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

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On 2026-07-05, Maria Sophia wrote:

> 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. 

BTW, I didn't try with anything complex, but a quick test with two HTML
files, a link between them, and one of them using an inline image worked
for file:///storage/[dirname]/path/to/html in Emacs' eww, under Android
15. As in, both documents loaded, the same-directory inline image
loaded, and the same-directory relative link worked too.

Might not be useful at all, or may only be useful for simpler content of
some sort, but given that I tested, I thought I'd add this datapoint.

Might be useful for myself in the future, too.

-- 
Nuno Silva

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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 Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-08 10:10 +0100
              Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-08 10:32 -0400
          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 Alan <nuh-uh@nope.com> - 2026-07-07 11:11 -0700
                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 Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-08 11:14 -0400
                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 Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2026-07-08 17:51 +0000
              Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2026-07-08 17:44 +0000
            Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-08 10:39 +0100
          Re: How to copy & read a huge zipped book with thousands of html & jpeg files Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-08 10:37 +0100
        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 Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-08 10:57 +0100
      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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