Develop Bugs

[ThinkTank] Getting an AOSP Eclair build for Hero

We have had alot of activity over the last few days, what with the first 2.0 releases from the main players and now even some 2.1 builds. Which is excellent.
Maybe I am not 100% up to speed on the whole thing, but if AOSP 2.0 is "released" by google, then surely things like sync issues, etc shouldn't be in the source code?? I mean, the code should be as "bug free" as possible, so anything obvious like that would strike me as odd.
The reason I raise this point, is because I dislike the Rosie/SenseUI on my Hero, I would rather have the good, old Android standard like I had on my G1 - just what I prefer. However there are only beta versions of the AOSP eclair for Hero.
Would it be possible to build an AOSP eclair firmware, using the Qualcomm? proprietory drivers from someones leaked 2.1 image (working on an assumption that 2.1 has the same kernel base?) to produce a fully working Eclair 2.0 for Hero?
If I am way off the mark with this, please say, I'm just trying to think it through with the help of the people in the know.

Ditto. I am all for AOSP 2.0

richbayliss said:
Maybe I am not 100% up to speed on the whole thing, but if AOSP 2.0 is "released" by google, then surely things like sync issues, etc shouldn't be in the source code?? I mean, the code should be as "bug free" as possible, so anything obvious like that would strike me as odd
Click to expand...
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I think part of the "issue" is that whilst Google have release some 2.0 code to AOSP, it is not currently complete (see here). In addition, many of the Google apps (e.g. Gmail) are closed source, so you have to rely on prebuilt components which may, or may not, be compatible.
The long and short of it is that Lox is already doing what you are asking. The prerelease of HTC's 2.1 has possibly served as a distraction to the AOSP 2.0 build, but I'm sure once Google properly drops AOSP 2.1 code that work will be of direct relevance to the AOSP project.
Regards,
Dave

yeah exactly. just sit tight and wait for Lox_dev to finish his 2.1 Then he might look after the AOSP 2.0. and as AOSP 2.0 is running pretty fine without much hassle its fine if Lox takes some time before working on AOSP 2.0 . cheers

I'm with this idea!
I mean, just compare the 2.1 and 2.0 aosp videos; android 2.0 has much cleaner, and better transitions imo.
Design choices in 2.1 by HTC are, imo, bad as usual; the transparent notification drawer for example; what is the purpose? It's only jerky. And so on..

I suggest suspending judgement on HTC's 2.1 until they've actually released final code! Remember this is a leaked internal build - what ends up in the final ROM may be quite different.
Regards,
Dave

I think I have a clearer picture now, thanks guys.
I just wish that we could be in a scenario where we could flash a standard AOSP build onto our Hero's, sans the whole SenseUI, and have a basic usable phone.
I really dont get the whole "gmail is closed source" crap with Google. I mean, I can have Gmail on WinMo, S60, etc - but only on Android IF I have a license?? WTF! Crazy! Luckily, now that Gmail does support Exchange Activesync I don't need the standalone app anyway.
So the word on the street is wait.... which I guess is what we will have to do
I am keen to be able to build from source so I can start on a project I have in mind. Think along the lines of SenseUI, but a bit different.....

richbayliss said:
We have had alot of activity over the last few days, what with the first 2.0 releases from the main players and now even some 2.1 builds. Which is excellent.
Maybe I am not 100% up to speed on the whole thing, but if AOSP 2.0 is "released" by google, then surely things like sync issues, etc shouldn't be in the source code?? I mean, the code should be as "bug free" as possible, so anything obvious like that would strike me as odd.
The reason I raise this point, is because I dislike the Rosie/SenseUI on my Hero, I would rather have the good, old Android standard like I had on my G1 - just what I prefer. However there are only beta versions of the AOSP eclair for Hero.
Would it be possible to build an AOSP eclair firmware, using the Qualcomm? proprietory drivers from someones leaked 2.1 image (working on an assumption that 2.1 has the same kernel base?) to produce a fully working Eclair 2.0 for Hero?
If I am way off the mark with this, please say, I'm just trying to think it through with the help of the people in the know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgive me if I'm missing the point, but we already have a fully working AOSP Eclair image for the HTC Hero. I've been using it for over a week, on a daily basis and other than the looping sync issue (which we are working on) it works fantastic..

jnwhiteh said:
Forgive me if I'm missing the point, but we already have a fully working AOSP Eclair image for the HTC Hero. I've been using it for over a week, on a daily basis and other than the looping sync issue (which we are working on) it works fantastic..
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Click to collapse
I wasn't aware that all issues apart from the syncing were fixed. I thought we still had issues with camera stability etc?? Is this not the case??

