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SUCCESS. I now have Ubuntu 11.04 booting on the Gtab. Using Pershoots kernel and files from the Vega folks, we now have touch screen working. Wireless is not up yet, and have not tested sound.
Thread from the Vegan folks:
http://android.modaco.com/content/a...-com/332887/ubuntu-linux-11-04-natty-on-vega/
From vega get the boot intrd image and the vegan root files.
http://www.adebenham.com/vega/
Follow the instructions to copy and build Pershoots kernel. Edit drivers/video/console/fbcon.c and searching for 'navy' and uncomment the line. This will give you the boot messages on the screen.
Formant the card to ext3. Unzip the vega_root file to an micro sd card of 4GB or better. use unzip -vxf vega_root.tgz
This will take awhile.
Edit /etc/fstab on the card and change mmcblk3p2 to mmcblk2p1
Copy the following files from the staging directory that you made after building Pershoots kernel:
sudo cp location-of-staging-dir location-sd/boot
sudo cp -Rp location-of-staging-dir/system/lib/modules/ location-sd/lib/modules/
Command to build the boot image:
./mkbootimg --kernel zImage --ramdisk initrd.img-2.6.32-custom --cmdline "root=/dev/mmcblk2p1 rootdelay=5 [email protected] [email protected] vmalloc=192M video=tegrafb console=tty0,115200 fbcon=rotate:1 fbcon=font:VGA8x8 usbcore.old_scheme_first=1 cpuid=200102 devicetype=1002 btmac=9c5ed6131a00 tegraboot=nand mtdparts=tegra_nand:[email protected](misc),[email protected](recovery),[email protected](boot),[email protected](system),[email protected](cache),[email protected](bootbmp),[email protected](logodata)" -o boot.img
Once you have the boot image, grab a copy of the boot-karmac.zip file. Replace boot.img in the zip file with the one that you created and rename the zip file.
Power down the Gtab, if need be. Put your micro sd card in that has the ubuntu files. Boot into CWM and go to mounts and mount the usbdrive, and connect to your computer. Copy the zip file that you made to the root of the usbdrive. Unmount the usbdrive from your computer and then umount in CWM. Now use CWM to zip the file into the Gtab and reboot.
You should see text scroll by and and it should boot into Ubuntu.
If you do the updates, it will cause problems with libgc. If you do the updates, then log into a terminal window and do sudo dpkg -i /root/glibc/*.deb
This will restore the glibc files needed.
3-23-11 Update
The latest image from the Vega folks fails due to nvrm_daemon. It causes you to loose the external sd card that your booting from. I'm using the first version that they posted.
I've gotten wireless to see AP's. I had to use the bcm4329 driver from Chenglu.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=892308
The Gnome nm-applet does not run, as it has issues with libappmenu.so, so I've not been able to test using it to connect to any AP.
Slow headway.
NMCBR600 said:
SUCCESS. I now have Ubuntu 11.04 booting on the Gtab. Using Pershoots kernel and files from the Vega folks, we now have touch screen working. Wireless is not up yet, and have not tested sound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting! Could you please clarify one thing:
> Unzip the vega_root file to an micro sd card of 4GB or better. Formant the card to ext3. use unzip -vxf vega_root.tgz
Do you reformat the sdcard before or after unzip the files to the card? (I thought formating would destory all content of the card)
THANKS!
Format before unzipping the files.
Awesome
Thanks for the great work
obviously we would need wireless (wifi) to make it all useful but the touch screen working is awesome
do you know if this will be able to run or support any of the following: Now or in the Future
1 usb dvd or cd drives- will they be able to be mounted and or even read/writable
2 flash- will flash video be able to be played in browser etc.
3 wine- would wine be able to be installed and used
I do not know how much of these are possible or impossible but all of them would be great
Thanks again
I'm new to the G tab and haven't had any experience at all with ubuntu, but I always want the latest and greatest thing in terms of tech.
Having said that I'm wondering just what are the possibilities of having ubuntu on the G tab, what can be done with it, how will it effect what I can do with the tablet once it is complete?
Thanks in advance.
doihaveto said:
Thanks for the great work
obviously we would need wireless (wifi) to make it all useful but the touch screen working is awesome
do you know if this will be able to run or support any of the following: Now or in the Future
1 usb dvd or cd drives- will they be able to be mounted and or even read/writable
2 flash- will flash video be able to be played in browser etc.
3 wine- would wine be able to be installed and used
I do not know how much of these are possible or impossible but all of them would be great
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To add cdrom support, you need to add the modules to the kernel. The cdrom drive will need external power as the usb port does not supply enough power to run external hd or cd drives.
Flash -- if there is an arm version for linux
wine -- would have to compile the source code for arm
Roxxas049 said:
I'm new to the G tab and haven't had any experience at all with ubuntu, but I always want the latest and greatest thing in terms of tech.
Having said that I'm wondering just what are the possibilities of having ubuntu on the G tab, what can be done with it, how will it effect what I can do with the tablet once it is complete?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Limited by your imagination and needs.
will wicd work for wireless
in this post about ubuntu on the gtablet
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894960
the wireless works only with wicd
would this maybe allow wireless to work in this port
At this time, the driver is not coming up. Running ifconfig does not show wlan0 at all, so I know I have an issue with driver. It does see my Verizon usb modem and my usb ethernet unit. With the ethernet unit, I can get online and surf. Currently, openoffice/librioffice are not available as there are dependencies between the two that cannot be resolved due to missing modules. The camera is not seen and I do not have any audio or power management.
I'll be working on this as I can over the weekend.
Using a 2.6.32 kernel with natty might not be the best idea.. 2.6.38 also has broadcom drivers.. this is great and all. but whats preventing us from stepping away from the android kernel? In specific if you can..
I've pulled the nvida 2.6.36 tree but if fails to compile. Complaints about asm using odd registers cause the compile to fail. At this time, 2.6.32 tree has drivers for the hardware. If I can get the 2.6.36 to compile, I'll try it.
Right now, sound, battery monitoring, camera are not working. Buttons on the side and the volume up/down are also not working. This is a starting point.
Forget about wine. Wine is an API translation layer, program loader plus libraries, it does not emulate x86, you are supposed to have it in the hardware. Wine on Gtab with ARM CPU will not do you any good, unless your windows applications are already compiled under ARM. And for that to happen you will have to wait until Microsoft comes up with windows on ARM first
Try the latest git commit of 2.6.38 - its on rc8 fwiw.. I run it on my server (heh).. I also compiled it using a modded pershoot defconfig (in a silly attempt to see if I could be cooler than 2.6.36 xoom folk - and to get the new cpu stuff)
It did not boot android.... but it did compile with no errors. I think I disabled wifi tho.. so yeah, disable as much as you can... get a basic system running on 2.6.38, then start building up
is there any progress here
just checking to see if there is any progress with wireless and or the kernel and drivers being used, is anyone trying this yet themselves besides op
i find this topic very interesting. I'd love to have this fully functional
I have not had luck with wireless. It looks like there is something missing the the vega image. I have gotten the wireless driver to load, but iwlist scan does not return any AP's. I pulled one of the 11.04 arm images for TI boards and tried to use the kernel that I built. I do not get a graphical screen and I cannot log in at a command prompt as I do not have a root password for that load. I've just built a generic 2.6.38 kernel to test on that image to see what happens.
