NATIVE Debian (Linux) on the Droid! - Motorola Droid Android Development

I got myself a Motorola Droid and I've been playing with the kernel quite a bit - it didn't take long to get Debian to boot from the SD card!
Necessary kernel modifications:
CONFIG_CMDLINE_FORCE=y
Motorola must have stealthily removed this from the kernel To re-enable it, add an #ifdef in arch/arm/kernel/setup.c as per http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/linux-kernel/2010/1/28/4533180.
CONFIG_CMDLINE="[email protected] mtdparts=omap2-nand.0:[email protected](mbm),[email protected](cdt),[email protected](lbl),[email protected](misc),3584k(boot),4608k(recovery),143744k(system),94848k(cache),268032k(userdata),2m(kpanic) root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 omapfb.rotate=1 noinitrd quiet".
That's about it! Just compile it, use Koush's AnyKernel update.zip generator, and flash away! I tried Ubuntu, but Thumb-2 support is broken in the kernel - it can't execute /sbin/init, so it panics. In theory, Gentoo, Slackware, Arch, Angstrom, MeeGo, and many other Linux distros for ARM should work with little modification. The sky's the limit! (JK, Windows 8000 won't work )

That's awesome! You gotta love Linux!

Screenshots, video, anything?

spc_hicks09 said:
Screenshots, video, anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see the point - unless you want a screenshot of Debian's console login prompt, which you can find almost anywhere. I'm running X with E17 (Illume) now, but without proper touchscreen calibration it's not very useful... I might do a video or something once I have it calibrated.

gTan64 said:
I got myself a Motorola Droid and I've been playing with the kernel quite a bit - it didn't take long to get Debian to boot from the SD card!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to get this set up on my droid. Would you be willing to provide a little more details for a novice like me? Were you modifying the stock kernel or 3rd party? Does wifi work in native debian?
EDIT: I found this other thread which has more details, so I'll start there. Thanks! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318330

The end of the beginning
I've been tempting fate a lot lately. Despite my attempts to keep this platform alive, my Droid bit the dust yesterday.
Its digital contents live on, but the hardware wasn't so lucky.
It always had a way of inconveniencing me, so I'm somewhat relieved about it.
Unfortunately, finding a replacement is going to be a pain.
Mostly due to a lack of money (WiFi+Google Voice+plentiful open source software = less spending/work incentive)
and the length of my uncompromising list of requirements,
I am beginning to realize that my dream phone might never exist.
Somewhat refreshingly, I'm around "weird" people a lot, and they remind me (without using words!) that there are better things in life than shopping for a smartphone.
This isn't exactly goodbye, but I may be away from the XDA scene for a while.
Apologies to any users of my coding experiments... Hopefully, if nothing else, they inspire something more useful.
Thanks y'all for the fun time and for reading this long post
Don't stop inventing!

gTan64 said:
I got myself a Motorola Droid and I've been playing with the kernel quite a bit - it didn't take long to get Debian to boot from the SD card!
Necessary kernel modifications:
CONFIG_CMDLINE_FORCE=y
Motorola must have stealthily removed this from the kernel To re-enable it, add an #ifdef in arch/arm/kernel/setup.c as per http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/linux-kernel/2010/1/28/4533180.
CONFIG_CMDLINE="[email protected] mtdparts=omap2-nand.0:[email protected](mbm),[email protected](cdt),[email protected](lbl),[email protected](misc),3584k(boot),4608k(recovery),143744k(system),94848k(cache),268032k(userdata),2m(kpanic) root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 omapfb.rotate=1 noinitrd quiet".
That's about it! Just compile it, use Koush's AnyKernel update.zip generator, and flash away! I tried Ubuntu, but Thumb-2 support is broken in the kernel - it can't execute /sbin/init, so it panics. In theory, Gentoo, Slackware, Arch, Angstrom, MeeGo, and many other Linux distros for ARM should work with little modification. The sky's the limit! (JK, Windows 8000 won't work )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm.... how would I go about checking into this for the transformer prime?
Sent from my Transformer Prime using XDA

edw00rd said:
Hmmm.... how would I go about checking into this for the transformer prime?
Sent from my Transformer Prime using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) Figure out how to run an unsigned kernel image. Kexec, fastboot, USB kernel flasher, etc...
2.) Replace the Android initramfs and/or tell the kernel where to boot from (depending on which method you pick above, you may need to compile a custom kernel);
3.) Install a root filesystem image on an SD card (internal storage may work, but it's less risky to dual boot) and point the kernel to it.
I got Ubuntu running even better on my "new" Epic 4G! Other devices should work with this method, but I'm not too enthusiastic about porting for devices I don't own

I know this is a very old thread, but the OP has disabled his PM messaging system, so I have no other choice.
I'm interested in repeating what this guy did here, as I too have a moto droid (a855) and i'd like to get at least a little use out of it.
I have some questions.
Where did you get the kernel sources? (i see you're saying to modify something in arch/arm/kernel/setup.c)
How did you get debian to boot from the SD Card? You mention kernel modification but you never mentioned anything about the setup process.
Will the process here https://wiki.debian.org/HowtoDebianInAndroid work for this? Everything mentioned there except the kernel seems to not be device specific.

Related

Debian instead of android... can it be done?

