Related
Hello,
First of all, I am not attempting to compete with the other awesome images for the G Tablet available. I am doing this process to learn, and maybe contribute to the community.
I have grabbed the AOSP directly from Google's repo tree, and compiled it in two different ways: Generic build, modifying BoardConfig.mk and other files as necessary. I have also used the Device/Vendor files from the Cyanogen Beta 4 harmony repo tree, and compiled a harmony target with AOSP.
When I compiled the generic build (or the the targeted build), I made sure all proprietary files from the tablet had been extracted and replaced in my system.img. (I got this list from the extract-files.sh script in Cyanogen harmony repo).
I have found that using the stock boot.img from the original nvflash files will boot nearly any system.img (from my update.zip in clockwork). I used this original boot.img, combined with my system.img from the AOSP build (with the proprietary files in place), and made an updater-script which installed things. I found that the system.img was properly extracted to /system.
The problem that occurs -- when booting, the Viewsonic bootup screen will load the GTablet screen, but it will eventually loop back to the Viewsonic screen and report "deleting msc" prior to returning to Recovery Mode on it's own.
I have enabled ADB persistence in the boot ramdisk, and it works fine as long as it's not my system.img. When I use the AOSP system.img, adb devices shows the device, but adb shell/logcat fail until the device power cycles.
Does anyone know what I might be missing?
Also want to add:
I have tried the stock boot.img, which lacks a 'cmdline' parameter, and I have tried using the cmdline parameters from the Cyan Harmony boot.img specifications. I am not sure if this might have something to do with the issue or not.
kornyone said:
Hello,
First of all, I am not attempting to compete with the other awesome images for the G Tablet available. I am doing this process to learn, and maybe contribute to the community.
I have grabbed the AOSP directly from Google's repo tree, and compiled it in two different ways: Generic build, modifying BoardConfig.mk and other files as necessary. I have also used the Device/Vendor files from the Cyanogen Beta 4 harmony repo tree, and compiled a harmony target with AOSP.
When I compiled the generic build (or the the targeted build), I made sure all proprietary files from the tablet had been extracted and replaced in my system.img. (I got this list from the extract-files.sh script in Cyanogen harmony repo).
I have found that using the stock boot.img from the original nvflash files will boot nearly any system.img (from my update.zip in clockwork). I used this original boot.img, combined with my system.img from the AOSP build (with the proprietary files in place), and made an updater-script which installed things. I found that the system.img was properly extracted to /system.
The problem that occurs -- when booting, the Viewsonic bootup screen will load the GTablet screen, but it will eventually loop back to the Viewsonic screen and report "deleting msc" prior to returning to Recovery Mode on it's own.
I have enabled ADB persistence in the boot ramdisk, and it works fine as long as it's not my system.img. When I use the AOSP system.img, adb devices shows the device, but adb shell/logcat fail until the device power cycles.
Does anyone know what I might be missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever get your AOSP build to boot?
tjohnsonjr said:
Did you ever get your AOSP build to boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. It's in the Dev section now
The folks over at Sony Ericsson have released something a bit useful if you’ve been wondering lately how to build Linux Kernels for your phone. Sony Ericsson’s Developers has laid out a detailed process on how to build a new Linux kernel and flash it to your Android device. We’ve pasted the info below for you so you don’t have to hop around. Below you’ll find Sony Ericsson’s how-to in its entirety for your convenience with respective links and all. If you’ve been wanting to tinker and dive into the world of Linux and flashing kernels on mobile devices, we’d say now is the time. Follow the expert step by step process and toss us a note or two in the comments below if this works out for you. However, keep in mind, even though the article is written by experienced Sony Ericsson developers, nothing is guaranteed to work the way it’s supposed to. So be very diligent while following and performing these tasks. In other words, do your research first.
How to build a Linux kernel and flash it to the phone.
Since the launch of the unlock boot loader site, Sony Ericsson have received a lot of really great feedback. The Sony Ericsson Developer Program wants to continue to build on this open dialogue with external developers.
Developers and advanced users can now unlock the boot loader, which is the first step to be able to flash your own image. Where developers run into problems when building their own image, and and trying to flash the image using Fastboot.
Before moving on, I like to remind you again that there is no turning back when unlocking the boot loader. You may void the warranty of the phone, and you will not be able to revert the phone to a locked or original state if you unlock it.
What is the Linux kernel?
The Xperia™ line of smartphones run on the Android™, the mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel. Though it is only a small part of the operating system, the kernel ensures that all other processes in the system are synchronized to work together properly.
Why rebuild the kernel?
Rebuilding the kernel enables end users to make modifications to their devices that are normally not intended by the device manufacturer, such as theming the device by changing system icons and removing/modifying system components. Please note that Sony Ericsson is not recommending this.
Considerations before building your own kernel and reflashing your device
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, the first step is to unlock the boot loader. When the boot loader is unlocked, the sensitive data is removed, such as DRM certificates, and the user partition of the file system is wiped out. But all other functionality, such as the camera and other drivers, is left intact. Please note that content, like music files, that require the DRM certificate will not be accessible any more. But most importantly, you may void the warranty of your phone if you decide to unlock it. Aside from the considerations mentioned above, the functionality is there, just waiting for you to take advantage of it. So, if you’re ready, here’s how to get started.
Building the kernel
It takes a few main steps to build the kernel. Below we’ll show you how to build a Linux kernel and flash it onto the device.
Step A – Download the necessary software
Download the following software to get started:
The kernel source code can be downloaded from the copyleft archives on Sony Ericsson Developer World. You can use the file called ex. 3.0.A.2.181_182.tar.bz2 for our Android™ Gingerbread devices. This is the source code for the Linux kernel as used in the Xperia™ PLAY.
The Fastboot client which is part of the Android SDK. This is the standard Android flashing utility. This allows you to flash the image you are about to create onto the device.
The Init RAM disk. The initial RAM disk (also known as the initrd) is the initial filesystem that the kernel will mount and start running processes off. You can configure the Init RAM disk to grant root access. How you create or download your own Init RAM disk is beyond the scope of this article.
The ARM cross-compiler. A cross-compiler is used to build ARM binaries on a different architecture, such as x86. This allows you to compile software (such as the kernel) into a format that the device can run. We recommend getting the CodeSourcery Lite compiler, especially the GNU/Linux variant, as you’ll need that if you want to build binaries for a full-blown Linux system on the device later. However, any EABI ARM compiler capable of compiling the Linux kernel should be enough for this step.
Step B – Building the kernel
To build the kernel, you first need to unpack the kernel. Once you’ve unpacked the kernel, you need to configure it, and then build it. The example below is based on you using the file called 3.0.A.2.181_182.tar.bz2.
1. Go into the kernel directory:
cd kernel
2. Configure the kernel:
ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/opt/arm-2010q1/bin/arm-none-eabi- make semc_zeus_defconfig
Note: Replace /opt/arm-2010q1 with where you installed your cross-compiler. Also, this example is for Xperia™ PLAY. Replace defconfig with the following values depending on what device you want to configure it for:
Xperia™ PLAY semc_zeus_defconfig
Xperia™ arc semc_anzu_defconfig
Xperia™ neo semc_hallon_defconfig
3. Build the kernel:
ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/opt/arm-2010q1/bin/arm-none-eabi- make
Replace /opt/arm-2010q1 with where you installed your cross-compiler. Once done, you should have a compressed kernel-image in arch/arm/boot/zImage.
Step C – Getting a RAM disk
The RAM disk is the initial filesystem the kernel will mount before transferring control to userspace. How you create your own root filesystem is beyond the scope of this article, but you can use the following instructions to pack/unpack the file.
