Install problems with NetHunter Lite

In an earlier article, How To install NetHunter Lite (part 2), we installed a pre-built ROM of Kali Linux NetHunter Lite on Nexus tablet devices running Android and LineageOS. Some issues were encountered which we are going to try address.

Fixing NetHunter Lite issues

As mentioned above, in our earlier 2-part article we installed a pre-built NetHunter Lite ROM on two Nexus 7 mini-tablets running different operating systems. The issues encountered were as follows:

1. NetHunter Terminal problem
2. NetHunter permissions on LineageOS

We are going to investigate these issues.

1) NetHunter Terminal problem

This issue was encountered on both the Android and LineageOS tablets. When starting the NetHunter Terminal app there is a prompt to select Kali, Android or AndroidSU. Selecting ‘Android’ or ‘AndroidSU’ worked fine but selecting ‘Kali’ gave this error:

• No SU binary found! Missing root!

When starting up the Android (not LineageOS) Nexus 7 the following notification was displayed:

Perhaps this is the cause of the NetHunter Terminal issue? So the following actions were performed:

1. Menu -> Kali Chroot Manager
2. “NetHunter was granted Superuser rights” was displayed.
3. At the top of the screen there are these messages:
   • KaliChrootPath: /data/local/nhsystem/kali-arm64
   • Kali Chroot is not yet installed!
4. Click ‘EDIT’ to change the path from ‘kali-arm64’ to ‘kali-armhf’ due to this being a 32-bit device then ‘APPLY’.
5. Click ‘INSTALL KALI CHROOT’.
6. Select ‘DOWNLOAD LATEST KALI CHROOT FROM OFFICIAL IMAGE’ then click ‘OK’ to proceed.
7. Select the correct Architecture & specify Min or Full install then click ‘OK’ to proceed with the downloading of the file (e.g. kalifs-armhf-full.tar.xz ~1.2Gb) to the Download folder.
8. Upon first attempt the following error was reported:
   • Checksum mismatches! The downloaded file may be compromised already! Please contact the nethunter devs for help.

9. Steps 5-7 for the Min install were repeated and resulted in the same result. Next the file from this link was manually downloaded and copied to the Download folder on the device:
   • https://build.nethunter.com/kalifs/kalifs-latest/
10. To install the downloaded file click ‘INSTALL KALI CHROOT’.
11. Select ‘RESTORE FROM LOCAL STORAGE (.TAR.GZ / .TAR.XZ)’.
12. Edit the path to /mnt/shell/emulated/0/Download/kalifs-armhf-full.tar.xz. then click ‘OK.
13. The final step should have been to click ‘INSTALL KALI CHROOT’ once more but unfortunately a space error was then encountered. This must have been on one of the mounted partitions because Internal Storage had far more than the 8Gb minimum:

An alternative method was then attempted. This was to install the ‘Kali NetHunter’ module for Magisk:

1. Start Magisk Manager on the device and click the Modules button.
2. Search for ‘KaliNetHunter’ and download the file.
3. Click ‘Install from storage’ and select file KaliNethunter-v8.2(22).zip.
4. Once the installation has completed then select ‘Reboot’.

Unfortunately after the reboot the NetHunter apps icons were not installed on the device.

2) NetHunter permissions on LineageOS

The permission issue was only encountered on the LineageOS tablet. It occurred when starting the NetHunter app, there should have been a prompt for Root Access but instead a blank screen was shown.

Additionally when swiping down from the top of the screen there was a message associated with this app:

• No root access is granted.

Unfortunately the Nexus 7 device that LineageOS was installed on and these problem were encountered upon died due to a problematic charge/data port.

Summary

Many hours were spent attempting endless flashing of ROMs, downloading and installing of apps, and issuing many Terminal commands. These were from a variety of web articles, YouTube videos, and forums. The only conclusion that can be arrived at is that a combination of app versions, dated builds, and out-of-date instructions have led to an unsuccessful installation of NetHunter Lite on Nexus devices.

In a future article we will look at building a custom ROM and trying to include a full Kali image plus Chroot Manager so that everything is installed in one go.

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Have you encountered any of the issues outlined in this article? Do you have successful experience of installing NetHunter Lite onto Nexus devices? If so please share your solution and experiences in the comments below.