In these complicated times for MOD Devices, a couple of users are thinking of a way to exchange plugins directly in order to mitigate the current situation where the online plugin store is down.
A way could be to use SSH to extract a copy of an installed plugin and make it available for other users to install in their units.
So please post below a list of all the plugins you would like to be able to install, or the plugins that you already have and will be willing to share.
Hence the idea of automating the process using a script.
Nevertheless it is true that the Wiki is a bit limited in its description…
So here I go : as you may know, your MOD Device is actually a little computer running the GNU/Linux Operating System (instead of Windows). GNU/Linux is also the core of Android phones and often run on little computers like the Raspberry Pi.
Therefore, it is possible to connect to this computer via an internet connection, and do stuff on it remotely. You can also transfer files from and to your MOD Device this way.
On Linux, the standard way of doing this is by using an SSH (Secure Shell) connection. From your PC, you run a little program (an SSH client) that connects you to the MOD Device, and provide you with a text interface (a shell) in which you can type in commands that allow you to do whatever you like “inside” your MOD Device.
SSH clients are usually already installed on any Mac or Linux PC. If your PC runs on Windows, you can easily find an SSH client for it online. A very popular one is PuTTY (https://www.putty.org/), you also have WinSCP for transferring files across between your PC and the MOD device.
So the idea would be to create a little program/script, that does all that dirty work for you, and simply logs onto the mod via SSH, locate the files installed on your mod that constitute a “plugin”, retreive them, and back them in a zip archive on your PC that you can then share with your mates.
Conversely the tool should be able to do the exact opposite.
You know what, I’ve never used it. Does it allow to cherry pick just one or several particular plugins for backup ? And not just the whole of user data ?
no tricks needed. It’s a standard linux file system like any other. If you arent comfortable with commandline just use winscp.
Show all hidden folders an copy and pase away.
I personally will give the mod team the time they asked for before uploading these.
I’m extremely comfortable on the CLI, thing is that you need to know where on the fs and which data you need to copy. Hence the quotation marks, it’s standard commands but not trivial if you don’t know all the information required.
A plugin bundle may not have exactly the same name as the plugin (think capitalization, spaces, special characters). A bundle can also contain several plugins at once.
Depending on how we proceed, we might be able to avoid any annoyance to the MOD team, while providing current users a bit of relief regarding their needs and their fear of not being able to do what they want with their device.
I think the community is an integral part of the MOD company’s value in the eyes of a potential “angel”. We need to try and keep all the users as happy as possible. Showing an potential investor that the community is attached to the product and willing to help when things go pear shape is sort of reassuring.
@gianfranco we (well at least I) won’t do anything without your review and approval.
Also I would like to notice, that different MOD devices might have different architecture. I guess Mod Duo compiled plugins would not be compatible with one from MDX. Do not know about Dwarf though.
At this point just make full backups of your devices, guys, we will manage how to merge and exchange later, if required.
Then maybe we may just want a script that can retrieve a particuler plugin from the archive and deploy it, without deploying everything. Something usable by people who don’t know much about TAR. A few python lines should be enough
