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Sapphire ROM HowTo - request for info

I'm Linux & BSD literate, and used to administering servers, compiling programs and kernels from source. I've also managed to root and flash my Magic, following advice found here. What I'd like to do is gather up some info on how to build ROMs for the Sapphire platform.
I'm already poking around the Android Wiki FAQ and the Dream dev forum on this site. There's quite a bit of info there but some of it is out of date and I've not found much that's Sapphire-specific. I also plan to take apart the .zip files released by Haykuro and others and compare/diff configs to get a feel for things.
My intent is to put together enough info to allow anyone to pull apart a released ROM and replace the dialler, add some language support or some extra apps, maybe make some other simple changes.
What I need is any pointers on:
1. Sapphire-specific info.
2. Any danger of bricking my Magic by messing around with home-made ROMs.
3. Anything else that might be useful.
Hopefully I'll be able to put together a rudimentary HowTo for the wiki, which others can add some fine-tuning and extra info to.
Thanks for any input.

I think this is a very good idea!
It would simplify things if everybody would understand how exactly custom ROMs are created.
1 - Be aware that there are different Magic HW versions...
2 - I don't think you can brick your magic as long as you make backups via nandroid.
3 - A few things I think should be in the wiki :
- how to completely setup a linux environment and which applications you need to be able to build custom ROMs.
- Explain how the android OS is working, explain what boot, hboot, recovery, system is, how the partitions work, etc..
- What are test-keys, what is the difference with and release-keys.
- How to sign.
- How to dump the recovery.img, boot.img without having root access.
- What to change into the recovery.img and boot.img to get root.
- How create an update.zip
- How to make backups with nandroid and how to restore them..

Agreed think this would be a fantastic idea, unfortunately it seems like the people in the know are not willing to share any of their knowledge =o(
Do keep us up to date as to what you find by dissecting the ROMs, had a look the other day briefly but didn't have time to play yet,
Also waiting for info/confirmation that as long as you just flash bad roms its not possible to brick your phone only if you play with SPL's and such

fxn said:
Agreed think this would be a fantastic idea, unfortunately it seems like the people in the know are not willing to share any of their knowledge =o(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I'm sure the knowledge is scattered around the place - sharing is one thing, bothering to document is quite another!
The only thing I don't expect to find openly shared is traceable leaked material, and frankly I can live without that.

[Q] How to compile a specific file to solve bluetooth problems?

My Nexus has problems connecting over bluetooth to my Car (BMW). I've found a lot of references to similair problems, and also a hint which suggests a change that could solve the problem. The hint can be found on the cyanogem forum in posting 77834, "bluetooth-connection-drops-kar-kit-bmw" (I cannot post links here).
I am running stock KitKat, and for the moment want to keep it that way. So, I decided to try the same patch on KitKat. I've managed to setup a development image in a VM, but keep running into problems compiling - my machine lacks resources (diskspace) to complete a complete build. I do not need a complete build; I need just 1 file, bluetooth.default.so, compiled. My development skills are VERY rusty, and I cannot find out how to build only this file.
I've applied the patch to external/bluetooth/bluedroid/bta/ag/bta_ag_sdp.c, run a make on the Makefile here etc - but, still no luck. The most frustrating bit is that I'm sure this is trivial, but it has been such a long time since I did any development work that I cannot seem to find a way to compile.
Can someone help me out here with hints on how to build the .so? I need bluetoot.default.so, build from the files in the external/.../ag directory, to be situated in system/lib/hw on the android system.

[Q] Help needed porting CM11

Since development for the Sidekick 4G has stopped I decided to try and port the CM11 M10 snapshot from the Galaxy S 4G using this guide. I used the Galaxy S 4G as port ROM since most of the specs are the same as the SK4G. The base ROM I used is ayoteddy"s KJ2 Deodexed & rooted ROM. I followed the guide and flashed the ROM I made but the phone didn't boot. It stays stuck at the tmobile startup screen and then bootloops. I took a logcat and see a lot of errors but idk how to correct them. I tried uploading the ROMs I used and the one I created but it only let me upload the logcat.

Hey,
Its awesome to see some more effort in this phone but when porting a ROM one of the main prerequisites is the base being the same android version.
So to port cm11 over you would need a kitkat kernel and ROM for the sk4g already.
What would be real helpful is to get the gingerbread kernel fully functional then any GB ROM could be ported fairly easily.
Or start with a kitkat kernel but both require a bit of work. If you want to take it on a can link a bunch of guides that may help

Thanks for that info. I don't have experience coding but I would like to be able to learn how to cook and port roms so I would really appreciate some guides. As I understand it, since there is no KitKat ROM available for the sk4g I would first need to make my own KitKat kernel and ROM before I would be able to port cm11? And how long do you think it would take to learn everything needed to be able to port and cook roms?

