How much of Android's source code is hardware dependent? How much is closed source? - General Questions and Answers

Hi everybody!
I've always used this wonderful XDA forums just as an avid fan of cooked ROMs, testing many of them on my DesireHD and then on my S3 Neo, all the same trying to understand how android works.
But increasingly I found myself asking how much of Android's source code is dependent on the hardware it should run on...
I understand that all should be compiled for the correct platform, ARM, x86, whatever, but apart from this, what is really different?
For example, suppose that we were talking about Android 5.1.1 : how much source NEEDS (as some function of the phone wouldn't work instead) to be different if 5.1.1 should work on the S3Neo instead of on Desire HD?
I mean, in the desktop world, the x86 platform has a standard structure, and if I'm trying to install Windows or Linux, all I should care of is getting drivers for devices unknown to the OS, but the OS installs and works unchanged, and the very same install cd could be used on many different pcs...
We can also put it in another way: if we pick up the AOSP sources, how much stuff has to be added to make it work on a specific device?
Thanks for any advice on this curiosity of mine!

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Shores said:
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Hey, if you got the answer to your question then please share. I am also looking for an answer to this question.

Related

Android is closer for tornado than many other devices

Thanks to the efforts of some to port linux to the tornado, a basic linux kernel is in the works. So, therefore we tornado owners are one step closer than many other debice owners in getting android. The only problem is that the project seems like it is abandoned or at least VERY slow moving. I am not a developer(at least not linux) and so I can not help the development. It would be very invigorating if this community's people can help this person work through their problems to gain praise from all of us incapable of doing so. Please visit the developer's site for more info.
http://vivien.chappelier.free.fr/typhoon/index.html
you do know that you ahve posted something that we already know right?? and yes that project is dead, but that dosnt mean other members here on the tornado forum's havent playd around with linux make a search next time.
I realised that people knew about it, i did do a search. I know there is GPE and other stuff already on the tornado; this was just a call for developers to pull efforts together to develop a common kernel and build an android rom for the rest of us that can't do so ourselves. None the less, thanks for your concern.
Even if people get Linux working stable on tornado, there is not much chance of Android ever running on it.
Android is way too touchscreen oriented right now.
wrong there is an android stack for non touchscreen devices

Web OS on Desire

Hi all
Due to being confused i have posted the same thread in Desire Genereal, Desire Q&A, General, WebOS Hacking&General and WebOS Development.
Please delete the wrong ones.
I was just wandering would it be possible and if there is any brave soul to port Web OS to desire. I have read a bit and would like to try this OS myself. Not rich enough to owe 3 mobiles though :/.
Just let me know if I'm asking/wanting impossible or it is doable and someone may take it on board.
thnx in advance for all replies
Regards
Kirior
I'd LOVE to run webOS on my Desire too but webOS isn't open source so you can't, legally speaking, put it on your phone
what you can do though is test it via an emulator on your desktop
you just have do download the SDK at developer.palm.com
i have a palm pre for sprint i am not using, i've been playing around with it, but if you want it, msg me, we can work something out.
A large majority of the OS is in fact open source.
http://opensource.palm.com/packages.html
etx said:
A large majority of the OS is in fact open source.
http://opensource.palm.com/packages.html
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Indeed, but none of the user interface.
If you want a command-line Linux box, no problem. It will be the same as any other OpenEmbedded-based Linux development machine with no graphical user interface.
If you want what most people refer to as "webOS", that bit is proprietary.
I wouldn't say the open source part is a "large majority" either.
-- Rod
If this just can be like the Nokia N900 that can handle WebOS APP just installing some things.

[Q] Windows Mobile on Android?

I've seen some threads, but never found a straight answer. So would is be possible to run Windows Mobile on an Android Device? It could be possible since the HD2 had Windows Mobile with a Capacitive touch screen. Thanks in advance
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xizzmatt said:
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the fact that Android can be ported to WM device does not necessarily implicate that the vice-versa must be possible,
please check this thread esp. post #2
Android is open source, which makes porting and configuration possible.
Unless you happen to have source code for WM.....
im sure if someone took the time they could, it all comes down to code
I mean, now a days it seems porting anything to anything seems possible, but like what has been seen before, seeing as the WM source is, well, Windows, I don't see this happening very easily. Beside, why would you want to do that! SACRILEGIOUS!