Unpacking (you have to ramdisk.img, and weant to create a directory of files out of it):
gzip -d – < ramdisk.img > cpio -idm
Packing (You have directory of files, and want to create ramdisk.img from it):
find . | cpio –quiet -H newc -o | gzip > ramdisk.img
Step D – Assembling the boot.img
Now that we have all the parts we need to create a flashable file. The next stop is to package the parts. To do this, you’ll need the program mkbootimg, which is part of the standard Android tree. If you don’t feel like compiling all of Android to get this tool, it is available to download from various trusted sites on the Internet.
Once you have the tool, this is the command to combine your kernel and RAM disk into a flashable file:
mkbootimg –base 0×00200000 –kernel kernel/arch/arm/boot/zImage –ramdisk ramdisk.img -o boot.img
Step E – Flashing the file
You should flash the file using Fastboot. If you’ve unlocked the boot loader on your device, you already have Fastboot.
1. To flash the boot.img file, use the following the command
fastboot –i 0x0fce flash boot boot.img
2. Now, it will prompt you to connect your device. To do so, follow these simple steps:
Make sure your device is powered down.
Hold down the Search button (Xperia™ PLAY only) or the Back button (all other Xperia™ devices). The device’s notification light should shine blue to confirm it’s inFastboot mode.
Connect the USB cable.
Flashing should now start and complete.
3. As a last step in the process, you need to reboot the device. You can either remove the USB cable and battery to power the device down. If you prefer, you can instead issue the following command (either method will work):
fastboot –i 0x0fce reboot
Important information!
Additional information for experienced Linux kernel experts
The kernel is pretty standard, all the regular things you’re used to is there, and available to use. Things that are different are the memory config and the kernel commandline. The memory config is hardcoded (i.e., ATAGs aren’t used for this). It’s set in the board-file for your target, such as kernel/arch/arm/mach-msm/board-semc_zeus.c in the function msm7x30_fixup. The kernel commandline is also not fetched from the boot.img file, but compiled into the kernel (CONFIG_CMDLINE). Some arguments are also added from the boot loader.
Additional information if porting non-Linux format files to the device. The boot loader will accept any reasonably formatted boot.img file.
For example, at the Android Kernel Git, you will see the format of the boot.img file. This allows you to create a boot.img file containing two loadable files (kernel+ramdisk), which will get loaded into RAM. Once the boot loader is loaded, it passes the control to the first instruction of the loaded kernel image. After control is passed, the kernel can rely on the data contained in the RAM disk already being loaded.
Guide by Karl-Johan Dahlström
Hashy said:
The folks over at Sony Ericsson have released something a bit useful if you’ve been wondering lately how to build Linux Kernels for your phone. Sony Ericsson’s Developers has laid out a detailed process on how to build a new Linux kernel and flash it to your Android device. We’ve pasted the info below for you so you don’t have to hop around. Below you’ll find Sony Ericsson’s how-to in its entirety for your convenience with respective links and all. If you’ve been wanting to tinker and dive into the world of Linux and flashing kernels on mobile devices, we’d say now is the time. Follow the expert step by step process and toss us a note or two in the comments below if this works out for you. However, keep in mind, even though the article is written by experienced Sony Ericsson developers, nothing is guaranteed to work the way it’s supposed to. So be very diligent while following and performing these tasks. In other words, do your research first.
How to build a Linux kernel and flash it to the phone.
Since the launch of the unlock boot loader site, Sony Ericsson have received a lot of really great feedback. The Sony Ericsson Developer Program wants to continue to build on this open dialogue with external developers.
Developers and advanced users can now unlock the boot loader, which is the first step to be able to flash your own image. Where developers run into problems when building their own image, and and trying to flash the image using Fastboot.
Before moving on, I like to remind you again that there is no turning back when unlocking the boot loader. You may void the warranty of the phone, and you will not be able to revert the phone to a locked or original state if you unlock it.
What is the Linux kernel?
The Xperia™ line of smartphones run on the Android™, the mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel. Though it is only a small part of the operating system, the kernel ensures that all other processes in the system are synchronized to work together properly.
Why rebuild the kernel?
Rebuilding the kernel enables end users to make modifications to their devices that are normally not intended by the device manufacturer, such as theming the device by changing system icons and removing/modifying system components. Please note that Sony Ericsson is not recommending this.
Considerations before building your own kernel and reflashing your device
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, the first step is to unlock the boot loader. When the boot loader is unlocked, the sensitive data is removed, such as DRM certificates, and the user partition of the file system is wiped out. But all other functionality, such as the camera and other drivers, is left intact. Please note that content, like music files, that require the DRM certificate will not be accessible any more. But most importantly, you may void the warranty of your phone if you decide to unlock it. Aside from the considerations mentioned above, the functionality is there, just waiting for you to take advantage of it. So, if you’re ready, here’s how to get started.
Building the kernel
It takes a few main steps to build the kernel. Below we’ll show you how to build a Linux kernel and flash it onto the device.
Step A – Download the necessary software
Download the following software to get started:
The kernel source code can be downloaded from the copyleft archives on Sony Ericsson Developer World. You can use the file called ex. 3.0.A.2.181_182.tar.bz2 for our Android™ Gingerbread devices. This is the source code for the Linux kernel as used in the Xperia™ PLAY.
The Fastboot client which is part of the Android SDK. This is the standard Android flashing utility. This allows you to flash the image you are about to create onto the device.
The Init RAM disk. The initial RAM disk (also known as the initrd) is the initial filesystem that the kernel will mount and start running processes off. You can configure the Init RAM disk to grant root access. How you create or download your own Init RAM disk is beyond the scope of this article.
The ARM cross-compiler. A cross-compiler is used to build ARM binaries on a different architecture, such as x86. This allows you to compile software (such as the kernel) into a format that the device can run. We recommend getting the CodeSourcery Lite compiler, especially the GNU/Linux variant, as you’ll need that if you want to build binaries for a full-blown Linux system on the device later. However, any EABI ARM compiler capable of compiling the Linux kernel should be enough for this step.
Step B – Building the kernel
To build the kernel, you first need to unpack the kernel. Once you’ve unpacked the kernel, you need to configure it, and then build it. The example below is based on you using the file called 3.0.A.2.181_182.tar.bz2.
1. Go into the kernel directory:
cd kernel
2. Configure the kernel:
ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/opt/arm-2010q1/bin/arm-none-eabi- make semc_zeus_defconfig
Note: Replace /opt/arm-2010q1 with where you installed your cross-compiler. Also, this example is for Xperia™ PLAY. Replace defconfig with the following values depending on what device you want to configure it for:
Xperia™ PLAY semc_zeus_defconfig
Xperia™ arc semc_anzu_defconfig
Xperia™ neo semc_hallon_defconfig
3. Build the kernel:
ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/opt/arm-2010q1/bin/arm-none-eabi- make
Replace /opt/arm-2010q1 with where you installed your cross-compiler. Once done, you should have a compressed kernel-image in arch/arm/boot/zImage.
Step C – Getting a RAM disk
The RAM disk is the initial filesystem the kernel will mount before transferring control to userspace. How you create your own root filesystem is beyond the scope of this article, but you can use the following instructions to pack/unpack the file.
Unpacking (you have to ramdisk.img, and weant to create a directory of files out of it):
gzip -d – < ramdisk.img > cpio -idm
Packing (You have directory of files, and want to create ramdisk.img from it):
find . | cpio –quiet -H newc -o | gzip > ramdisk.img
Step D – Assembling the boot.img
Now that we have all the parts we need to create a flashable file. The next stop is to package the parts. To do this, you’ll need the program mkbootimg, which is part of the standard Android tree. If you don’t feel like compiling all of Android to get this tool, it is available to download from various trusted sites on the Internet.
