Related
First, yes, I checked what the auto title search pulled up when I made the title, and they have no relevance to what I'm doing.
Second, while it's still very much a work in progress, I have managed to devise a derivative of Ubuntu whose only usefulness is in building Android. I call it... ANDROIDER!!!
It's a live system, meaning that you will either need to burn it to a CD, then boot from said CD, or use something like YUMI to shove it onto a USB stick. Installation is impossible, unless you decide to remaster it and include Ubiquity. It's good for people who want to build Android, but don't want to hassle around with trying to install Ubuntu (or get rid of Unity if you install 11.04 desktop or later).
The only language available is English, because that is my native language and I was trying to get as small as possible. There's no accessibility featuring either, again for the size.
Booting still has issues to work out; it does try to ask what language you want with ISOLINUX, and as of yet I don't know how to stop it from asking. Verbosity is enabled (I like seeing what's happening, even if I don't have a clue about it) so you'll get to see how it doesn't necessarily like trying to configure the network (at least in a VM), and how buggy-ish the boot process still is at this point.
The bugs are why it's at version 0.01. The x86 version can be downloaded, but I'm still working on the x86_84 version.
On a sidenote, I have made a remix of a remix. It is called Squishbuntu and it is at the same Sourceforge project as ANDROIDER and it is squishy and pokable. Only x86 is available as of yet.
The project is at {sourceforge . net / projects / androider} if you think you're interested. I won't cry if you're not.
(Yikes this is a long-winded post.)
If you'll remember the April Fools joke on Lineage OS's website, there was this fake program called Br0Zip:
We know our users; their biggest desire is to be able to get a stable custom rom on their device. Painlessly.
Lineage supports a lot of devices, but this big number is still small when compared to the amount of the devices available in the market.
One of our main goals is to bring the latest Android version to all those forgotten devices, but we also focus on user experience and security improvements.
The main problem with this cool thing is that you need a developer that builds and fixes all the bugs. It’s a pain, we’ve done it many times.
But these days are gone now. We’re deprecating maintainers. Yeah - you read it right.
We’re proud to annouce our AI-powered revolutionary product called Br0zip.
Br0zipperEngine, is a powerful AI that powers Br0Zip. Given any .zip ROM or .img kernel of any device (yeah - any device) it’ll be able to generate a properly working ROM.
It’s cool, isn’t it? But wait - there’s more: we believe customization is important, and that’s why we implemented a feature selector in the ROM builder wizard, so you can make your ROM truly yours.
Anyone, including those who have never touched a single line of code now can be a talented developer and create their own bugless custom ROM for their device in seconds.
The best thing? It runs directly on your phone - you don’t even need a supercomputer.
Br0zip trial will included for free in the LineageOS builds.
We can’t wait to see what you’ll build with it.
Keep romming,
The Lineage Ink. team
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Despite the obvious fact that no such thing had been developed, it's actually a good idea.
Picture this: instead of flashing a ROM that adjusts itself (option 3 in the poll - imagine how large that would be if it had support for EVERY SINGLE FEATURE ever developed for Android devices!), have a program which, after the initial setup wizard, detects and downloads the necessary components for your device over the internet via some cloud-based server, then installs those components, restart if needed, and voila! You have a working ROM installed on your Android device. Very much like what Ubuntu, Debian, Mageia, and other Linux-based OSes do when not all the components required are supplied by the live CD or USB image.
What do you all think?
Ah, yes. this old thread. How popular it was back then... Well, at least I got an avatar out of that April Fool's joke.
Mainline it to the main Linux repo
Use mobian END or
If you want android Get the upgraded LOS port to your device and port it to AOSP using the android mainline kernel (now with the last Linux you can use any android version you want), with mainline drivers like freedreno etc... (You can use drm-hwcomposer) END or
If you want your stock rom like OxygenOS extract the GSI of the newer model of your phone, decompile apks, edit files etc... To match your hardware and reenable lost features or disable feature with hardware requirements. To make sure everything is working fork LOS and call it, merge it with the prebuilt GSI and modify it to work lawless with stuff like enforced selinux.