I'm watching the vega forum on what they are doing.
I'm finding moving from working on x86 processors to arm interesting. As I get more information, I'll update the instructions. I want to get this running so I can use this on at a meeting in the first part of April.
get this running and expect a donate from me! i love android but compared to ubuntu it just doesnt cut it. i know you are using 11.04, but what ever happened to the ubuntu/kubuntu 9.04 (i think) MID Edition? Wasnt it made for arm? Did they stop development on this version?
Also, this may be a bit much to ask but could we get a pre-made image so we can test progress so far?
You guys are great! Keep up the good work!
edit: fixed my grammer
At this time I don't have a site to upload images to. I'm wanting to get the wireless sorted out, but as I make headway, I'll update the information that I posted on the first page. The vegan folks updated their vega image, but I cannot get it to boot. I get errors about inode from the sd card, but I know that the sd card checks out fine with fsck, so I've dropped back to their first image. I'm beginning to think that part of the problem is the modified driver for our wireless chip is different from the stock b43 driver in linux.
Headway
Update at the bottom of post #1. Wireless is working. Also, I tested an external CD drive and it was seen. The usb port did not supply enough power to spin the disk in the drive and I did not have an external power supply with me.
This is great,but....
I am in no way knowledgeable of how to compile all this together, can we get more intensive instruction on how to get this running or can anyone get this done in a way that we can simply get it going by the same methods it takes to get this version running:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894960
download the two files extract files to the sd card and flash the kernel that easy.
if not I may never get this up, I would appreciate it greatly
I could provide a drop box account to share the files if it is needed to get them available online just let me know
thanks
Hi,
I've been trying to get my own kernel with few modifications running on my ASUS Transformer. I've followed few guides around with no luck. What I did:
Tried two source trees:
1) Official from ASUS
2) Roach2010s tree from github (https://github.com/Roach2010/android_kernel_TF101.git)
Used .config from my current kernel which is running fine (Prime kernel) without any changes.
Compiled kernel.
So far looks good, with few modifications to config I got new modules that works so crosscompiler is not misscompiling. Now the part where I'm doing something wrong and can't figure out what.
I started with Prime Kernel from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1251044
* Unziped the archive
* blobunpack blob
* created blob.LNX in several ways described bellow
* blobpack blob.HEADER blob LNX blob.LNX
* dd if=blob of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4
* reboot
How I created blob.LNX
A) Use extracted blob.LNX and use abootimg to replace kernel
* abootimg -u blob.LNX -k zImage
B) Extracted all parts and recreated image using abootimg
* abootimg -x blob.LNX
* abootimg --create blob.LNX -f bootimg.cfg -k zImage -r initrd.img
C) Extracted all parts and recreated image using bootunpack and mkbootimg
* bootunpack blob.LNX
* mkbootimg --kernel zImage --ramdisk ramdisk.gz -o blob.LNX
In addition I tried few modifications:
* enlarging bootsize in bootimg.cfg to make sure everything fits
* passing cmdline my current kernel booted up with as default in .config, as cmdline in bootimg.cfg and both
All my efforts ended up on ASUS boot up screen, no matter what I try. So my question is, am I missing something? Did I skipped some important part? Have I done something wrong? Any ideas appreciated.
If nobody has any idea, can somebody please create kernel with enabled kexec for my ASUS Transformer? That was the ultimate goal of trying to get my own kernel, but if I can't get working just recompiled one...
-miska- said:
Hi,
I've been trying to get my own kernel with few modifications running on my ASUS Transformer. I've followed few guides around with no luck. What I did:
Tried two source trees:
1) Official from ASUS
2) Roach2010s tree from github (https://github.com/Roach2010/android_kernel_TF101.git)
Used .config from my current kernel which is running fine (Prime kernel) without any changes.
Compiled kernel.
So far looks good, with few modifications to config I got new modules that works so crosscompiler is not misscompiling. Now the part where I'm doing something wrong and can't figure out what.
I started with Prime Kernel from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1251044
* Unziped the archive
* blobunpack blob
* created blob.LNX in several ways described bellow
* blobpack blob.HEADER blob LNX blob.LNX
* dd if=blob of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4
* reboot
How I created blob.LNX
A) Use extracted blob.LNX and use abootimg to replace kernel
* abootimg -u blob.LNX -k zImage
B) Extracted all parts and recreated image using abootimg
* abootimg -x blob.LNX
* abootimg --create blob.LNX -f bootimg.cfg -k zImage -r initrd.img
C) Extracted all parts and recreated image using bootunpack and mkbootimg
* bootunpack blob.LNX
* mkbootimg --kernel zImage --ramdisk ramdisk.gz -o blob.LNX
In addition I tried few modifications:
* enlarging bootsize in bootimg.cfg to make sure everything fits
* passing cmdline my current kernel booted up with as default in .config, as cmdline in bootimg.cfg and both
All my efforts ended up on ASUS boot up screen, no matter what I try. So my question is, am I missing something? Did I skipped some important part? Have I done something wrong? Any ideas appreciated.
If nobody has any idea, can somebody please create kernel with enabled kexec for my ASUS Transformer? That was the ultimate goal of trying to get my own kernel, but if I can't get working just recompiled one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is what I've done. If you have successfully built a kernel with the resulting zImage, then you are part way there, I believe there is a kernel config option to enable kexec support but I haven't tried that. Next, you can take some other kernel's .zip file (CWM flashable) and unzip it. You may need to download a zip utility. You'll have 2 folders and a kernel blob. If you bootunpack this kernel blob, you'll end up with the kernel blob and a some *.LNX file. This *.LNX file is the same as a boot.img file. You can use dsixda's Android kitchen to split this into the initrd and the kernel (zImage) parts. Replace the zImage with your own and move any modules you may have also built if necessary into the initrd part, join them back together into a boot.img in the kitchen.
copy this boot.img back to where you unzipped the kernel.zip, delete the original *.LNX file, rename the boot.img to the same name as the previous *.LNX file and then bootpack it together and flash it through CWM. Zip the 2 folders and the kernel blob you just made back together with whatever name you want. You can edit the text in the updater script before you zip it all up, but whether you do or not it should boot.