Once you have the tool, this is the command to combine your kernel and RAM disk into a flashable file:
mkbootimg –base 0×00200000 –kernel kernel/arch/arm/boot/zImage –ramdisk ramdisk.img -o boot.img
Step E – Flashing the file
You should flash the file using Fastboot. If you’ve unlocked the boot loader on your device, you already have Fastboot.
1. To flash the boot.img file, use the following the command
fastboot –i 0x0fce flash boot boot.img
2. Now, it will prompt you to connect your device. To do so, follow these simple steps:
Make sure your device is powered down.
Hold down the Search button (Xperia™ PLAY only) or the Back button (all other Xperia™ devices). The device’s notification light should shine blue to confirm it’s inFastboot mode.
Connect the USB cable.
Flashing should now start and complete.
3. As a last step in the process, you need to reboot the device. You can either remove the USB cable and battery to power the device down. If you prefer, you can instead issue the following command (either method will work):
fastboot –i 0x0fce reboot
Important information!
Additional information for experienced Linux kernel experts
The kernel is pretty standard, all the regular things you’re used to is there, and available to use. Things that are different are the memory config and the kernel commandline. The memory config is hardcoded (i.e., ATAGs aren’t used for this). It’s set in the board-file for your target, such as kernel/arch/arm/mach-msm/board-semc_zeus.c in the function msm7x30_fixup. The kernel commandline is also not fetched from the boot.img file, but compiled into the kernel (CONFIG_CMDLINE). Some arguments are also added from the boot loader.
Additional information if porting non-Linux format files to the device. The boot loader will accept any reasonably formatted boot.img file.
For example, at the Android Kernel Git, you will see the format of the boot.img file. This allows you to create a boot.img file containing two loadable files (kernel+ramdisk), which will get loaded into RAM. Once the boot loader is loaded, it passes the control to the first instruction of the loaded kernel image. After control is passed, the kernel can rely on the data contained in the RAM disk already being loaded.
Guide by Karl-Johan Dahlström
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this helped immensely! My phone is running much better now.
This thread covers what I have learned about porting. When possible, I'll include links.
This post primarily applies to Samsung devices, although parts can also be used by other manufacturer's devices.
Get the stock firmware for your devices. This step is very important. Besides needing it to reset your device, you will need the boot and recovery images that should be in the archive file.
Follow Cyanogenmod's Porting page.
Use Heimdall to get the partition table
Get the block size by taking the number of blocks from the pit file, and then dividing the size of the storage card by that. Round to the nearest power of 2. (E.g., 524 -> 512).
Use unpackbootimg to get the files in the boot and recovery images
Get the kernel building
Use PRODUCT_COPY_FILES to copy files to specific locations. It needs to be in a device_*.mk file. Use this for the initrc's, and anything else that needs to be in the recovery (e.g., kernel modules). Keep in mind that the only variables the mk file knows about are the ones you tell it about.
At this point, you may or may not have a booting recovery. In the event that you cannot boot into the recovery (e..g, it reboots immediately upon attempting to enter the recovery), try looking at the stock recovery files (especially the ramdisk files), and see what the differences are between it and your recovery image. Again, unpackbootimg is helpful.
As a side note, I'm trying to port Cyanogenmod to the Tab 3 7.0 without using anyone else's source. Right now, I'm stuck on (6), which I'm still going through. I'll try to remember to update this post as I learn new things.
Build Environment
I'm currently using Fedora Rawhide -- which doesn't have java 1.6 or 1.7. For building the recoveries, it does not seem to matter.
That said, building using just the "mka" command will error out, as Cyanogenmod 11 is not able to be built under java 1.8.
As such, my recommendation is to use an arch installation and the systemd-nspawn command for java 1.7 (also, see the AUR for older java packages).
Introduction
This thread contains the LineageOS 17.1 custom firmware images for the Unihertz Atom L, a rugged Android phone released by Unihertz in July 2020, and the accompanying LineageOS Recovery used for flashing the firmware.
Please note that this ROM is one of my side projects, for which I could provide zero warranty. By installing this ROM, you acknowledge that you take all the risks that come with installing custom firmwares on your devices, including but not limited to bricking your device, losing your data, etc. You are always suggested to keep backups and make sure you know how to flash back to official ROM before trying any custom ROMs.
Please find the download links in the Download section. The following sections are guides to installing the ROM.
WARNING: DO NOT try to install this on Atom XL. This is ONLY for the Atom L.
Working Features
- All basic features (Telephony, VoLTE, Audio, Camera, NFC, WiFi, Bluetooth, ....)
- Programmable PTT (red) button (Functionality can be set in Settings - System - Buttons, under the "Search Button" section)
- 48MP camera seems to be working (unlike on many other super resolution devices)
Known Issues
- VoLTE is working (at least for me) but sometimes quirky. If you find it somehow stopped working, usually turning it off and back on again (in Settings - Network - Mobile Network) will fix it. Putting the device to SELinux Permissive mode also fixes most of the VoLTE quirks but this is not recommended (a few quirks in Enforcing mode is better than having the whole device Permissive)
Unlocking
1. Boot your Atom L to the official OS
2. Go into Settings - About phone, tap "build number" several times to enable developer settings
3. Go to Settings - System - Developer Settings, enable OEM unlocking and ADB debugging
4. Run `adb reboot bootloader` on your PC (there is no way to enter bootloader directly, only possible through adb)
5. Run `adb flashing unlock` and comfirm unlock on device (THIS WILL WIPE ALL DATA)
6. Reboot and now you should see an unlocked warning during boot screen.
Installing LineageOS Recovery
For now the only working recovery is the LineageOS Recovery, because the device's kernel does not load the touch driver in recovery mode for whatever reason, rendering TWRP useless.
1. Download `lineage_recovery_XXX.img` and `vbmeta.zip`, unpack `vbmeta.zip` to get three .img files starting with `vbmeta`
2. Run `adb reboot bootloader` to put your device in bootloader mode
3. Run `fastboot flash --disable-verification --disable-verity vbmeta vbmeta.img`
4. Run `fastboot flash --disable-verification --disable-verity vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img`
5. Run `fastboot flash --disable-verification --disable-verity vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img`
6. Run `fastboot flash recovery lineage_recovery_XXX.img`
7. Run `fastboot reboot recovery` to reboot into the newly-installed LineageOS Recovery
The LineageOS Recovery is operated by volume keys as selection and power as confirmation (or entering sub-menus). To return to upper levels of menus from sub-menus, press volume up until the selection goes to the first item and then disappears, then press power (i.e. there's a hidden "Go Back" item at the very top of each sub-menu).
The recovery will show a verification failed prompt for most packages that are not signed with the AOSP keys. This is safe to ignore.
Installing LineageOS 17.1
The LineageOS image must be installed via LineageOS recovery.
1. Download `lineage-17.1-Atom_L-XXX.zip`
2. Reboot your device into recovery (`adb reboot recovery` or simply hold volume up while turning power on)
3. Wipe all data (factory reset) (THIS DELETES EVEN INTERNAL STORAGE)
4. Choose Apply Update, then Apply Update from ADB
5. Run `adb sideload lineage-17.1-Atom_L-XXX.zip` from your PC
6. Wait for the process to finish. (The recovery might prompt something about verification failure, just ignore it and continue anyway)
7. At this point, you can then sideload the LATEST Magisk and OpenGAPPS Nano at your will (note that the size of the system partition might only be enough for the `nano` variant of OpenGAPPS) (If installing Magisk / OpenGAPPS fails, you can try rebooting into recovery again in advanced menus, then try installing them again)
8. Reboot into system and enjoy (Note that Magisk might cause your device to boot loop once or two but it will eventually boot)
When updating to a newer build, you have to flash the new zip, and then re-flash whatever mod you have installed previously (Magisk / GAPPS).