I'm doing this with my OnePlus 6T, my hope is to have the last OxygenOS that work flawlessly on mainline kernel and upgrade it until the hardware is not good enough, then I'll just use mobian or buy a new phone.
Given that Android is comprised of multiple disjoint components, about two dozen of which are encompassed in Project Mainline/Treble/Google Play system updates/etc., now mostly simply referred to as "Google System updates"...
"One of Google's biggest efforts for Android in recent years is to make updating parts of the operating system easier, cutting out the middlemen wherever possible to deliver updates directly to customers. Originally referred to as Project Mainline, the system is now called "Google Play system updates" or sometimes "Google System updates."
These updates are downloaded and installed automatically by the Play Store, with the installation finalizing whenever you decide to reboot your phone. Generally speaking, the system is designed to go unnoticed, a goal that Google has achieved with relative success."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have asked this key pertinent question of everyone I can ever since project Mainline/Treble had been announced way back for Android 10 and have yet to get _any_ answer whatsoever that has any basis in published facts from Google.
The question...
For the two dozen core modules covered in project Mainline, for how long does Google update them over Google Play Update services on Android 10+ phones?
The answer...
Is it finite?
Is it forever?
Is it arbitrarily finite?
For how long are the two dozen core modules updated over Google Play for any given Android X+ device?
GalaxyA325G said:
Given that Android is comprised of multiple disjoint components, about two dozen of which are encompassed in Project Mainline/Treble/Google Play system updates/etc., now mostly simply referred to as "Google System updates"...
I have asked this key pertinent question of everyone I can ever since project Mainline/Treble had been announced way back for Android 10 and have yet to get _any_ answer whatsoever that has any basis in published facts from Google.
The question...
For the two dozen core modules covered in project Mainline, for how long does Google update them over Google Play Update services on Android X+ phones?
The answer...
Is it finite?
Is it forever?
Is it arbitrarily finite?
For how long are the two dozen core modules updated over Google Play for any given Android X+ device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "project mainline" is misleading. Here when I tak about mainlining I'm talking about running android with a generic Linux kernel instead of the fork. So you can basically update the kernel to infinity and so port every android version you like.
So basically now I'm porting the OnePlus 6t to aosp using android-mainline as kernel with drm-hwcomposer. So anything forked or something.
First off, I wanted to say I posted a few threads about this thing here asking questions about stuff I needed to get it working in the way I'd like and I'd want to thank you because I have made a lot of progress in getting it to be what I'd like it to be. I also don't know if this is the best forum to post this report because it's neither a question nor necessarily a tutorial but rather a summary and description of work already done so far, and especially because this device, while it sure runs Android (very well!) does not fit into any of the categories on this site neatly.
The story so far
This post concerns my experience working with the ITX-3588J, a board released just a few months ago by the Chinese manufacturer Firefly (or T-Chip Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd, based in Zhongshan) that is in the coveted mini-ITX form factor which means it can actually fit into a small-size desktop computer case and indeed has enough compute power to theoretically - and perhaps not so theoretically! - function as an honest desktop system with an ARM processor: namely the - also very new - Rockchip RK3588 system-on-a-chip.
About two months ago, I was looking into acquiring a new kind of computer to replace my somewhat longer on the tooth x86 machine that would be compact, low-power, and easy to transport while also being a fully capable desktop. And I certainly didn't want Apple. I had seen some very small form x86 desktops before, but I also knew there were many boards - like Raspberry Pi - that featured the ARM processor. Not content with the Pi, which is still very weak for this application at least when compared against modern software, I wanted to see if there was something else by now in a similar vein, and when I saw this board I thought it was an amazing option, esp. given I have not yet found a peer. Many ARM single-board devices exist but this is the only one I've found so far that looks to be in a proper desktop form factor and sporting a processor powerful enough to work at that level.