I have been a linux user for years, love it. so when i heard about android i bought a g1 as soon as i could... and honestly i HATE the java base... it sucks. For a while ii have been using debian on my sd and i think i have found a way to read ( but not send ) texts from within debian. any chance of developing debian to the point where we could use it as the primary system ? can the g1 g1 boot loader load it ?
No.........
damageless said:
No.........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ****, how about some reasoning or logic ? nothing cannot be done it is just a matter of how much effort is required to achieve the desired result.
modem_over said:
I have been a linux user for years, love it. so when i heard about android i bought a g1 as soon as i could... and honestly i HATE the java base... it sucks. For a while ii have been using debian on my sd and i think i have found a way to read ( but not send ) texts from within debian. any chance of developing debian to the point where we could use it as the primary system ? can the g1 g1 boot loader load it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Seriously.
I haven't looked at Android in ages, but regardless - debian is just a packaging and deployment system. It has little to do with the actual code and configuration of what is deployed in the end. It's work, but it's trivial work.
As for your disdain for the Java - how about some elaboration there? Do you really think you feel a performance hit?
i do really feel that java does slow the system down for one, and second, i don't want to learn another language...
...
no..............
yes, the bootloader will load it just fine.
i have played with nothing but debian on my phone... although, it's fairly useless.
until someone reverse engineers some way to talk to rild and control the wifi module and its userspace components you're pretty much tied to the java environment if you want... well, anything but a fancy embedded debian computer.
anyway, initramfs-tools package is your friend, as well as the android development environment. the bootloader will load the kernel + initramfs, and from there the sky (and linux) is the limit.
and i had to comment on the java performance... seriously, does anyone doubt that there is a *huge* performance hit? while a register based vm is fancy and fairly efficient as far as non JIT vm's go, it's still ridiculously slow and wasteful for the operating specs of this machine. 96mb of usable ram? dalvik forks off separate processes for each vm instances, so not only do you incur major pain for the COW operation, but enough changes in the working set to almost eliminate any helpfulness of COW. it's confusing as the point of zygote is to have a basically mostly started vm, but i'm not entirely sure how that's working in the background.
FWIW, when you clock this beast up to full CPU spec speed (528mhz) interface responsiveness doubles in fluidity.
Of course there is a huge performance hit, few people saying no are google's blind lovers.
Im sorry for this useless post..
The issue to me is the time it would take to develop debian to full working capacity with all the hardware. Possible? Yes. Fun? Depends on who you ask. Probability high for it to be actually completed better than Android? Doubtful.
JMO
i agree with you in most points, however, there are already standard non-android mobile linux stacks. the only hardware specific areas that need to be addressed are the wifi and telephony libraries.
the graphics are simple, it's a standard linux framebuffer, and an x server will run directly on it. if that's too heavy for the g1 (likely) directfb can also be used.
in the end - will it be better than android? probably not. too much development has gone into android.
will standard native apps utterly outperform android apps? believe it.
though, without either: a port of an x server to interface with surfaceflinger, or: a modified version of surfaceflinger to talk to an x server running on the framebuffer, you will never get the best of both worlds without some intermediate transport like vnc.
i'm in no way an advocate of 'debian only!' however, the poster of this thread was smacked down by some people who obviously had no real knowledge in the matter, so i sought to inform him.
the better direction i think, is someone to write a nice tight little c api for the binder surface flinger interface so people can start writing some more memory conscious native apps for people with rooted phones. streaming daemons, etc. while i think the stock development capabilities of the android platform is much better than the stock iphone's, a jailbroken iphone is 100% cooler than a jailbroken g1 at this point, but once there is enough community drive - that can change.
Booting into debian primarily which then runs android ontop of it should be possible, and then using android for things until more is developed on debian. Should work.
Still the original post was more about strictly debian only.
modem_over said:
Thanks ****, how about some reasoning or logic ? nothing cannot be done it is just a matter of how much effort is required to achieve the desired result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Temper tantrums aside, if you knew the answer to your question already what's the point of this thread? There's already a thread for people running debian on their G1, ask it there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=444419&highlight=debian
nolageek said:
Temper tantrums aside, if you knew the answer to your question already what's the point of this thread? There's already a thread for people running debian on their G1, ask it there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=444419&highlight=debian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess he can't now - been banned. Shame, too, I am sure we'll miss his pleasant demeanor.
davecanada said:
Yes.
Seriously.
I haven't looked at Android in ages, but regardless - debian is just a packaging and deployment system. It has little to do with the actual code and configuration of what is deployed in the end. It's work, but it's trivial work.
As for your disdain for the Java - how about some elaboration there? Do you really think you feel a performance hit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMFG yes there is a performance hit.
Yes i do bring certain special qualities to this forum don't I. at any rate i have began to build a port to be able to run directly off the jf bootloader.
vettejock99 said:
Guess he can't now - been banned. Shame, too, I am sure we'll miss his pleasant demeanor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i do bring certain special qualities to this forum don't I. at any rate i have began to build a port to be able to run directly off the jf bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool i can't wait to try it out
modem_over said:
Yes i do bring certain special qualities to this forum don't I. at any rate i have began to build a port to be able to run directly off the jf bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool - that sounds great
modem_over said:
Yes i do bring certain special qualities to this forum don't I. at any rate i have began to build a port to be able to run directly off the jf bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any bootloader will work. there is no verification done by the bootloader during the bootstrap process, only during the flash process. flashing of the modified boot image with a debian initramfs instead of an android initramfs can be done from a functioning rooted android os, or from a test-keys enabled recovery partition. the method i used was to do a normal debian install on a partition of the sd card, installing initramfs-tools, building an initramfs, built a new boot.img with the stock android dev environment.
i've also compiled a kernel with full namespace support and a custom init that launches the android init and debian inits in separate namespaces allowing them to run concurrently. not much use since they can't talk to each other, but it is somewhat neat. virtuozzo like containers on your g1 =)

