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Groups > comp.mobile.android > #154336

Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files

From Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com>
Newsgroups comp.mobile.android, alt.os.linux, alt.comp.os.windows-10
Subject Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files
Date 2026-07-04 23:57 -0400
Organization BWH Usenet Archive (https://usenet.blueworldhosting.com)
Message-ID <112ckmr$2ta8$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> (permalink)
References <112c25r$2gt7$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <112cbas$1p57$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <112cd5q$9e5$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <112cgs7$86t$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com>

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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Maria Sophia wrote:
> I finally forced Android 16 to behave like a real operating system again. 
> I carved out a sane workflow inside an OS that keeps trying to turn into 
> iOS, and I did it without surrendering my /0000 Unix /usr/local philosophy.

SUMMARY (Linux users added because it was Linux to the rescue this time!)

Windows and Linux can easily open HTML books stored in custom top-level
hierarchies, even if the books contain tens of thousands of pages & jpegs.

Unfortunately, Android 10 through 16 cannot open HTML book stored in custom
top-level POSIX folders such as /storage/emulated/0/0000/books/book1/.

All Android web browsers use WebView, which is restricted by Scoped Storage 
and the Storage Access Framework (SAF). When you try to open index.html, 
Android does not give the browser the real filesystem path.

Instead it rewrites the path into a SAF URI like:
  content://com.android.externalstorage.documents/document/primary%3A0000%2Fbooks%2Fbook1%2Findex.html

SAF URIs are not real filesystem paths.
Because of this, all relative links inside the book1 break.

For example:
  pages/2.html
  images/foo.png
  css/style.css

These links get rewritten into invalid SAF document URIs such as:
  content://com.android.externalstorage.documents/document/pages/2.html

Browsers cannot resolve these, so they fail with errors like
  ERR_ACCESS_DENIED and ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.

Android WebView only allows file:// access in a few public folders 
(Download, Documents, DCIM, Pictures) but Linux users often use custom 
folders like /usr/local so that they can back up everything they care about 
easily, and so that they're not polluted by the Android system.

Custom folders like /0000 are blocked.

Unzipping the book1 works fine, but opening index.html directly from
the top-level /0000 fails in every browser tested.

Solution:
Use Termux to bypass SAF entirely. Termux uses real POSIX filesystem
access. After granting Termux full file permissions in Android Settings,
you can run a local HTTP server that serves the book1 using real paths.

Steps:
1. Install Termux from GitHub or F-Droid.
2. Grant Termux "All files access" in Android Settings.
3. In Termux, install Python:
    pkg install python
4. Navigate to the book1 directory:
    cd /storage/emulated/0/0000/books/book1
5. Start a local HTTP server:
    python3 -m http.server 8000
6. Open any browser and go to:
    http://localhost:8000

Because the book1 is now served over HTTP, the browser treats it as a
normal website. All relative links, images, CSS, and subpages work
correctly. This bypasses SAF and restores normal filesystem behavior.

Result:
The entire HTML book named book1 displays perfectly on Android while 
remaining in the user's own custom directory (/0000) so that it can 
be copied over during backups along with the rest of the users' data.

AFAIK, this method works reliably on all modern Android versions. 
-- 
There is always a solution if you stick to your Linux principles.

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Thread

How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 18:40 -0400
  Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 21:17 -0400
    Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 21:48 -0400
      Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 22:51 -0400
        Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 23:57 -0400
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-04 23:13 -0600
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-05 13:29 +0200
            Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-07-05 14:48 +0100
              Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 10:06 -0600
              Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-05 19:10 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2026-07-05 17:37 +0000
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-07-05 21:00 +0100
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-05 22:50 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 23:06 -0600
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-06 12:05 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-06 12:24 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-06 10:28 -0600
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-06 19:50 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-06 09:36 -0600
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-06 19:56 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-07-06 07:58 +0100
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-06 12:12 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 15:12 -0600
        Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-07-06 17:53 +0200
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-06 10:47 -0600
      Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-05 08:35 +0100
        Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 10:38 -0600
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-05 18:22 +0100
            Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 12:16 -0600
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-05 19:41 +0200
            Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 12:54 -0600
              Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-05 23:11 +0200
                Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-05 15:23 -0600
  Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-07-06 17:48 +0200

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