Download Links
LineageOS:
lineage-17.1-Atom_L-20200828-peter-signed.zip: https://mega.nz/file/bAgh1BZA#jzMs_0e9NUR9NcALXWp51ZeWttM5rl_3K5T8Or9hAW0
- Synchronized updates from LineageOS upstream.
lineage-17.1-Atom_L-20200728-peter-signed.zip: https://mega.nz/file/vBwlmL5D#wpw8RovBHyVFCLFlhQ2H5QAIb0ECXkT4of0FRijiP6A
LineageOS Recovery:
lineage_recovery_20200728.img: https://mega.nz/file/yc4Dnbyb#yx0Ci9p3q9_lfAiXkGfgWDFnRJI-JSGrv3kyawkU3fw
vbmeta:
vbmeta.zip: https://mega.nz/file/nF51mBoY#ZNY4j92wc_6a1dXch3l5r-w4VFl9QjN7YJaRMKRoEGk
XDA:DevDB Information
LineageOS 17.1 for Unihertz Atom L, ROM for the Android General
Contributors
PeterCxy
Source Code: https://cgit.typeblog.net/android/device/unihertz/Atom_L/
ROM OS Version: Android 10
Version Information
Status: Alpha
Created 2020-07-28
Last Updated 2020-07-28
How different is the Atom XL?
PeterCxy said:
Introduction
WARNING: DO NOT try to install this on Atom XL. This is ONLY for the Atom L.
Unfortunately I've got the XL version which I thought only varied from the L by the presence of a UHF radio! Can you explain to me why its not a suitable candidate for your mods which sound very good!?
And before you ask, I only got this radio for hacking so I don't mind experimenting if that is required. Please let me know if I can help.
The Bitfarmer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tvroman said:
PeterCxy said:
Introduction
WARNING: DO NOT try to install this on Atom XL. This is ONLY for the Atom L.
Unfortunately I've got the XL version which I thought only varied from the L by the presence of a UHF radio! Can you explain to me why its not a suitable candidate for your mods which sound very good!?
And before you ask, I only got this radio for hacking so I don't mind experimenting if that is required. Please let me know if I can help.
The Bitfarmer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because Unihertz publishes completely different firmware files for the L and XL, so the safest assumption is that there is more difference than just the UHF radio. If you want to risk it, then you CAN try using this ROM on the XL, as long as you know how to revert back to official if things go wrong. (But I cannot guarantee if the kernel image from L that this ROM uses will not cause serious issues like corrupted baseband or something on the XL)
My suggestion is that instead of trying this ROM directly on the XL, someone with XL can try to modify my device tree for L, replacing the kernel, dtbo images and other vendor blobs from the ones from XL, and then re-compile the ROM for XL. This would be the proper way to handle these two devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Going XL
Hi.
Great work. :good:
I want to built a ROM for the Atom XL myself. And because I'm no expert on this (for now) I'm in search of guides and hints on how to achieve my goal.
As far as I know the biggest problem with Unihertz is that they use a Mediatek chipset with which they are not allowed to provide the sourcecode of the kernel. Or at least you have to pay for it from Mediatek.
But there are some variants of the chipset (Helio P60; mt6771) used in other mobile phones (e.g. Nokia X5) for which I was able to find kernelsources on Github. Using these and the latest Android kernel from google I tried to compile a kernel as a starting point. I was able to extract the build.config directly from the phone which helped tremendously. This should at least get me to the point where I'm able to assemble a TWRP build. But I believe that I'm still missing some (vital?) drivers which are specific to the actual device. This includes I think the missing touchscreen driver that you mentioned is preventing the recovery to be useful.
So now I'm a little bit stuck, because most of the guides to arrange a LineageOS (or any other custom ROM) build tree I found require the sourcecode from the manufacturer which we don't have. All other guides to build from scratch were too generic for my current level of expertise.
Can you please share your approach to create this build?
If you don't want to do this in the open you could also PM me.
With kind regards
ADT
a-dead-trousers said:
Hi.
Great work. :good:
I want to built a ROM for the Atom XL myself. And because I'm no expert on this (for now) I'm in search of guides and hints on how to achieve my goal.
As far as I know the biggest problem with Unihertz is that they use a Mediatek chipset with which they are not allowed to provide the sourcecode of the kernel. Or at least you have to pay for it from Mediatek.
But there are some variants of the chipset (Helio P60; mt6771) used in other mobile phones (e.g. Nokia X5) for which I was able to find kernelsources on Github. Using these and the latest Android kernel from google I tried to compile a kernel as a starting point. I was able to extract the build.config directly from the phone which helped tremendously. This should at least get me to the point where I'm able to assemble a TWRP build. But I believe that I'm still missing some (vital?) drivers which are specific to the actual device. This includes I think the missing touchscreen driver that you mentioned is preventing the recovery to be useful.
So now I'm a little bit stuck, because most of the guides to arrange a LineageOS (or any other custom ROM) build tree I found require the sourcecode from the manufacturer which we don't have. All other guides to build from scratch were too generic for my current level of expertise.
Can you please share your approach to create this build?
If you don't want to do this in the open you could also PM me.
With kind regards
ADT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need the kernel source code to build a working ROM -- just look at my device tree for Atom L. I think you can build a working ROM for the XL by just replacing the prebuilt kernel in my device tree with the one from Atom XL and also re-extracting the vendor blobs from XL using the script in my devcie tree, then rename everything to Atom XL instead of L. I don't know if the integrated amateur radio would still work though.
PeterCxy said:
You don't need the kernel source code to build a working ROM -- just look at my device tree for Atom L. I think you can build a working ROM for the XL by just replacing the prebuilt kernel in my device tree with the one from Atom XL and also re-extracting the vendor blobs from XL using the script in my devcie tree, then rename everything to Atom XL instead of L. I don't know if the integrated amateur radio would still work though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already on to that.
But I seem to have trouble extracting the prebuilt kernel. None of the tools I found gave me the exact files you have got (dtb.img, dtbo.img, Image.gz). What did you use?
The best I could get were "dtb", "kernel" and "dtborecovery" (without extensions) which roughly had the same size as yours.
Also, as far as I understand it, with your initial commit (without the modifications for Lineage itself) I should be able to at least compile a recovery image but I got an error regarding a missing dtb.img file in the "out" directory.
Something seems to be missing because, my dtb file is in the "device" directory and not being transfered into "out" during building.
I'm not sure that is because I have got a different naming scheme (renamig it didn't help) or I did something wrong with the extraction.
---------- Post added at 07:30 ---------- Previous post was at 07:14 ----------
Another question I have:
Are the vbmeta-files you used to flash the recovery the ones from the original firmeware zip from unihertz or did you get them from the lineage built?
And reguarding the rather smallish system partition:
I have an idea to bypass that by using the SPFlash Tool from Mediatek. As far as I understand the settings in the scatter-file this tool does a repartitioning of the internal storage. So we only need to "decrease" the userdata, "move" some partitions inbetween and "increase" the system. Only problem is, I couldn't find a partition designated as "system" in the scatter-file, only one big "super" and a "vbmeta-system" (which for my understaning is for verified boot) partition.
What do you think?
a-dead-trousers said:
I'm already on to that.