[DEV] Porting over 2.6.29

Okay everyone. I am working on an optimized 2.6.27 until we can get .29 ported over. But I figure, since I am fairly new to the kernel world, how can we get started porting this bad boy over? I have been looking through the source code but am somewhat lost as to where to get started. I figure if we are able get this going we can make a github account and have the progress set up for everyone. All you devs wanna join in?
chuckhriczko said:
Okay everyone. I am working on an optimized 2.6.27 until we can get .29 ported over. But I figure, since I am fairly new to the kernel world, how can we get started porting this bad boy over? I have been looking through the source code but am somewhat lost as to where to get started. I figure if we are able get this going we can make a github account and have the progress set up for everyone. All you devs wanna join in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like I just read someones already got a github setup. Can we branch instead of running 2 accounts if this is the case?
I am also very new to the whole kernel. I think I have actually only compilied 3 succesful linux kernels in my short life. Attempted others, but I usually get lazy or run out of time.
Kcarpenter said:
Seems like I just read someones already got a github setup. Can we branch instead of running 2 accounts if this is the case?
I am also very new to the whole kernel. I think I have actually only compilied 3 succesful linux kernels in my short life. Attempted others, but I usually get lazy or run out of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone has made a github project please let me know. I havent made a 2.6.29 github project yet. I am currently doing one for 2.6.27.
I created a 2.6.27 repo this morning when the source was released. And I've checked out 2.6.29, just haven't set it up in github.
Really?
What's the difference between the android kernel and the regular linux kernel? It seems their version numbers are closely related. So why not go up to the newest stable (2.6.32.5)?
lazydev said:
What's the difference between the android kernel and the regular linux kernel? It seems their version numbers are closely related. So why not go up to the newest stable (2.6.32.5)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that simple. For starters we have to copy over the drivers for our phone and make sure they compile correctly. On top of that HTC modified quite a bit of the kernel. Porting it over will happen but it may take some time. Like I said before I am new to the linux kernel deal but I do know it is more difficult than it seems.
I'd say a completely functional port will take roughly 2 weeks time for a hobbyist. I'm not sure though as I'm still new to messing with linux kernels. I'm looking into a port of my own. Debating 2.6.29 or porting the android specific bits to a newer linux kernel. Chances are porting the hero specific stuff to the android 2.6.29 kernel source will be much simpler. It sucks I'm on my laptop at work and it isn't running linux so no compiling, diff patching or coding for me tonight. I wish I was a bit more profficient with C programming too. I guess now I have a good reason to do just that.
lazydev said:
What's the difference between the android kernel and the regular linux kernel? It seems their version numbers are closely related. So why not go up to the newest stable (2.6.32.5)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit: didnt release chuckriczko answered your question..
obelisk79 said:
It sucks I'm on my laptop at work and it isn't running linux so no compiling, diff patching or coding for me tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it's time to start carrying around a LiveUSB distro of Linux on a flash drive
gu1dry said:
Maybe it's time to start carrying around a LiveUSB distro of Linux on a flash drive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no kidding... I wasn't expecting to wake up to a new release. Of course I could just run linux on my laptop and call it a day
Yeah, the reason it's better to start with .29 than jump to .32, because a lot of the work has already been done for us in .29. In fact, if you really investigate the kernel source they released, vs the kernel on our phones, you'll notice that HTC has already backported some of the .29 changes in the android-msm-2.6.29 branch into the source they released, which was *not* initially the case in the kernel that they shipped.
What we need to do to get .29 actually working, is the opposite: forward-port the HTC changes for hero/c into the .29 source.
FYI: got an initial codebase that compiles, but does not boot yet:
http://github.com/jhansche/kernel_msm/commit/19a2d673867a8e11b98cce399ed89c94811ebf77
Started from android-msm-2.6.29 branch, with a few modifications that HTC made in our code, ported over (not all of them, mind you). If anyone has any suggestions for debugging why the kernel doesn't boot, I'm glad to hear them If I had a serial debug cable, that would be useful, cause then it would work as a serial console. But for now all I have to go on is the fact that it dies *before* ram_console can be initialized (even with early-init enabled).
I've also disabled several pieces of hardware in the interest of just getting a clean compile -- namely headset, 3.5mm audiojack, EID mddi client (lcd panel) has not been copied over yet, and some other stuff.
maejrep said:
FYI: got an initial codebase that compiles, but does not boot yet:
http://github.com/jhansche/kernel_msm/commit/19a2d673867a8e11b98cce399ed89c94811ebf77
Started from android-msm-2.6.29 branch, with a few modifications that HTC made in our code, ported over (not all of them, mind you). If anyone has any suggestions for debugging why the kernel doesn't boot, I'm glad to hear them If I had a serial debug cable, that would be useful, cause then it would work as a serial console. But for now all I have to go on is the fact that it dies *before* ram_console can be initialized (even with early-init enabled).
I've also disabled several pieces of hardware in the interest of just getting a clean compile -- namely headset, 3.5mm audiojack, EID mddi client (lcd panel) has not been copied over yet, and some other stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great work! As I said before I am new to this linux kernel stuff and don't think I can help but I am cloning the repo so I can take a look anyway.
Any progress with getting it to boot?
Any update on this project?
I have also been curious about this for a couple of days, just didn't want to sound pushy to the devs... hope theyre seeing progress.
theoottesen said:
I have also been curious about this for a couple of days, just didn't want to sound pushy to the devs... hope theyre seeing progress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked the githup out. still doesn't boot
Yeah, I've been hitting a brick wall trying to get some kind of indication that something is happening... On .27 I lucked out by somehow getting it to go past the ram console, then reboot, so I could see the panic messages on /proc/last_kmsg. But in .29, I can't even write directly to the ram console memory space in a pure_init section. The problem is that there's no way to know how far it's getting in the boot process. So we're really just booting blindly.
On top of that, the android-msm-2.6.29-nexusone branch has non-QSD8k bugs (that is, if you select that it's an MSM device, not a QSD device, it won't compile without fixing stuff in their acpu code for arm11, MDP22 code paths, etc. it's like the nexusone branch was only ever tested with scorpion, not arm11 (even though it has the board files for sapphire, so you would expect it to compile for sapphire)
maejrep said:
Yeah, I've been hitting a brick wall trying to get some kind of indication that something is happening... On .27 I lucked out by somehow getting it to go past the ram console, then reboot, so I could see the panic messages on /proc/last_kmsg. But in .29, I can't even write directly to the ram console memory space in a pure_init section. The problem is that there's no way to know how far it's getting in the boot process. So we're really just booting blindly.
On top of that, the android-msm-2.6.29-nexusone branch has non-QSD8k bugs (that is, if you select that it's an MSM device, not a QSD device, it won't compile without fixing stuff in their acpu code for arm11, MDP22 code paths, etc. it's like the nexusone branch was only ever tested with scorpion, not arm11 (even though it has the board files for sapphire, so you would expect it to compile for sapphire)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I understand correctly, the devs that worked on the kernel for the Nexus One got lazy and never tried to see if it compiled on the Sapphire?
If they were developing the kernel for the nexus id hardly call them lazy for not taking the time to check it on other devices.

