Serial port kernel and wlan.ko, ready to go - G1 Android Development

Find included a 2.6.27 kernel and corresponding wlan.ko with serial port enabled. This will work with JF, mikhael's build and so on that use the 2.6.27 kernel. Wifi works, bluetooth works, all that stuff works.
Serial port is /dev/ttyMSM2 with default at 9600 baud. I am turning my ADP into the brains of a UAV, so this should let me control servos with it.
Have fun! 2.6.29 (or whatever will be current) coming when I get off my lazy bum and move to it.
Installation is the usual "rename to update.zip, put in sdcard, start the phone in recovery mode" dealie.
BACK UP YOUR BOOT.IMG AND /SYSTEM/LIB/MODULES/WLAN.KO if you want to revert!

Here's a newer version with a terminal program (dterm, recompiled for g1/g2), or just the terminal by itself. If you flash the terminal ends up in /system/sbin and automatically goes to /dev/ttyMSM2 (see source), again it's just dterm with some cleanups.
By the way, does anyone care about this stuff at all?
I couldn't upload the kernel so here it is http://www.spirit-plumber.com/portfolio/robotics/kernel_serial_term.zip

It sounds very promising/interesting but I'm not exactly sure what it does. Does is it enable accessing the baseband via serial or something? This is something that was used on the original iPhone to try to unlock it.
I think if you explain more clearly what it does then more people will seem interested, & remember no contribution here is a bad one, someone will have a use for it.

It gives you a serial port that can be used as a device rather than just for debugging, as shown here
http://www.instructables.com/id/Android_G1_Serial_Cable/ (not by me btw) This software stuff makes it usable for general purpose IO. That allows a G1 and an inexpensive microcontroller, arduino/picaxe/etc to control servos, talk to a second GPS, and so on.
I develop autopilots for RC planes and the G1 would be a great platform for that since it has a gps, compass, accelerometer and camera already integrated in a relatively small/light package.
Also, ROBOTS! http://hackaday.com/2009/01/25/forknife-android-g1-controlled-robot/ This was done using the audio port, but having a serial port on board bypasses all the DTMF stuff and allows for a lot more bandwidth. (Also not by me, if you do want to see stuff by me, search spiritplumber on youtube!)

I'm also very interested in such a kernel as a friend and I are interested in interfacing a phone to a serial robot controller.
However, I am currently running Cyanogen 4.0.4 on a MyTouch and loading this kernel effectively breaks the phone. No radio, GPS, etc. and many apps are missing/broken. The serial port does work and we got it talking with our robot but otherwise it's not much use to me.
So atm it's either a phone or an overly expensive microcontroller but not both.

You could submit the patches to cyanogen to see if he'd be willing to incorporate it in his build.

this is kernel version 2.6.27 and i think the build you use has kernel 2.6.29 which is why everything'd break. i will build 2.6.29 at some point, for now use a build that still use .27? i useJF151 with good results.

Hi, I'm interested in this stuff, I just wonder how can I use this to interface G1 to Arduino? any idea/tips will be helpful. TIA.

You end up with a new device, /dev/ttyMSM2 which is a standard issue serial port that can be used to talk to microcontrollers. The voltage is 2.8V which means it will work with a 5V micro in the phone-->micro direction, but if you want to go the other way you'll need a divider.
(see the other thread i posted in for a schematic)

I should probably get cracking on a donut version

Wow
Interesting stuff. I just wish I had the ability to take advantage of this. I think this would bring it one step closer to being able to use the G1 as an OBD-II car scanner. But I'm afraid that will take way more technical ability than I have.

Not really...
http://www.suntekstore.com/OBD2-16Pin-to-DB9-Serial-Port-Adapter-Cable-.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Android_G1_Serial_Cable/
+ my kernel

Nice work
spiritplumber said:
...
I develop autopilots for RC planes and the G1 would be a great platform for that since it has a gps, compass, accelerometer and camera already integrated in a relatively small/light package.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Genius! Well done for bringing this all together!!!!
I found your thread while trying to investigate the same project you've done already - making an autonomous drone using the G1 !!!
- I'd be very interested to see videos/info/photos of your drone.
I've seen all the bespoke UAV controllers on DIYdrone.com, but was more interested in the challenge of making my G1 with all it's sensors directly control a servo controller board via serial.
I'm a bit worried that the screen must stay on, which will burn through the G1's battery in no time! - is this still necessary?
I'm really impressed and thankful for what you have done, and making it public!!!
I'm currently on Cyanogen 4.0.4. so I guess the first step is to back track to an earlier Kernel version...
Unless you're close to rebuilding 2.6.29 ???
Thanks for the 'instructables' for the cable too, I've ordered the bits and hope to test in the next few days - ironically I found that before this thread!