But I seem to have trouble extracting the prebuilt kernel. None of the tools I found gave me the exact files you have got (dtb.img, dtbo.img, Image.gz). What did you use?
The best I could get were "dtb", "kernel" and "dtborecovery" (without extensions) which roughly had the same size as yours.
Also, as far as I understand it, with your initial commit (without the modifications for Lineage itself) I should be able to at least compile a recovery image but I got an error regarding a missing dtb.img file in the "out" directory.
Something seems to be missing because, my dtb file is in the "device" directory and not being transfered into "out" during building.
I'm not sure that is because I have got a different naming scheme (renamig it didn't help) or I did something wrong with the extraction.
---------- Post added at 07:30 ---------- Previous post was at 07:14 ----------
Another question I have:
Are the vbmeta-files you used to flash the recovery the ones from the original firmeware zip from unihertz or did you get them from the lineage built?
And reguarding the rather smallish system partition:
I have an idea to bypass that by using the SPFlash Tool from Mediatek. As far as I understand the settings in the scatter-file this tool does a repartitioning of the internal storage. So we only need to "decrease" the userdata, "move" some partitions inbetween and "increase" the system. Only problem is, I couldn't find a partition designated as "system" in the scatter-file, only one big "super" and a "vbmeta-system" (which for my understaning is for verified boot) partition.
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
> None of the tools I found gave me the exact files you have got (dtb.img, dtbo.img, Image.gz). What did you use?
There is a tool called `unpack_bootimg` in the Android source code. Just run `make unpack_bootimg` in the root directory of the Android source tree and you will get one in the output directory. (btw I have renamed those extracted files so the names won't exactly match, but you need this tool to extract the correct images. All other tools won't work properly).
> my dtb file is in the "device" directory and not being transfered into "out" during building.
Because most tools other than `unpack_bootimg` extracts dtb incorrectly.
> Are the vbmeta-files you used to flash the recovery the ones from the original firmeware zip from unihertz or did you get them from the lineage built?
Those don't matter. Either will work as long as you flash it with the correct parameters as given in my post.
> And reguarding the rather smallish system partition
No don't do that. Android 10 does not use a separate system partition anymore, instead both system, vendor and product are sub-partitions in a huge super partition. When flashing a new ROM, the partitions are automatically resized to match the new image exactly, instead of leaving free space unused like before Android 10. That's why I need to reserve space in BoardConfig.mk for gapps to be installed correctly.
Still not able to build.
PeterCxy said:
There is a tool called `unpack_bootimg` in the Android source code. Just run `make unpack_bootimg` in the root directory of the Android source tree and you will get one in the output directory. (btw I have renamed those extracted files so the names won't exactly match, but you need this tool to extract the correct images. All other tools won't work properly).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still getting an error:
Code:
FAILED: ninja: 'out/target/product/Atom_XL/dtb.img', needed by 'out/target/product/Atom_XL/boot.img', missing and no known rule to make it
Comparing your BoardConfig.mk with mine shows a slight difference in the offset and size values which could be associated with the different kernels of the phones.
But using "unpack_bootimg" I didn't get a value for "BOARD_KERNEL_OFFSET" like you have it in your config. Could this be the problem?
Your BoardConfig.mk
My BoardConfig.mk
Do you see anything else out of the ordinary?
(Because I'm doing everything what you did step-by-step the links point to the best matching commits)
Despite not being able to compile right now I tried to press on with integrating your changes in the hopes that it will be fixed somehow later on
So I'm currently stuck on this commit of yours:
Atom_L: import overlay from official vendor
Where did you get the "config.xml" and "power_profile.xml" from? The best thing I could find was a "power_profile.xml" inside "/vendor/overlay/FrameworkResOverlay/FrameworkResOverlay.apk" which seems to be a "compiled" version of the aforementioned xml-file.
a-dead-trousers said:
I'm still getting an error:
Code:
FAILED: ninja: 'out/target/product/Atom_XL/dtb.img', needed by 'out/target/product/Atom_XL/boot.img', missing and no known rule to make it
Comparing your BoardConfig.mk with mine shows a slight difference in the offset and size values which could be associated with the different kernels of the phones.
But using "unpack_bootimg" I didn't get a value for "BOARD_KERNEL_OFFSET" like you have it in your config. Could this be the problem?
Your BoardConfig.mk
My BoardConfig.mk
Do you see anything else out of the ordinary?
(Because I'm doing everything what you did step-by-step the links point to the best matching commits)
Despite not being able to compile right now I tried to press on with integrating your changes in the hopes that it will be fixed somehow later on
So I'm currently stuck on this commit of yours:
Atom_L: import overlay from official vendor
Where did you get the "config.xml" and "power_profile.xml" from? The best thing I could find was a "power_profile.xml" inside "/vendor/overlay/FrameworkResOverlay/FrameworkResOverlay.apk" which seems to be a "compiled" version of the aforementioned xml-file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
> Comparing your BoardConfig.mk with mine shows a slight difference in the offset and size values which could be associated with the different kernels of the phones.
TARGET_KERNEL_OFFSET should normally always be 0x00008000. Also, your other offset values seem to be wrong too -- those values from `unpack_bootimg` cannot be filled in directly to BoardConfig.mk. Instead, you need to subtract BOARD_KERNEL_BASE from them (e.g. BOARD_RAMDISK_OFFSET should be 0x55000000 - 0x40078000, which is 0x14f88000, the same as mine). In fact, I think those parameters should be exactly the same for XL and L. Other than that, I don't think I can see much of a problem about your makefiles.
However, note that not all of my historical commits represent a compilable state of the device tree. I'd suggest you start directly from the latest state and just replace whatever is relevant instead of starting over. And there should not be much that needs changing at all except device names, fingerprints and the proprietary vendor files.
> Where did you get the "config.xml" and "power_profile.xml" from
Exactly from those apks. Just decompile them using apktool.
PeterCxy said:
TARGET_KERNEL_OFFSET should normally always be 0x00008000. Also, your other offset values seem to be wrong too -- those values from `unpack_bootimg` cannot be filled in directly to BoardConfig.mk. Instead, you need to subtract BOARD_KERNEL_BASE from them (e.g. BOARD_RAMDISK_OFFSET should be 0x55000000 - 0x40078000, which is 0x14f88000, the same as mine). In fact, I think those parameters should be exactly the same for XL and L. Other than that, I don't think I can see much of a problem about your makefiles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still giving me errors.
So I tried a very unconventional approach: I just copied the file myself into the mentioned "out/target/product/Atom_XL" folder.
For now it's still compiling. Fingers crossed.
PeterCxy said:
However, note that not all of my historical commits represent a compilable state of the device tree. I'd suggest you start directly from the latest state and just replace whatever is relevant instead of starting over. And there should not be much that needs changing at all except device names, fingerprints and the proprietary vendor files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just reached your biggest commit yet.
Can you tell me how you got the list of needed files? I hope it's not through trial-and-error.
Except for the values in "setup-makefiles.sh" only the "proprietary-files.txt" seems to be device specific. Is there anything else I need to be aware of in this commit?
P.S.: I know it is tedious to go through your commits one by one but I want to learn something of it not just simply copying what you did. To get a feeling where the biggest pitfalls are and what you did to circumvent them.
a-dead-trousers said:
Still giving me errors.
So I tried a very unconventional approach: I just copied the file myself into the mentioned "out/target/product/Atom_XL" folder.
For now it's still compiling. Fingers crossed.
I just reached your biggest commit yet.
Can you tell me how you got the list of needed files? I hope it's not through trial-and-error.
Except for the values in "setup-makefiles.sh" only the "proprietary-files.txt" seems to be device specific. Is there anything else I need to be aware of in this commit?