Flashing Linux on a phone

So, first of all, I'm not entirely sure if this thread belongs in this category, but since it's something pretty wide, I guess it wouldn't hurt.
So I'm looking into flashing Linux into a phone (an sgs2, more precisly). I'm not talking about chroots under android and etc, I'm talking about actually flashing grub, the kernel and every other files that would usually come with a desktop distro. I'm toying a bit with Gentoo, see if I can recompile the whole thing for ARM before probably ending up bricking my device.
Anyways, I want to know if anyone has every tried flashing the whole thing into a phone, be it android, windows phone, etc, and what would you guys think about it.
I'll be trying with an android phone, since it pretty much uses the linux kernel, and so drivers shouldn't be too much of a pain in the ass to recompile. Might also keep the original boot loader until I feel good enough about completely eradicating the base software that the hardware was designed for.
any thoughts/advices/insults/mind farts on the subject welcome
did you hear about Ubuntu for android project? it's based on GB 2.3.6 but ATM i think the project is stuck. you can see more information on Ubuntu page I'm subscribed to information about it 'cause I will love Ubuntu running on my S2 too. but I heard nothing about other available project from other people
Sent from my GT-I9100G
Great Question! that's something about which I am interested as well. However, I think you might try looking around the "Hardware Hacking" thread or post your question there maybe? I'd like to, but I can't...since I am a NOOB!
---------- Post added at 01:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------
crzr said:
did you hear about Ubuntu for android project? it's based on GB 2.3.6 but ATM i think the project is stuck. you can see more information on Ubuntu page I'm subscribed to information about it 'cause I will love Ubuntu running on my S2 too. but I heard nothing about other available project from other people
Sent from my GT-I9100G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's awesome, I think I saw a couple of videos on youtube with some guys showing Ubuntu running on their phone
I will do it. I will post if something new comes. But I am happy right now with ICS/JB roms. I'll wait for their Ubuntu for android release if they decide to make possible Ubuntu for android phones
Sent from my GT-I9100G
crzr said:
I will do it. I will post if something new comes. But I am happy right now with ICS/JB roms. I'll wait for their Ubuntu for android release if they decide to make possible Ubuntu for android phones
Sent from my GT-I9100G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea, i think the OP had in mind to bypass android? perhaps? and to use the phone's hardware/kernel parameters in order to boot linux onto it
ilmostro7 said:
yea, i think the OP had in mind to bypass android? perhaps? and to use the phone's hardware/kernel parameters in order to boot linux onto it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I meant getting ride of the underlaying OS and flash linux in place of it.
I think ubuntu uses chroot under android, I haven't seen anything about flashing it into the device.
What I have in mind is not just flashing it on android phones, but about any piece of hardware decent enough to run it (although the existing drivers on android phones would help).
Right now I'm toying a bit with the cross compiler, but I haven't really started any serious project about making it happen.
You can flash backtrack
Yea, that's why I suggested, initially, to take a look at the "Hardware Hacking" forum...otherwise, you can learn about Systems Programming --maybe a good start might be Programming Embedded Systems, 2nd Edition
With C and GNU Development Tools
By Michael Barr, Anthony Massa
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Released: October 2006
Pages: 336
btw: sorry, I can't post links, but you can google on how to get started
also: HIT THE THANKS BUTTON IF I HELPED YOU, too
I've made several attempts at the chroot method of adding Linux to an android device with good results. My ultimate goal is to have my android device load and run Linux when i plug it into a docking station so i can use it as a computer. Back to the topic at hand, to add Linux as the native OS instead of android. I would start by building a root file system for android and attempt to copy it over the existing android rootfs. The process would be identical to building the chroot Linux rootfs. The next thing to do is to acquire the kernel source and re-compile it so you can have all of the modules / drivers you want. I would say that this would be standard and easy peasy stuff right up until you got to the X11 and video hardware acceleration.
If your going to try this, I would look for a device that has the following:
1) Kernel source available - make sure there are good instructions on how to configure and compile
2) Device is easily unlock-able and root-able
3) Has a micro SD card slot
So, first of all, I'm not entirely sure if this thread belongs in this category, but since it's something pretty wide, I guess it wouldn't hurt.
So I'm looking into flashing Linux into a phone (an sgs2, more precisly). I'm not talking about chroots under android and etc, I'm talking about actually flashing grub, the kernel and every other files that would usually come with a desktop distro. I'm toying a bit with Gentoo, see if I can recompile the whole thing for ARM before probably ending up bricking my device.
Anyways, I want to know if anyone has every tried flashing the whole thing into a phone, be it android, windows phone, etc, and what would you guys think about it.
I'll be trying with an android phone, since it pretty much uses the linux kernel, and so drivers shouldn't be too much of a pain in the ass to recompile. Might also keep the original boot loader until I feel good enough about completely eradicating the base software that the hardware was designed for.
any thoughts/advices/insults/mind farts on the subject welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2162316 this can help you?
Sent from my GT-I9100G using xda app-developers app