So I got the board, a case, and - noting it had SATA ports - a cheap 250 GB SSD, and put it all together ... and fired it up! And to my surprise, it booted up Android! Which was a real shocker because I generally thought this'd be like another PC board, not having had much experience with this ecosystem beyond phones, so that it would just give the usual "OS not found" stuff. Nope - pre-loaded on the board. Very minimal, very bare-bones though, not even the Google Play and similar essentials required for a usable Android experience. Yet with the little bit I had, I couldn't help but notice it was extremely fluid, responsive, and snappy, moreso than my aging 2018 era x86 box. Moreover, it was very, very interesting (and exciting!) to see Android booted onto a full-size monitor screen like Linux or Microsoft Windows - and actually and surprisingly, to see that it didn't look and feel all that bad!
However, of course, I wanted more. First, I wanted a fully-featured installation of Android. Second, I wanted to run Linux on it - especially given that, a short while later, I found that the board manufacturers were offering a stock Ubuntu 20.04 to be installable to it. Although, in the early stages, I didn't know how to do this at all, and then soon after learned how to reflash the embedded MMC chip to change the OS. And I did so, trying the Ubuntu and finding it also very performant, but not liking either that it was not quite the newest version but also more that it was mutually exclusive with Android - so far.
And that would begin a long - and at many times frustrating, especially given how much information out there is not at all tuned to a device like this being pressed into this application - learning journey toward exploring topics as diverse as how ARM processors and SoCs work under the hood, U-Boot, kernel features, the Firefly-Rockchip developer kit - and having to essentially single-handedly discover many of that kit's ins and outs given there was pretty much no documentation - and more, ultimately leading to where I've got it to now.
What it can do at this point
And that is, right now, I have it sitting here, loaded up with the stock Android 12 and Ubuntu 20.04 - with the former on the eMMC and the latter on the SSD hard drive. On the Android side, Google Play is now loaded and functional, though Google Chrome is not (it crashes with a "Telephony is null" exception for some reason, which seems to suggest for some reason it's trying to act like it's on a phone but isn't). Zoom - an app that I really, really wanted to have (and why I wanted to keep Android around on it) - works and works smoother and cleaner than my 2018 x86 Linux clunker. On the Ubuntu side, though, things are not yet coming - mostly because of seeming inability to use U-Boot to boot from the SSD. I managed to install GRUB, and given that Firefly's generous board SDK provides the full U-Boot source code was able to recompile it with the necessary "bootefi" command enabled which is not present in stock, but nonetheless alas this U-Boot seems to have its SATA support bugged or incomplete, because it would crash immediately upon trying to initialize that subsystem.
Where I'd like to go with it
Obviously, full dual boot of Android and Ubuntu, so getting U-Boot to boot the GRUB resident on the hard drive, is the biggest issue so far, and that means investigating whatever is the problem (or not?) in its SATA subsystem. Getting Google Chrome working on Android is another important step. Moreover - though it would cost extra money that I do not have right now - there's the very interesting possibility, owing to the fact that it has a built in M.2 slot on the board, and alluded to in the title - that the device could be made to act as a cell phone. And finally, the possibility of upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu (ideally 22.04) - however from what I know so far, it looks like this will have to wait because the stock Linux kernels do not currently support the RK3588 fully - though I'd suggest the Linux kernel developers really should take a look at the SDK that came with this thing because it has lots of code in it including for the kernel, all under GPL.
Final note
One of the most interesting things I've learned from this project, and mentioned earlier, is just how well Android seems to work as a desktop OS. While there have apparently been some attempts to port it to x86, this is perhaps one of the first devices that is desktop-workable and which runs it natively. And one of the things I find that's nice about it is that ironically, because all the apps are designed for small screens, when they are run on a very big screen (and this monitor is not "very big" even by today's monitor standards, being a used and earlier LCD type), they are extremely easy on the eyes and have minimal UI clutter when compared to a typical desktop app on most Linux WMs and on MS Windows.
If you want to know more about the details, or anything else, feel free to ask any questions you might have!
UPDATE:
I believe I may have found an easier way to dual-boot Linux with Android, and that consists of configuring a custom ROM that will put both kernels, and GRUB, on the board's eMMC, while the rootfs for both OSes is placed on the hard disk. Will be seeing how it works.