Hey,
On mobile right now so can't post a bunch of links but xda is filled with them
The best place to start would be http://www.xda-university.com
And be sure to check out the forum links as well!
For a quick set of links see the seventh post in this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2348266
For a different device but those are all great places to start learning to develop for android
Keep me posted on your progress!

Took me a while to find some useful guides since I was searching with the term "port" and not "build/compile from source" since that is essentially what I'm doing. I used wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_porting_intro and wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Build_for_galaxysmtd (can't post links yet). I forked the galaxys4g repo and modified the files to be suited for the sidekick4g. Now I'm onto the building step, a couple of things already broke and I managed to fix them, but I ran into this error and haven't been able to fix it.
brunch sidekick4"ebtables is disabled on this build"
find: `src': No such file or directory
build/core/base_rules.mk:134: *** system/extras/ext4_utils: MODULE.TARGET.EXECUTABLES.setup_fs already defined by device/samsung/sidekick4g. Stop.
I researched the MODULE.TARGET.EXECUTABLES.setup_fs already defined by device/samsung/sidekick4g issue and suggestions were to delete the setup_fs file within device/samsung/sidekick4g folder. However the setup_fs file wasn't in there, I did find a setup_fs.c file and deleted that one. Then I proceeded to try the build again and ran into the same error. Another suggestion was to use grep -R setup_fs *. This command pointed to these files,
Android.mk:LOCAL_SRC_FILES := setup_fs.c
Android.mk:LOCAL_MODULE := setup_fs
Android.mk~:LOCAL_SRC_FILES := setup_fs.c
Android.mk~:LOCAL_MODULE := setup_fs
initramfs/init.herring.rc:service setup_fs /system/bin/setup_fs /dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/userdata
sidekick4g.mk: setup_fs
But I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to delete. The device repo is located at github.com/SK4G/android_device_samsung_sidekick4g.git It is a pre-build attempt version before I made suggested changes to the local repo. I tried "git push origin master", the command went through and said everything is up to date but the remote repo still wasn't changed so I haven't been able to update it.

What are you using for the device tree? The relay is a completely different device and none of the drivers would work, did you at least pull blobs and proprietary files from a sk4g?
There is a ton of setup to be done in order to build from source, you can use the cm11 source but need to make a specific device tree for the sidekick to get a working build, not to mention a ton of kernel work will be needed

For the device tree I forked the galaxys4g repo (not the galaxy s relay 4g) and then modified the files to build the sidekick4g specific device tree. When pulling the blobs and proprietary files the guide said " Your device should already be running a build of CyanogenMod for the branch you wish to build for the extract-files.sh script to function properly". Not sure if that's relevant to the errors but I was still able to pull the blobs towards the correct ~/android/system/vendor/samsung directory. As far as the kernel I downloaded the stock kernel from the samsung source website and then put it in the kernel/samsung/sidekick4g directory. The guide said that the kernel and kernel modules would be built automatically as long as I made appropritate changes to the BoardConfig.mk and I did so. I have done every step in the guide and now I'm into building but I can't get past the previously mentioned error. Should I delete the whole part of the files mentioned by the grep -R setup_fs * command or just the red part or is there another solution?

Well the blobs that were pulled and the kernel that was used was for froyo, that won't work for kitkat without a weeks worth of modification
Also the s4 is even more different than the relay and would be much harder to use anything from there
What you need at this point is to create your own device tree on github and add this to your local manifest, then the hard part is to adapt the sk4g kernel into something that will work with kitkat, once this steps are complete you can build and then fix the errors that come up, fixing any errors at this point won't help much as the files used are incompatible from the start

I should have been more specific, I used the T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G which is one the first galaxy phones. It has the same hummingbird chipset, architecture, ram/rom size, resolution, and both originally ran froyo. The guide states that the cm buildbots build a compatible kernel for me. I didn't just fork the galaxys4g repo and leave it as is. I went through the files and substituted anything that was galaxys4g device specific to fit the sidekick4g.