There are some minor issues with stability, but it's absolutely useable on a daily basis. I guess it would be better for you to list what your problems are or concerns, rather than making (what appears to me) to be a grand claim for concentrated work on something.
There are a number of us who are solely focused on getting AOSP Eclair working 100%.. but we're very nearly there. Having people contribute constructive information about what doesn't work would be the best.

jnwhiteh said:
There are some minor issues with stability, but it's absolutely useable on a daily basis. I guess it would be better for you to list what your problems are or concerns, rather than making (what appears to me) to be a grand claim for concentrated work on something.
There are a number of us who are solely focused on getting AOSP Eclair working 100%.. but we're very nearly there. Having people contribute constructive information about what doesn't work would be the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me, I'll come back to AOSP soon with great things

That's an awesome news ! Thank you Lox !

Lox_Dev said:
Believe me, I'll come back to AOSP soon with great things
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Click to collapse
Thanks Lox, appreciated.

Lox_Dev said:
Believe me, I'll come back to AOSP soon with great things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news man! Thanks a lot! Holding my breath...

jnwhiteh said:
There are some minor issues with stability, but it's absolutely useable on a daily basis. I guess it would be better for you to list what your problems are or concerns, rather than making (what appears to me) to be a grand claim for concentrated work on something.
There are a number of us who are solely focused on getting AOSP Eclair working 100%.. but we're very nearly there. Having people contribute constructive information about what doesn't work would be the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The only reason I am now using Lox_devs Hero 2.1 1.4 instead of the pure Eclair one is that Eclair does not sync my exchange calendar. I just cant see why the calendar has been left out.

Cyanogen for Hero?

Hi all
Does anyone know if the Cyanogen ROM will be availeble for the HERO? Just saw this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HVBVlAui3s&feature=player_embedded#!
where the G1 has it. Is has some nice features. Like:
Switching music with the volume keys
Syncing with facebook (i know some have this feature)
Switching music with the volume keys

There already is a Cyanogen port for the Hero, but it's not being developed anymore. I found it at modaco forums.

torstenk said:
Switching music with the volume keys
Syncing with facebook (i know some have this feature)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that all it has? Because I would expect every Hero rom to be able to sync with facebook, as it is a standard android feature. The switching music with volume keys would be annoying i think, but if it is a feature you would like try asking a dev to help you out or create an optional file to move keys around, its probably not that hard, but not something every user would want.

Well of course it has a lot of other features. Otherwise google would not try to lock down his ROMS. It is also very popular among users. I ahve read an article on Engadget that 30.000 users uses his ROM. So of course it has a lot of other features

Fact is, there's no up to date Cyanogen port for the Hero, magic volume music buttons or not. I'd hazard a guess that it'd be easier for benhaam or nprussell to implement this feature than to attempt to build the whole ROM for this purpose. But it'd be way down anyone's list of 'useful/required features'.

Problem is in Lox vendor tree, which doesn't work anymore. If there is working vendor thee for hero, it is easy to build from cyanogen sources.

It is a matter of delayed 2.1 update (God bless you HTC!). We are all waiting for official sources and vendor overlay.
May be MaXo64 could "Legoconstruct" some features from Cyanogen into his briliant aHero ROM.

hey 3 questions:
1. What is vendor overlay?
2. Why do we need htc's source if it's for 2.1 sense? Isn't The magic and the Hero the same hardware mostly?
3. Historically did htc publish their source after publishing the official rom?

Vendor specific drivers, modules and libraries for hardware. This code is closed and it is a property of HTC. For example code for video card or for GPS chip.
They have to publish source codes according to Android licence.

art_sn00p said:
They have to publish source codes according to Android licence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a slightly misleading statement - there is *nothing* in the "Android License" which requires source code to be released because there is no such thing as an "Android License"
You are thinking of the linux kernel, which is released under the GPL. HTC have to release their modifications to the kernel, but this quite separate from the rest of Android which is released under the Apache Software License and is not a "copyleft" license.
This is why HTC do not have to release the source code for Sense UI.
Regards,
Dave

Nevertheless, we do not need Sense UI sources. It is mere a graphical enhancement. Linux kernel, right, is under GPLv2. And hardware specific kernel modules are kernel modification. So they have to ))
But it is not forbidden for HTC never produce update for Hero. No new kernel, no new sources )

art_sn00p said:
Nevertheless, we do not need Sense UI sources. It is mere a graphical enhancement. Linux kernel, right, is under GPLv2. And hardware specific kernel modules are kernel modification. So they have to ))
But it is not forbidden for HTC never produce update for Hero. No new kernel, no new sources )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need Sense UI sources
I bet I could sell it back to HTC for a rouble or two!

