Develop Reference

Crawling Android File System gets stuck in possible SymLink loop

I'm trying to crawl the entire file system of an android device, both directories and files, without the benefit of NIO, to build a tree of it. If I had NIO then I could use WalkTree or similar, but I don't.
The problem I am having (on the Nexus 5 API 23 x86 emulator) is in /sys/bus/pci/devices and possibly other directories (eg /proc/self) - it doesn't complete before the app times out/quits/crashes (unknown which), possibly getting into some kind of loop or something (the path may change in a repetitive fashion but the canonical path varies little or not at all) .
However if I rule out Symbolic links then that problem goes away but I get what is only some of the files on the device rather than all - for example lacking files under /data (or /data/media/0) and those files not showing up elsewhere - not to mention it looks completely different from the file system that most file managers show. The former is strange as I'd understood Symbolic Links pointed to files and folders that were still present in the file system, but just made them look as if they were elsewhere.
What's the solution? Do I have to code exceptions or special handling for /sys/bus/pci/devices, /proc/self and others? I'd prefer to keep Symbolic Links being followed if I can, and I'd prefer to crawl as many files and folders as I can (so starting in a sub-folder is not preferred).
And a few related questions that might affect the approach I eventually take - if I DO keep SymLinks then does that mean that some things will be crawled twice or more? Is there a way to avoid that? Is there a way to detect when something is the TARGET of a SymLink, other than following the SymLink and checking the CanonicalPath?
Here's my code:
I get the root (I understand that in Android, the first and likely only root is the valid one):
File[] roots = File.listRoots();
String rootPath = "";
try {
rootPath = roots[0].getCanonicalPath();
} catch (IOException e) {
// do something
}
Then I start the crawl (note the boolean to choose whether to ignore simlinks or not):
try {
// check if the rootPath is null or empty, and then...
File rootFile = new File(rootPath);
rootNode = new FileFolderNode(rootFile, null, true, false); // last param may be true to ignore sim links
//FileFolderNode(String filePath, FileFolderNode parent, boolean addChildren, boolean ignoreSimLinks)
} catch (Exception e) {
// do something
}
That uses the FileFolderNode, which has constructor:
public FileFolderNode(File file, FileFolderNode parent, boolean addChildren, boolean ignoreSimLinks) throws IOException {
if (file == null)
throw new IOException("File is null in new FileFolderNode");
if (!file.exists())
throw new IOException("File '" + file.getName() + "' does not exist in new FileFolderNode");
// for now this uses isSymLink() from https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/commons/_moved_to_git/io/trunk/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/io/FileUtils.java adjusted a bit to remove Java 7 and Windows mentions
if (!ignoreSimLinks)
if (FileUtils.isSymlink(file))
return;
this.name = file.getName();
if (this.name.equals("") && ! file.getCanonicalPath().equals("/"))
throw new IOException("Name is empty in new FileFolderNode");
this.isDirectory = file.isDirectory();
if (this.isDirectory) {
this.children = new ArrayList<FileFolderNode>();
if (addChildren) {
File[] files = file.listFiles();
if (files == null) {
// do something
} else {
// add in children
for (File f : files) {
FileFolderNode child = null;
try {
child = new FileFolderNode(f, this, addChildren, ignoreSimLinks);
} catch (Exception e) {
child = null;
}
if (child != null)
children.add(child);
}
}
}
}
}
Given the lack of answers here, I've broken this question down into areas needing clarification, and am trying to get answers to those - please do see if you can help with those:
Get Android Filing System root
Android SymLinks to hidden or separate locations or partitions
Avoiding Android Symbolic Link loop

How to share split APKs created while using instant-run, within Android itself?