Ubuntu as a Phone OS

Well, ubnuntu just made an annoucnement that they will have a mobile tablet and phone os, that will be matched with thier other versions so it is one os that will work on all your computing devices using all the same apps that you already run. They will also have the HTML 5 apps as part of this.
Just thought you guys might be interested.
I am very excited about this.
Sound off and let's discuss after you check out the video on the link below:
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone
I see android becoming a GUI skin for Ubuntu. It's been nothing more than a matter of time before PC OS's merged with phone OS's . With some of the new hardware technologies almost ready for primetime our mobiles will take the place of PC/laptops in our lives. Desktops are evolving into more of a server role in the home. Appliances , home entertainment, environmental control will all be run from a central home super PC/server. The technology is out now but advances are coming that will make it more practical for the masses.
mtnlion said:
I see android becoming a GUI skin for Ubuntu. It's been nothing more than a matter of time before PC OS's merged with phone OS's . With some of the new hardware technologies almost ready for primetime our mobiles will take the place of PC/laptops in our lives. Desktops are evolving into more of a server role in the home. Appliances , home entertainment, environmental control will all be run from a central home super PC/server. The technology is out now but advances are coming that will make it more practical for the masses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it is the other way around.... in the video it was said that the ubuntu phone os will work with the android kernel, so it should work on any current android hardware, and should be very easy to implement it.
This is really because the android kernel is really the general linux 3.0 kernel.
I am going to work on getting this working on this phone, as soon they release the OS to everyone. I can see this taking this phone to where it should be as far as performance is concerned.
jimbridgman said:
Actually it is the other way around.... in the video it was said that the ubuntu phone os will work with the android kernel, so it should work on any current android hardware, and should be very easy to implement it.
This is really because the android kernel is really the general linux 3.0 kernel.
I am going to work on getting this working on this phone, as soon they release the OS to everyone. I can see this taking this phone to where it should be as far as performance is concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are saying You can boot this version of Ubuntu with our stock moto kernel?
mtnlion said:
You are saying You can boot this version of Ubuntu with our stock moto kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure yet, but from the video in the link I posted toward the end, it sure sounded like that was the case. I am sure some work will have to be done, but it sounded promising.
I'm most interested in seeing how this turns out when you unleash your kung fu on it. My nexus 4 should be here soon, after it arrives my A2 will be at your disposal for any alpha testing. Then again my A2 has always been available for testing anything you or certain other devs come up with.
This is super sexy. I cannot wait for this to come out. I have been using Linux, mainly Ubuntu off and on for years now. This just made my day. I love the GUI. I wonder... What type of bootloader this will use. Some modified versions of Lilo, or Grub?
Maribou said:
This is super sexy. I cannot wait for this to come out. I have been using Linux, mainly Ubuntu off and on for years now. This just made my day. I love the GUI. I wonder... What type of bootloader this will use. Some modified versions of Lilo, or Grub?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Prolly not going to be lilo, it has been a while since lilo was a default BL for linux. Grub, both in the the gui and text bootloaders has been the BL of choice for most linux distros for some time now.
I am guessing that if this works with the android kernel, that it might not use a separate BL for those devices, but I would guess that again grub would be on new devices that are made to run this by default.
I can see this taking this phone to where it should be as far as performance is concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious as to why you say this. Is there any particular reason that performance would be better with Ubuntu over Android? If the kernel is the same, it would seem to me that the performance level achievable would be the same with either.
jimbridgman said:
Prolly not going to be lilo, it has been a while since lilo was a default BL for linux. Grub, both in the the gui and text bootloaders has been the BL of choice for most linux distros for some time now.
I am guessing that if this works with the android kernel, that it might not use a separate BL for those devices, but I would guess that again grub would be on new devices that are made to run this by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool.Since it is open source do you think the BL will be locked down? I'm actually kinda confused as to how this would work. Would we still have our locked down BL if we installed a port of the Ubuntu OS? Or would the Ubuntu OS totally replace everything?
It looks like the original phone this is made for is a galaxy Nexus, so.... We should be able to get this running on our A2 fairly easily.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/02/ubuntu-for-smartphones/
As to the person who asked about why I feel the performance will be better, is because of how linux itself and the apps that are used, use hardware, android itself does not handle apps talking to hardware very well, and tend to kill battery in the process much faster.
I run linux on a ton of my computers and devices, and I will tell you, I have a netbook running ubuntu and I get 13 hours on battery with it, where with any other OS I get maybe 6 hours. And yes it runs an atom processor, and I have been able to test running android on it, and ran very poorly as far as battery and performance was concerned, even with linaro running.
The ONLY reason we will not be able to run the true ubuntu kernel with this is thanks to motorola locking this thing down so tight that we can not run any other bootloader or kernel on this device.
Maribou said:
Cool.Since it is open source do you think the BL will be locked down? I'm actually kinda confused as to how this would work. Would we still have our locked down BL if we installed a port of the Ubuntu OS? Or would the Ubuntu OS totally replace everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to say for our phone, we will not be able to run the whole thing. We will have to keep our bootloader and kernel, but basically run this from our /system partition much like flashing a ROM.
jimbridgman said:
Sorry to say for our phone, we will not be able to run the whole thing. We will have to keep our bootloader and kernel, but basically run this from our /system partition much like flashing a ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for clearing that up. I was thinking that was how it would be. I still can't wait to try this out!
This may be a dumb question.... but wasn't ubuntu designed to run on x86? How would it work on ARM?
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
farshad525hou said:
This may be a dumb question.... but wasn't ubuntu designed to run on x86? How would it work on ARM?
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ubuntu has come a long way. There are many different variations of it now. http://www.ubuntu.com/download/arm
WOW this is a real game changer here..... Have been thinking for a while what could be the next BIG thing looks like this is it..... Take a quad core with 2gb ram 32gb onboard and 32gb sd and this is going to be a beasted laptop in your pocket.....
Haha just read the other part of the page and it almost looks loke a direct quote.....
I don't know if I'm remembering correctly but wasn't Canonical working with Motorola on Ubuntu for Android? And wasn't even the phone they demoed it on in the video an Atrix 2?
They are obviously different projects as Ubuntu for Android was to allow the ability to boot into Ubuntu from inside android much like Jim's Webtop hack, but I just thought I should bring it up.
Generally speaking, I'm pretty excited about this too. I haven't been able to find any information on the ubuntu "dock ". Availability, price, inputs/outputs, etc. I think it will be awesome to have a dockable piece of hardware to run as a mobile or home device.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
Oh wow this is gonna be just amazing a true Linux mobile os I for one can't wait to load an Ubuntu based ROM onto my a2
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
This is going to be so awesome if it really works. I'm already setting up a dev environment to port it to my tablet, where it will really be awesome.
EDIT: PS will it be able to run normal andriod apps too?