[DEV]Project Magenta, an iOS-like OS. Anyone interested? + Need devs!

http://crna.cc/magenta.html
Magenta is an implementation of Darwin/BSD on top of the Linux kernel. It is made
up of a number of kernel and userland components that work together. It is fully binary
compatible with iPhone OS 5.0 (as in, it uses the same binary format).
Click to expand...
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I am now chatting with the dev on IRC. I want to know if anyone is interested in this, so i know if i will continue the porting or not.
First we need to build the kernel, so we need a kernel dev. There's a DIFF that needs to be applied.
The files are here: http://crna.cc/magenta_source.html
What do you think? Also remember THIS IS A DEV TOPIC, so no asking for ETA & stuff. Nagging will result in locking the topic and discontinuing this.
EDIT: Remember, this has nothing to do with Apple. Everything is Open-Source, so we have the stability of C instead of Java, but also the openness of Android!
Edit 2: Looks like there aren't many devs interested about this, and also there would be no advantages. You can't run Android Apps, nor iOS apps...
What good points will this release have besides compability with iOS apps ?
Not just the "look like android", it can still have a android look but iOS compability, that sure opens a wide horizon. Cross platform apps. It's awesome i think.
MidnightDevil said:
Not just the "look like android", it can still have a android look but iOS compability, that sure opens a wide horizon. Cross platform apps. It's awesome i think.
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It won't run iOS apps.. below was mentioned on project website
" to make it myself). * Will it run iPhone OS apps? * No, because I'm not aiming to have compatible high level frameworks. Just think about how much work is required to have a 100% compatible implementation of UIKit or Celestial. HOWEVER, the CoreOS part should be 100% (or 99%) compatible. Just not the higher level OS. If you're just interested in this because it will "run iOS apps" please go away."
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
I can contribute, maybe even run the thing (no promises, in my spare time, won't support it just drop the thing for you, I'm busy next few days though)
Still working on kernel 3.0
Sent from my Desire HD
This has nothing to do with iOS' lockdown. It is as open and as free as Android.
In Layman terms; does this mean magenta just runs Android on C and not Java meaning more efficient execution of tasks?
So is it just a ios themed rom, or does it actually have some of the real advances from the ios?
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
I'd be willing to dev, but I'm afraid I don't have too much experience.
I know my way around C++ and Python, and I can do Hello World in C. I can read most code though.
It's funny to see people excited with this when they don't know what benefits this development will actually bring :b
I'm not against this at all, please don't take this the wrong way, but to invest in such kind of development you need to have benefits, so, what are they ?
like to contribute
I would like to contribute on development.I know Objective C, worked on few Iphone Apps.
andreigherghe said:
http://crna.cc/magenta.html
I am now chatting with the dev on IRC. I want to know if anyone is interested in this, so i know if i will continue the porting or not.
First we need to build the kernel, so we need a kernel dev. There's a DIFF that needs to be applied.
The files are here: http://crna.cc/magenta_source.html
What do you think? Also remember THIS IS A DEV TOPIC, so no asking for ETA & stuff. Nagging will result in locking the topic and discontinuing this.
EDIT: Remember, this has nothing to do with Apple. Everything is Open-Source, so we have the stability of C instead of Java, but also the openness of Android!
Edit 2: Looks like there aren't many devs interested about this, and also there would be no advantages. You can't run Android Apps, nor iOS apps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the most (and only - for me- ) interesting side of this project is having the stability of C instead of Java. Android will be stunning and awesome if it get over java. but iOS like !! nah.
and good luck with that cuz there is people who want it and seems excited about it :highfive:
I'm willing to help, will be getting my uart cable soon.
Sent from my GT-I9100 running CM10
icecreame said:
the most (and only - for me- ) interesting side of this project is having the stability of C instead of Java. Android will be stunning and awesome if it get over java.
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You can easily develop for Android using C (Google NDK). What preventing YOU from doing it? But generally that is terrible idea unless someone have got tons of already written code that is too costly/time consuming to port/rewrite. And it is awful idea because it defy purpose of Java compatibility. We got phones out there that are running Android on top of x86/MIPS processors. And thous phones have no problem running absolute majority of Android applications. Plus few startups are developing new processor architectures, because Android would let them access huge software library transparently. And that is fundamental idea behind Android, let OS run on any processor, current or future one, with application developers having no need to port or even recompile their code for new architectures/processor models.
My friend is very intrested in this he is a programmer in c and c++ and c#
Thread closed per OP request, as development has stopped for good on this project.