Yes, there is kexec config option, but I haven't suceeded even without changing anything so enabling it doesn't make kernel boot :-D I tried Android Kitche to split boot image and I ended up with the same files (compared the content to check) as with abootimg -x. Tried recreating update.zip and sign it using Android Kitchen, just to be sure, that something in android is not in the way to the actualization from running system. Still no luck :-(
-miska- said:
Yes, there is kexec config option, but I haven't suceeded even without changing anything so enabling it doesn't make kernel boot d:-D I tried Android Kitche to split boot image and I ended up with the same files (compared the content to check) as with abootimg -x. Tried recreating update.zip and sign it using Android Kitchen, just to be sure, that something in android is not in the way to the actualization from running system. Still no luck :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't even sign mine as I have signature verification turned off in CWM recovery. Didn't change the text either as I was mostly experimenting and learning. I know kexec works under linux, but I think it requires separate package(s) and configuration to do so. I got a bit confused with blobpack, blobunpack info, but figured out that with just the kernel you don't seem to need the mentioned header file, just the .LNX which is the same as boot.img which is the combined kernel zImage and initramfs. If the kernel blob is still there and you use the same name for the output file then it doesn't matter because it will get overwritten anyway. Worked for me at least using source of kernel I've booted before and my running .config.
sidneyk said:
I didn't even sign mine as I have signature verification turned off in CWM recovery. Didn't change the text either as I was mostly experimenting and learning. I know kexec works under linux, but I think it requires separate package(s) and configuration to do so. I got a bit confused with blobpack, blobunpack info, but figured out that with just the kernel you don't seem to need the mentioned header file, just the .LNX which is the same as boot.img which is the combined kernel zImage and initramfs. If the kernel blob is still there and you use the same name for the output file then it doesn't matter because it will get overwritten anyway. Worked for me at least using source of kernel I've booted before and my running .config.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm, zip file I had as an example was using blobed boot image going through mmcblk0p4. Do you have some link to .zip file that does it differently?
kexec is a way how to boot something else from linux directly without need to fiddle with bootloader. To use it, two parts are needed - kernel that supports it (that's what I can't get) and tool to actually use it/call it. Tool is not a problem, got that one hopefully ready, but without the kernel...
-miska- said:
hmmm, zip file I had as an example was using blobed boot image going through mmcblk0p4. Do you have some link to .zip file that does it differently?
kexec is a way how to boot something else from linux directly without need to fiddle with bootloader. To use it, two parts are needed - kernel that supports it (that's what I can't get) and tool to actually use it/call it. Tool is not a problem, got that one hopefully ready, but without the kernel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Koush's "anykernel.zip" code (probably requires a few mods)? It appears to be trying to replace the blob based updater-scripts that are all over the place.
I've used it successfully, but it has mostly been on other devices, and it is very easy to use. I think some of the templates are too generic and maybe confusing, and without figuring out how edify scripting actually works, it is mysterious, but I'd look at this code, git it and try to use it:
I'll try to provide a working example since I just added a few modules to one of the kernels 2.6.36-4 that're out there for the tf101, but I need to be sure it's working first. I think there's perhaps one difference at least between what Koush shows for the xoom and the tf101 so am working on it.
https://github.com/koush/AnyKernel
Good luck -
-miska- said:
hmmm, zip file I had as an example was using blobed boot image going through mmcblk0p4. Do you have some link to .zip file that does it differently?
kexec is a way how to boot something else from linux directly without need to fiddle with bootloader. To use it, two parts are needed - kernel that supports it (that's what I can't get) and tool to actually use it/call it. Tool is not a problem, got that one hopefully ready, but without the kernel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using clemsyn-blades_kernel_ver22a zip file. I don't know if it was doing it different or not, haven't checked that far into it.
sidneyk said:
I was using clemsyn-blades_kernel_ver22a zip file. I don't know if it was doing it different or not, haven't checked that far into it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm, checked that one, uses blobed image and 'dd if=/tmp/blob of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4' as well. Maybe I'll try different crosscompiler anyway, that's the one thing I haven't altered yet :-/
hachamacha said:
Have you tried Koush's "anykernel.zip" code (probably requires a few mods)? It appears to be trying to replace the blob based updater-scripts that are all over the place.
I've used it successfully, but it has mostly been on other devices, and it is very easy to use. I think some of the templates are too generic and maybe confusing, and without figuring out how edify scripting actually works, it is mysterious, but I'd look at this code, git it and try to use it:
I'll try to provide a working example since I just added a few modules to one of the kernels 2.6.36-4 that're out there for the tf101, but I need to be sure it's working first. I think there's perhaps one difference at least between what Koush shows for the xoom and the tf101 so am working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tried that one, looks interesting... This one doesn't use blobed update and wites image directly somewhere. Just would require to check that that somewhere is the right place :-D Thanks, will take a look at that and what other edify commands are availble in updater, sounds like interesting alternative approach...
-miska- said:
Haven't tried that one, looks interesting... This one doesn't use blobed update and wites image directly somewhere. Just would require to check that that somewhere is the right place :-D Thanks, will take a look at that and what other edify commands are availble in updater, sounds like interesting alternative approach...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm modifying the script I've seen passed around (not quite Koush's git repo version) passed around to see if I can get it to work on the tf101. The 'write it somewhere' edify command is the question mark, but I think it is going on it's (the device's) internal partition table and vectored to 'boot', which is either a terrific generic idea, or terrible depending upon what edify does. I can't really find a heck of a lot explaining anything about the individual edify commands. I'm just getting rid of the 'showstoppers' where partition names like mmc0p* are used that are clearly wrong for the tf101. I made the mistake of trying one that I only later realized thought that partition 1 was data, when it is actually partition 7. Good thing I can make nvflash backups on my 'old' transformer.
I'll post back later today with any results I get. I'm not concerned about whether my kernel worked since it is completely experimental , just that it got written there, so I might use a working version with a different kernel name (in Makefile) just so I can get 'proof of concept' .
On a slightly different note but having to do with what you're doing, I tried the blob route this week, and for some reason, blobunpack/pack right from Rayman's git repo do not unpack the blobs correctly for say 'clemsyms' or 'Prime's' blobs, which has me wondering about some change that maybe took place. In any case, it forces me down this other path anyway.
If they are working OK for you, could you tell me a couple things?
1) Your linux distro and architecture (x86/x86_64)
2) did you build them from Rayman's repo? Did you get binaries from somewhere, if so where?
3) parameters? I don't think mine take any but the blob name.
4) Output suffixes. I only get .LNX from any of the above blobs which is useless.
EDIT: I was recalling that 'edify' in CWM came into being somewhere (maybe) past the only version that works with the tf101 (we're on ~v3.x and edify ~v4/5+). If that's the case, then we're all stuck with blobs because that one write command is edifi(ed) most likely. I'll stare at the git CWM source today too to figure out if it used the edify stuff in this version. I think Solarnz had it in his git hub.
hachamacha said:
I'm modifying the script I've seen passed around (not quite Koush's git repo version) passed around to see if I can get it to work on the tf101. The 'write it somewhere' edify command is the question mark, but I think it is going on it's (the device's) internal partition table and vectored to 'boot', which is either a terrific generic idea, or terrible depending upon what edify does. I can't really find a heck of a lot explaining anything about the individual edify commands. I'm just getting rid of the 'showstoppers' where partition names like mmc0p* are used that are clearly wrong for the tf101. I made the mistake of trying one that I only later realized thought that partition 1 was data, when it is actually partition 7. Good thing I can make nvflash backups on my 'old' transformer.
