Comparing my Samsung J7 2016 to stock ROM? - General Questions and Answers

I would like to compare my Samsung J7 2016 ROM to the stock firmware. Is there some sort of tool out there? Some way to easily extract the stock ROM filesystem? Even just a simple la -la / and kernel version from a stock phone would be helpful.
It seems like my kernel version is possibly older (yet with a newer build date) than what I've seen in older build info posted online. I'm also curious about a bunch of references to qemu, ranchu, and goldfish that I'm finding in the filesystem and files.
I don't expect you guys to answer my questions about my particular ROM, I just need some guidance on how to explore for myself. I don't have easy access to a desktop so mobile tools are preferred.

Related

[Q] Difference between open source files on Samsung site?

I am looking to build my own kernel for my AT&T Skyrocket (2.6.35.11 - I727UCLA3). I want to find the default kernel code, try to build the default code and install it before I make modifications to it.
I found these files on the samsung opensource site:
https://opensource.samsung.com/reception/receptionSub.do?method=search&searchValue=SGH-I727
There is:
SGH-I727_NA_Opensource_Update1.zip
SGH-I727_ATT_Opensource.zip
SGH-I727R_Opensource.zip
I think that I want SGH-I727_ATT_Opensource.zip. Two questions though. What is Update1 and do I need that? Also, I expected there to be multiple files for each kernel release of the Skyrocket, however there is only 1. Is this the most recent 2.6.35.11 I727UCLA3 kernel?
One last thing. Are there any good mirrors for these files? The Samsung Open Source site is painfully slow and my downloads stop very quickly after starting.
Thanks a bunch.

porting cm to a new device - whats needed and difficulties

Hey,
i'm just curious about what the title describes. First of all.
What do i really need:
-kernel sources
-binary blobs (extractable)
-recovery / boot.img (extractable)
Let us just talk about the fairphone 2. Additional to the things mentioned we get the full source code of the OS (which i do not need?).
Where do the difficulties lie? For my understanding we just take the kernel sources, the official cyanogenmod (e.g.) source code, the binary blobs and the recovery / boot.img.
How difficult would it be to port Cyanogenmod to the fairphone 2.
Why is it difficult to port a device with existing (again cyanogenmod just as an example) cyanogenmod to a newer Cyanogenmod (Android) version?
I ask this to estimate/evaluate/judge (don't know the right term) the effort needed to do this. I think i'd be able to do that if i put enough work into it (i "speak" c and java), but i just need some answers.
Especially for example why it is more difficult to port Android 6 instead of Android 5 (which is the currently running Android version)
Thanks!
bigCrash
Has nobody an answer? Just one?
Im specifically interested in why it is more difficult to port e.g. cyanogenmod if there is only an older version of stock android and how important the kernel is? Why do we need kernel sources? Can't one just self-compile a kernel.
Where are the limits if i have a device running 4.2. Why can it possibly run 5.1 but not 6? Is the kernel limiting? Or only the effort to realize such a thing.
Thanks!
bigCrash

[Completed] Partially building a custom rom

Hello there,
I am currently having a One Plus One. I have multi-rom utlity which allows me to have multiple android OS installed.
Currently the cyanogenmod based custom Marshmallow Rom I use (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...m-kernel-unofficial-cyanogenmod-13-0-t3242700) has switched over to using stable CM branch as their rom base. So this requires using Super SU for root access. Unfortunately Super Su is not compatible with Multirom implementation for OPO.
One suggestion provided was to try building the custom rom from source with user-debug flag. Meanwhile I came across two build.prop values (ro.build.type=userdebug ; persist.sys.root_access=1) which I hoped would enable inbuilt superuser without rebuilding the rom from source but they did not work.
So for now, there seems to be no other way around building from source ( I wanted to avoid this as much as possible because I have a very slow Internet access downloading 30 GB or so for the ROM alone will take a month for me).
So here are my 2 questions:
1> The rom developer in the thread mentioned in 2nd para, talks about 2 source (Kernel and the rest). When I looked at the manifest, they talk about replacing something. So does this mean I need to download the cyanogenmod sources as well or does repo sync take care of that automatically ?
2> I assume the kernel and rom need to be built separately. Can the "userdebug" mode be enabled only by rebuilding the kernel and then placing it with rest of the rom build zip provided by the developer to avoid rebuilding the whole rom ? or better yet flash the my userdebug kernel again after the normal rom installation ?
Thanks In Advance
crazydude10 said:
Hello there,
I am currently having a One Plus One. I have multi-rom utlity which allows me to have multiple android OS installed.
Currently the cyanogenmod based custom Marshmallow Rom I use (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...m-kernel-unofficial-cyanogenmod-13-0-t3242700) has switched over to using stable CM branch as their rom base. So this requires using Super SU for root access. Unfortunately Super Su is not compatible with Multirom implementation for OPO.
One suggestion provided was to try building the custom rom from source with user-debug flag. Meanwhile I came across two build.prop values (ro.build.type=userdebug ; persist.sys.root_access=1) which I hoped would enable inbuilt superuser without rebuilding the rom from source but they did not work.
So for now, there seems to be no other way around building from source ( I wanted to avoid this as much as possible because I have a very slow Internet access downloading 30 GB or so for the ROM alone will take a month for me).
So here are my 2 questions:
1> The rom developer in the thread mentioned in 2nd para, talks about 2 source (Kernel and the rest). When I looked at the manifest, they talk about replacing something. So does this mean I need to download the cyanogenmod sources as well or does repo sync take care of that automatically ?
2> I assume the kernel and rom need to be built separately. Can the "userdebug" mode be enabled only by rebuilding the kernel and then placing it with rest of the rom build zip provided by the developer to avoid rebuilding the whole rom ? or better yet flash the my userdebug kernel again after the normal rom installation ?
Thanks In Advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings,
Please read the Sticky threads for XDA Assist. This is not a help desk. XDA Assist is for helping new members or visitors navigate this site. You are a Senior Member and therefore you should know how to use the search feature and find the correct thread to ask your questions.
Thanks for understanding.
Thread closed.

New to XDA and need some guidance.

Hello everybody,
I am pretty new to the forums and want to learn how to make my own ROM. However, I want to learn how to do it from scratch. I have been reading the AOSP pages and my current knowledge is that I understand a bit about the Kernel and about the HAL. My question is about drivers. From my understanding Android's Kernel contains the driver for your particular device. Do I have to obtain a Samsung Kernel for a custom ROM for the S6 and S6 Edge from Samsung? Or can I simply find the Samsung drivers for each different model and integrate them into the standard Android Kernel (and tweak the driver to fix any bugs that come along the way). The Kernel distribution really confuses me. I feel as if every OEM should have to provide an archive of drivers in order to use Android to make the AOSP stronger. Am I constrained to Samsungs Kernel explicitly?

Proprietary Binary Compatibility

Hi all, this is a question that belongs in the dev forums, mod please move if you'd like.
I'm trying to compile a ROM from AOSP source for my tablet and need to get the device's proprietary binaries. What is the success rate of using proprietary binaries from an older version of Android (5.x) on a newer build (7.x)?
My device (T330-NU) only has binaries available for 5.x. Logically I would think that I can't use these on newer Android builds.
If the answer is that I cannot use the binaries from 5.x in my 7.x build then how do unoffical ROMs such as CM14 for my device seem to work? Are these binaries/drivers created from scratch? In these situations do the developers use a generic driver?
tyia
Bump since moved to another forum

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