Background
I have an app (here) that, among other features, allows to share APK files.
In order to do so, it reaches the file by accessing the path of packageInfo.applicationInfo.sourceDir (docs link here), and just shares the file (using ContentProvider when needed, as I've used here).
The problem
This works fine in most cases, especially when installing APK files from either the Play Store or from a standalone APK file, but when I install an app using Android-Studio itself, I see multiple APK files on this path, and none of them are valid ones that can be installed and run without any issues.
Here's a screenshot of the content of this folder, after trying out a sample from "Alerter" github repo :
I'm not sure when this issue has started, but it does occur at least on my Nexus 5x with Android 7.1.2. Maybe even before.
What I've found
This seems to be caused only from the fact that instant run is enabled on the IDE, so that it could help updating the app without the need to re-build it all together :
After disabling it, I can see that there is a single APK, just as it used to be in the past:
You can see the difference in file size between the correct APK and the split one.
Also, it seems that there is an API to get the paths to all of the splited APKs:
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.html#splitPublicSourceDirs
The question
What should be the easiest way to share an APK that got to be split into multiple ones ?
Is it really needed to somehow merge them?
It seems it is possible according to the docs :
Full paths to zero or more split APKs that, when combined with the
base APK defined in sourceDir, form a complete application.
But what's the correct way to do it, and is there a fast and efficient way to do it? Maybe without really creating a file?
Is there maybe an API to get a merged APK out of all the split ones? Or maybe such an APK already exist anyway in some other path, and there is no need for merging?
EDIT: just noticed that all third party apps that I've tried are supposed to share an installed app's APK fail to do so in this case.

I am the tech lead #Google for the Android Gradle Plugin, let me try to answer your question assuming I understand your use case.
First, some users mentioned you should not share your InstantRun enabled build and they are correct. The Instant Run builds on an application is highly customized for the current device/emulator image you are deploying to. So basically, say you generate an IR enabled build of your app for a particular device running 21, it will fail miserably if you try to use those exact same APKs on say a device running 23. I can go into much deeper explanation if necessary but suffice to say that we generate byte codes customized on the APIs found in android.jar (which is of course version specific).
So I do not think that sharing those APKs make sense, you should either use a IR disabled build or a release build.
Now for some details, each slice APK contains 1+ dex file(s), so in theory, nothing prevents you from unziping all those slice APKs, take all the dex files and stuff them back into the base.apk/rezip/resign and it should just work. However, it will still be an IR enabled application so it will start the small server to listen to IDE requests, etc, etc... I cannot imagine a good reason for doing this.
Hope this helps.

