How do I copy files to my iPhone?

Subforum for discussion and help with ScummVM's iPhone port

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Blackthorne
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Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:05 pm

Post by Blackthorne »

Please help me out guys, I'm lost. I have tried Google but i just couldn't find an anser. How exactly do i move the gamefiles from my computer to the ipod :oops: ? It doesn't show up as portable harddrive in the explorer.
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TomFrost
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Post by TomFrost »

Blackthorne wrote:Please help me out guys, I'm lost. I have tried Google but i just couldn't find an anser. How exactly do i move the gamefiles from my computer to the ipod :oops: ? It doesn't show up as portable harddrive in the explorer.
There are a few ways to do it and a couple programs you can use to transfer files, but here's my favorite way if you have a wireless network:
User Installer.app to install the "BSD Subsystem", "OpenSSH", and "term-vt100". SSH stands for "Secure SHell" and can be used to log into your iPod wirelessly and send it text commands. But it can *also* be used to send files back and forth.

Run term-vt100 and type "passwd", then press enter. Give it a password and confirm -- you won't see anything appear on screen when you're typing. (Note: As the two posts below point out, you can skip this step and use the default password... just be aware that anyone on any wireless connection you happen to walk through can log into your phone if you don't change this)

Now type "ifconfig" and press enter. Look for your phone's 'inet' address after where it says 'eth0'. That's its IP address on the network. We're almost there!

Once you have SSH running, you just need an SFTP client. Most of the mainstream FTP clients can do SFTP too -- I can't suggest any because the only ones I know by name are for mac and Linux. But what you want to do is use it to connect to the IP address you wrote down, on port 22, with the username 'root' and whatever password you just set up, over the SFTP or SSH-FTP protocol. It takes about 30 seconds to connect the very first time, but once you're in, you're all set! Now you can copy files to and from the iPod's filesystem any time you have access to a wireless network, no cables required. This is how I test out new versions of Scumm at work ;-)

Edit: One last thing! Remember that the iPhone shuts off your WiFi connection shortly after the screen powers down. So remember to keep a finger on the screen whenever you're transferring files :)
Last edited by TomFrost on Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
featurex
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Post by featurex »

Blackthorne wrote:Please help me out guys, I'm lost. I have tried Google but i just couldn't find an anser. How exactly do i move the gamefiles from my computer to the ipod :oops: ? It doesn't show up as portable harddrive in the explorer.
Hi,

i use WinSCP to connect to my iphone. install open ssh on your iphone. all you then need is the ip (enter it in winscp) of your iphone.

username: root
password: alpine

and there you go
SpARC
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Post by SpARC »

Standard password for 1.0.2 is 'dottie' ..

The display won't shut down if you set AutoLock to Never
Blackthorne
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Post by Blackthorne »

Thank you all very much! It worked fine and I just installed Zak McKracken and Monkey Island :D just too test it. Looks al fine so far.

Keep up the good work! Believe it or not, but had it not been for ScummVM i probably never would've bought an iPod!
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md5
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Post by md5 »

Split these posts from the big iPhone thread
Clemens
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Post by Clemens »

Hi!
I don't really want to install openSSH just to get the games to the iphone, because it needs the BSD Subsystem which is 6.6MB.

Is it possible to write an own Installer Package, that copies the game data from my own webserver to the correct path onto the iphone? And if so, has anyone an example installer-package that helps to understand how it's working?

Thanks!
Clemens
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TomFrost
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Post by TomFrost »

It can be done, but I *promise* you it's 80 times more of a pain than just installing openSSH is. You'd be better off to put in the BSD subsystem along with OpenSSH, then uninstall them both when you're done transferring files.