Haha. Seriously though, that's what baksmali is for

[Vendor Tree] Cyanogenmod for GSM Hero (Community Edition)

Ok so instead of five billion different ports of the CyanogenMod 5 for the GSM Hero, I have simply forked Darchstar's CDMA Hero port of CyanogenMod 5 on github.
It will be WAY more productive & efficient if all the developers work together instead of fragment the process of this port.
If anyone wants to be added as a collaborator, just PM your Github name.
Github: link

Re: [ROM-DEV] CyanogenMod 5 for the GSM Hero (Community Edition)
I think it is very good idea
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

bump..
tenchar

Free bump.
There needs to be some order around here. The amount of seeming "best" "fastest" Builds are a pain in the arse. Can people just not get their **** together? This forum is a proper mess.

Detol Loki said:
Free bump.
There needs to be some order around here. The amount of seeming "best" "fastest" Builds are a pain in the arse. Can people just not get their **** together? This forum is a proper mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I entirely agree.

you need to modify the AndroidBoard.mk to actually point to the hero libs and proprietary files to not get errors during compilation. and also, you may also want to use actual hero proprietary stuff in the vendor tree too.
also, rename the thread to "[Vendor Tree] Cyanogenmod for GSM Hero (Community Edition)"

darchstar said:
you need to modify the AndroidBoard.mk to actually point to the hero libs and proprietary files to not get errors during compilation. and also, you may also want to use actual hero proprietary stuff in the vendor tree too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how to do any of this this. I have simply set this up to push the community into a direction of hopefully working together & get this working on the GSM Hero faster.

jaymac407 said:
I entirely agree.
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Click to collapse
As do I.. But then, I am still on an 1.5 rom, as I found them to be the fastest, least power-hungry.
The only thing I am missing is some Google Maps updates and some software I can not install as it requires 1.6+, but whenever I tried a 2.x rom, I found I only used it for a little while and then restored the nandroid backup of my trusty 1.5 setup, it's just fast and stable.

Sorry for this stupid quesiton, but how can i compile/sign/whatever it to run this on my hero?

I'm sure when the time comes there will be a release version. For now this is for the devs to work on.

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Being Pushed To AOSP

http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/1...3-gingerbread-being-pushed-to-aosp-right-now/
go, go, go! )

These are very good news
I already see my Hero running CM 7
:happy face:

Excellent News Lets see who get's their GingerBread ROM out first

Sweet, if the hero really will be supported!

Cooooooooooooooool man very nice go go go go gooooooooooooooogle

Tchuup-tchuup! Hotness train is leaving the stations

ummm...
yea. will be interesting to watch... if it works on hero it will be fun... I don't expect devs will take the time on the hero any more like they used to but if someone out there has the know how and time and dedication then it's probably possible.

dkelley said:
ummm...
yea. will be interesting to watch... if it works on hero it will be fun... I don't expect devs will take the time on the hero any more like they used to but if someone out there has the know how and time and dedication then it's probably possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feeyo...

Good news
Sent from my HTC Hero

C0mpu13rFr34k said:
Feeyo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should be interesting to watch his progress

I wish the technical know-how would be something well documented.
What I mean is, ive seen lox/benocharm (sp?) progress in the last year in terms of Android knowledge, almost from the start. Ive seen one of these two guys post about initial questions about how things work, then edit his own post to do a mini-FAQ on ROM cooking. Now today it would look like they would kick some major ass at doing it if they were still able to give time for this, because they know the Hero hardware by heart; they know the usual glitch when porting (ie: how to make camera/bluetooth work, etc), all the minor details that makes a ROM usable or not for a day-to-day ROM! However, this kind of knowledge seems not so well documented.
What i'm basically saying is if a developer bails out the documentation about how to rebuild a custom ROM does too. It looks like (from a non-cooker point of view) that there is no centralized Wiki or webpage about the usual generic steps or roadblocks when porting from another device or when starting from AOSP to build FOR an Htc Hero (or any device, too).
Personally i know enough about linux in general, ive build a few updates.zip for my own knowledge's sake (nothing fancy though, removed/added apks ), but I have my questions on how to properly make something not built specifically for an Hero work with all the hardware functioning. I'm sure many others are in the same boat (plenty of tech knowledge but lack of Android ROM resources). For example, the question I had in mind were in the form of:
Does specific hardware components (gps, wifi, bt) relies on linux kernel modules? Does it need some kind of special APKS or Jars to make it work along with the framework, or just kernel modules are enough once loaded?
Following up on the point above: would copying modules from another device specific ROM would be sufficient? (I guess not), what about Android release versions (Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, etc)? Can modules work regardless of the Android version being run on?
ETC...
Well its pretty much a long rant, but since i'm stuck with a 3 year contract on Telus with an HTC Hero, I wouldnt mind giving a bit of my free time to make a working ROM out of it. However I am/was under the impression that the Hero ROM development scene went to a stop once Cyanogen started supporting Hero (seems to me there are only two *major* roms out there, CM and VillainRom), and due to that ROM cookers stoped caring about the Hero since it was well enough supported as it is (with CM on board).
Thanks for listening, doctor