I'll post back later today with any results I get. I'm not concerned about whether my kernel worked since it is completely experimental , just that it got written there, so I might use a working version with a different kernel name (in Makefile) just so I can get 'proof of concept' .
On a slightly different note but having to do with what you're doing, I tried the blob route this week, and for some reason, blobunpack/pack right from Rayman's git repo do not unpack the blobs correctly for say 'clemsyms' or 'Prime's' blobs, which has me wondering about some change that maybe took place. In any case, it forces me down this other path anyway.
If they are working OK for you, could you tell me a couple things?
1) Your linux distro and architecture (x86/x86_64)
2) did you build them from Rayman's repo? Did you get binaries from somewhere, if so where?
3) parameters? I don't think mine take any but the blob name.
4) Output suffixes. I only get .LNX from any of the above blobs which is useless.
EDIT: I was recalling that 'edify' in CWM came into being somewhere (maybe) past the only version that works with the tf101 (we're on ~v3.x and edify ~v4/5+). If that's the case, then we're all stuck with blobs because that one write command is edifi(ed) most likely. I'll stare at the git CWM source today too to figure out if it used the edify stuff in this version. I think Solarnz had it in his git hub.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blobs are used on the tf101 because they are the ONLY way of flashing boot/recovery, there is no block device mapping of them on our device
lilstevie said:
Blobs are used on the tf101 because they are the ONLY way of flashing boot/recovery, there is no block device mapping of them on our device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK: Thanks lilstevie,
That takes care of that. Time for me to make peace with blobs.
After steve's reply, I just went to using blobs. I've got my own kernel running fine on the tf101 using that method.
For the best reference I've seen on using blobs and boottools , try this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1193737
---
Just got back from work, will ply with it some more, but I'll start with answering the questions...
hachamacha said:
1) Your linux distro and architecture (x86/x86_64)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gentoo x86-64
hachamacha said:
2) did you build them from Rayman's repo? Did you get binaries from somewhere, if so where?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Compiled from git repo. I always tried to find the most upstream repo for each tool and then compiled it by myself.
hachamacha said:
3) parameters? I don't think mine take any but the blob name.
4) Output suffixes. I only get .LNX from any of the above blobs which is useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These two comes together:
'blobunpack blob' - takes a blob as input and ouptuts blob.HEADER and blob.LNX
'bootunpack blob.LNX' - takes blob.LNX as input and outputs blob.LNX-kernel.gz, blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz and blob.LNX-config
'abootimg -x blob.LNX' - takes blob.LNX as input and outputs zImage, initrd.img and bootimg.cfg
Resulting files from bootunpack and abootimg are almost same, only difference is the configuration file
To repack:
'abootimg --create newblob/blob.LNX -f bootimg.cfg -k zImage -r initrd.img'
or
'mkbootimg --kernel zImage --ramdisk blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz -o newblob/blob.LNX'
and then
'blobpack blob.HEADER newblob/blob LNX newblob/blob.LNX'
Unless I change kernel, everything works just fine :-D
-miska- said:
Just got back from work, will ply with it some more, but I'll start with answering the questions...
Gentoo x86-64
Compiled from git repo. I always tried to find the most upstream repo for each tool and then compiled it by myself.
These two comes together:
'blobunpack blob' - takes a blob as input and ouptuts blob.HEADER and blob.LNX
'bootunpack blob.LNX' - takes blob.LNX as input and outputs blob.LNX-kernel.gz, blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz and blob.LNX-config
'abootimg -x blob.LNX' - takes blob.LNX as input and outputs zImage, initrd.img and bootimg.cfg
Resulting files from bootunpack and abootimg are almost same, only difference is the configuration file
To repack:
'abootimg --create newblob/blob.LNX -f bootimg.cfg -k zImage -r initrd.img'
or
'mkbootimg --kernel zImage --ramdisk blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz -o newblob/blob.LNX'
and then
'blobpack blob.HEADER newblob/blob LNX newblob/blob.LNX'
Unless I change kernel, everything works just fine :-D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty similar, although the kernel zImage itself is always a mystery unless you've not changed anything, but even then, getting it built with the right toolchain, etc isn't guaranteed. So lets assume that just works for now since it'll become obvious as it goes along.
I guess I have not heard of 'abootimg' as a tool for this, so I've been using the more manual way of dissecting the initrd as follows:
Code:
gunzip -dc ../blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz | cpio -i
If you need to change something , for example, in default.prop like ro.secure=0, then you'd do it there.
Then repack into a new ramdisk:
Code:
find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > ../newramdisk.cpio.gz
Finally I just had a somewhat heavily modified zImage from my build, so did this to make the blob (I'd copied zImage to blob.LNK-zImage.gz below):
Code:
./mkbootimg --kernel blob.LNX-zImage.gz --ramdisk newramdisk.cpio.gz -o boot.img
./blobpack blob.HEADER newblob LNX boot.img
zip -r imagename.zip blob MET* system // whatever the syntax was.
NOTE: I did this on a native 64 bit ubuntu LTS 10.04 box.
Unless I typo'd up there, that 'should' work. If it does boot, then first thing, take a look at settings, and kernel info so you can verify that you're running the kernel you desired (hopefully you renamed it in Makefile the first 4-5 lines).
Solved
Ok, got it working!!! Problem was bad crosscompiler :-( Modules I crosscompiled worked fine, so I ruled crosscompiler out :-/ Looks like I was too quick in judgement :-( Now I have kernel recompiled with original settings and evne the modified one and it still works and boot. Now I'm going to play with new features I got! Thanks a lot for all help!!!
Just for the record, crosscompiler I was originally using was codesourcery 2011.03 and to make it work I switched to official crosscompiler from NDK. Rest of the commands was Ok, I was just suspecting wrong step as I was quite familiar with kernel building and quite unfamiliar with the blob stuff :-(
Congrats!
For some reason I avoid the codesourcery stuff and stick with either the prebuilt toolchains or else just build my own from gnu source.
Anyway, glad you figured it out.
I have been following a few different instructions for the tools and was concentrated on just learning to rebuild a kernel on my own setup - Ubuntu 11.10. I only installed Ubuntu since it was the distro mostly referenced in the tutorials. I've also tried a couple different tool chains, some work, some don't.