Hmmm...
I've just studied your cable making instructions and have some questions!
The USB-Serial converter board... is that any use at all other than a PC interface?
I shouldnt actually need this to talk directly to another serial device from my G1?
- I got the impression the USB/Serial board was to convert the G1's USB to Serial...
Could I send a serial TX messages directly from the break-out board to a serial RX pin... (Servo controller) does that sounds correct?
Sorry for the torrent of questions...

If you want to talk to a different device you just need to flip pins 2 and 3 on the serial port and use a male rather than female connector so yes you can definitely do that!
In fact you can do two at the same time: Here's me using the G1 to relay data from a GPS to a servo controller. If you'd like the schematics for that let me know. If you have any sort of work related to this DEFINITELY let me know.
By the way, I'm using a 74HTC14 for doing the level shifting and inverting: it's a very cheap part and also has the advantage of cleaning up the waveform nicely. Or you can use some transistors.
EDIT: Attachment is being stupid so go here for photos: http://spirit-plumber.com/robotseverywhere/gallery/images/other/gphone/

spiritplumber said:
If you want to talk to a different device you just need to flip pins 2 and 3 on the serial port and use a male rather than female connector so yes you can definitely do that!
In fact you can do two at the same time: Here's me using the G1 to relay data from a GPS to a servo controller. If you'd like the schematics for that let me know. If you have any sort of work related to this DEFINITELY let me know.
By the way, I'm using a 74HTC14 for doing the level shifting and inverting: it's a very cheap part and also has the advantage of cleaning up the waveform nicely. Or you can use some transistors.
EDIT: Attachment is being stupid so go here for photos: http://spirit-plumber.com/robotseverywhere/gallery/images/other/gphone/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Spiritp,
Thanks for your comments, I'll give that a whirl then!
I'll definitely keep you posted!
My basic plan is:
Use accelerometer for auto-leveling control, use pre-defined GPS routes so I know the take-off / landing site altitude above sea level, and eventually get the G1 to take photo's at GPS waypoints.
Probably ambitious considering my electronics knowledge, but I'll keep you posted with progress.
If you have any pointers of how to send Serial commands from within the Android App layer, I'd really appreciate it.
With so many 'rooted' applications doing kernel based tasks I'm pretty sure it'll be possible... but I'm also fairly green on linux & java, so this will be a challenge for sure. (Time to hack my way through other people's work and understand what's going on!!!)
Thanks for your response,
Andy

spiritplumber said:
By the way, I'm using a 74HTC14 for doing the level shifting and inverting: it's a very cheap part and also has the advantage of cleaning up the waveform nicely. Or you can use some transistors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question 1:
When you say 'level shifting' is this to bring the TX/RX voltage to the same level? (i.e. 5v --> 5v, rather than 2.8v --> 5v)
Question 2:
If I plugged a 5v serial device into the G1's RX connector, would this damage the G1?
Question 3:
Please help explain how non-printing byte-level data (Servo commands) can be sent from DTerm... I've had a poke around on the internet but with no success...
Question 4:
I have installed your Kernel/DTerm... which runs DTerm ok, but the commands 'ls' return the error 'not found'.
- which worked before adopting your kernel..
Is this normal? How can I fix this?
EDIT:
Ok, I think I'm half way there... I've now bought one of these:
http://www.coolcomponents.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=194
//

spiritplumber said:
If you want to talk to a different device you just need to flip pins 2 and 3 on the serial port and use a male rather than female connector so yes you can definitely do that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reminds me of the HP48 token ring networks. http://www.hpcalc.org/details.php?id=3603 In essence, device 1 would transmit data to device 2. Device 2 would see that the packet was meant for a different device and retransmit the packet to device 3, the intended recipient. If device 2 had been transmitting a packet to device 1, it would have passed through 3 on the way back around. Adding another device to the network was as simple as breaking the chain and adding a new one. Building the cables to do that wouldn't be too difficult.