Help in building AOSP rom for our devices

First off I'm a new entrant to android, and I would like to build AOSP rom for our device. I have read quite a few posts on the internet about it. In one post Its said that the steps to AOSP building are 1) setting up environment
2) Syncing device tree 3) downloading the android source 4) downloading the drivers (kernal source code?)
4) building it. Is it actually that simple?
Forgive me if I'm wrong.
Lets discuss the possibility of AOSP rom for our devices.
Can some one post all the resources which we have, that will help building the rom?
Also, this thread can be a starting point for many developers out there.
kr1shna said:
First off I'm a new entrant to android, and I would like to build AOSP rom for our device. I have read quite a few posts on the internet about it. In one post Its said that the steps to AOSP building are 1) setting up environment
2) Syncing device tree 3) downloading the android source 4) downloading the drivers (kernal source code?)
4) building it. Is it actually that simple?
Forgive me if I'm wrong.
Lets discuss the possibility of AOSP rom for our devices.
Can some one post all the resources which we have, that will help building the rom?
Also, this thread can be a starting point for many developers out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi kr1shna.
I saw your post on another thread involving the same topic.
The fact of the matter is, with the Mate 7 and Huawei devices in general, that Huawei does not release certain sources needed for creating a custom kernel, meaning that the only ROMs that can be created for these devices have to based off the existing EMUI sources, meaning there really isn't much use in doing it at all. @gabry3795 has managed to get the GPU drivers running (reported on his thread, which can be found here), however that's as far as anyone has come. After that the only way to get the device to actually boot (as far as my very limited knowledge on these things go) is to implement Huawei's sources and files, meaning you will just eventually end up with EMUI again.
TL;DR: Huawei is a jackass when it comes to releasing sources, meaning creating custom, non EMUI-ROMs and kernels is pretty much impossible.
If you do figure it out though, rest assured you will have the praise of all of us here that's absolutely sick of EMUI. So best of luck to you, however don't get your hopes up too high.
Scruffykid said:
Hi kr1shna.
I saw your post on another thread involving the same topic.
The fact of the matter is, with the Mate 7 and Huawei devices in general, that Huawei does not release certain sources needed for creating a custom kernel, meaning that the only ROMs that can be created for these devices have to based off the existing EMUI sources, meaning there really isn't much use in doing it at all. @gabry3795 has managed to get the GPU drivers running (reported on his thread, which can be found here), however that's as far as anyone has come. After that the only way to get the device to actually boot (as far as my very limited knowledge on these things go) is to implement Huawei's sources and files, meaning you will just eventually end up with EMUI again.
TL;DR: Huawei is a jackass when it comes to releasing sources, meaning creating custom, non EMUI-ROMs and kernels is pretty much impossible.
If you do figure it out though, rest assured you will have the praise of all of us here that's absolutely sick of EMUI. So best of luck to you, however don't get your hopes up too high.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for the information, so buying a huawei was a bad decision. I should have got the htc m9 or a9 instead.
kr1shna said:
Thank you for the information, so buying a huawei was a bad decision. I should have got the htc m9 or a9 instead.
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Click to collapse
very bad decision! i have been trying to get help from huawei to release their sources for over a year but have had no luck. at this point im pretty much done and will probably just end up buying the next nexus device regardless of screen size. its sad that their are no good 6 inch phones with custom rom support.
i was going to try and pursue legal action but seeing as how the mate 7 was not legally released in the US, their is no legal recourse. im hoping someone in the EU could do some research regarding legal action against huawei in the hope of pressuring them to release source codes.

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