I then find an existing *.zip CWM flashable kernel to work with, usually trying to use one I've successfully ran before, and unzip it. This gives 2 folders and a blob file. Whenever I run bootunpack on the blob I only get a resultant blob.LNX file and, so far never any blob.HEADER file. I understood that the blob.LNX was the same as boot.img from reading through and use dsixda's kitchen to split up the .LNX file I've renamed to boot.img. I then replace the zImage with the one I've just built and repack to boot.img in the kitchen. Then I move that boot.img back to unzipped kernel directory and rename to blob.LNX and run bootpack with blob as output and just ignore the .HEADER part. I then rezip the 2 folders (after replacing any modules in there) and blob into a new zip file and reflash in CWM. If it was based on a kernel I've booted before then it usually works without any problems. I can replace text in the updater-script, if I want and am just reusing the initramfs from the original zip. I have signature verification turned off in CWM, so that doesn't choke it. I need to read more about building initramfs before I do it. So far, this works for me, but I haven't really done any modification to the source, other than rebuilding it with my running config.
sidneyk said:
I have been following a few different instructions for the tools and was concentrated on just learning to rebuild a kernel on my own setup - Ubuntu 11.10. I only installed Ubuntu since it was the distro mostly referenced in the tutorials. I've also tried a couple different tool chains, some work, some don't.
I then find an existing *.zip CWM flashable kernel to work with, usually trying to use one I've successfully ran before, and unzip it. This gives 2 folders and a blob file. Whenever I run bootunpack on the blob I only get a resultant blob.LNX file and, so far never any blob.HEADER file. I understood that the blob.LNX was the same as boot.img from reading through and use dsixda's kitchen to split up the .LNX file I've renamed to boot.img. I then replace the zImage with the one I've just built and repack to boot.img in the kitchen. Then I move that boot.img back to unzipped kernel directory and rename to blob.LNX and run bootpack with blob as output and just ignore the .HEADER part. I then rezip the 2 folders (after replacing any modules in there) and blob into a new zip file and reflash in CWM. If it was based on a kernel I've booted before then it usually works without any problems. I can replace text in the updater-script, if I want and am just reusing the initramfs from the original zip. I have signature verification turned off in CWM, so that doesn't choke it. I need to read more about building initramfs before I do it. So far, this works for me, but I haven't really done any modification to the source, other than rebuilding it with my running config.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The architecture really seems to make a big difference in some configurations.
I have one native linux box with 64 bit 10.04 LTS on it, and it always behaves as well as possible, so I did this blob/boot/tools work on it, and it went as it should (creating HEADER and LNX) files, etc.
Then in addition I use several linux distros in VMs, one of them being more like yours, an 11.10 distro with just the androidSDK and all the build tools, prebuilt chains, etc. That will do exactly as you said. I actually built those blobtools/boottools from Koush's git, and they don't work correctly in that one environment. What is different to make that happen? I'm just guessing that something important like the native x86_64 gcc world is different enough to foul things up. It really doesn't matter. Once I got the tools working on the native box, I just transferred them to the other boxes including 11.10 and they work fine.
If you're using 64 bit and would like them I can probably stick them into a .tar.bz2 or whatever and stick up a link to them, or maybe if you can find working binaries to download, you might get those working. Once the blobunpack is returning only the .LNX file, you've pretty well had it as far as progress.
Good luck
hachamacha said:
The architecture really seems to make a big difference in some configurations.
I have one native linux box with 64 bit 10.04 LTS on it, and it always behaves as well as possible, so I did this blob/boot/tools work on it, and it went as it should (creating HEADER and LNX) files, etc.
Then in addition I use several linux distros in VMs, one of them being more like yours, an 11.10 distro with just the androidSDK and all the build tools, prebuilt chains, etc. That will do exactly as you said. I actually built those blobtools/boottools from Koush's git, and they don't work correctly in that one environment. What is different to make that happen? I'm just guessing that something important like the native x86_64 gcc world is different enough to foul things up. It really doesn't matter. Once I got the tools working on the native box, I just transferred them to the other boxes including 11.10 and they work fine.
If you're using 64 bit and would like them I can probably stick them into a .tar.bz2 or whatever and stick up a link to them, or maybe if you can find working binaries to download, you might get those working. Once the blobunpack is returning only the .LNX file, you've pretty well had it as far as progress.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If by 'native' you mean a hard disk install as opposed to a VM install, then that's where I'm at. I have Ubuntu 11.10 x86_64 installed to a separate partition. I have the recommended stuff installed including the ia32 libs, but I never see a blob.HEADER file with either kernel.zips or ROM zips. I can unpack and repack kernels without the HEADER though and they boot just fine.
But, yes, if you don't mind posting a link with your files I'll give them a try sometime. Thanks.
[Q&A] How to build/modify your own linux image for eMMC install Debian sample inside
This thread is for help and support with all linux distributions instalable in eeepad asus transformer. I will explain how to build your own image file or modify existing one in order to use lilstive OLife script.
As ubuntu is the most popular distro, please, all de questions related with ubuntu post them in lilstevie's thread.
You can install any distribution with arm architecture support, but you'll need to make some tweaks in the image in order to work propperly. As my experience in linux is most of it related with debian is the distro i will give the best support, but i'll try to answer every question you ask.
I've chosen debian armHardFloat port instead of debian armel fore many reasons, you can read about this port here:
http : //wiki. debian.org/ArmHardFloatPort
This port is still young so right now there are packages still unaviable to install but they are entering in wheeze day to day. If you preffer to use armel instead or armhf you can always do, you will loose improvement but you will have (at the time of writting this) less packages aviable. In the future (not far away) it will be the best option.
Building your own image:
There are many ways to create a image file but because we are going to need qemu in order to debootstrap the instalation the easiest way to create it is with qemu-img
Code:
qemu-img create debian-armhf.img 400M
I have only given 400M of space because is going to be a minimal instalation without desktop enviroment, it could be smaller but, just in case, that's the size i've chosen. The transfer with OLife it will be faster if the image is smaller.
When you boot for your first time you will find an error because there is no valid MSDOS partition table, this is ok, nothing happens because of that but if you want to avoid it use fdisk to create a partition table
Code:
fdisk debian-armhf.img
we need now to give format to the filesistem:
Code:
mkfs.ext4 debian-armhf.img
It will ask if you really want to do because it's not an ordinary partition and you have to type "s" to proceed
Now whe have ready the image and we have to mount it in some folder to install debian in it:
Code:
mount -o loop debian-armhf.img debian
asuming debian as the created folder for that.
We are ready to debootstrap de instalation:
Code:
debootstrap --verbose --arch armhf --foreign --include=btrfs-tools,locales,kbd,wpasupplicant wheezy debian http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian
this will make the first step to install wheezy armhf, --foreing parameter is because the target architecture is different from the host one and it's going to stop before de second-stage, it will include the packages btrfs-tools locales and kbd, you can add as many as you want but it will be always faster if you install them manually once installed in the transformer. I didn't install ssh server because i have a dock, but if you don't have it will be needed to complete the instalation with a remote shell, but you can also install packages later with chroot after the second stage.