UPDATE:
I have almost completed the custom ROM! I have now both Android and at least the base system for Ubuntu 20.04 (Kernel 5.10.66) bootable with Android now storing user data on the hard drive; though I'm still running into some hardware initialization issues in the latter that are keeping me from actually installing the desktop system. With regard to the Ubuntu system, there is some interesting issue in that for some reason the provided SDK kernel, which I had to rebuild, seems to build more Android-like because it wants to look in "/vendor" for some things related seemingly to the networking facilities, and it is possible this is preventing me from bringing up wifi, which I need in order to download the rest of the system.
But lots of progress overall - it seems that a full-fledged ARM desktop running simultaneously Android and Ubuntu is within reach to be wrung from this board!
Ignore my request for an update in another post. Seems you like you moving along. I don't need dual boot, just a working Android 12 with GPlay and Chrome. Did you get Chrome to work?
mebalzer said:
Ignore my request for an update in another post. Seems you like you moving along. I don't need dual boot, just a working Android 12 with GPlay and Chrome. Did you get Chrome to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Yeah, I want to say that I have pretty successfully gotten Android 12 working on it for sure, but Ubuntu is proving much more difficult due to graphics support issues, and I'm not sure if it will be possible until RK3588 is supported in the mainline Linux kernel tree which is still something under development. And yes! I got Chrome to work Everything works, actually - it's great as an Android system, though obviously Android is kinda funny to use as a desktop OS. I am wondering if I can't get a "pseudo" Linux using something like Linux Deploy in lieu of running it natively, at least until the kernel development catches up with this new processor.
(FWIW, I'm posting this post from that machine while it is running A12. )
Good to see someone else is interested in it, though. What are you planning on using yours for?
Insofar as getting Android 12 to work w/GApps - it depends on if you want to do it purely on the eMMC or you want to also put user data on an attached hard drive like I did. In either case, the best option, I feel, is to create a custom ROM - I could provide custom ROMs for it for download, but don't know because of Google's licensing conditions around the GApps and have heard of people getting in trouble with Google for distributing custom ROMs for phones that have GApps in them. You basically need to unpack the stock Android image, unpack the "super.img", then load the apps from a package like NikGApps into the "product" partition (NOT "oem" - that was a big mistake), then repack everything and flash to the eMMC again. You will need the board SDK from Firefly for all this as it has the custom ROM-packing and flashing tools.
Alternatively, it is possible to manually install the NikGApps GApps using the Android console - as it's a fully unlocked system, obtaining root access is trivial: just put it into Developer mode and you will find the root access in the "Developer options..." menu under "System".
Shimmy99 said:
Insofar as getting Android 12 to work w/GApps - it depends on if you want to do it purely on the eMMC or you want to also put user data on an attached hard drive like I did. In either case, the best option, I feel, is to create a custom ROM - I could provide custom ROMs for it for download, but don't know because of Google's licensing conditions around the GApps and have heard of people getting in trouble with Google for distributing custom ROMs for phones that have GApps in them. You basically need to unpack the stock Android image, unpack the "super.img", then load the apps from a package like NikGApps into the "product" partition (NOT "oem" - that was a big mistake), then repack everything and flash to the eMMC again. You will need the board SDK from Firefly for all this as it has the custom ROM-packing and flashing tools.
Alternatively, it is possible to manually install the NikGApps GApps using the Android console - as it's a fully unlocked system, obtaining root access is trivial: just put it into Developer mode and you will find the root access in the "Developer options..." menu under "System".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will keep this in mind. See my reply to you other reply on another post as well.