To merge multiple split apks to an single apk might be a little complicated.
Here is a suggestion to share the split apks directly and let the system to handle the merge and installation.
This might not be an answer to the question, since it's a little long, I post here as an 'answer'.
Framework new API PackageInstaller can handle monolithic apk or split apk.
In development environment
for monolithic apk, using adb install single_apk
for split apk, using adb install-multiple a_list_of_apks
You can see these two modes above from android studio Run output depends on your project has Instant run enable or disable.
For the command adb install-multiple, we can see the source code here, it will call the function install_multiple_app.
And then perform the following procedures
pm install-create # create a install session
pm install-write # write a list of apk to session
pm install-commit # perform the merge and install
What the pm actually do is call the framework api PackageInstaller, we can see the source code here
runInstallCreate
runInstallWrite
runInstallCommit
It's not mysterious at all, I just copied some methods or function here.
The following script can be invoked from adb shell environment to install all split apks to device, like adb install-multiple. I think it might work programmatically with Runtime.exec if your device is rooted.
#!/system/bin/sh
# get the total size in byte
total=0
for apk in *.apk
do
o=( $(ls -l $apk) )
let total=$total+${o[3]}
done
echo "pm install-create total size $total"
create=$(pm install-create -S $total)
sid=$(echo $create |grep -E -o '[0-9]+')
echo "pm install-create session id $sid"
for apk in *.apk
do
_ls_out=( $(ls -l $apk) )
echo "write $apk to $sid"
cat $apk | pm install-write -S ${_ls_out[3]} $sid $apk -
done
pm install-commit $sid
I my example, the split apks include (I got the list from android studio Run output)
app/build/output/app-debug.apk
app/build/intermediates/split-apk/debug/dependencies.apk
and all apks under app/build/intermediates/split-apk/debug/slices/slice[0-9].apk
Using adb push all the apks and the script above to a public writable directory, e.g /data/local/tmp/slices, and run the install script, it will install to your device just like adb install-multiple.
The code below is just another variant of the script above, if your app has platform signature or device is rooted, I think it will be ok. I didn't have the environment to test.
private static void installMultipleCmd() {
File[] apks = new File("/data/local/tmp/slices/slices").listFiles(new FileFilter() {
#Override
public boolean accept(File pathname) {
return pathname.getAbsolutePath().endsWith(".apk");
}
});
long total = 0;
for (File apk : apks) {
total += apk.length();
}
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: total apk size " + total);
long sessionID = 0;
try {
Process pmInstallCreateProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("/system/bin/sh\n");
BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(pmInstallCreateProcess.getOutputStream()));
writer.write("pm install-create\n");
writer.flush();
writer.close();
int ret = pmInstallCreateProcess.waitFor();
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: pm install-create return " + ret);
BufferedReader pmCreateReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(pmInstallCreateProcess.getInputStream()));
String l;
Pattern sessionIDPattern = Pattern.compile(".*(\\[\\d+\\])");
while ((l = pmCreateReader.readLine()) != null) {
Matcher matcher = sessionIDPattern.matcher(l);
if (matcher.matches()) {
sessionID = Long.parseLong(matcher.group(1));
}
}
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: pm install-create sessionID " + sessionID);
} catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
StringBuilder pmInstallWriteBuilder = new StringBuilder();
for (File apk : apks) {
pmInstallWriteBuilder.append("cat " + apk.getAbsolutePath() + " | " +
"pm install-write -S " + apk.length() + " " + sessionID + " " + apk.getName() + " -");
pmInstallWriteBuilder.append("\n");
}
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: will perform pm install write \n" + pmInstallWriteBuilder.toString());
try {
Process pmInstallWriteProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("/system/bin/sh\n");
BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(pmInstallWriteProcess.getOutputStream()));
// writer.write("pm\n");
writer.write(pmInstallWriteBuilder.toString());
writer.flush();
writer.close();
int ret = pmInstallWriteProcess.waitFor();
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: pm install-write return " + ret);
checkShouldShowError(ret, pmInstallWriteProcess);
} catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
try {
Process pmInstallCommitProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("/system/bin/sh\n");
BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(pmInstallCommitProcess.getOutputStream()));
writer.write("pm install-commit " + sessionID);
writer.flush();
writer.close();
int ret = pmInstallCommitProcess.waitFor();
Log.d(TAG, "installMultipleCmd: pm install-commit return " + ret);
checkShouldShowError(ret, pmInstallCommitProcess);
} catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
private static void checkShouldShowError(int ret, Process process) {
if (process != null && ret != 0) {
BufferedReader reader = null;
try {
reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
String l;
while ((l = reader.readLine()) != null) {
Log.d(TAG, "checkShouldShowError: " + l);
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (reader != null) {
try {
reader.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}
Meanwhile, the simple way, you can try the framework api. Like the sample code above, it might work if the device is rooted or your app has platform signature, but I didn't get a workable environment to test it.
private static void installMultiple(Context context) {
if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
PackageInstaller packageInstaller = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInstaller();
PackageInstaller.SessionParams sessionParams = new PackageInstaller.SessionParams(PackageInstaller.SessionParams.MODE_FULL_INSTALL);
try {
final int sessionId = packageInstaller.createSession(sessionParams);
Log.d(TAG, "installMultiple: sessionId " + sessionId);
PackageInstaller.Session session = packageInstaller.openSession(sessionId);
File[] apks = new File("/data/local/tmp/slices/slices").listFiles(new FileFilter() {
#Override
public boolean accept(File pathname) {
return pathname.getAbsolutePath().endsWith(".apk");
}
});
for (File apk : apks) {
InputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream(apk);
OutputStream outputStream = session.openWrite(apk.getName(), 0, apk.length());
byte[] buffer = new byte[65536];
int count;
while ((count = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
outputStream.write(buffer, 0, count);
}
session.fsync(outputStream);
outputStream.close();
inputStream.close();
Log.d(TAG, "installMultiple: write file to session " + sessionId + " " + apk.length());
}
try {
IIntentSender target = new IIntentSender.Stub() {
#Override
public int send(int i, Intent intent, String s, IIntentReceiver iIntentReceiver, String s1) throws RemoteException {
int status = intent.getIntExtra(PackageInstaller.EXTRA_STATUS, PackageInstaller.STATUS_FAILURE);
Log.d(TAG, "send: status " + status);
return 0;
}
};
session.commit(IntentSender.class.getConstructor(IIntentSender.class).newInstance(target));
} catch (InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException | NoSuchMethodException | InvocationTargetException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
session.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
In order to use the hidden api IIntentSender, I add the jar library android-hidden-api as the provided dependency.