[[updated]]WORKING MONITOR MODE. Pentest for mytouch 4g

I have no intention for hacking or anything i just want to use it for pentest on my systems.
Okay so i downloaded aircrack for ubuntu and extracted the sbin files and the bin files and pasted them into my system/bin and afterwards i went to terminal emulator and typed
su
aircrack-ng
and to my supprise it loaded. I have posted some screenshots.
So i think with some efforts and the right scripts it would work.
So anyone with the knowledge can help out.
**************UPDATE**************
i just uploaded the aircrack-ng file.
I am Very Sorrry. If you downloaded the first file i posted, that wont work, i have posted the correct one. so please download this one
aircrack-1.1-static.rar (1.90 MB)
Okay so i have found a site on which a group of developers were able to create some files to allow the Nexus one & Galaxy S II run in monitor mode.
here is the website.
[[ http://bcmon.blogspot.com/2012/09/working-monitor-mode-on-nexus-one.html ]]
If we are able to get the mytouch into monitor mode, we would be able to run "Aircrack" ont the packets.
According to the website, we need to Build the KO for our device.
The problem now is, i have no idea of how to create those KO files.
If anyone finds a nice tutorial, pls share it here and i would try and follow it to get the monitor mode working. (that is if possible).
************************************UPDATE***************************************************************************
Guys i have finnally figured out how to put the mytouch 4g in monitor mode.
here are the steps.
Download glacier_Pac_JB_4.2.2-V22.01_20130325-085620.zip
from here : http://d-h.st/5bA
(please flash Gapps)
Then Download this Kernel it was created by coderz ( i have uploaded it so see below.)
Afterwards head towards my other thread here ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2302678 ) and download ubuntu distro the small image.
After the download load open the apk u downloaded from the other thread and select launch and choose ubuntu.
after it has launched, install aircrack.
from this guide ( http://answertohow.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-install-aircrack-ng-on-ubuntu.html )
Next head towards here ( http://pkgs.org/ubuntu-12.04/ubuntu-main-i386/iw_3.2-1_i386.deb.html ) for the IW package since its not available
in the ubuntu distro.
Now you are clear to go.
Now type these in the terminal emulator where the image was launched ( please do not open another tab in terminal emulator, use the one that was opened by the ubuntu distro.)
type
Su
Airmon-ng start 6 p2p0
and voila there it is you would see monitor mode started.
Please forgive me if somethings arent clear.
I am so happy to the extent that i cant even type.
What is that?
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
mymeatb18 said:
What is that?
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thinks it's something to hack wifi with.
Sent from my MyTouch 4G using xda app-developers app
N_otori0us_ said:
I thinks it's something to hack wifi with.
Sent from my MyTouch 4G using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its used for penetration testing but when it is used in the wrong way becomes a hacking tool.
So it can be used by someone to gain access to a secured WiFi network?
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
mymeatb18 said:
So it can be used by someone to gain access to a secured WiFi network?
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea i guess so. Dont really know much about it.
Which package did u download I can't find one that has bin and Sbin in it?
Sent from my GT-P3110 using xda app-developers app
I've been building the kernel module, which is what a "KO" as you called it is, into my customized kernel for about a week now. I've also successfully inserted said module into memory and that's about where I end as the binaries that come packaged with the source code aren't linked correctly for the glacier and can't interface correctly and I haven't taken the time to recompile them yet. The plus side is that this may save me having to do that but that also means that if you want the module you have to use my kernel and that is a hazard in and of itself, haha. I lack the post count to post it in the proper forum and I refuse to circumvent that restriction by posting it in the incorrect forum so for the moment I'm hosting it myself.
If you're interested in taking the chance send me a message but I'll tell you now the kernel variation, D3M0N as I've named it, is not for the faint of heart and you could do real damage to your device if you are careless as mine allows overclocking up to 2Ghz and let me tell you it gets hot enough to blister a finger on the metal battery cover. I have it set to run at 1.4 by default so you may want to adjust it to suit your needs and it's designed for 4.2.x ROMs and I can't guarantee it'll work with any other version of Android but I can build the module for any kernel version as long as the source is available as well.
On a final note, the aircrack suite is a hacking tool and hacking is not bad, cracking is the malicious brother of hacking and either way you're responsible for your own actions, not anyone else. That being said, I'm not liable for what you do or don't do. And to clarify, aircrack itself is only useful for WEP secured networks and it is not useful by itself. This isn't directed at anyone in particular but I thought I'd clear up the assumptions I felt were being made because there's no reason for ignorance and the only crime related to ignorance is refusing the ignorant the chance to be educated wherever possible. I hope nobody takes offense to the term ignorant because everyone is ignorant to something and everyone was ignorant at some point.
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
zygh0st said:
I've been building the kernel module, which is what a "KO" as you called it is, into my customized kernel for about a week now. I've also successfully inserted said module into memory and that's about where I end as the binaries that come packaged with the source code aren't linked correctly for the glacier and can't interface correctly and I haven't taken the time to recompile them yet. The plus side is that this may save me having to do that but that also means that if you want the module you have to use my kernel and that is a hazard in and of itself, haha. I lack the post count to post it in the proper forum and I refuse to circumvent that restriction by posting it in the incorrect forum so for the moment I'm hosting it myself.
If you're interested in taking the chance send me a message but I'll tell you now the kernel variation, D3M0N as I've named it, is not for the faint of heart and you could do real damage to your device if you are careless as mine allows overclocking up to 2Ghz and let me tell you it gets hot enough to blister a finger on the metal battery cover. I have it set to run at 1.4 by default so you may want to adjust it to suit your needs and it's designed for 4.2.x ROMs and I can't guarantee it'll work with any other version of Android but I can build the module for any kernel version as long as the source is available as well.
On a final note, the aircrack suite is a hacking tool and hacking is not bad, cracking is the malicious brother of hacking and either way you're responsible for your own actions, not anyone else. That being said, I'm not liable for what you do or don't do. And to clarify, aircrack itself is only useful for WEP secured networks and it is not useful by itself. This isn't directed at anyone in particular but I thought I'd clear up the assumptions I felt were being made because there's no reason for ignorance and the only crime related to ignorance is refusing the ignorant the chance to be educated wherever possible. I hope nobody takes offense to the term ignorant because everyone is ignorant to something and everyone was ignorant at some point.
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats cool. So have you tried your new kernel with the aircrack suit i have uploaded or have you tried airmon or monitor mode with the zips found at the website i posted.
And thanks also for clarifying the hacking concept.
I just want to help in unleashing the power of the mytouch 4g. As i have seen and tested, there are many things that the mytouch 4g can do that people didnt really know about. Like Fm transmitting, this feature works on the mytouch 4g. I tried it myself. All its needs is the apk(if anyone needs it He or She should free to ask and i would send it to him or her). All it needs to work is the stock 2.2 Glacier rom as thats which i tested it on.
So as i have already said. You could pass by the website and download the packages and who knows, it might be easier than you think.
Thanks again for contributing. :good:
mickeyasamoah said:
Thats cool. So have you tried your new kernel with the aircrack suit i have uploaded or have you tried airmon or monitor mode with the zips found at the website i posted.
And thanks also for clarifying the hacking concept.
I just want to help in unleashing the power of the mytouch 4g. As i have seen and tested, there are many things that the mytouch 4g can do that people didnt really know about. Like Fm transmitting, this feature works on the mytouch 4g. I tried it myself. All its needs is the apk(if anyone needs it He or She should free to ask and i would send it to him or her). All it needs to work is the stock 2.2 Glacier rom as thats which i tested it on.
So as i have already said. You could pass by the website and download the packages and who knows, it might be easier than you think.