I would to run gplay as well please send me instruction the nikapps github doesnt say nothing
Asking this question because the attempt to get TWRP on my device is becoming a compound problem as the distance to being able to build it approaches 1. Otherwise known as the law of inverse noobness: Hindsight is always 20/20. Personally, not even half way to 1 in being able to do this, as am fairly new to doing things at the operating system level of programming. Not brand-new though, and knowing how and where to look things up helps, so if you have hints or can point me in the right direction that'd be great. First question is sort of along the lines of "how do you setup your dev environment" if you want to make it modular? More precisely:
So right now, the build page for AOSP concerning my device says to use Ubuntu 14.04 and do all those things to set it up for that. Do I need to do that in order to get TWRP built for my device? To have it set up the same way as the AOSP advises? Having a different computer for each dev environment would be a bit much, but running them in qemu seems even more ridiculous. Perhaps a better idea is to set up a "build environment" on bootable USB sticks that do all the work? That would simply a lot of things, like not having to swap out hard drives, and being able to easily clone a USB drive to "just work" and build AOSP/TWRP at will on any computer.
For reference, it is the Moto G Power (2021) "Sofia" device. They've released sources for it, but not much development going on. So learning how to do this for my device might just unlock TWRP (and with it, probably the Nethunter kernel/chroot environment) for other devices not yet supported.
Help me, help you. Thanks.
(Have other questions, too).
Why not use WSL2?
How to install Linux WSL2 on Windows 10 and Windows 11
The latest version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux is a significant upgrade; for most, it's now easier than ever to install.
www.windowscentral.com
jwoegerbauer said:
Why not use WSL2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use windows.
Bump.
Asking this because it seems that, being new to programming and having no formal training, I'm missing something from tutorials (like the TWRP git page, or some of the tutorials here on this forum that haven't been updated since 2013) and other material that might be thought to be "known" or "implied" and I just can't seem to understand what. Because when I go to build projects or whatever, following tutorials to the letter, still end up with errors and other problems that aren't covered in the tutorial. Part of that problem is installing dependencies, and then having them conflict with other installed things, like having two of python and three versions of java. So having a "build environment" to prevent conflicts is something that wasn't taught, but learned through trial and error, but that isn't the only problem I'm having.
McChadwicke said:
For reference, it is the Moto G Power (2021) "Sofia" device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. I have the same model, but it's "borneo".
Did you build TWRP for your device? Any pointers or tips?
I usually just modify stock recovery to have rooted, permissive ADB.
I really don't need more than that in a recovery.
I haven't done much with my GP21 since the Firehose loader is restricted.
Renate said:
I usually just modify stock recovery to have rooted, permissive ADB.
I really don't need more than that in a recovery.
I haven't done much with my GP21 since the Firehose loader is restricted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure why the last reply didn't quote you...
Setting up a build environment is an evolving problem. As of this writing it seems the Ubuntu team is switching to a "pro version" system, a paywall, for some services...
Also, AOSP recommends Ubuntu 14 for a build environment. Gave up trying to run it from USBs lol, it is running on a dedicated system. But android-sdk is no longer available in apt, while running Ubuntu 14.04 + latest updates? So went to check why and now AOSP is using its own system for build environment setup and management. Tried running it in Ubuntu 14, but gave errors with the setup script provided.
Seeing now if I can't get the android sdk to run in Mint-XFCE... Will check back. TWRP build page says I need these things to build it (TWRP), right?
Also, how much of the preinstalled vendor crud can be pruned before it breaks?
Thanks.
Edit: reference on the TWRP guide I'm using is https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ompile-twrp-from-source-step-by-step.3404024/ (posted 2016)
I think that all build environments are getting more restricted.
"Just do it OUR way" seems to be the new corporate slogan.
I build Android apps without Android Studio, Gradle or an IDE.
Renate said:
I think that all build environments are getting more restricted.
"Just do it OUR way" seems to be the new corporate slogan.
I build Android apps without Android Studio, Gradle or an IDE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does TWRP have its own build control system? Considering all these changes, should it?
To keep things isolated, clean and manageable on host system, that has no dev tools
or anything extra besides standard desktop stuff. (under main linux distros)
#1 For smallest , fastest deployment of various build/dev environments i use schroot
on devuan/debian , it is a system to manage/automate the use of chrootable containers.
like regular manual chroot but most thigs are automated/preconfigured with
just a few commands and config files.