P.S.: I know it is tedious to go through your commits one by one but I want to learn something of it not just simply copying what you did. To get a feeling where the biggest pitfalls are and what you did to circumvent them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
> Still giving me errors.
Looks like that dtb.img error was totally my fault -- it was due to my jerry-rigged solution of using prebuilt dtb image that conflicted with one of Lineage's update in August and I haven't built the ROM for a month. Now I have fixed it in the latest commit.
> Can you tell me how you got the list of needed files?
All of those files are for VoLTE support and I started with the list from a commit in Redmi Note 7 Pro's device tree that imported those VoLTE blobs, and then added what was missing one by one (when something is missing the Phone process will crash and you can see what got missing in the logs). I don't think the list will be any different on Atom XL so you can just use the one in my device tree.
Hi.
Thanks to you everything is running smoothly here. But what bugs me is that TWRP is not working on our devices.
Although for the Atom there is a possibility: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/twrp-modded-to-unihertz-atom-t3885793
Before I want to go public with my build I wanted to solve this last "mystery".
So I tried to include it in my current source tree according to the (official?) guide but some errors prevented me from a successful build.
Naturally I asked for some guidance at the most reasonable places I know of but got nothing so far:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=83443611&postcount=4622
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=83455271&postcount=4623
https://github.com/TeamWin/android_bootable_recovery/issues/70
I even tried different repositories (omnirom/android_bootable_recovery) and revisions (android-9.0) but these resulted in missing library "type" (static vs. shared) errors so I assume these are too old for LineageOS 17.1
What I want to know is how you managed to get TWRP to built for your device even though the touchscreen wasn't working?
Did you use your LineageOS source tree or one of the many "minimal" manifests? If so, which one would be the "best" to use?
wkr ADT
@PeterCxy and @a-dead-trousers
Thanks for all the work on this so far. I've got an Atom L and have gotten the ROM's PeterCxy posted running on them as in the OP. Do either of you have a quick step-by-step workflow of how you got all the Lineage sources set up and built into the various ROMs? I'd like to be able to build the ROMs from scratch and understand the process.
If I can get caught up to where you two are at with the builds, I can help debug, test and work through issues.
dirtylimerick said:
[MENTION=5351691] Do either of you have a quick step-by-step workflow of how you got all the Lineage sources set up and built into the various ROMs? I'd like to be able to build the ROMs from scratch and understand the process.
If I can get caught up to where you two are at with the builds, I can help debug, test and work through issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I documented my steps to setup up the build environment in the readme of my repo:
https://github.com/ADeadTrousers/android_device_Unihertz_Atom_XL
But leave out the TWRP part. It isn't working yet mostly because TeamWin/android_bootable_recovery and LineageOS/android_bootable_recovery are too similar.
To figure out all the bits and pieces needed for the device I followed the commit log of @PeterCxy build.
Hi, @PeterCxy.
Finally I was able to build a TWRP recovery and surprise, surprise the touchscreen isn't working.
But during my attempts to get a working TWRP build I came acros a guide that explains how to patch the kernel to get the touchscreen to work.
https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-27132.html
So I tried to follow it but failed to identify the "end" of the zipped Image-file (step 18) to remove the payload from the gz-file. Regardless of which of the null-bytes I use for cutting I always get a warning from 7-zip that there is still data at the end.
Do you know a better approach to achieve this whole patching? Maybe even come up with a scripting solution to easily apply this patch in later builds?
wkr ADT
a-dead-trousers said:
Hi, @PeterCxy.
Finally I was able to build a TWRP recovery and surprise, surprise the touchscreen isn't working.
But during my attempts to get a working TWRP build I came acros a guide that explains how to patch the kernel to get the touchscreen to work.
https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-27132.html
So I tried to follow it but failed to identify the "end" of the zipped Image-file (step 18) to remove the payload from the gz-file. Regardless of which of the null-bytes I use for cutting I always get a warning from 7-zip that there is still data at the end.
Do you know a better approach to achieve this whole patching? Maybe even come up with a scripting solution to easily apply this patch in later builds?
wkr ADT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no sane way to solve the problem without kernel source code. Basically the stock kernel just does not load the touch screen driver in recovery mode. That patching guide is pretty out of date and I imagine it won't work on most recent kernels. The only proper way is to pressure Unihertz to actually obey GPLv2 and release their kernel source code. Or maybe someone can try reverse-engineering the kernel, but at least I won't do it because it'll just be too much of a hassle.
PeterCxy said:
There is no sane way to solve the problem without kernel source code. Basically the stock kernel just does not load the touch screen driver in recovery mode. The only proper way is to pressure Unihertz to actually obey GPLv2 and release their kernel source code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on this one, but as long as we don't have the source code we need to resort to other means to achieve our goals.
PeterCxy said:
That patching guide is pretty out of date and I imagine it won't work on most recent kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's from way back in 2019
Anyway, with a little bit of tinkering I was able to modify my kernel to load the touchscreen driver in recovery mode.
Here is the device tree and the manifest i used.
I wouldn't recommend to use it in it's current state at all though because the fstab needs a little bit of tinkering. Everything seems to be either unordered or not mounted properly and I fear anything you do in there now will mess up the whole device. BUT I got the touchscreen goin for me which is nice.
PeterCxy said:
Or maybe someone can try reverse-engineering the kernel, but at least I won't do it because it'll just be too much of a hassle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As soon as I have everything sorted out that needs to be fixed on my build (e.g. signing, radio, included gapps working properly, TWRP) I want to dig deeper into the kernel.
There are some devices with Helios P60 out there from other vendors which offer kernel sources.
P.S.: I also uploaded a HOW-TO in my device tree.
If you or someone else wants to try it. Also if you want to you can send me a "symbl.txt" (see to the HOW-TO) extracted from your device then I can do the patching for the Atom_L too.
a-dead-trousers said:
I'm with you on this one, but as long as we don't have the source code we need to resort to other means to achieve our goals.
Yeah it's from way back in 2019
Anyway, with a little bit of tinkering I was able to modify my kernel to load the touchscreen driver in recovery mode.
Here is the device tree and the manifest i used.
I wouldn't recommend to use it in it's current state at all though because the fstab needs a little bit of tinkering. Everything seems to be either unordered or not mounted properly and I fear anything you do in there now will mess up the whole device. BUT I got the touchscreen goin for me which is nice.
As soon as I have everything sorted out that needs to be fixed on my build (e.g. signing, radio, included gapps working properly, TWRP) I want to dig deeper into the kernel.
There are some devices with Helios P60 out there from other vendors which offer kernel sources.
P.S.: I also uploaded a HOW-TO in my device tree.
If you or someone else wants to try it. Also if you want to you can send me a "symbl.txt" (see to the HOW-TO) extracted from your device then I can do the patching for the Atom_L too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy to hear that you were able to figure the touchscreen out. I tried to port TWRP at the very beginning when I started tinkering with the device but quickly grew frustrated and just ported Lineage Recovery instead. I guess I might try patching the kernel image too at some point later.
BTW, for TWRP to work with devices released after Android 10, I'm pretty sure you need an extra set of patches that are not yet fully merged to the main TWRP repository. I remember there's some guy providing another manifest with all the patches applied but I couldn't remember the name.
Hi.
I just officially announced my build for the Atom XL:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/rom-lineageos-17-1-unihertz-atom-xl-t4171407
Could you please put a link in your first post for those in search of the Atom XL and found your thread instead. Thanks.
wkr ADT
hi @PeterCxy.
