Android Market installation on Android Player in 15 min.

[HaTaX]

Alright, so most of you have already seen this thread:
Android Market on the PB, I'll post a how to later...

And I think we need a place for questions, comments, and what not. The old thread is probably not a good place for it as we're approaching 20 pages that focus heavily on a previous version. So here's a thread for all the users of this to flock to!

So lets get started...
There's a few things you should do to prepare the PB for the process that are listed in the description at the link. First thing you need to do is to get the sys.android.bar file (search Google exactly for the file name), and then get it loaded to your device. (Okay, this seriously ended up being a stopping point for some people so we'll just link to it here: Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites! )

You can load sys.android.bar using a few different methods, pick whichever works best for you. louis.keeper has put together a really nice graphical loader that's probably the best solution for most people, it's all drag and drop and the app takes care of the rest. Information on his loading method is here: http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...indows-619796/
I also put together a non-graphical batch file for installing bar files using components of the PlayBook SDK, it's a simple method, but it works well and is very lightweight. Information on my loading method is here: Simple, simple way to install bar file applications on your Playbook without AppWorld

So now that you've dug up "sys.android.bar" and you've got it loaded using one of the methods above, go ahead and open it up on your PlayBook and let it get started. It will take about 2-3 minutes for the first startup of the Android player, after that it's about 30 seconds. Once it's open and sitting at a screen with "Recent Tasks" go ahead and close it out. This will get the directory structure setup in the shared folder, and also speed it up for the rest of this process.

Now it's time to copy the needed files to your PlayBook so you can follow along with the video. First, grab the needed zip file here: GApps-PB-rev2.zip, then copy it to the PB using one of the methods below.

And once again, there's two ways to access the PB file system, either via USB, or over the network share if enabled. The path that you're browsing to is basically the same, you want to copy files to the "/misc/android" folder under your shared files. If you're using USB to do this, the path will look something like P:\misc\android (With "P:" being the drive letter assigned to the PB). And if you're using the network share method, the path will look something like \\PLAYBOOK\media\misc\android (With "PLAYBOOK" being the IP address the PB is currently using)

Once you get that path open on your computer, you need to extract the entire contents of that folder to the open path. This should create 3 new folders on the PB named "apks", "download", and "google". The download folder is empty, but extract it there anyway, you need that folder created before installing Market apps. This section is VERY important! You need to make sure the "downloads" folder is created before you start this process or the permissions on it will be incorrect and you will be unable to delete the folder! If this happens you can move or rename the damaged "downloads" folder and create a new one either over usb or the wifi share. The only way to get rid of this folder if its created incorrectly is to do a system wipe. It doesn't hurt anything to rename or move it, but it's not ideal.

Got all that done and ready? If so, you're ready to follow the video for the rest of this how-to. Make sure you've got 15 minutes set aside and then head over here:
Setup Android player with Android Market on your PlayBook in 15 minutes or less. - YouTube
(Remember to take a look in the video description for additional information, most of it is already posted here, but any updates to the video will be posted there first.)

After you've got it installed you may wonder what the additional files are for in the "google/optional" folder. The contact and calendar apks are to sync your Gmail calendar and contacts to the Android player, and the MediaUploader.apk is responsible for uploading media to Google services. (YouTube uploading, attachments in Gmail, etc.) These files are non-essential and are included for those people who want to use those features. You can install them at any point after Market is installed, and do a reboot of the PB after they're installed to make sure they're all setup properly.

Please forgive the messiness of this thread, I'll clean up my OP later tonight or tomorrow but I wanted to get this thread started and going!

Let us know how it went for you! We'll use this thread for questions, comments, flames, all of it that relates to the Android Marketplace on your PlayBook.

Known issues:
Stuck at "Download starting" - Possible solutions: #1, #2 , #3(Bold text), #4
"Insufficient Storage Space" when installing downloaded app - Read the large bold paragraph above. (Workaround here if you've got the problem)
Gmail app flashes and closes email when trying to read emails. - Issue with the HTML rendering engine in Android, no fix yet.

[gavinn]

When I attempt to install an app, the market states "Starting Download" and it doesn't progress any further.

[wfubball]

Originally Posted by erandhawa

I've got it all running, I am able to browse the market but when I click download the app just says starting download and just sits at that the bar doesn't progress forward at all. Any suggestions?

Im also at this point with you... starting download and hangs

[HaTaX]

That normally happens if you try to move through some of the steps too quickly. Give this a shot, cancel the download, close the player and reboot the PB. When it comes back up, load the player again and get the the applications list, but then let it sit for a minute or two. After waiting, go back into the market and try downloading again.

