How to Enable Sideloading of Apps on Captivate

[staycaptivejake]

i just keep getting "unexpected handeling error" how do i fix this?

 

[staycaptivejake]

this is what the message looks like but not mine exactly

 

[sremick]

this is what the message looks like but not mine exactly

Well posting someone else's error message doesn't help if it's not the same as what you're getting. If you're going to go through the trouble of posting a screenshot, post one that is your actual screen and actual error so that it's of use.

That particular error is a Crystal Reports error.

 

[mokettypu]

There's an easier way...

after hours of trying this is so far the best way and least headache Thanks for post this...
woooohoooo now my captivate is rooted and i'm able to install apps that don't came from the market....
Whoever you are thank you so much and you are awesome...

 

[reinbeau]

Can I suggest annotherr way of editing and manipulating the settings.db file (similar to the XDA method but with a little more safety)? I used a combination of Root Explorer, SQLite Editor and Dropbox, modified from this link. You zip and copy settings.db from your Captivate to Dropbox, then you can edit it in Firefox, zip it, copy it back, and manipulate it from there - or I found I could copy the file to another folder I created (modified market), edit the file in there with SQLite, save the file and then copy it back to the original folder following their directions. The one thing you have to be careful of is making sure you're mounted R/W instead of R/O in Root Explorer or you'll get errors, something like 'permission denied'.

If you have to do a factory reset ever you'll have to repeat the copying over part, but it's easy enough once you've got your modified db.settings file stashed on your pc (I'm pretty sure any folders created by Root Explorer are deleted by the reset). Works a charm

 

[sremick]

Can I suggest annotherr way of editing and manipulating the settings.db file (similar to the XDA method but with a little more safety)?

There's also method #2 mentioned in the Captivate FAQ:

Sideloading - CapFAQ

 

[reinbeau]

Yup, there's that, but it depends on USB which, as you and I have discussed many times, can be problematic for some on WinXP boxes. The way I outlined requires only a Dropbox connection, something everyone can do - and with SQLite Editor installed on the Captivate, all you really need to do is move the file to another area, edit it, and then copy it back, replacing the original. That's the simplest of all.

 

[th3nigh7stalk3r]

can't find settings.db file anywhere...can't find it on computer or on captivate...please help.

 

[reinbeau]

can't find settings.db file anywhere...can't find it on computer or on captivate...please help.

Did you read through the link I provided? Everything you need is in there.

 

[fldude99]

I can say I have used android central's sideload machine and it worked like a charm

 

[Android26]

For some reason, I'm having trouble with Android Central's Sideload Wonder Machine. I don't know if I'm reading the instructions wrong or what but it's not working for me...

 

[Methodman48]

I make al the step but when i go to put back the setting.db give me a error message no directory. i put this adb push %userprofile%\desktop\settings.db /sdcard/settings.db and works fine al the others steps and now can instal all aplications thanx!

 

[chezemunky747]

so i tried all these different ways and to my luck, they did not work. kept getting errors and when i tried to fix those errors i would get more errors so i tried a few different ways mixed together... (i did this on a samsung captivate)

1. Root your phone with these instructions:

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/07/21/root-the-att-samsung-captivate-galaxy-s-tutorial/

2. Then get sideload wonder machine at this site:

http://forum.androidcentral.com/android-sideload-wonder-machine/40770-ac-sideload-wonder-machine-windows.html

on this site you install sideload wonder machine. follow all directions and if you have problems look to the comments below.

3. sideload these two apps:

http://www.imserba.com/forum/root-explorer-v2-14-android-t166515/

http://www.mydroid.info/android-apps/sqlite-editor-v1-4-1/

4. install terminal editor which is free on the android market.

5. go to this website and go down to method 3, follow the instructions:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=738376

and then youre done. it took me about 4 days for many many processes and they didnt work so i did this in about 2 hours and it worked perfect.. i installed third party apps right away.

-peace, Joe

 

[fldude99]

^^^That is a super long drawn out process IMO. All one needs to do is root with super one click, reboot, and enable non market apps with the same super one click application

 

[chmagic]

what root explorer, seems there are lots of them in market. I havent found one that will let me see a root file! can you give me step by step on how to enable or allow the unknown sources?

 

[chmagic]

this is hidden on the captivate ATT any idea on how to enable or allow the unknown sources?

 

[reinbeau]

this is hidden on the captivate ATT any idea on how to enable or allow the unknown sources?

It's not 'hidden', it doesn't exist. This is why so many enable sideloading. Read through this thread and you'll find out how to do it.

 

[gtaber]

I tried it and got "cp:not found" Any suggestions?

I had the same problem. Since I was already rooted tho, I used the app "Root Explorer" to copy settings.db to /sdcard, mounted the SDcard to my PC, used Windows explorer to copy the file from the sdcard to my hard drive, did the edit with the SQL lite firefox extension, copied the new one back to the SDcard, and used "Root Explorer" to copy the edited settings.db file to the /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db directory, thus accomplishing the same thing as the commands in ADB shell, but getting around a difference in the location of cp, which is just the unix copy command. And oh yeah, in my settings.db, the "install_non_market_apps" entry was _id3 instead of _id6-I wonder if this is a difference from Froyo, since I'm reading almost year old instructions. But I guess I'm just a lucky noob, I managed to get it working, and can install apps from my SDcard now.

 

[gtaber]

I was having issues getting the USB driver to work so SDK was not recognizing the Device. However i was able to get this accomplished in a different way. Here's what I did to get rid of the gay message saying i could only install market apps:

First I rooted my device by downloading the captivate recovery file and renaming it to update.zip and coppied it to my removalble storage card and booted into the recovery and selected

 

[Hazard1nc]

Please do let me know if this works for everyone.

you wanted to know if it worked? I missed the chown and chmod commands by typo i think, is there a way to hard reset to factory default or am I just screwed? I wouldn't just ask without reading, but I work 14 hours a day and barely have time to sleep, let alone, read all the posts in the forum about hard resets, I'd be very grateful for a link if there is one, i've tried many different methods that people have said, but I am either doing that wrong too, or else my phone is different in some manner, its a captivate running 2.2.1, rooted, and unlocked so I can switch carriers as needed.. However, I must get my phone back up and running or at least buy a new one.. but I really love my captivate and would be so thankful if someone could please explain how to do this.. It boots up to the point of turning on, and almost loads right into the lock screen, but it stays black and error vibrates/crash vibrates, and no screen but black, the buttons on the quick access bar below the screen glow upon touch, so it must be accessible one would think, even in windows or linux, system file repairs are possible..