Level shifting:
Internally the G1 uses 2.8 volts. This is nice if you've a 5V interface because:
On going G1--->other part, 2.8 is high enough to register as "high", you may need a pullup resistor (try 10k).
On going other part--->G1 you just need a voltage divider! That's two resistors of equal value, this makes the other part effectively output at 2.5v which the G1 will happily accept! (If this confuses you, see "voltage divider" on wikipedia..... it's literally just 2 parts). Here's a picture on page 5: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=496976&page=2
If you need to do stuff in that sense I recommend just having the servo controller take in ascii stuff. Or you can modify dterm. Or I can give you a modified copy of dterm that has that functionality let me know!
If you use a 3.3V microcontroller such as the Parallax Propeller, just slap two 1KOhm resistors on the rx and tx lines and go do stuff: it works.
Controlling servos via G1 is very painless and easy, I already do that, let me know if you want tips.T

spiritplumber said:
Level shifting:
Internally the G1 uses 2.8 volts. This is nice if you've a 5V interface because:
On going G1--->other part, 2.8 is high enough to register as "high", you may need a pullup resistor (try 10k).
On going other part--->G1 you just need a voltage divider! That's two resistors of equal value, this makes the other part effectively output at 2.5v which the G1 will happily accept! (If this confuses you, see "voltage divider" on wikipedia..... it's literally just 2 parts). Here's a picture on page 5: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=496976&page=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's excellent, I think I have a solution for the voltage, but thanks a lot for your electronics expertise!!!!!!!
spiritplumber said:
If you need to do stuff in that sense I recommend just having the servo controller take in ascii stuff. Or you can modify dterm. Or I can give you a modified copy of dterm that has that functionality let me know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually using a Pololu micro serial servo controller (SSC) - I'm fairly sure it doesnt support ASCII characters, the manual only explains how to compile a '3 byte sequence' :
To set the servo position, send a sequence of three bytes. The first byte is a syncronization value that must always be 255. Byte 2 is the servo number, and it can be 0-254. Byte 3 is the position to which you want the servo to move, also 0-254. (sync= 0xFF,servo= 0x00-0xFE,position= 0x00-0xFE)
If you can help / let me know how to modify dterm I would really appreciate it!!
Although I'm still not sure how I'm going to access this from the Android Application layer - making calculations from accelerometer & GPS, then sending the calculated servo movement down to a kernel app?
Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated!
spiritplumber said:
Controlling servos via G1 is very painless and easy, I already do that, let me know if you want tips.T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would find any tips interesting !!!
Thanks again for your comments & help, you're making this project far easier than I could have hoped!!!!! hopefully I will be able offer you help in my areas of expertise some day!
- I'm an application developer by day, using VB.net/Sybase Powerbuilder/Pocketbuilder/SQL/Microsoft-based network admin.
Just a quick final question (for today!!) - my Wlan seems to have been knocked out by your kernel image... the android manager can see AP's but always reports that it was unsuccessful when trying to connect.. and ideas?
- I'm on JF1.51 ADP1, no other mods or changes.
Andy

Related

Parallel/Serial ports for PPCs

Hi There
Does anyone know if there is such a thing as a mini-USB to Serial (or parallel) device on the market? Something that would provide PPCs like the K-JAM/WIZARD with a serial/parallel port.
I know they are available for desktop PCs, but what about hand-helds?
Ken
not without USB host. However you can use bluetooth to serial. I got ones of these:-
http://www.merlinbluetooth.co.uk/merlinbluetooth/promi-bluetooth-module-p-33.html
Bluetooth-serial
Thanks for that; it looks great, so I will (I imagine) need to get some software to read/write to that device.
At the device end I should be able to configure some Data Acquisition circuitry.
My problem is that I don't get access to the Vario/K-JAM until Christmas Day - it's a present from my wife - so I have no idea about writing stuff to access the bluetooth system Does it present itself as some sort of I/O?
I've just bought the NSBASIC/CE, so I was hoping to be able to write the necessary stuff with that.
The K-JAM looks a great bit of kit, but I'm never satisfied until I can get two-way interaction with the outside world in both Digital and analogue.
Thanks again,
Ken
It appears as a com port "COM5" on mine. You can open it just like normal using CreateFile / WriteFile etc