In order to be able to chroot we will need qemu-user-static, with armhf it's needed 1.0 version with armel it's not necesary, it can be any version not too old. Also if you have an i386 system it's recomendable to install an amd64 kernel to do chroot or debootstrap will fail configuring cron. Actually i think in this sample image there is anacron instead of cron because there was an issue i thought it was related with that but later twb found out the problem was another different and now it's solved.
we will add qemu-arm-static to the instalation to be able to chroot
Code:
cp /usr/bin/qemu-arm-static debian/usr/bin/
we chroot to the new enviroment:
Code:
chroot debian
and execute the second stage of debootstrap:
Code:
./debootstrap/debootstrap --second-stage
After finish the instalation we will set the root password
Code:
passwd
and now it's ready, you can make tweaks, install packages (as ssh if you need it) or whatever you want, but you will have to add a repository to /etc/apt/sources.list in order to install any packages.
In this image and debootstrap proccess i've used german repositories because are the fastest for me, but you can use another one, right now it's neede also experimental repository to have working touch screen, but as soon xserver-xorg-input-evdev with full multitouch support enters sid as it won't be necesary
example of /etc/apt/sources.list
Code:
http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free
I have already installed in this image necesary packages for that and experimental repositories won't interfiere unless you pass the parameter for apt-file so you can forget about this if you want, but if you are building your own image apt-get install -t experimental xserver-xorg will do the work.
we have ready now our image but it need some files and tweaks to make everithing work in the eepad.
From here you can apply this to any arm image you want to test.
(all the files needed are in the attached file files.tar.gz in the rigth folders)
we need to add modules and firmware, i've extracted them from lilstive ubuntu.img
strictly necesary are:
Code:
/lib/firmware/nvram.txt
/lib/firmware/brcm/*
but you may need another ones if you are going to use external hardware, that's on you.
there are also two folder in /lib/modules one is for the asus kernel and the other one for chrome os kernel, i suggest to add both of them because it's just a bit space and you will be able to use the image with both kernels.
In order to make wifi work i've made /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf file with some parameters found in one of the threads of lilstevie and /etc/modules with the modules to load.
You will also need to configure /etc/network/interfaces and /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf all this files are in the attached files.tar.gz but wpa_supplicant.conf is not because it depends of each ones wifi, but there is a wpa_supplicant.conf.example and you can always google for it a bit. If you don't have a dock make sure you do this correctly or you won't be able to connect to the internet and ssh device to continue instalation easily
if you want to be able to use adb (wich is really usefull if you for example did not correctly configure wpa_supplicant) you will have tu add also "/usr/bin/adbd" and /etc/init.d/adbd"
I've modify the original init.d script to avid LSB tags missing warning error, it's not really necesary rsyslog as previous service started but ... it works.
In order to make adb service start automatically we will execute (inside the chroot of course)
Code:
update-rc.d /etc/init.d/adb defaults
This may be different in non debian based distributions, but you can always ln manually to rcX.d
Finally, there is the "bug" it has made me think something was wrong and change cron with anacron, when you boot it appears to stop booting starting a service (cron, dbus, deppending what you have installed) but it isn't you can login pressing ctrl + alt + F2 (touchpad key),
we think it's related with the bootloader and default tty as 7 or something like that.
As workaround add in /etc/rc.local "chvt 1" (without quotes) just before exit 0 line
Because there is not oem-installation like in ubuntu after the first boot there are a couple of things to do, we have to resize the image to fit the partition, change password, configure locales and xorg keyboard-layout (if you have more than one locales) add an user and include in relevant groups and maybe more in the future so i've made a postinstalation.sh script included in /usr/bin:
Code:
#!/bin/sh
echo "Making online resize of the root partition"
partition=`mount -l | grep " / " | awk '{print $1}'`
resize2fs $partition
echo "changing root password"
passwd
echo "configure locales"
dpkg-reconfigure locales
echo "configure xserver keyboard layout"
dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
echo "configure localtime"
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
echo "Please anter a user name"
read username1
adduser $username1
echo "adding user to relevant groups"
adduser $username1 audio
adduser $username1 video
adduser $username1 netdev
adduser $username1 plugdev
adduser $username1 bluetooth
adduser to bluetooth will fil because there is not installed any bluetooth manager so there is not bluetooth group yet, and remeber tu use OLife script to inject bluetooth firmware in order to have bluetooth working.
And that's it i think i haven't miss anything but i will update this when needed. You can now install your image with lilstevie's OLife script, you will have to rename it to ubuntu.img from now. If everithing went ok you can now install the desktop enviroment you prefer, on screen keyboard or whatever you like.
I haven't test network manager and i've only tested kde-netbook, but there are still broken dependencies and it's a bit slow. This will improve as soon as we have hardware acceleration (if we ever do), and armhf port goes ahead.
Lilstevie is going to host my images and maybe OLife script will have more options in the future, but from now you can download from here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60048492/debian-armhf.img.tar.gz
(md5sum inside)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60048492/files.tar.gz
All credits and many thanks for lilstevie and twb for all the help they gave me.
I will apreciate any correction not only in this process but also in my english grammar/ortography
Please, any mod or admin can correct the word modufy in the title?
reserved
Thanks
Following your instructions, I can finally replace ubuntu with debian, which resides my home laptops, office desktop, and now, on my tablet as well. Unfortunately debian has no "onboard" package... and it's rather inconvenient without a dock.
Thanks anyway for bring debian to this tablet.
boseliquid said:
Following your instructions, I can finally replace ubuntu with debian, which resides my home laptops, office desktop, and now, on my tablet as well. Unfortunately debian has no "onboard" package... and it's rather inconvenient without a dock.
Thanks anyway for bring debian to this tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What has onboard that haven't other onscreen keyboards? i haven't ever tried onboard and i just tried a couple of onboard keyboards in debian, i also did managed to load it automatically in login screen, But i did never went deeper, like "only appear if the focus is in textbox" or something like that.
Anyway i has to be easy to rebuild that package for debian or just install it from ubuntu. What do you exactly need?
onboard onboard
Onboard has keys that simulate middle-click and right-click of mouse. I tried to install ubuntu's deb file, but runs into problem with dependencies. Compiling the source on the tablet led to error related to gdk/gdk.h which i couldn't figure out how to resolve.
Onboard respond better than others, e.g. xvkbd and florence both have run-away key presses, i.e. a string of letters appear even for a quick single tap on a key.
Also, onboard integrates nicely with lightdm. I used xdm plus florence to log in (the screen keyboard hides most of xdm's GUI).
With fluxbox, debian seems faster than ubuntu+fluxbox on the tablet. That's why onboard is nice since fluxbox menu requires right-clicking on the desktop. Fortunately, fluxbox keys are easily configurable, so i still can shutdown by pressing some key combination.
Hopefully lilstevie has the time to work on hardware acceleration, which would then allows to dump android completely.
boseliquid said:
Onboard has keys that simulate middle-click and right-click of mouse. I tried to install ubuntu's deb file, but runs into problem with dependencies. Compiling the source on the tablet led to error related to gdk/gdk.h which i couldn't figure out how to resolve.