Thanks again for contributing. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I did try the binaries from the OP; unfortunately they weren't the solution to my problem. Fortunately they seem to be just fine and my problem was due to an error on my part (I had duplicate binaries in /system/xbin while I was intending to use /system/bin and failed to realize it right away.) I set up an old Netgear router I had lying around and threw a random string in as the WEP key and was able to reverse it in ~12 minutes with the maximum CPU frequency at 1.4Ghz. Not bad at all as far as I'm concerned given that it takes ~5m on my laptop.
I've stabilized the kernel I've been mutilating so it's far safer than I previously alluded to, haven't had a single panic or hard lock in a good 18+ hours and I've been running it to death so my offer still stands for any who'd rather not deal with compiling it themselves. For those that do, my Github is always open: http://github.com/zygh0st/android_kernel_htc_msm7x30-3.0.git
BTW, thanks for starting the discussion; nice to see I'm not the only one who is interested in mobile devices as possible vectors for breaches of security in ways most people wouldn't consider. The next step is to give Reaver a shot, though I think it has a successor at this point but I can't recall the name of it. I doubt it's feasible, at least not on this device since if the time scales in a similar manner you'd be looking at nearly 24 hours but with something like a Note 2 or S4 one would expect to find a significant reduction in time I'd think, but I could be mistaken.
zygh0st said:
Yes, I did try the binaries from the OP; unfortunately they weren't the solution to my problem. Fortunately they seem to be just fine and my problem was due to an error on my part (I had duplicate binaries in /system/xbin while I was intending to use /system/bin and failed to realize it right away.) I set up an old Netgear router I had lying around and threw a random string in as the WEP key and was able to reverse it in ~12 minutes with the maximum CPU frequency at 1.4Ghz. Not bad at all as far as I'm concerned given that it takes ~5m on my laptop.
I've stabilized the kernel I've been mutilating so it's far safer than I previously alluded to, haven't had a single panic or hard lock in a good 18+ hours and I've been running it to death so my offer still stands for any who'd rather not deal with compiling it themselves. For those that do, my Github is always open: http://github.com/zygh0st/android_kernel_htc_msm7x30-3.0.git
BTW, thanks for starting the discussion; nice to see I'm not the only one who is interested in mobile devices as possible vectors for breaches of security in ways most people wouldn't consider. The next step is to give Reaver a shot, though I think it has a successor at this point but I can't recall the name of it. I doubt it's feasible, at least not on this device since if the time scales in a similar manner you'd be looking at nearly 24 hours but with something like a Note 2 or S4 one would expect to find a significant reduction in time I'd think, but I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. My problem now is that i am not using an AOSP Rom but a Sense Rom (Vipertouch) so would this kernel work on it??
Or wait i checked ur github, is that a package for ubuntu?? cause i can see some makefile in it??
Bro if you really want to pen test from your android download dSploit.
It doesn't require custom kernals or anything. Would you like me to find a link?
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda app-developers app
I already have that, but it doesnt crack wep passwords.
Sent from my HTC myTouch 4g using xda app-developers app
mickeyasamoah said:
Wow Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. My problem now is that i am not using an AOSP Rom but a Sense Rom (Vipertouch) so would this kernel work on it??
Or wait i checked ur github, is that a package for ubuntu?? cause i can see some makefile in it??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makefiles are generally going to be found anywhere that there is code written in C and as far as I know, or recall for that matter but that may not be saying much given my poor memory, the Linux kernel has been written in C since its inception. I tried flashing the kernel with Vipertouch earlier today but it never made it past the bootlogo so I'm going to say that it doesn't play nice (which is expected.) I've spent a little time hunting around for source code to the kernel that Team Venom used but I haven't come across it yet. As soon as I find the source for an ICS/Sense compatible kernel I'll see if I can't crank something out for you. Shouldn't be too hard, I'm just preoccupied and haven't had a good stretch of time to devote to finding what I need but I'm sure it'll be easy to find because one of the Sense ROMs ought to link to a repository I'd think (I hope so anyway, haha)
If you're familiar with compiling the kernel in Ubuntu then you're pretty much familiar with compiling kernels for Android, you'd just need to set up your build environment properly which is trivial in Ubuntu. If you're interested at all, here are a couple of links, one to a thread that I referenced a few times myself and one to XDA University's Guide to building a kernel from source. I'm no expert by any means, at least not with regard to Android specific issues, but my mind and the contents therein are at your service for what it's worth :good:
zygh0st said:
Makefiles are generally going to be found anywhere that there is code written in C and as far as I know, or recall for that matter but that may not be saying much given my poor memory, the Linux kernel has been written in C since its inception. I tried flashing the kernel with Vipertouch earlier today but it never made it past the bootlogo so I'm going to say that it doesn't play nice (which is expected.) I've spent a little time hunting around for source code to the kernel that Team Venom used but I haven't come across it yet. As soon as I find the source for an ICS/Sense compatible kernel I'll see if I can't crank something out for you. Shouldn't be too hard, I'm just preoccupied and haven't had a good stretch of time to devote to finding what I need but I'm sure it'll be easy to find because one of the Sense ROMs ought to link to a repository I'd think (I hope so anyway, haha)
If you're familiar with compiling the kernel in Ubuntu then you're pretty much familiar with compiling kernels for Android, you'd just need to set up your build environment properly which is trivial in Ubuntu. If you're interested at all, here are a couple of links, one to a thread that I referenced a few times myself and one to XDA University's Guide to building a kernel from source. I'm no expert by any means, at least not with regard to Android specific issues, but my mind and the contents therein are at your service for what it's worth :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OOOKay. But the only problem is that my pc fell and had developed some kind of fault so at the moment i am PC-less. But i hope to get it repaired soon. but in the meantime can you upload an already compiled version of the kernel so that i and anyone else who is intrested could download?? you know like a flashable zip or something and did you flash the kernel for the vipertouch through the recovery?? If so i dont think it would work. They created the rom in such a way that they change most of the directories so you would have to use thier inbuilt flasher. I guess. last time i tried flashing a bootanimation through recovery but it didnt work. So i guess u use thier inbuilt one.
mickeyasamoah said:
OOOKay. But the only problem is that my pc fell and had developed some kind of fault so at the moment i am PC-less. But i hope to get it repaired soon. but in the meantime can you upload an already compiled version of the kernel so that i and anyone else who is intrested could download?? you know like a flashable zip or something and did you flash the kernel for the vipertouch through the recovery?? If so i dont think it would work. They created the rom in such a way that they change most of the directories so you would have to use thier inbuilt flasher. I guess. last time i tried flashing a bootanimation through recovery but it didnt work. So i guess u use thier inbuilt one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cause bootanimations on sense are in a different location then sense. I think
Sent from my myTouch 4G using xda app-developers app
Yea. So i guess the kernel also might be in a different directory. And also i have just remembered that i flashed a different kwrnel from the recovery and after the bootanimation, it failed to continue and got stuck. Reason why am saying all this is because, when i enter the root of my device, i see many folders that u wouldnt see in a normal rom (cyanogen, aosp, aokp,) as far as i know. So i guess he should create a flashable zip of the kernel and maybe steady the directories of the rom and maybe it might work.
Sent from my HTC myTouch 4g using xda app-developers app
mickeyasamoah said:
Yea. So i guess the kernel also might be in a different directory. And also i have just remembered that i flashed a different kwrnel from the recovery and after the bootanimation, it failed to continue and got stuck. Reason why am saying all this is because, when i enter the root of my device, i see many folders that u wouldnt see in a normal rom (cyanogen, aosp, aokp,) as far as i know. So i guess he should create a flashable zip of the kernel and maybe steady the directories of the rom and maybe it might work.