Secret Code

Here is what I found from the source code, anymore?
*#06# Display IMEI
*#*#8351#*#* Voice Dialer Logging Enabled
*#*#8350#*#* Voice Dialer Logging Disabled
*#*#4636#*#* Phone Setting
*#*#7262626#*#* FieldTest
android.provider.Telephony.SECRETE_CODE
Already know that 5 Secret Code but could not find any thing which can out it into Diagnostic Mode which was there in Windows Mobile.
Please Upload the Source code also so every body also start searching for something very usefull.
hetaldp said:
android.provider.Telephony.SECRETE_CODE
Already know that 5 Secret Code but could not find any thing which can out it into Diagnostic Mode which was there in Windows Mobile.
Please Upload the Source code also so every body also start searching for something very usefull.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The source code is online and available VIA git
And if you are trying to use the field test use anycut to make a shortcut on the desktop and it has a menu item to output diagnostics.
Of course if you have DDMS or Eclipse you can output diagnostics as well.. I believe they have a linux boot image on open handset alliance
those aren't that secret, and aren't anything special.
Any app can register a "secret code" and they are specified in the manifest.xml file.
most of the time those numbers are things like "INFO" and are a lot easier to remember if you think of them that way instead of the digits.
We talking abiut the Diagnostic Mode of Phone Radio so we can plug the Phone into USB and get QxDM (Qualcomm Extendible Diagnostic Mode) Software and look into Radio NVItem from 0 to 4000. DDMS is useless for that kinda Stuff. Radio Software is build using Some Different Core other then Linux, i have seen commnet of CMonex He said it the same as General other Radio, Remeber Radio and Android is connected with RIL (Radio Interface Layer) using Internally Exposed Serials Ports.
did somebody say exposed serial port?
Over my head a bit, but sounds cool, internally exposed serial ports sound useful, id assume you,d get i/o from both sides radio/droid. Back on the WIZ you could find a radio that works with the rom ver. and carrier to get best clarity, call handling, stability and battery life. This is cool reminds me of the early days of palm os rom hacking/cooking (we didn't call it that back then)
I'm glad I got it and I'm glad its an htc, so the homies at xda-dev will have this bad boy totally tricked out and custom...I love this plave, in a non homo way
Will we all be adding db9 ports on pur g1s
Bhang
no, i do not believe we will ever see a db9 on the G1. First of all, that connector went out of style in the late 90's and second, its rather huge (want do drill a hole in your screen to make room for it??). I would however like to see usb host, but someone commented that it is probably not enabled in the kernel and if it is, there are no drivers for it (hint hint driver g writers). cmonex (is a girl by the way) has been looking into methods to get root on RC30 and many other things so we hope to see some fun new hacks from that.
nice shrring,this is a good source where someone can learn something about their mobile secret functions,meantime i would like to share something which i found last week this is a site where it has network unlock code for all mobiles find further

Use HTC Touch Diamond 2 as a remote for a rc car

Hi everyone,
Okay, here is the idea. I have a HTC Touch Diamond 2 and I was thinking that it could be interesting to try to use it as a remote control to pilot a small car or plane (using the Bluetooth frequency).
I found several receivers in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, but I'm not sure whether it could work or not. Here are a few: link 1, link 2, link 3.
So the main questions are:
- Is it possible to program my HTC so that it sends information the receiver will 'understand'?
- Is there by any chance already an app that allows me to do just that (or something close to it that would need minor modifications)?
On top of this, I was also thinking of adding a camera on the car that would send back to my phone what it records. But this more than optional since it probably will make things much more complex... (I found transceivers such as this one and this one, but it looks like a lot of work to install and configure them).
Thank you for your answers and your help in advance!
Anyone to help me?
It won't work, sorry. Not with any store bought RC car. Your only chance is if you engineer the receiver yourself, including the circuitry that translates the radio signals into motor signals.
Thank you for your reply!
Ah, that's quite disappointing
But just to make sure, can you tell me exactly where the problem is? I mean is it a true hardware problem, in relation with the kind of signal that I can transmit with my phone (like a frequency incompatibility or something else)?
I was hoping it was possible to program my HTC to send the appropriate signal corresponding to what the receiver is expecting to get. Why couldn't it work?
Am I at least asking my question on the appropriate section of the forum, or is there another one that I should use rather than this one? Thx again.