(I wouldn't worry about it too much, though -- I keep them both installed and I have no problem keeping all my favorite apps on my phone. ...and I have a truckload of weDict packages installed.)
Clemens
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Post by Clemens »

Hm i thought perhaps it's just a xml-file and a standard installer packege (slightly modified) that i have to put in my webserver in order to copy the game data to the iphone using the installer.app. But i am not schooled in creating installer packages so i don't really know. Is it really that hard?

edit:

i just had a look at the xml-file (for example)
http://urbanfanatics.com/scummvm.xml
and the appropriate zip-file
http://www.urbanfanatics.com/scummvm/sc ... apshot.zip
and it looks not too difficult to create such files -
but perhaps i overlook something...
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TomFrost
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Post by TomFrost »

Clemens wrote:Hm i thought perhaps it's just a xml-file and a standard installer packege (slightly modified) that i have to put in my webserver in order to copy the game data to the iphone using the installer.app. But i am not schooled in creating installer packages so i don't really know. Is it really that hard?

edit:

i just had a look at the xml-file (for example)
http://urbanfanatics.com/scummvm.xml
and the appropriate zip-file
http://www.urbanfanatics.com/scummvm/sc ... apshot.zip
and it looks not too difficult to create such files -
but perhaps i overlook something...
Not especially, but it would entail taking the files off of your game discs, putting them into zip archives, uploading them to a web server, giving each one an xml entry nearly as long as the linked one you posted, then scripting each individual one to move the game files into the appropriate folders for install, and scripting for removal to uninstall.

I'd imagine that you could group them together into one zip file and then do all the scripting for everything at once there, but I'm still befuddled as to why you'd want to go through all these crazy steps when you could tap a few buttons on your phone and be done :)
Clemens
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Post by Clemens »

You're right it might possibly be a little more work. but in my opinion it could be worth the little effort since it would be quite elegant to have an installer-package for your games. If such a package and xml-file once is existing one could upload it to this forum (with dummy-files for the games) and everyone afterall would have the choice how to get the files to the phone.

If you go the normal way you have to

- Install BSD Subsystem on Iphone
- Install SSH on Iphone
- Change SSH-Password
- Install an SFTP-Program on your Computer unless you have one
- Connect to your Iphone
- Copy the Files

And once we would have a template for using the installer
you would have to

- Copy you game files into the zip-Archive
- Insert the appropriate lines in the xml-file
- Install an FTP-Program on your Computer unless you have one
- Upload both to your webspace
- Add the Source in the Installer
- Install the Package

So if anyone has a little experience with the xml-file and the installer it would be great if he/she can upload a template-file as mentioned above... (Ok if there's noone who considerates this to be easy, i'll perhaps try on my own if i comprehend the xml-file-content ... :)
fox1401
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Post by fox1401 »

use iphone browser for usb file tranfer (much faster!)
http://code.google.com/p/iphonebrowser/downloads/list
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TomFrost
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Post by TomFrost »

While I always support making things easier for the general populace, making a repository involves typing in the exact number of bytes in a file and running an md5 hash on every individual one -- something the general populace either doesn't understand, or may as well have used sftp or an alternative copy method by the time they're finished. I don't mean to burst your bubble, but as a self-service, there are so many easier options :)

If these games were public domain, it would be a different story entirely -- I'd have a public game repository in seconds. But alas, as it stands, that would be wildly illegal (and beyond the scope of this forum) for all but, I believe, Beneath a Steel Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen, which are both available from this site.

But if you must try to make a private repo and can't be stopped, http://iphone.nullriver.com is pretty much the only resource available for making a repository until http://www.apptapp.com goes live. Unfortunately the former doesn't have all the information necessary and the example PHP package there is absolutely filled with bugs that you'll need to know a bit of PHP to fix. The alternative is to use a flat .xml file, for which the .xml file you linked to that was written by Vinterstum and me provides a suitable template -- just add to the package array to put in more listings.
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Vinterstum
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Post by Vinterstum »

Clemens wrote:If such a package and xml-file once is existing one could upload it to this forum (with dummy-files for the games) and everyone afterall would have the choice how to get the files to the phone.

Not really. The files need the exact MD5 checksums and filesizes of the zip files, which are likely to be different if someone else zips up their games.


To second TomFrost, as someone who's set up a repository himself: This isn't worth it just for a one-time thing :P. Installing OpenSSH and an FTP client takes all of five minutes. Zipping up the games, creating the XML with the copy scripts for the right locations etc, getting the md5 and filesizes, etc, etc, can take hours.
Clemens
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Post by Clemens »

Thank you, TomFrost, for your detailed statement; I see that there are after all some obstacles to overcome such as the md5 checksum that i did not into consideration. So it's a little more to do than simply putting the files into the archive and uploading it...

The iphonebrowser which fox mentioned could be interesting, too in order to avoid the openssh and bsd packages - i will give it a try.
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