Dear all,
Given a .img file that contain Android kernel and system to be written into the MicroSD for launching Android on a ARM embedded target. Is there a method to modify e.g. Add certain exec binary or normal data to the .img file on the development host before final deployment on the target.
Thank you so much.
Yes, it is entirely possible to modify Android system.img images. You have to know the file system; in many cases it is ext4. Depending on your host operating system, you can mount the ext4 image, modify it and create a new one. I recommend you put your device in developer mode first but if you're using an "embedded target", it is probably already a developer platform. Many production Android devices do checksums on system images before flashing them for security to avoid insecure images getting on production devices.
I suggest using a Linux platform (virtual or otherwise) to modify and create ext4 filesystems unless you're comfortable using other filesystem tools on Win or Mac hosts. Most of the tutorials you can find online for modifying system images assume you're modifying ext4 target FSs on a Linux host. Let us know if this isn't the case or provide more specific information about what you're trying to do.
Best of luck,
Matt