ADB interface for microcontrollers

After all the messing around with the serial port kernels (disadvantage: needs rooting, only works on some fones) and more recently the serial out using the headphone jacks (disadvantage: output only, and kinda slow at 24000bps max) I set out to do an ADB interface for a microcontroller, so as to allow for sensor and motor control from the phone from there. So far so good. If you want to see my results so far (and get the yummy software and schematics -- I sell kits, but it's all free-as-in-speech) check the instructions out.
http://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/index.php?title=PropBridge (only source for now)
http://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/index.php?title=Serial_on_Android_using_the_audio_port (also available on market, search "serial out" and it'll show up)
Heh, guess nobody cares. Anyway, the relevant apps are now on market, if anyone wants the source just message me.
Last bump...
It's on hackaday http://hackaday.com/2011/03/29/propeller-android-communications-using-debug-mode/ also a number of cool android hacks, usually hardware related.

Rooting the Anki Vector Robot - a robot that runs Android

Hi,
my name is Melanie, I'm part of an effort to root the Vector robot made by Anki.
Anki has recently gone into administration, with the IP of the company winding up as collateral for an emergency loan that was never paid back.
Vector is very much dependent on the "cloud", namely, Anki's servers running on AWS. The SSL certificate for these servers is due to expire in September. There is little chance of it being renewed since the company has no funds.
A group of tech-savvy owners have got together on Discord to discuss how to help Vector survive the coming demise of his servers. They had already collected a not insignificant amount of information in the form of datasheets and observations as well as images of the internals of the robot and images of jigs Anki used during development.
I'm bringing this project to this forum because, internally, Vector is really a phone without the GSM part.
He is powered by a Qualcomm APQ8009 (Snapdragon 212), which has been paired with a combination ram/flash chip by Kingston, 04EMCP04-NL3DM627. There is also a Wifi/BLE module and a screen and 4 microphones.
The Snapdragon runs an Android boot loader and Linux kerner version 3.18.66-perf.
This is where he becomes different from a phone in that he doesn't start Zygote, but rather runs a number of daemons from systemd.
As shipped, there is no user accessible wired IO.
There are a number of wirepads on the PCB, as well as unpopulated pads for a micro USB port. When I joined the project, the serial port was already known, but while it provides a boot log, there is no getty on it.
The USB port had to this point not been successfully activated.
Since I'm a hardware person, that is where i placed my lever. I populated the USB port and started digging. Finally I found a solder pad labeled F_USB which was not even close tot he USB port, but turned out to be a boot mode pin from the CPU. Pulling it to VCC made the USB port enumerate in EDL mode. Qualcomm call it QDL or QDLoader, but it basically an interface to the ROM in the CPU, just like phones have.
From this I managed to grab a CPU ID but not much more.
Meanwhile, we reverse-engineered the phone app that comes with it and are currently writing a general purpose library to talk to Vector over BLE.
At this point, I found that I was facing a thicket of software, mostly either cracked or containing malware, or both, but very little legit options.
I see a few options to go forward on this:
- Find a software that can talk to the Snapdragon 212 to extract the current image
- Desolder the flash to extract the image via a programmer
- Desolder the CPU to access the flash's data lines without having to heat the flash, which could corrupt it
The last two options are bound to be destructive and all us owners have found a connection to their robots and are loath to sacrifice them. Also, they require a bit of investment and are, because of that, no quick wins.
I'm hoping that someone here may have the missing pieces I need to get from QDL 9008 mode to an image of the flash on my disk. We believe we have another way to flash it, not needing the USB port, but we don't have an image to try it with and flashing something like all zeroes would needlessly destroy a robot.
- Melanie
PS: I would post links but I'm too young to do so. There is a google group called "Project Victor" that has the info we have so far called anki-vector-rooting, a.k.a. Project Victor.
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/anki-vector-rooting
You are welcome to PM links to me and I will post them as a work around.
hope the best!
Link to Project Vector
http://projectvictor.my.to/
Sent from my ocean using XDA Labs

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