously stay safer if the book stays at home, versus keeping it with you at all times & potentially losing it while out & about. That of course leads to other questions like “What do I do if I am away from home & need a password?”, but that will have to be answered by the user: Is it worth carrying the book with you at all times or is it really something that can wait until you get home & can access the book.

Reasons why I run a network-wide adblocker…

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In the last 24 hours…

Screenshot from Pi-Hole dashboard

For anyone else looking to run a network-wide adblocker, I recommend Pi-Hole. I have also recently started testing out AdGuard Home & will see in the long run if I decide to switch, or just leave it as a backup.

I run Pi-Hole as my primary DNS & DHCP server with an excessive number of blocklists (totaling ~4.5m blocked sites) & have no issues with it. I only started looking into AdGuard Home after a resource issue on my original Pi-Hole (it seems when I added Resilio Sync to my Pi, the system would lock up). So, I decided to replace RasPi 3 B+ with a RasPi 4, 8GB, & turn the original 3+ into the secondary AdGuard DNS server.

I definitely do like the AdGuard Home interface better than Pi-Hole, but will see if there’s actually enough there that will make me want to switch off Pi-Hole once & for all, or as my primary.

Goodbye Google Fi & Android

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I find it pretty ironic that Google Fi is the reason I’m leaving Android as well. Whether it’s because of an actual Fi issue or juts a tower issue in my area, that caused me to finally switch off of Fi (something I’ve been meaning to do anyway), & I decided to switch to an iPhone to get more use out of my phone, but also so I could actually still communicate with some people on iMessage.

I guess I’ll also be looking into jailbreaking some more, especially since the phone I’m using for now is vulnerable to Checkra1n.

iOS14 Charger Connect\Disconnect Sounds

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This seems to be very popular with the release of iOS14, & I’m writing this up as a personal reference so I don’t have to continue to watch the great setup video that u/zeeshan_02 posted on Reddit: Beginner’s Guide on Playing a Custom Sound when Connected to Charger!

Shortcut 01: Encode Audio
This converts a sound file (in my case I was using an MP3) to Base64, for later use by the next shortcut:

“Encode Audio” shortcut

Shortcut 02: Charger Connected
Sound that will be played when the charger is connected. The base64-encoded text should already be in the clipboard from the step above. You just have to paste that into the Text field:

“Charger Connected” shortcut

Shortcut 03: Charger Disconnected (Optional)
Can use the same sound for connect & disconnect if you want. I just wanted to have different sounds used. It’s the same setup as above, just using a different Base64 string. If you want the same sound for both actions, you can skip this.

Automation
Setup a new Personal Automation for when your device is connected or disconnected from power, or both, & run the appropriate shortcut for what you’re trying to do.

Automation to play the sounds based on your selection.

Super Mario 64 Natively on Android

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Found a post on XDA about building Super Mario 64 for Android using Termux, & figured I’d try it out for fun.
Source: XDA Developers: Super Mario 64 can be natively run on Android without a Nintendo 64 emulator

Their instructions worked fine, so below is really just a copy & paste from the XDA post:

➜  ~ pkg install git wget make python getconf zip apksigner clang
Checking availability of current mirror: ok
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
apksigner is already the newest version (29.0.2-5).
clang is already the newest version (10.0.1-2).
getconf is already the newest version (0.5-1).
git is already the newest version (2.28.0).
make is already the newest version (4.3-1).
python is already the newest version (3.8.5).
wget is already the newest version (1.20.3-3).
zip is already the newest version (3.0-5).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
➜  ~ cd Development 
➜  Development git clone https://github.com/VDavid003/sm64-port-android
Cloning into 'sm64-port-android'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 15616, done.
remote: Total 15616 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 15616
Receiving objects: 100% (15616/15616), 22.76 MiB | 5.71 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (7567/7567), done.
➜  Development cd sm64-port-android 
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) cp ~/storage/shared/Super\ Mario\ 64\ \(USA\).z64 baserom.us.z64
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) sha256 baserom.us.z64 
The program openssl is not installed. Install it by executing:
 pkg install openssl-tool
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) pkg install openssl-tool
Checking availability of current mirror: ok
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  openssl-tool
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 185 kB of archives.
After this operation, 643 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 https://dl.bintray.com/termux/termux-packages-24 stable/main aarch64 openssl-tool aarch64 1.1.1g-4 [185 kB]
Fetched 185 kB in 0s (214 kB/s)    
Selecting previously unselected package openssl-tool.
(Reading database ... 14219 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../openssl-tool_1.1.1g-4_aarch64.deb ...
Unpacking openssl-tool (1.1.1g-4) ...
Setting up openssl-tool (1.1.1g-4) ...
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) sha256 baserom.us.z64   
SHA256(baserom.us.z64)= 17ce077343c6133f8c9f2d6d6d9a4ab62c8cd2aa57c40aea1f490b4c8bb21d91
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) md5sum baserom.us.z64 
20b854b239203baf6c961b850a4a51a2  baserom.us.z64
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) ./getSDL.sh
~/Development/sm64-port-android/SDL ~/Development/sm64-port-android
--2020-09-20 11:56:47--  https://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL2-2.0.12.zip
Resolving www.libsdl.org... 2604:a880:1:20::181:e001, 192.241.223.99
Connecting to www.libsdl.org|2604:a880:1:20::181:e001|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 6784187 (6.5M) [application/zip]
Saving to: ‘SDL2-2.0.12.zip’