Onboard respond better than others, e.g. xvkbd and florence both have run-away key presses, i.e. a string of letters appear even for a quick single tap on a key.
Also, onboard integrates nicely with lightdm. I used xdm plus florence to log in (the screen keyboard hides most of xdm's GUI).
With fluxbox, debian seems faster than ubuntu+fluxbox on the tablet. That's why onboard is nice since fluxbox menu requires right-clicking on the desktop. Fortunately, fluxbox keys are easily configurable, so i still can shutdown by pressing some key combination.
Hopefully lilstevie has the time to work on hardware acceleration, which would then allows to dump android completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, i'll give it a look and if i can i will build a debian package in order to include it in the image
I've managed to build a couple of packages for onboard. You can't imagine how much crap it's in building dependencies, mono, unity and so many things, so i've removed appindicator dependency because i don't think it's going to be really necesary. The true is that i don't have so much time right now so,
Can you please test it and tell me if you have any problem? I can try to rebuild another older version in order to avoid unity crap and those things without messing the code, but if this works well it's the eassiest solution.
You have to install both packages, the other dependencies are instalable from debian oficial repository, at least i haven't got any problem installing it in my building environment.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60048492/onboard_0.95.1-1_all.deb
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60048492/python-virtkey_0.60.0-1_armel.deb
arch of python-virtkey is armel instead of armhf
Almost there... but obtained the following error msg:
Unpacking onboard (from onboard_0.95.1-1_all.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of onboard:
onboard depends on python-virtkey (>= 0.60.0); however:
Package python-virtkey is not installed.
onboard depends on python-gconf; however:
Package python-gconf is not installed.
dpkg: error processing onboard (--install):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Thanks again.
boseliquid said:
Almost there... but obtained the following error msg:
Unpacking onboard (from onboard_0.95.1-1_all.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of onboard:
onboard depends on python-virtkey (>= 0.60.0); however:
Package python-virtkey is not installed.
onboard depends on python-gconf; however:
Package python-gconf is not installed.
dpkg: error processing onboard (--install):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
python-virtkey is provided in my previous post, just install it, after that
#apt-get install -f
will resolve and install automatically pending dependencies.
I've already tried and it works.
EDIT: i have been working in the suppose you are runnin debian armel and not armhf
To get bluetooth working, you need an armhf build of brcm_patchram_plus.
Thankfully it's GPL'd, so here's a copy.
Hi,
I'm having a bit of trouble getting Debian on my TF101 using OLiFE.
I'm forced to use the android/Ubuntu dual-boot option, but that's another story.
Basically, there's a kernel panic and I can't see the entire screen without it rebooting one second later. I am able to flash my TF101 properly without bricking (it's a B60), but everytime I boot it up as my default OS, I get that rebooting screen.
NothingMuchHereToSay said:
Hi,
I'm having a bit of trouble getting Debian on my TF101 using OLiFE.
I'm forced to use the android/Ubuntu dual-boot option, but that's another story.
Basically, there's a kernel panic and I can't see the entire screen without it rebooting one second later. I am able to flash my TF101 properly without bricking (it's a B60), but everytime I boot it up as my default OS, I get that rebooting screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernel panic kinda implies the problem is with the kernel, not with Debian. If you're using the 3.1 kernel, try the 2.6 one by lilstevie. Whichever kernel you're using, you're better off seeking help in one of the kernel-specific threads.
rdnetto said:
Kernel panic kinda implies the problem is with the kernel, not with Debian. If you're using the 3.1 kernel, try the 2.6 one by lilstevie. Whichever kernel you're using, you're better off seeking help in one of the kernel-specific threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could or couldn't it may also be a problem with initramfs and boot parameters. I now because i experienced it. So if you give us more information, better, try to record a video of the bootloop and pass it slowly to see the error, i did that and it worked for me
Franks Tools-new modified Ubuntu install
Hello i dont know if this is right thread,i like to ask you advanced users for some help.I wanna install ubuntua via new modified Franks tools by kenshin,released few days ago,i cannot find exact answer what i need to progress.
My questions are: How can i made nvflashable files system.img boot.img recovery.img and others to use franks tools? how to obtain these images?
2.) and if i will use those images that can be found here on forum can i then just flash for example Revolution HD rom? ,or does it destroy my installation of ubuntu via franks tools?
because i know that there is little play with partitions so i am not sure if i can flash any rom after use of franks tools dual boot option.thank you for help
shaola said:
Could or couldn't it may also be a problem with initramfs and boot parameters. I now because i experienced it. So if you give us more information, better, try to record a video of the bootloop and pass it slowly to see the error, i did that and it worked for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did everything stock and did exactly what you said to do for Debian, though I used the armel architecture and the adb wouldn't work with an error.
By everything stock, I mean that I didn't alter anything from the OLiFE folder except adding the ubuntu.img file.
NothingMuchHereToSay said:
I did everything stock and did exactly what you said to do for Debian, though I used the armel architecture and the adb wouldn't work with an error.
By everything stock, I mean that I didn't alter anything from the OLiFE folder except adding the ubuntu.img file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original kernel from OLiFE didn't work for me - I had a boot loop. Try manually compiling the lilstevie kernel, or using a kernel from Jhinta's kernel thread.
The packed kernels (CWM zips) for Ubuntu will work exactly the same under Debian. (or at least in the direct mount case - I don't know about loop mount)
i can't get wifi up ... could someone help?
it is shown in iwlist wlan0 scan but i can't find an network ...
while boot it sends many intervals and abort this progress with givin' up.
i just copied li/firmware file from olife.img und files from this thread over it ...
anyone could help please?
NoDiskNoFun said:
i can't get wifi up ... could someone help?
it is shown in iwlist wlan0 scan but i can't find an network ...
while boot it sends many intervals and abort this progress with givin' up.
i just copied li/firmware file from olife.img und files from this thread over it ...
anyone could help please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what are you uing to scan? this driver ony supports wpasupplicant, not iw nor iwconfig
hi,
i installed the ubuntu image with olife on my transformer. i don't like ubuntu very much, i prefer debian which i run debian on my computer as well. i stumbled over this thread so i wondered what's the status of debian on our transformer.
can anyone tell me whats currently working.
hanswurschtus said:
hi,
i installed the ubuntu image with olife on my transformer. i don't like ubuntu very much, i prefer debian which i run debian on my computer as well. i stumbled over this thread so i wondered what's the status of debian on our transformer.
can anyone tell me whats currently working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same as in ubuntu. But you may need some tweeks. Depends of the kernel you are using. nvidia has released also a beta of the nvidia drivers for armhf and not only armel so you may use armhf or armel with jintha's kernel and have almost everithung working.