Those are called split apks. Which is mainly used in the PlayStore. As you may know, PlayStore only shows apps to the user if it's compatible with the device. Same in this case. The split has files varies from devices. Like if you used Different resources for Different devices which makes app really heavy. By making splits, it saves space for downloading and running for the user by only downloading the usable split apks.
Is it possible to merge them into single apk?
Yes. I used an app called Anti Split which allows that. Plus Apk Editor Ultra has same.
Can we save it into a single file?
Yes you can. As like for Anti Split, you have to first backup the app. Like in this case you have to back it up as apks file or xapk which is called bundled app in Android Studio. I have created a library for doing this. It's working perfectly for me. Am using it to backup apps into xapk which can later be installed using SIA app or XAPK Installer or we can use xapk file to merge it and make apk

For me instant run was a nightmare, 2-5 minute build times, and maddeningly often, recent changes were not included in builds. I highly recommend disabling instant run and adding this line to gradle.properties:
android.enableBuildCache=true
First build often takes some time for large projects (1-2mins), but after it's cached subsequent builds are usually lightnight fast (<10secs).
Got this tip from reddit user /u/QuestionsEverythang which has saved me SO much hassling around with instant run!

Getting ProtoBuf.ProtoException using OsmSharp in Xamarin Android

I am trying to test a sample project called Android.Routing.Offline from OsmSharp.Samples in Github.
After two taps on the screen (the first one gets just the GeoCoordinate) I get a ProtoBuf.ProtoException in the Router.cs
private static IBasicRouterDataSource<CHEdgeData> _graph;
public static void Initialize()
{
var routingSerializer = new CHEdgeDataDataSourceSerializer();
_graph = routingSerializer.Deserialize(
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(#"Android.Routing.Offline.kempen-big.contracted.mobile.routing"));
}
public static Route Calculate(GeoCoordinate from, GeoCoordinate to)
{
try
{
lock(_graph)
{
var router = Router.CreateCHFrom(_graph, new CHRouter(), new OsmRoutingInterpreter());
// The exception happens here below
var fromResolved = router.Resolve(Vehicle.Car, from);
var toResolved = router.Resolve(Vehicle.Car, to);
if(fromResolved != null && toResolved !=null)
{
return router.Calculate(Vehicle.Car, fromResolved, toResolved);
}
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
OsmSharp.Logging.Log.TraceEvent("Router", OsmSharp.Logging.TraceEventType.Critical, "Unhandled exception occured: {0}", ex.ToString());
}
return null;
}
And the exception:
> {ProtoBuf.ProtoException: Invalid wire-type; this usually means you
> have over-written a file without truncating or setting the length; see
> http://stackoverflow.com/q/2152978/23354 at
> ProtoBuf.ProtoReader.ReadSingle () ...
I didnt overwrite the file (kempen-big.contracted.mobile.routing) just added it as a linked file in the project. Any ideas how I can solve this issue?

Well, the first thing to try is to check that the contents of the Stream you are reading (via GetManifestResourceStream) contains exactly the contents you are expecting, and not some wrapper or otherwise-corrupt mess. If you have some checksum algorithm you can run: great! Checking just the .Length would be a great start. Otherwise, you could cheat (just for the purposes of validating the contents) by getting the hex:
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
stream.CopyTo(ms);
string hex = BitConverter.ToString(
ms.GetBuffer(), 0, (int)ms.Length);
// dump this string, and compare it to the same output run on the
// oringal file; they should be identical
}
Note that this duplicates the contents in-memory, purely so we can get a byte[] (oversized) to get the hex from - it isn't intended for "real" code, but until you are sure that the contents are correct, all other bets are off. I strongly suspect that you'll find that the contents are not identical to the contents in the original file. Note that I'm also implicitly assuming that the original file works fine in terms of deserialization. If the original file doesn't work: again, all bets are off.

