Known Issues of mBS Mobile for Android

This document contains the known issues and limitations of the mBS Mobile 2.0.3 Runtime.

Limitations

• The end user MUST accept the license agreement prior to starting the mBS Mobile 2.0.3 Runtime for Android.
• Remote deployment and uninstallation of Android applications (APKs) is supported ONLY if the mBS Mobile Runtime for Android comes pre-loaded on the device, because this feature requires an OEM/system level signature. However, support for remote lifecycle management (start/stop) of these applications is available.
• The Remote Monitoring option under Development Tools in the OSGi Management activity is grayed when the mBS Mobile 2.0.3 Runtime is not running. To get/modify the state of this feature, the user MUST start the runtime first.
• Bundles which belong to the system category cannot be stopped or uninstalled.
• The Install option of the OSGi Apps folder uses a file filter for W3C widgets only. To choose an OSGi bundle or deployment package for installation, use OSGi Mgmt -> Install Content.
• OSGi deployment packages which carry APK files as resources are supported ONLY if the mBS Mobile Runtime for Android comes pre-loaded on the device, because this feature requires an OEM/system level signature.
• The mBS Mobile Runtime for Android does not support updates. In order to have a clean update, it is strongly recommended first to uninstall the older version and then install the new one. Unfortunately, all user-installed OSGi applications will be lost.

Known Issues

• When updating a standalone widget, with the same widget but placed in a deployment package, the update takes place without a notification to the user that the widget will be linked to the deployment package. As a result the widget is no longer present in the list of content that can be uninstalled (OSGi Mgmt -> Uninstall Content). Instead, the deployment package appears there. Uninstalling the deployment package will remove the widget as well.
• Sometimes, after installation of a widget from the OSGi Apps folder, the icon of the widget is not shown right away. It appears after applying Menu -> Refresh.

Reported Issues in Android Code Base

• ClassLoader Problem in Android.
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2289
  • A workaround is provided in the mBS Mobile Runtime.
• ClassLoader Problem in Android. Checking methods from superclass.
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2711
  • A workaround is implemented by ProSyst in the mBS Mobile Runtime.
  • Google already fixed this bug in an internal release which is yet to be published.
• Android 2921: Certificates and the code signers for jar entries are available only from java.util.jar.JarFile.
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2921
  • Problem: Certificates of signed deployment packages cannot be read
  • Impact: Configurations contained in DPs are not processed (reading them requires a configuration permission)
  • Workaround for configurations in signed DPs is implemented by ProSyst
• Android 2770: java.util.zip.InflaterInputStream throws NullPointerException on skip when the stream is created from ZipFile.
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2770
  • Problem: Content from ZipFiles is not properly processed by Android
  • Impact: Unlikely to have impact on end users. One OSGi Test Case (MEG) fails due to this bug
  • Potential workaround: Develop a wrapper stream
• Android 2729: The ZipInputStream doesn't work with an input stream, which returns one byte on a first reading
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2729
  • Problem: Sometimes installation of JARs and ZIPs that are downloaded over HTTP fails
  • Impact: No direct user impact known. Content installation over HTTP might fail. 3 OSGi Test Cases fail due to this problem.
  • Potential workaround: Download a bundle/ZIP, extract it to the file system and install it from there
• Android 2939: The chunked HTTP input stream must hurry the underlying stream
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2939
  • Problem: Reading data from HTTP connections may lead to problems if keep-alive is enabled
  • Impact: No direct user impact known. Some of the OSGi MEG Test Cases fail
  • Potential workaround: None at this stage
• Android 2941: HttpURLConnection.connect requires getProxySelector permission from the caller
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2941
  • Problem: Bug in the security implementation of Android. The execution of code that does not have the getProxySelector permission and calls HttpURLConnection.connect results in a security exception.
  • Impact: No direct end user impact known at this stage, further research required
  • Potential workaround: None at this stage
• Android 4961: File.getCanonicalPath throws java.util.NoSuchElementException
  • Reported here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4961
  • Problem: Wrong implementation of File.getCanonicalPath in Android 2.x platforms causes this exception.
  • Impact: Failure to list files on the memory card; Failure to place installed/updated bundles in storage
  • Workaround: Surround with try/catch blocks usage of File.getCanonicalPath, and if an exception is thrown use File.getAbsolutePath instead.

Release Notes of mBS Mobile for Android