During my daily usage of the phone I encountered a strage problem:
The audio jack isn't working. Plugging in some headphones I get this slight click in the earpieces when the circuits connect but nothing else happens. Neither a "headphone" icon in the status bar nor hearing anything coming from the headphones itself. The main speaker of the phone keeps playing the music. Using bluetooth everything is working as expected though. So I used logcat to see if something is coming up during plugging in but nothing "catchy" shows up in the logs. My guess is that some (vendor?) service is missing or not started during booting. Next I checked If something shows up on logcat during boot but I'm not sure for what to look exactly. There are quite a few errors and warnings though. In my despair I started to "fix" the "avc: denied" (SEPolicy) entries. Thats when I found a specific error reguarding VoLTE. Maybe this would fix the problems you had with VoLTE in enforcing mode:
https://github.com/ADeadTrousers/an..._Atom_XL/blob/master/sepolicy/private/init.te
(The line with "socket_device:sock_file")
My provider doesn't support VoLTE so I'm not sure if this helps or not. Maybe you could check it.
Anyway can you please tell me if your device's audio jack is working or not?
If you're (by some mysterious coincidence) not affected by this, can you at least give me some pointers for what to look for to get this fixed on my side.
The Internet Is not very helpful when searching for "android audio jack" or something similiar.
Thanks in advance.
wkr ADT
After 3.5 months of trial and error, unresponsive communities, ups and down, spending $75 on a video card that may be proving unnecessary ... I finally present to you - an almost fully-working Firefly ITX-3588J Dual-Boot Android/Linux ARM Machine.
WHAT IS IT?
The Firefly ITX-3588J is a Mini-ITX - small PC form-factor - "single-board computer" that was released earlier this year by the Chinese manufacturer Firefly, aka. T-Chip Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd.. It features the Rockchip RK3588 (hence the name) ARM system-on-chip (SoC) in a package that adduces many different kinds of ports including a PCI Express x4 slot, multiple HDMI video outs that go to the on-chip Mali GPU, and an M.2 that can be used in theory to add a telephone network card, making it a mini-desktop and smartphone all in one.
I got one because I saw it as an opportunity to for once have an easily-transportable low-energy consumption system that would be both an alternative to x86 and also not the Mac while still offering reasonable performance even if far from top-of-the-line - and ideally, it'd be great if more such boards come later because other ARM SBC boards tend to be both more limited and also very awkward with their cables. This is the only one I'm aware of, besides certain Raspberry Pi breakout boards like the Turing Pi, that can use a standard PC case.
But getting it to work, on the other hand, proved to be MUCH more diifficult because while the vendors offered a choice between Android 12 and Ubuntu 20.04 operating systems, I realized I needed both: I wanted access to both software ecosystems on the same machine, and was determined to get that to happen. And I want to say that within the last few days I have finally come quite close to achieving this dream in full.
WHAT DOES IT DO NOW?
Right now, the machine dual-boots Android 12 and Ubuntu 20.04 using the vendor-provided patched 5.10.66 Linux kernel source tree, with the user-space data of both OSes stored on a SATA SSD hard disk instead of the embedded eMMC. Boot selection is possible on startup simply by hitting "Ctrl+C" and typing the appropriate command to select the Ubuntu OS; otherwise, Android 12 boots by default. All this happens by video console on U-Boot with no serial port requirement, making it function as a proper stand-alone dual-boot ARM PC.
WHAT IS STILL TO BE DONE?
Graphics support on Ubuntu 20.04. No idea why this isn't working even with the provided kernel and driver packages. Text console over monitor works fine, though.
WHAT DID IT TAKE TO MAKE IT GO?
In retrospect, it's not really all that difficult. The most difficult part was just figuring everything out because there was very little comprehensive documentation given beyond how to simply load the images, and I had before this point zero real experience actually piecing together an Android system on a mobile/embedded-style board and machine. One thing that's a casualty is the stock Ubuntu image; it turned out to be much more fruitful to simply install the system to the hard drive via a procedure analogous to, albeit having to be arranged manually, what a typical installer would do, i.e. setting up and using APT to load the whole Ubuntu system from the Internet over wi-fi with the only vendor-adulterated component being the kernel and Mali graphics drivers because Valhall, nor even the whole RK3588, is currently mainlined in the Linux kernel system.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
The machine:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Running Android:
Ubuntu (no graphics yet!):
@Shimmy99 Would you please offer the procedure you used to make the board boot from SATA SSD?
That would be greatly apprecaited. I have a similar board and I have been interested in installing Android on a SATA SSD but the vendors don't respond to messages and there is very little information on their forum.
Thank you
qwestmogul2012 said:
@Shimmy99 Would you please offer the procedure you used to make the board boot from SATA SSD?
That would be greatly apprecaited. I have a similar board and I have been interested in installing Android on a SATA SSD but the vendors don't respond to messages and there is very little information on their forum.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm. I don't have a direct boot from SSD possible yet. Getting it to this stage has required coding work on the provided U-Boot and I would share a source pack to my github but it will take more to get direct SATA boot because it crashes when the U-Boot is compiled with those config options enabled for some reason. My focus mostly was on getting graphical console on the U-Boot so that there is not need to use the serial debug simply to switch OSes ). The way it works currently is that the kernels for both Android and Ubuntu are loaded to the eMMC, then the userdata / rootfs are loaded to the SSD. That said, I could try to play with that for sure.
It would really be nice if there was an easy way to install OS on SSD drive,that would be a massive upgrade from the measly 128GB EMMC.
By the way I don't know if you have already figured this out but there is an easy way to install GAPPS without using the tedious method you used.
You simply patch boot.img with Magisk then use ADB to install it back to the unit. From there you can use Magisk to install Magisk GAPPS.
For the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to install GPS/GNSS drivers for Android. The stock firmwares provided by the vendor have GPS drivers but those stock firmware have 1920x1080 resolution whereas I want to use 3840x2160 screen.
One way of dealing with that is editing build.prop file in vendor folder which works but then the unit won't boot past boot screen when a patched boot.img is installed. so it is sort of catch 22.
qwestmogul2012 said:
It would really be nice if there was an easy way to install OS on SSD drive,that would be a massive upgrade from the measly 128GB EMMC.
By the way I don't know if you have already figured this out but there is an easy way to install GAPPS without using the tedious method you used.
You simply patch boot.img with Magisk then use ADB to install it back to the unit. From there you can use Magisk to install Magisk GAPPS.
For the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to install GPS/GNSS drivers for Android. The stock firmwares provided by the vendor have GPS drivers but those stock firmware have 1920x1080 resolution whereas I want to use 3840x2160 screen.
One way of dealing with that is editing build.prop file in vendor folder which works but then the unit won't boot past boot screen when a patched boot.img is installed. so it is sort of catch 22.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Yes. I am currently working on trying to build up a software system that will enable proper booting from SSD "due to popular demand" from here (basically trying to modify the provided "RK U-Boot" and/or combine it with GRUB), however my progress has been set back after having lost the FIQ serial debug converter for my board and needing to get a new one. Also, I didn't know about that trick with Magisk, thanks! And when you say "won't boot past boot screen", what do you mean? Do you have any logs from the USB or from the FIQ serial stream for when that happens?
After the patched boot file is loaded back into the unit using ADB,the unit simply shows Firefly logo,the screen goes black then it shows the same logo,it never goes past that logo.
In other words I want a unit that has a patched boot file so that I can root it with Magisk and also have 4K resolution which only attainable by editing the build.prop file.
The root that is already in the stock firmware is inadequate because they lack SU binaries and therefore most apps that require root permission don't work effectively.
I have no way of generating logs,I don't have a serial debugger.