Seems your google accounts need to be fully synced up before a download will kick off. To make matters more complicated, if Market interrupts the sync process, the sync dies off and needs a reboot to get it going again.

Pause where I pause in the video and try to move at the same pace as me, really timing has a lot to do with it working properly. Too fast and you'll end up with stalled downloads, too slow doesn't seem to cause issues though...

[erandhawa]

Originally Posted by gavinn

When I attempt to install an app, the market states "Starting Download" and it doesn't progress any further.

I am having the same issue, I just did a system wipe and I'll post and let you know if it fixed it.

[rholford]

I installed the Android market on top of an existing Android player at first and had things downloading but only very few of the apps I tried were playing, even after several restarts of my PlayBook. I completely wiped my PB and did a fresh install, following each step very closely and making sure to wait to give things time to settle. Now everything I've tried is sticking in the "starting download" status. What did I possibly do wrong and how do I correct it?

Thanks a bunch HaTaX! You're a hero now!

[HaTaX]

Hmm, kind of bothers me that you're all seeming to get stuck at the starting download status. Did you see any notifications at the top saying you had new email in your google account? Send yourself a new email, reboot the PB, and then when you fire it back up count down 1 minute after you see the notification for the new email.

I'm thinking this is just a timing thing, and if we can figure out an easy remedy for the issue I can add it to the OP.

[Thetnaung]

Hi - When Installed Apps from Market, i got notification on PB showing "Installation", when you click on that, it will bring you to Market but showing "Installation Error" Insufficient storage available. Of Course, I have more than 20GB available on my PB. Could you please advice where to adjust.?

[HaTaX]

One other thing I want to note here, applications that depend on certain things (being able to access /cache is one of them), won't work properly with this version of the Android player.

There's not too much that can be done here without drastic measures, or modification of the sys.android.bar file. I think it's best we wait to see what RIM comes out with in a few months before determining how / if we tackle this problem.

I decided to leave this issue behind as currently the process to "fix it" isn't exactly user friendly. It also has a big potential to cause bad problems in all sorts of ways.... So for now, if an app doesn't work, look for an alternative! Most of the time you can find another app to do the same or similar and with any luck, that one will work.

[erandhawa]

Originally Posted by HaTaX

Hmm, kind of bothers me that you're all seeming to get stuck at the starting download status. Did you see any notifications at the top saying you had new email in your google account? Send yourself a new email, reboot the PB, and then when you fire it back up count down 1 minute after you see the notification for the new email.

I'm thinking this is just a timing thing, and if we can figure out an easy remedy for the issue I can add it to the OP.

I was able to see the notification so the sync was good. I just finished system wipe and android reinstall about to start the steps i'll update shortly

[wfubball]

Originally Posted by HaTaX

Hmm, kind of bothers me that you're all seeming to get stuck at the starting download status. Did you see any notifications at the top saying you had new email in your google account? Send yourself a new email, reboot the PB, and then when you fire it back up count down 1 minute after you see the notification for the new email.

I'm thinking this is just a timing thing, and if we can figure out an easy remedy for the issue I can add it to the OP.

Yeah, i just restarted the playbook... fired up the android player, got the email notification and then got distracted for a bit, came back and tried again and the same thing. (tried the Jewels game you downloaded)

[HaTaX]

Originally Posted by Thetnaung

Hi - When Installed Apps from Market, i got notification on PB showing "Installation", when you click on that, it will bring you to Market but showing "Installation Error" Insufficient storage available. Of Course, I have more than 20GB available on my PB. Could you please advice where to adjust.?

I've actually never seen this error, do you have file sharing and/or wi-fi sharing turned on in the PB options menu? If it's turned on, what does your folder structure under the file share look like in the "misc/android" folder? If you don't see a "downloads" folder in there, it's most likely causing the no space available issue. That directory should have been created when you extracted the GApps-PB-rev2.zip file.

[rholford]

ok, I sent myself a test message and it came through. That must have jarred something because things started downloading. However now I get "insufficient storage available" errors. I have a 64gb PB. plenty of room.

[HaTaX]

For those of you having download issues, any chance any of you have adb installed and are familiar with how to get a logcat? I know not all of you may know how to do this, but the information from it would be useful to get a handle for what's going on there.

[Thetnaung]

Originally Posted by HaTaX

I've actually never seen this error, do you have file sharing and/or wi-fi sharing turned on in the PB options menu? If it's turned on, what does your folder structure under the file share look like in the "misc/android" folder? If you don't see a "downloads" folder in there, it's most likely causing the no space available issue. That directory should have been created when you extracted the GApps-PB-rev2.zip file.

I Have download folder under misc/android but if i access to PB from PC, the folder name download does not display, if I create new one, it ask me to overwrite and i select yes but the folder name does not display.