Sent from my HTC myTouch 4g using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disclaimer: Some of this may come off harsh, it's unintentional I assure you; I've been told by many people I sound like I'm being a jerk when I simply know no other way to present the information than in as simple a form as possible, so reader be warned and do try not to take offense!
Actually, all of the directories you see under / (the root of the filesystem or root for short) DO exist on every Android installation regardless of the version or ROM for the most part. There are a few alterations between major Android versions (think Gingerbread to ICS or ICS to JB) but those are mostly related to the SDCard or external filesystems in general. There are also differences related to specific devices, for example; you won't find /data/media on devices that don't have an internal storage designed to mimic an SDCard (such as the Samsung Galaxy series.)
That being said, the kernel does not reside in a directory at all, it resides on a partition that is mounted as /. The kernel's ramdisk is actually where /init and /init.rc and such actually are and that is why you can't change them and have the changes persist across reboots even if the root partition is remounted as read/write. In addition to this information, one does not simply "move things around" within a deeply rooted filesystem structure like you were rearranging furniture.
And to get to the real information you're after, the reason your device fails to boot when you flash an incompatible kernel is because the kernel and the ROM, for lack of a better example, don't know how to speak to one another and one get's pissed off and they stop talking; or in other cases one gets severe dementia and repeats itself indefinitely (bootloops anyone?). Oh, and the bootanimation.zip is in the same place on every Android device. You don't need to flash it at all, it goes in /system/media/ but you'll have to remount /system as read/write first (which is why flashable zips are convenient, you don't have to mess with it and you're going to have to reboot anyway to see your new animation, right?)
And in closing, the directory structure of Team Venom's ROM and every other ROM that exists is about 99% the same. You may not have seen it before, but there's no need to drag out Shrodinger's poor cat is there? I assure you it's been there lurking in the shadows What I need is the source code to a kernel that is known to work with ICS/Sense ROMs, and as I previously stated in another post I simply haven't looked that hard yet. I have an errand or two to run this early afternoon, but you have my word I'll do my best to try and get a working kernel to you by 0500 GMT, which is midnight for me. That gives me 12 hours from now, too easy And it'll be flashable, I'm a lazy person to be honest so I have a script that compiles the kernel, builds the ramdisk, makes the boot image from the two, creates a flashable zip, uploads said zip to the device, creates a script for recovery (I use TWRP 2.5.0.0 FYI) to flash the zip and reboot, and then reboots the device into recovery. That way I only have to press return once
I hope you found some of that useful and if you'd like any more information I'd be happy to give you all that I have, it's kind of an uncontrollable thing with me so be mindful of what you ask because you will get a wash of info in return and my stop button seems to work sparingly, haha. Have a good day!
zygh0st said:
Disclaimer: Some of this may come off harsh, it's unintentional I assure you; I've been told by many people I sound like I'm being a jerk when I simply know no other way to present the information than in as simple a form as possible, so reader be warned and do try not to take offense!
Actually, all of the directories you see under / (the root of the filesystem or root for short) DO exist on every Android installation regardless of the version or ROM for the most part. There are a few alterations between major Android versions (think Gingerbread to ICS or ICS to JB) but those are mostly related to the SDCard or external filesystems in general. There are also differences related to specific devices, for example; you won't find /data/media on devices that don't have an internal storage designed to mimic an SDCard (such as the Samsung Galaxy series.)
That being said, the kernel does not reside in a directory at all, it resides on a partition that is mounted as /. The kernel's ramdisk is actually where /init and /init.rc and such actually are and that is why you can't change them and have the changes persist across reboots even if the root partition is remounted as read/write. In addition to this information, one does not simply "move things around" within a deeply rooted filesystem structure like you were rearranging furniture.
And to get to the real information you're after, the reason your device fails to boot when you flash an incompatible kernel is because the kernel and the ROM, for lack of a better example, don't know how to speak to one another and one get's pissed off and they stop talking; or in other cases one gets severe dementia and repeats itself indefinitely (bootloops anyone?). Oh, and the bootanimation.zip is in the same place on every Android device. You don't need to flash it at all, it goes in /system/media/ but you'll have to remount /system as read/write first (which is why flashable zips are convenient, you don't have to mess with it and you're going to have to reboot anyway to see your new animation, right?)
And in closing, the directory structure of Team Venom's ROM and every other ROM that exists is about 99% the same. You may not have seen it before, but there's no need to drag out Shrodinger's poor cat is there? I assure you it's been there lurking in the shadows What I need is the source code to a kernel that is known to work with ICS/Sense ROMs, and as I previously stated in another post I simply haven't looked that hard yet. I have an errand or two to run this early afternoon, but you have my word I'll do my best to try and get a working kernel to you by 0500 GMT, which is midnight for me. That gives me 12 hours from now, too easy And it'll be flashable, I'm a lazy person to be honest so I have a script that compiles the kernel, builds the ramdisk, makes the boot image from the two, creates a flashable zip, uploads said zip to the device, creates a script for recovery (I use TWRP 2.5.0.0 FYI) to flash the zip and reboot, and then reboots the device into recovery. That way I only have to press return once
I hope you found some of that useful and if you'd like any more information I'd be happy to give you all that I have, it's kind of an uncontrollable thing with me so be mindful of what you ask because you will get a wash of info in return and my stop button seems to work sparingly, haha. Have a good day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for your contribution. And dont feel bad or anything for your answers. I love to read especially when they are things that have to do with ICT or electronic Gadgets. So am cool with that.
And once again, thanks for your help and time,this could be a break through or a start to a new life for the mytouch 4g.
With this, we [ you (zygh0st), Notorious, me and some other young developers] could come out with a rom which has the necessary drivers and files to run Most Linux/Ubuntu/ Debian Distros and apps without any difficulties, Reason is that, the Linux/Debian?Ubuntu Images Available now lack some drivers and abilities to do certain things. SOme of which is Wireless tools in Ubuntu. ( I tried searching for wireless tools for these images but there wasn't any, the ones available were those for i386 and amd64. But those images needed one for armel.) So as i said this could be the beginning a very big project for a rom that fully supports Distros and has all the drivers for pentesting.
But until then we would be waiting for the kernel.
Thanks Again Buddy.:good:
Alrighty, well I had a little bit of unforeseeable life happen and I had to tend to that. That being said, undoubtedly it hasn't gone unnoticed that my given deadline is well, dead. It's proven a little harder than I anticipated to get the drivers to compile with 2.6.35 than it was with 3.0 and I haven't sorted it out in the short amount of time I've had this weekend. I'll have some time this evening, barring any additional cataclysms of course; so I plan to try and get it knocked out then. For those running JB, I've decided not to release my currently working (and I use the term working loosely) as I've discovered it causes an interesting issue that I'm having trouble tracking down and it may end with me having to start over from scratch unless I can find it. It works in its current state, however, and it may be an issue unrelated to the kernel itself but whenever I switch to a different one it goes away so I'd rather not risk putting something out there that is known to have frustrating issues. Bugs are one thing but when you press unlock and nothing happens for close to 45 seconds, that's just broken. Anyway, I feel like I'm threadjacking so this will be the last mention of it I make here and to get back onto topic, if anyone would like to try and succeed where I haven't yet I'd be glad to lend a hand with integrating the driver especially since I have the changes required to get it to compile cleanly with kernel version 3.0; though it was really only a single section of code that needed to be changed at all. Once again, my apologies for the delays but better to take time and do it right than to smash it together and hope the tape holds.

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