My goal is to have a simple Android system that I can install in my car with 4K portable screens and GPS.
I have tried the Android radios being sold out there and don't meet my needs for a system that can use 4K screens.They are still stuck in 1920x1080 or below resolution,not to mention that they can't play 4K video files without stuttering or freezing. They also lack storage that can store those large files.
qwestmogul2012 said:
After the patched boot file is loaded back into the unit using ADB,the unit simply shows Firefly logo,the screen goes black then it shows the same logo,it never goes past that logo.
In other words I want a unit that has a patched boot file so that I can root it with Magisk and also have 4K resolution which only attainable by editing the build.prop file.
The root that is already in the stock firmware is inadequate because they lack SU binaries and therefore most apps that require root permission don't work effectively.
I have no way of generating logs,I don't have a serial debugger.
My goal is to have a simple Android system that I can install in my car with 4K portable screens and GPS.
I have tried the Android radios being sold out there and don't meet my needs for a system that can use 4K screens.They are still stuck in 1920x1080 or below resolution,not to mention that they can't play 4K video files without stuttering or freezing. They also lack storage that can store those large files.
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Wow, that is some really interesting use of this device. Are you able to capture anything via the debug serial interface? (TTL serial, port is called "DEBUG" on the board, it appears to be the preferred serial interface for this processor.) If you don't have a suitable TTL->USB converter, you might want to get one. It must be able to support 1500000 baud, though, so be careful to check. Firefly offers one, though I lost mine as I mentioned and I had to get another, though a different one so I can mount it permanently in the case and break out a back-of-the-case port.
If you can capture anything via the TTL serial line, that would be great. That should give you some idea of what it's choking on. Send me that just so I can think about it while I'm waiting on this.
I will definitely order one.I never thought I would hit such a roadblock.I have edited various kind of Android roms successfully.This one from Firefly though is something else.I suppose that is what happens when they make their work not open source.
By the way do you know how to unpack super.img? the unpack script provide does not recognize super.img even if I change the name to update.img
qwestmogul2012 said:
I will definitely order one.I never thought I would hit such a roadblock.I have edited various kind of Android roms successfully.This one from Firefly though is something else.I suppose that is what happens when they make their work not open source.
By the way do you know how to unpack super.img? the unpack script provide does not recognize super.img even if I change the name to update.img
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Sorry for not responding sooner but I was diligently cracking away at this thing VERY much actually ... !!!
Ah yes, I think though I'm pretty close to getting it to work; most of the work so far has been in trying just to figure out how everything works given documentation is scant and I had never, ever worked with Android or anything else at this level before!
Very little of the material is not opensource - some of the tools required to generate the rockchip images does not appear to be and there are some binary-blob kernel drivers, but a LOT more than one thinks is; you just have to ask Firefly for the "board SDK" and they will provide on request. Other than what I mentioned, the code in there is pretty much all licensed under GPL (hence why they have to give you that code, given they've made kernel modifications to support the RK3588 - apparently mainstream support is coming along but is still not primetime yet).
Nonetheless, I see you've unpacked the Android image ROM, so perhaps you already have that - if so, great. Hence let's get to it (note maybe you know some of this already but I also want to make this post useful for as many people as possible): super.img - which I'm actually playing with right now - is not Firefly magic, but is generic Android and has been mentioned before on this forum if you search for "super.img" here. It's a "super partition" that contains partitions.
Editing system.img inside super.img and flashing our modifications
I'm trying to modify my system.img (/system/build.prop) to include support for multi users. After struggling a lot, I've succeeded following your guide (that's an awesome work btw) to unpack, mount, modify, umount and repack super.img. Then...
forum.xda-developers.com
To unpack it you need to grab OTA Tools:
[GUIDE] OTA Tools LPUnpack
Please see this URL https://android.googlesource.com/platform/build.git/+/eec4a7cba4face3370acb6293ab357879920b467 and this for more information. Hi everyone. I'm surprised I havent seen a thread about ota tools yet and lpunpack. This zip file...
forum.xda-developers.com
and the way to do this is you should first use the program simg2img, which actually ships with Ubuntu as a package of the same name I believe. Suppose you're in the Linux terminal and working in the directory containing super.img. Create (if you haven't already) a directory to unpack it, e.g.
Code:
mkdir super_unpack
Then use simg2img to get a "raw" version:
Code:
simg2img super.img super.img.raw
then finally use the OTATools (replace the string "/path/to/otatools" with whatever, or put them on your PATH, or ...)
Code:
/path/to/otatools/lpunpack super.img.raw super_unpack/
and now you should have it fully unrolled into smaller .img files which will ACTUALLY mount. In particular, I needed this because product.img specifically seems to be the best place to load GApps into - they will both come up on first Android boot and they will be retained if you do an Android system reset ("reset to factory defaults").
Now REPACKING super.img ... that's the fun part!
I had actually managed to find the instructions to unpack the super.img and also managed to mount vendor.img which is where I wanted to make changes in modifying the build.prop file.
After repacking the super.img and flashing it using fastboot the Android did not boot.
I also managed to incorporate the super.img to a ROM but the Android did not boot as well.
My thinking is that Android 12 being a Dynamic partitioned rom does not allow any modification in the root system and that is why I have not had success making the Android boot.
It used to be so easy to do that on Android 10 but Android 11 and 12 are not.
Well,if someone manages to do it,I hope to understand how they did it.
As of now I am pretty much stuck with a vanilla rom which is very disconcerting considering how expensive the ITX-3588J is.
By the way I already have SDK which I have been using to make roms.
Please let me know if you manage to boot the Android using a repacked super.img
As always I am very grateful for your assistance. Happy Ney Year!
qwestmogul2012 said:
I had actually managed to find the instructions to unpack the super.img and also managed to mount vendor.img which is where I wanted to make changes in modifying the build.prop file.
After repacking the super.img and flashing it using fastboot the Android did not boot.
I also managed to incorporate the super.img to a ROM but the Android did not boot as well.
My thinking is that Android 12 being a Dynamic partitioned rom does not allow any modification in the root system and that is why I have not had success making the Android boot.
It used to be so easy to do that on Android 10 but Android 11 and 12 are not.
Well,if someone manages to do it,I hope to understand how they did it.
As of now I am pretty much stuck with a vanilla rom which is very disconcerting considering how expensive the ITX-3588J is.
By the way I already have SDK which I have been using to make roms.
Please let me know if you manage to boot the Android using a repacked super.img
As always I am very grateful for your assistance. Happy Ney Year!
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Click to collapse
Thanks. I did not see any mention about build.prop, though maybe you dropped that on another thread that wasn't in my notifications anymore.
You say the "Android did not boot". Do you have a adb dump? Do you have a serial (UART) debug dump (i.e. through the FIQ port)? Also, how are you repacking super.img? It is a tricky process as I mentioned at the end.
I did mention build.prop editing on my second comment of this thread.I initially tried to use root explorer file manager,that did not work.Then attempted to pull file from the system using ADB,edited it on my computer then pushed the edited file back to the system.That did not work either.
That is when I resorted to trying to edit it by unpacking the super.img.
I am still waiting to receive USB SERIAL debugger.
As for how I unpacked and repacked the super.img I used the instructions on the thread on this link
Editing system.img inside super.img and flashing our modifications
I'm trying to modify my system.img (/system/build.prop) to include support for multi users. After struggling a lot, I've succeeded following your guide (that's an awesome work btw) to unpack, mount, modify, umount and repack super.img. Then...
forum.xda-developers.com
Maybe this helps: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/linux-porting-native-linux-to-galaxy-note9.3936077/
Somebody ported Linux to the Galaxy Note 9.