Android - Installed apps - integrity check

If someone tampers with an installed android app (apk file), are there any checks done at the time of launching to ensure integrity of an app is not compromised? As I understand there are no checks performed at launch time and I am trying to do the following:
I am trying to compute SHA-1 digests of the installed applications (apk file). I am aware that an apk file is like a zip file. It consists of other files. However, I am treating it as any other file (just a stream of bytes) and trying to compute SHA-1 digests of all the apk files. Are there any problems with this approach? The following code kept on giving null exception:
private static byte[] getSHA1FromFileContent(String filename)
{
try
{
MessageDigest digest = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-1");
//byte[] buffer = new byte[65536]; //created at start.
final FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filename);
int n = 0;
byte[] buffer = null;
while (n != -1)
{
n = fis.read(buffer);
if (n > 0)
{
digest.update(buffer, 0, n);
}
}
byte[] digestResult = digest.digest();
return digestResult;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
return null;
}
}
As an alternative when I attempted to retrieve the files from the apk file and save the individual files as follows, I again kept on null exception
public void unzip()
{
try
{
FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(_zipFile);
ZipInputStream zin = new ZipInputStream(fin);
ZipEntry ze = null;
while ((ze = zin.getNextEntry()) != null)
{
Log.v("Decompress", "Unzipping " + ze.getName());
if(ze.isDirectory()) {
_dirChecker(ze.getName());
} else {
File dstfile = new File(_location + ze.getName());
dstfile.createNewFile();
FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream(dstfile.getPath());
//OutputStream out = openFileOutput(_location + ze.getName(), Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
for (int c = zin.read(); c != -1; c = zin.read()) {
fout.write(c);
}
zin.closeEntry();
fout.close();
}
}
zin.close();
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Log.e("Decompress", "unzip", e);
}
}
I am also verifying the application configuration by way of - PreferencesManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences call providing the package name of the application as input parameter
In order to verify the integrity of an installed application is the above check enough?

If someone tampers with an installed android app (apk file), are there any checks done at the time of launching to ensure integrity of an app is not compromised?
There is no such concept as "compromised" from the OS standpoint, other than having an invalid digital signature. If somebody tampers with your app and signs it, that is indistinguishable to the OS from your original app, or the app after Amazon "tampers" with it for their store, etc.
Are there any problems with this approach? The following code kept on giving null exception
First, you are handling exceptions and doing no logging. You will find that debugging is much simpler when you log your exceptions. Then, you can use the stack trace (e.g., from DDMS) to find the line on which you are crashing, and fix your bug, whatever it is. If you want help with that, you will need to include in your question details on where the NullPointerException is occurring.
Second, whoever tampers with your app will simply remove all of this code, if they can find it.
Third, it may be fairly slow, making it easier for them to find it.
I am also verifying the application configuration by way of - PreferencesManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences call providing the package name of the application as input parameter
I have no idea why you think that this will be some form of verification.
In order to verify the integrity of an installed application is the above check enough?
IMHO, the above check is largely useless. If you obfuscate your code (e.g., with ProGuard), call it from several places, and use the other techniques outlined in this blog post, perhaps it will be worthwhile, but it may be too slow.

Copy the shared preferences XML file from /data on Samsung device failed

There's an exporting feature in my application. It's just a copy operation since all my settings are store in shared preference.
I just copy the xml file from /data/data/package.name/shared_prefs/settings.xml to SD card. It works fine on my HTC desire. However, it might not work on Samsung devices, and i got the following error while I try to copy the file.
I/System.out( 3166): /data/data/package.name/shared_prefs/settings.xml (No such file or directory)
in the directory.
Anyone know how to fix it, or is there another simple way to store the shared preference ?
Thanks.

Never never never never never never never never never hardwire paths.
Unfortunately, there's no getSharedPreferenceDir() anywhere that I can think of. The best solution I can think of will be:
new File(getFilesDir(), "../shared_prefs")
This way if a device manufacturer elects to change partition names, you are covered.
Try this and see if it helps.