No problem, should have read more clearly, yes the galaxy s is very similar minus the keyboard but you can look at the work that was done to get a GB ROM booting here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2323617
This was done on the exhibit, another very similar phone,
Even after the kernel was adapted the keyboard never worked, you check the link to his github to see what was put into it to work
The kernel built by the bot won't adapt it to work between different versions of android so you need to build this manually first then you can use it, but even then there will be a lot to do in order to get the keyboard working

Now I'm beginning to understand what you have been trying to tell me. It was hard to grasp at fist because I never really looked into building a kernel since I usually just use the stock kernel or the cm built in kernel on my devices. Now I shall redirect my efforts into building a kernel

Hi I just wanted to know if you're still building port for the sidekick 4G I still have mine and I would like to use if you have kitkat to work. I miss my sidekick 4G
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

The Theory of Everything (Building MTK from saucery) asop cm miui ubuntu

Welcome​
I have started this thread for the THEORETICAL development of the mt6732/mt6752 from source if such a thing happened to exist which of course it does not.
While compiling from source is pretty well documented :good: compiling MTK is not so well documented especially the mt6732/6752.
I have tried to keep this thread as ambiguous as possible and hopefully we will be left in peace to iron out any difficulties.
DO's:
I am a Total Noob myself to compiling from source but experienced enough to use the xda search box, Google and Youtube first before asking any questions. If your still confused after using the above then by all means ask here.
DON'T s:
If your a noob who should happen upon this thread then by all means read and learn but please respect the dev's by not asking random question without searching first :fingers-crossed:
SHARING:
Please only share things of a sensitive nature with recognised members who you know and via the PM. :good:
Lets just see how far we can push this Kernel
Recommended Reading:
[GUIDE]Building a Kernel from source{Mediatek}
Build Kernel MT6577 - Can't boot after build
How To Port CyanogenMod Android To Your Own Device
XDA:DevDB Information
k01q_e k01q_h, Kernel for all devices (see above for details)
Contributors
bigrammy
Kernel Special Features: Remains to be seen
Version Information
Status: Testing
Created 2015-02-25
Last Updated 2015-02-25

I am here, reporting for duty. If anyone wants an extra "potato" because he has too much "ketchup" for use feel free to ask me

Just to be clear
I am new to compiling from source in any shape or form
I believe the kernel to be not a problem and I know dev's are working on getting our phone on cm and maybe others :fingers-crossed:
But me being me I am very curious and would like to understand how we would go about doing what @varun.chitre15 managed to do for the mt6582 Here
I have the PC all setup for building now thanks to @carliv great guide Here and the cm and android tut's I also found this useful guide on youtube by Dave Bennet Here
Our device is not on the cm or google repo so how do we add it locally.
Do we need any special commands for mediatek
Could we use the mt6582 repo and substitute or mod the files
As you can see I have more questions than answers as normal :laugh:
I dont want to tread on any toes here or take over current developing but just want to learn as said in the OP there is a lack of mtk guides regarding this.
If I missed a clear mtk guide then please post the link to it. :good:

In short your looking at manifests. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_Using_manifests
carliv (I think) posted the device config on github - link in your SPFlash thread somewhere.
Found it: https://github.com/carliv/device_elephone_p6000?files=1
Vendor files

I have compiled and flashed a kernel, I've been running it for 24+ hours with no obvious issues. It's honestly very easy to just get it to build if you don't try to make major changes.
I have (very lazily) tried to change a couple of things in the config to fix the known issues (OTG, compass): unfortunately I have no way to test the OTG function right now, while the compass did not magically start working. On the other hand, the notification light issue which is introduced by V8.4 is not strictly or exclusively kernel-dependent, since I am running V8.3 with my own kernel and the notification function is intact. That's all I can share at the moment.

xenonism said:
I have compiled and flashed a kernel, I've been running it for 24+ hours with no obvious issues. It's honestly very easy to just get it to build if you don't try to make major changes.
I have (very lazily) tried to change a couple of things in the config to fix the known issues (OTG, compass): unfortunately I have no way to test the OTG function right now, while the compass did not magically start working. On the other hand, the notification light issue which is introduced by V8.4 is not strictly or exclusively kernel-dependent, since I am running V8.3 with my own kernel and the notification function is intact. That's all I can share at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you switch on and post the /proc/config ?
Regarding the notification lights, I think v8.4 introduced the custom partition (might be wrong on that). Running grep -r "ro.notification.breath" /system/ the only result I got was services.odex (might have been settings.odex). I've bak(smali)ed it but couldn't see the difference between the two that would explain the change.