Hello. I am trying to compile and boot a Cyanogenmod-7 kernel for the HTC Desire HD. My first attempt was from a Debian chroot running on the phone. I managed to compile the kernel, but was unable to boot it. For testing, I unpacked boot.img, and repacked it with the original files and kernel, and was able to boot that... this confirmed the problem was the kernel, and nothing else. I believe I tried the Kali- and Cyanogenmod-msm7x30 sources.
Realizing that compiling on the phone was impractical, I decided to buy a Trim Slice embedded system (an A9 cpu, 1gb memory, 500gb storage). I also realize that Android kernels are cross compiled, but I preferred native architecture because there are some advantages (regression tests). This Trim Slice runs Ubuntu Natty, with GCC Linaro 4.5.2.
I can not cross compile from my workstation because it is OpenBSD, and does not do such things.
Now, more carefully, I downloaded the Cyangenmod 7 kernel sources, with the same git pull version as the shipped kernel. /proc/config.gz and cyanogen_msm7230_defconfig are identical. I made no changes to the config. I used 'make CROSS_COMPILE='. I compiled mkbootimg natively, and did flash_image on the phone, rebooted, and same thing... the HTC screen for infinity.
So then I built GNU Patch-2.7 statically linked (it's a balance between a complex program and a simple program), and copied it to the phone, and './patch --version' works fine. So my compiler is fine... it is compiling for the correct platform.
What could be going wrong with my kernels? Is my GCC version to blame?.. /proc/version says the phone's kernel was built with gcc-4.4.3.
Is there a boot loader that can turn my phone's usb port into a serial port/console so I can see what is going on?
I've only recently after lot of struggle compiled my first kernel. While the information is still fresh in my mind, I want to share all the problems I encountered and what to do if you are in the same situation.
This guide is mainly for Linux users since that is what I am familiar with.
I've used this amazing guide to learn the basics. If you haven't yet, read it first.
Errors from scripts/gcc-wrapper.py
Open the file and change the first line from
Code:
#! /usr/bin/env python
to
Code:
#! /usr/bin/env python2
Kernel won't compile
* Did you forget to set and export the variables ARCH and CROSS_COMPILE?
* Do you have the right .config file present?
Try extracting the .config file from the original boot kernel and use it instead
* Are you sure you are in the correct branch?
Run git branch inside kernel's source code to verify that
* Are you using a very recent or very old version of the compiler? Some old kernels for example would only compile with gcc-4 but not gcc-7 or 8. Most kernels - at the time of writing - won't compile with gcc-8
Kernel compiles fine but won't boot
* Are you using wrong kernel configuration (.config) ?
* Try different compiler or different compiler version.
I've tried to compile my current with Android's prebuild gcc 4 compiler and it wouldn't boot, switched to gcc 7 and it booted perfectly fine.
Kernel starts but system crashes somewhere during boot
You can enable adb during boot so that you can see what causes the error.
Find this file in your extracted boot image ramdisk/default.prop
Set or update the following values
Code:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
persist.sys.usb.config=adb
Then you can do adb shell logcat or adb shell dmesg to see what is going on
My phone won't boot after flashing my new kernel, how do I boot to recovery?
First of all, you shouldn't have! You should test your new kernel without flashing it using fastboot.
Simply reboot to bootloader then run the command
Code:
fastboot boot /path/to/my/new-image
So what can I do now? Try to reach bootloader screen. the method differs from device to device but it involve pushing certain physical phone buttons while turning on the phone.
Once you are in the bootloader screen, you can do adb fastboot /path/to/twrp-recovery.img or even path to original boot image if you kept a backup.
ramast_ said:
I've only recently after lot of struggle compiled my first kernel. While the information is still fresh in my mind, I want to share all the problems I encountered and what to do if you are in the same situation.
This guide is mainly for Linux users since that is what I am familiar with.
I've used this amazing guide to learn the basics. If you haven't yet, read it first.
Errors from scripts/gcc-wrapper.py
Open the file and change the first line from
Code:
#! /usr/bin/env python
to
Code:
#! /usr/bin/env python2
Kernel won't compile
* Did you forget to set and export the variables ARCH and CROSS_COMPILE?
* Do you have the right .config file present?
Try extracting the .config file from the original boot kernel and use it instead
* Are you sure you are in the correct branch?
Run git branch inside kernel's source code to verify that
* Are you using a very recent or very old version of the compiler? Some old kernels for example would only compile with gcc-4 but not gcc-7 or 8. Most kernels - at the time of writing - won't compile with gcc-8
Kernel compiles fine but won't boot
* Are you using wrong kernel configuration (.config) ?
* Try different compiler or different compiler version.
I've tried to compile my current with Android's prebuild gcc 4 compiler and it wouldn't boot, switched to gcc 7 and it booted perfectly fine.
Kernel starts but system crashes somewhere during boot
You can enable adb during boot so that you can see what causes the error.
Find this file in your extracted boot image ramdisk/default.prop
Set or update the following values
Code:
ro.adb.secure=0
ro.secure=0
persist.sys.usb.config=adb
Then you can do adb shell logcat or adb shell dmesg to see what is going on
My phone won't boot after flashing my new kernel, how do I boot to recovery?
First of all, you shouldn't have! You should test your new kernel without flashing it using fastboot.
Simply reboot to bootloader then run the command
Code:
fastboot boot /path/to/my/new-image
So what can I do now? Try to reach bootloader screen. the method differs from device to device but it involve pushing certain physical phone buttons while turning on the phone.
Once you are in the bootloader screen, you can do adb fastboot /path/to/twrp-recovery.img or even path to original boot image if you kept a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good job!
Do you have any general tutorials on kernel optimization?
wangyiling said:
good job!
Do you have any general tutorials on kernel optimization?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am afraid not, sorry. I am just a beginner
@ramast_
The information you provided has solved pretty much all of the problems I was having. We need more content like this. Everything I find about kernel building explains things like you're a Linux expert, where as your post is much more layman friendly. I can't thank you enough for this.
Quick question; which version of Linux do you use?
You are very welcome, happy someone found it useful.
By Linux version I suppose you mean Linux distro (distribution).
I use Gentoo which is certainly not for beginners.
I'd suggest Ubuntu for beginners. Not because it's the best but because it has a very big community and you are more likely to find help when facing any problem.
This article explain how to cross compile arm code (how to compile code so that it can run on an arm device). Should get you started.
Best of luck
Spaceminer said:
@ramast_ I can't thank you enough for this.
Quick question; which version of Linux do you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ramast_ said:
You are very welcome, happy someone found it useful.
By Linux version I suppose you mean Linux distro (distribution).
I use Gentoo which is certainly not for beginners.
I'd suggest Ubuntu for beginners. Not because it's the best but because it has a very big community and you are more likely to find help when facing any problem.
This article explain how to cross compile arm code (how to compile code so that it can run on an arm device). Should get you started.
Best of luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again. Distro is what I meant. I was thinking I should use Ubuntu, but I wanted to see what you had to say about it.