CommonsWare's suggestion would a be clever hack, but unfortunately it won't work.
Samsung does not always put the shared_prefs directory in the same parent directory as the getFilesDir().
I'd recommend testing for the existence of (hardcode it, except for package name):
/dbdata/databases/<package_name>/shared_prefs/package.name_preferences.xml and if it exists use it, otherwise fall back to either CommonsWare's suggestion of new File(getFilesDir(), "../shared_prefs") or just /data/data/<package_name>/shared_prefs/package.name_preferences.xml.
A warning though that this method could potentially have problems if a user switched from a Samsung rom to a custom rom without wiping, as the /dbdata/databases file might be unused but still exist.
More details
On some Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy S series running froyo, the setup is this:
/data/data/<package_name>/(lib|files|databases)
Sometimes there's a shared_prefs there too, but it's just Samsung's attempt to confuse you! Don't trust it! (I think it can happen as a left over from a 2.1 upgrade to 2.2, but it might be a left over from users switching roms. I don't really know, I just have both included in my app's bug report interface and sometimes see both files).
And:
/dbdata/databases/<package_name>/shared_prefs
That's the real shared_prefs directory.
However on the Galaxy Tab on Froyo, it's weird. Generally you have: /data/data/<package_name>/(lib|shared_prefs|files|databases)
With no /dbdata/databases/<package_name> directory, but it seems the system apps do have:
/dbdata/databases/<package_name>/yourdatabase.db
And added bonus is that /dbdata/databases/<package_name> is not removed when your app is uninstalled. Good luck using SharedPreferences if the user ever reinstalls your app!

Try using
context.getFilesDir().getParentFile().getAbsolutePath()

Best way to get valid path on all devices - run method Context.getSharedPrefsFile defined as:
/**
* {#hide}
* Return the full path to the shared prefs file for the given prefs group name.
*
* <p>Note: this is not generally useful for applications, since they should
* not be directly accessing the file system.
*/
public abstract File getSharedPrefsFile(String name);
Because of it hidden need use reflection and use fallback on fail:
private File getSharedPrefsFile(String name) {
Context context = ...;
File file = null;
try {
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 24) {
try {
Method m = context.getClass().getMethod("getSharedPreferencesPath", new Class[] {String.class});
file = (File)m.invoke(context, new Object[]{name});
} catch (Throwable e) {
Log.w("App TAG", "Failed call getSharedPreferencesPath", e);
}
}
if (file == null) {
Method m = context.getClass().getMethod("getSharedPrefsFile", new Class[] {String.class});
file = (File)m.invoke(context, new Object[]{name});
}
} catch (Throwable e) {
Log.w("App TAG", "Failed call getSharedPrefsFile", e);
file = new File(context.getFilesDir(), "../shared_prefs/" + name + ".xml");
}
return file;
}
On some Samsungs implements like this:
public File getSharedPrefsFile(String paramString) {
return makeFilename(getPreferencesDir(), paramString + ".xml");
}
private File getPreferencesDir() {
synchronized (this.mSync) {
if (this.mPreferencesDir == null) {
this.mPreferencesDir = new File("/dbdata/databases/" + getPackageName() + "/", "shared_prefs");
}
File localFile = this.mPreferencesDir;
return localFile;
}
}
On other Android like this:
public File getSharedPrefsFile(String name) {
return makeFilename(getPreferencesDir(), name + ".xml");
}
private File getPreferencesDir() {
synchronized (mSync) {
if (mPreferencesDir == null) {
mPreferencesDir = new File(getDataDirFile(), "shared_prefs");
}
return mPreferencesDir;
}
}
private File getDataDirFile() {
if (mPackageInfo != null) {
return mPackageInfo.getDataDirFile();
}
throw new RuntimeException("Not supported in system context");
}
After while Google change API for level 24 and later:
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/6a6cdafaec56fcd793214678c7fcc52f0b860cfc%5E%21/core/java/android/app/ContextImpl.java

I've tested in Samsung P1010 with:
//I'm in a IntentService class
File file = this.getDir("shared_prefs", MODE_PRIVATE);
I got:
"/data/data/package.name/app_shared_prefs"
It works fine to me. I can run ffmpeg in this folder.
Look:
Context.getDir

You have to create the shared_prefs directory:
try{
String dir="/data/data/package.name/shared_prefs";
// Create one directory
boolean success = (new File(dir)).mkdirs();
if (success) {
// now copy the file
}
}catch (Exception e){//Catch exception if any
System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
}
Also... the package of your app is package.name? Make sure you are referring to the right package.