HypoTurtle said:
Can you switch on and post the /proc/config ?
Regarding the notification lights, I think v8.4 introduced the custom partition (might be wrong on that). Running grep -r "ro.notification.breath" /system/ the only result I got was services.odex (might have been settings.odex). I've bak(smali)ed it but couldn't see the difference between the two that would explain the change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The config file is attached to the post, it's too big to paste it.
I have tried the new ROM which came out today, then flashed my kernel. I can't use either SIM card anymore. Flashed the boot.img that comes with the ROM - same. I guess I gotta go back to V8.3 for now.
The new ROM doesn't seem to be the same as the OTA: it reports as: Elephone_P6000_02_V8.0_20150206.
About the notification issues (which bothers me the most), I haven't had much time do to more experiments, but I was thinking this (which probably also led to my confusion*): there's a chance the functionality is not removed or shut down, at least in the intentions of the maker. After all, in V8.4 (and in the new ROM), when the phone is connected the light stays on, while notifications make it breath. While not a desirable behaviour (at least IMO), I wouldn't call it... a non-behaviour, so to say. So perhaps the functionality itself is intact but something is altering the way it works, for whatever reason. I also did some unpacking and grepping a few days ago, but I couldn't find anything useful.
* At some point I thought the issue was fixed because the light was breathing while connected to my PC, but it was probably because I had a notification to read.

xenonism said:
The config file is attached to the post, it's to big to paste it.
I have tried the new ROM which came out today, then flashed my kernel. I can't use either SIM card anymore. Flashed the boot.img that comes with the ROM - same. I guess I gotta go back to V8.3 for now.
The new ROM doesn't seem to be the same as the OTA: it reports as: Elephone_P6000_02_V8.0_20150206.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets not speculate too much - but perhaps there was a minor board change between the first and second preorders, notification could be a problem with granting notification access (in settings) - could this be a selinux issue? It would explain why things like Light manager work - as you grant them notification access.
For lost Imei - can you compare the custom partition to the one in the ota?

If anyone needs an easier way to grab the 'ketchup', my GitHub has it. Click on my blog link in my signature.

BachMinuetInG said:
If anyone needs an easier way to grab the 'ketchup', my GitHub has it. Click on my blog link in my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bro,
Nice log
I was going to try use the sprout config as this is nice and clean Here when I have worked out how to do things that is.
My eyeballs are bleeding now with all this reading but from what I can see most of files are the same names so maybe we could just replace them with ours probably 98% ish
I did see one ROM some place for the mt6732/52 that had mt6582 references I just wish I could remember where I had seen it
Like I say I am a noob to this compiling and linux stuff so I maybe talking out of my ass :laugh:

bigrammy said:
Thanks bro,
Nice log
I was going to try use the sprout config as this is nice and clean Here when I have worked out how to do things that is.
My eyeballs are bleeding now with all this reading but from what I can see most of files are the same names so maybe we could just replace them with ours probably 98% ish
I did see one ROM some place for the mt6732/52 that had mt6582 references I just wish I could remember where I had seen it
Like I say I am a noob to this compiling and linux stuff so I maybe talking out of my ass :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually a noob too, and honestly I've only ever successfully built a fakeflash (temporary recovery) that didn't even work.

bigrammy said:
Thanks bro,
Nice log
I was going to try use the sprout config as this is nice and clean Here when I have worked out how to do things that is.
My eyeballs are bleeding now with all this reading but from what I can see most of files are the same names so maybe we could just replace them with ours probably 98% ish
I did see one ROM some place for the mt6732/52 that had mt6582 references I just wish I could remember where I had seen it
Like I say I am a noob to this compiling and linux stuff so I maybe talking out of my ass :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone actually make a guide noob friendly to build kernel from source? I got kernel with me locally zip file I want to build it please any help?

Tech N You said:
Can anyone actually make a guide noob friendly to build kernel from source? I got kernel with me locally zip file I want to build it please any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can use the scripts in the root of the source code to build the kernel? make<something>.sh.
Make sure you're on Linux (Ubuntu preferred) and that you have all dependencies installed correctly. To execute the script, simply go to the Terminal, cd to the location, then type . make<something>.sh

Tech N You said:
Can anyone actually make a guide noob friendly to build kernel from source? I got kernel with me locally zip file I want to build it please any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look at the README.
Does make menuconfig work here?

These few simple instructions from the readme file enable you to build a working kernel (at least in a Linux environment):
Code:
How to Build
kernel
======
1. Get the prebuilt cross compiler from AOSP website:
$ git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/prebuilts/gcc/linux-x86/arm/arm-eabi-4.6
2. Add required cross compiler to PATH:
$ export PATH=/YOUR_TOOLCHAIN_PATH/arm-eabi-4.6/bin:$PATH
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-eabi-
3. Then use the following commands to build the kernel:
$ ./makeMtk k01q_e new k
make menuconfig can be made to work, but you need to set some parameters and I can't look into it right now.
You previously asked something about the custom partition, I need some guidance there as I am not familiar with the IMEI issue.