Basicaly a new root filesystem (userspace) that is independent of hosts root filesystem and just
uses hosts kernel (or as much/little acces to kernel as you give it trough schroot config files)
has its own packages and dependencies and will only see specific sections of hosts filesystem sections you give it access to like say /src/myproject from host. can be a separate /home
or shared with host, all depends on your config.
Using debootstrap to create the filesystems for containers of specific distributions/verions.
Or can just manualy copy an install and rip out the kernel etc...
(Can install ubuntu userspace in debian with debootstrap , if need be.)
(like lineageOS was hard to find all the correct/matching dev tools under devuan, so ubuntu it was)
#2 For something a bit beefier LXC on top of libvirt.
(regular chroot wont run services, or have its own networking , LXCs can , with some extra configuration)
#3 For when you just need an actual full blown VM os installation use KVM/qemu on top of libvirt .
(like installing 15 year old redhat 5.1 in a container wont work, kernels and main libs too far apart)
(or anything that is just too different from current linux kernel , other OS s etc...)
virt-manager is nice for graphicaly managing VMs and LXCs
#1 But schroot is essential and will suffice for more then 90% if not whole 100% of your needs.
if you want a clean host system from being clobbered by constant installing and testing and such . Keeps the environment contained in its own filesystem namespace , have as many as you need .
start fresh,rollback,clone etc.............
Once configured just start another tab in a terminal emulator and schroot in to the container
and your main host system in unaffected, always clean .
#4 Running all of this on top of ZFS takes it a step up, to the next level of effeciency.
zfs helps quite a bit with cloning,branching,snapshots, rollbacks but not essential,
like git versioning for things that are too big for or are not made for git management
(but is another system on to itself to learn, so ignore it if new to linux )
just cloning a 300Mb-1Gb base bootstrap install folder takes no time on regular filesystem on ssds .
With these 3 tools , you can have 10s if not 100s of different environments on a single host
quickly deployable once you get to know the procedures. all usable at the same time without
reboot,
#5 The most important is learning how to hunt for the right version of tools and all of the
dependencies and the correct versions of those , as each project will have their own
and will base it on their own distribution of choice at a specific point in time.
(by being able to install/test/restart in container makes this whole process , easier)
you can test many different ideas at the same time , and merge what works in
to your own dev-build-env for a specific project.
(like hunting down correct tutorial for specific/old/obscure phone and a rom and recovery
and rooting tools associate from a time long past. using wayback machine to source
correct versions of each , as normal web has erased them )
even used schroot to install games for nephew from untrusted sources without hesitation,
and just delete the container when done, but that was a bit more involved as proprietary
nvidia drivers had to be installed on host and partially in containers.
dandudikof said:
To keep things isolated, clean and manageable on host system, that has no dev tools
or anything extra besides standard desktop stuff. (under main linux distros)
#1 For smallest , fastest deployment of various build/dev environments i use schroot
on devuan/debian , it is a system to manage/automate the use of chrootable containers.
like regular manual chroot but most thigs are automated/preconfigured with
just a few commands and config files.
(like hunting down correct tutorial for specific/old/obscure phone and a rom and recovery
and rooting tools associate from a time long past. using wayback machine to source
correct versions of each , as normal web has erased them )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
neat. schroot looks like a solution. answers a lot of questions, anyway. that last part scares me though. using the wayback machine to source things jeez. there's gotta be a better way, but probably not unless i want to do it myself which will only add time to "the project".
McChadwicke said:
neat. schroot looks like a solution. answers a lot of questions, anyway. that last part scares me though. using the wayback machine to source things jeez. there's gotta be a better way, but probably not unless i want to do it myself which will only add time to "the project".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was just worse case scenario if you get in to very obsolete/old/abandoned stuff (10-20 year old) projects/hardware etc...
dandudikof said:
10-20 year old
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Click to collapse
yeah some of the hardware is in that range. actually upgraded one of the old rigs (because parts are cheap) from an athlon to a phenom lmao thing has 16gb ram, it is stacked now with top of the line things from that era. keeping it around for nostalgia's sake at this point since it still works.
xmrig gets abysmal hash rates, not even worth running on older hardware.