SDL2-2.0.12.zip                       100%[=======================================================================>]   6.47M  5.65MB/s    in 1.1s    

2020-09-20 11:56:49 (5.65 MB/s) - ‘SDL2-2.0.12.zip’ saved [6784187/6784187]

~/Development/sm64-port-android
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) make --jobs 4
...
cp build/us_pc/sm64.us.f3dex2e.unsigned.apk build/us_pc/sm64.us.f3dex2e.apk
apksigner sign --cert certificate.pem --key key.pk8 build/us_pc/sm64.us.f3dex2e.apk
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) ls
Android.mk   Makefile.split  assets           charmap.txt       enhancements       key.pk8        sm64.jp.sha1  text
CHANGES      README.md       assets.json      charmap_menu.txt  extract_assets.py  levels         sm64.ld       textures
Dockerfile   SDL             baserom.us.z64   data              first-diff.py      lib            sm64.sh.sha1  tools
Doxyfile     actors          bin              diff.py           format.sh          rename_sym.sh  sm64.us.sha1  undefined_syms.txt
Jenkinsfile  android         build            diff_settings.py  getSDL.sh          rsp            sound
Makefile     asm             certificate.pem  doxygen           include            sm64.eu.sha1   src
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) ls build 
us_pc
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master) ls build/us_pc 
actors  bin   endian-and-bitwidth  level_rules.mk  lib         rsp                  sm64.us.f3dex2e.unsigned.apk  src   textures
assets  data  include              levels          libmain.so  sm64.us.f3dex2e.apk  sound                         text
➜  sm64-port-android git:(master)
Super Mario 64 running natively on my OnePlus 7 Pro.

OnePlus 7 Pro: Update System Firmware on Custom ROM

v3ritas5 Comments

Follow up to the OnePlus 7 Pro: LineageOS+MicroG post, where I mentioned I would have to update the Bluetooth & Modem firmware on my device. This fortunately went as smoothly as the LineageOS+MicroG install, so I’m very happy about that.

The first step was downloading the latest OxygenOS ZIP through this post: XDA Developers: [ROM][STOCK][FASTBOOT][OP7P] Stock Fastboot ROMs for OnePlus 7 Pro/ 7 Pro 5G by mauronofrio. The specific ZIP i pulled down from Android File Host was “10.0-GM21AA-OnePlus7ProOxygen_21.O.20_OTA_020_all_1909172051_db7a3f61-FASTBOOT.zip”. From there, it was just a simple matter of extracting that, images.zip, & flashing the bluetooth.img & modem.img files:

➜  Downloads cd 10.0-GM21AA-OnePlus7ProOxygen_21.O.20_OTA_020_all_1909172051_db7a3f61-FASTBOOT/images
➜  images file bluetooth.img
bluetooth.img: DOS/MBR boot sector, code offset 0x3c+2, OEM-ID "MSDOS5.0", Bytes/sector 4096, sectors/cluster 4, root entries 512, Media descriptor 0xf8, sectors/FAT 3, sectors/track 63, heads 255, sectors 16384 (volumes > 32 MB), serial number 0xbc614e, unlabeled, FAT (16 bit)
➜  images file modem.img
modem.img: DOS/MBR boot sector, code offset 0x3c+2, OEM-ID "MSDOS5.0", Bytes/sector 4096, sectors/cluster 4, root entries 512, Media descriptor 0xf8, sectors/FAT 10, sectors/track 63, heads 255, sectors 76800 (volumes > 32 MB), serial number 0xbc614e, unlabeled, FAT (16 bit)

➜  images adb devices
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
List of devices attached
➜  images adb devices
List of devices attached
1234abcd        device
➜  images adb reboot bootloader
➜  images fastboot devices
1234abcd        fastboot
➜  images fastboot flash bluetooth_a bluetooth.img
Sending 'bluetooth_a' (828 KB)                     OKAY [  0.030s]
Writing 'bluetooth_a'                              OKAY [  0.005s]
Finished. Total time: 0.049s
➜  images fastboot flash bluetooth_b bluetooth.img
Sending 'bluetooth_b' (828 KB)                     OKAY [  0.032s]
Writing 'bluetooth_b'                              OKAY [  0.005s]
Finished. Total time: 0.050s
➜  images fastboot flash modem_a modem.img
Sending 'modem_a' (161700 KB)                      OKAY [  4.308s]
Writing 'modem_a'                                  OKAY [  0.633s]
Finished. Total time: 4.954s
➜  images fastboot flash modem_b modem.img
Sending 'modem_b' (161700 KB)                      OKAY [  3.769s]
Writing 'modem_b'                                  OKAY [  0.696s]
Finished. Total time: 4.480s
➜  images fastboot reboot
Rebooting                                          OKAY [  0.002s]
Finished. Total time: 0.002s
➜  images