xenonism said:
These few simple instructions from the readme file enable you to build a working kernel (at least in a Linux environment):
Code:
How to Build
kernel
======
1. Get the prebuilt cross compiler from AOSP website:
$ git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/prebuilts/gcc/linux-x86/arm/arm-eabi-4.6
2. Add required cross compiler to PATH:
$ export PATH=/YOUR_TOOLCHAIN_PATH/arm-eabi-4.6/bin:$PATH
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-eabi-
3. Then use the following commands to build the kernel:
$ ./makeMtk k01q_e new k
make menuconfig can be made to work, but you need to set some parameters and I can't look into it right now.
You previously asked something about the custom partition, I need some guidance there as I am not familiar with the IMEI issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea wasn't sure about menuconfig as mtk uses projectconfig rather than def_configs.
In the custom partition there are files like /custom/etc/firmware/modem.img etc. When messing with a Flyme port it was these files (and possible conflicts in /system) that caused an IMEI:nul.
FYI I opened the custom partitions on windows using an ext viewer after running the imgs through sgs2toext4.

Kernel building Mediatek
Tech N You said:
Can anyone actually make a guide noob friendly to build kernel from source? I got kernel with me locally zip file I want to build it please any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you guys have seen or read this but it's a pretty comprehensive guide to building the mediatek kernel by @MasterAwesome and should really be compulsary for all kernel related things thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2754513
@HypoTurtle
Regarding the custom partition this is or could be a problem for us now and in the future and may require further investigation. The cm sprout branch has the modem.img in the (normal place /system/etc/firmware) but as you say ours is in the custom partition which is probably to protect it from bad /system flashes
Thing is I see no normal type link to it in the /system/etc/firmware so it must be linked some other way which may explain why all my port attempts failed as none of them used a custom partition (Asus_X002)
Maybe we will have to repartition the emmc to a standard config and alter the kernel (if the links are set via the kernel that is) for cm and other ports to work smoothly as I am unsure just how everything is linked up.
I have not had much experience with custom partitions so someone one know's of a good info source please link it. :good:
Hopefully Master @Santhosh M can figure out what's going on with the custom partition :fingers-crossed:

bigrammy said:
@HypoTurtle
Regarding the custom partition this is or could be a problem for us now and in the future and may require further investigation. The cm sprout branch has the modem.img in the (normal place /system/etc/firmware) but as you say ours is in the custom partition which is probably to protect it from bad /system flashes
Thing is I see no normal type link to it in the /system/etc/firmware so it must be linked some other way which may explain why all my port attempts failed as none of them used a custom partition (Asus_X002)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The partition is symlinked from .../by-name/custom (which is symlinked by the kernel from dev/block/mmcblk0p12) to /dev/customimg which is mouned after an e2fsck to /custom. /custom isn't linked to /system, it's just added to the global environment (init.environ.rc), will need to check on the environ, I'm on flyme and it has /custom/lib added to the library path (which doesn't exist).

HypoTurtle said:
The partition is symlinked from .../by-name/custom (which is symlinked by the kernel from dev/block/mmcblk0p12) to /dev/customimg which is mouned after an e2fsck to /custom. /custom isn't linked to /system, it's just added to the global environment (init.environ.rc), will need to check on the environ, I'm on flyme and it has /custom/lib added to the library path (which doesn't exist).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha thanks that explains a lot of weird things perfectly. :good:

What's the problem or what is the issue here.
Mediatek compiling guide ( by masterawesome ) that you have linked to is not actually practically this mtk kernel is done and is just way too complicatedly explained.
There is no defconfig stuff or pulling config.gz from phone in mtk. In this new source its just simple. Set up your toolchain path. Execute the makeMtk followed by the project no u want. Get zImage and patch it for mtk header and merge it with stock ramdisk. For this newer mtk chipsets repack has an extra stuff where u have to be careful of kernel command line parameters.
That's it the kernel stuff in mtk

Android compiling

So ive been unfortunate so i cannot get A12 on my Xperia 1(J9110). But on dev.sony there is a compile guide for 12. I tought i will compile it from there.
But it cant be "that easy", i suppose it will have bugs that i need to fix but the last language i used was html in high school(yea yea get on with it).
My question is: if i compile it for myself can i use it as out-of-the-box or do i have to fix stuff or its an useless idea?

You would need to check if your device is listed in the devices.xml. If it is listed, there is a possibility that Sony has been updating the device tree, kernel and vendor blobs for android 12 and you could try compiling.
If it's not there, you won't be able to compile at all for your device without making a device tree, extracting vendor blobs and finding the right kernel for android 12, which would take a lot of work.

Griffin is there which means there is a chance. Still, can i use it out-of-the-box?