I'm actually in the process of setting up an Ubuntu virtual box to dive right in, when I saw the AOSP sources getting pushed I thought why wait? Why not try it myself?
Don't expect anything soon. First of all I am just going to build off the Cyanogen tree and see if I can make a working ROM, then I will look into the deep dark hell that is porting software to HTC's proprietory-drivered-up-the-ass Hero

l0st.prophet said:
I'm actually in the process of setting up an Ubuntu virtual box to dive right in, when I saw the AOSP sources getting pushed I thought why wait? Why not try it myself?
Don't expect anything soon. First of all I am just going to build off the Cyanogen tree and see if I can make a working ROM, then I will look into the deep dark hell that is porting software to HTC's proprietory-drivered-up-the-ass Hero
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any luck with it? I had the same idea, reading now a lot of information about building a rom.

Maybe we can post some useful links or tutorials about building ROMs in this thread so that we can kind of collaborate?

That would be a great idea, i really like the idea of building my own rom. or at least try to build one.
Here you can find how to setup your own machine to build android roms
http://source.android.com/source/download.html
if you have problems with installing sun-java5-jdk follow the instructions on this page:
http://blog.enea.com/Blog/bid/32050/Ubuntu-9-10-Java-5-and-the-Android-Open-Source-Project

Also checkout Cyanogen's wiki, they really did an excellent job there:
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Compile_CyanogenMod_for_Hero

I'm progressing... slowly. Downloading Ubuntu 10.10 iso, 200MB of updates, the SDK, Eclipse, the ADT plugin, all the platform updates and GIT is taking a while on < 2Mb connection...

Especially the repo syncing... that just takes ages ;

krispijn_s said:
Especially the repo syncing... that just takes ages ;
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gives me time to read I spose! I totally understand how to build off Cyanogen's code, that sounds simple, but I get a little lost when it comes to syncing with AOSP or branching Cyanogen to make changes... but I got hours of dowloading yet so I can read up about it then!

Make sure you download the x64 version of Ubuntu. Since 2.2.1 you need a 64-bit system to compile the Android OS project.
Also don't expect to get it compiling right away, I reckon somekind of cpu-profile is missing (could be named different). Third I heard that the sound and camera (again) systems got changed, could be buggers to get those working.
Just my two cents

[Q] What would happen if I build android from source and flash it to my One X?

What would happen if I build android from source and flash it to my One X?
With the current release, it is possible to build for Nexus 7, for some variants of Galaxy Nexus, for a variant of the Motorola Xoom, and for all variants of Nexus S and Nexus S 4G. The exact level of functionality for each device depends on the availability of the relevant proprietary hardware-specific binaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- (source)
Will I brick my device? Did HTC basically just take the code and modify it to work on the One X? Any suggestions on how to proceed if I were to build my own ROM?

If you have no experience in this you are likely to f*** things up.
Just stick to aosp roms - same result.
Sent from my HTC One X

TToivanen said:
If you have no experience in this you are likely to f*** things up.
Just stick to aosp roms - same result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is no fun answer. I want to learn. I make apps for a living and want to advance and build my own ROM, because I want an all custom made one. I know I can go with CM and mod their code (or, can I?), but it would be more fun to actually do it from scratch. If it is possible, not build from AOSP at all. I know it sounds retarded but I believe the best way to learn is do as much as possible completely from scratch.
With that said, do you have any suggestion on where to start? Like mod the AOSP source code and get it running on the emulator?

You can branch cm10 and build that, it's a good place to start, you'll learn a lot.
After that, you may want to say, diff the AOSP kernel against a similar HTC kernel to see how many changes you'd be required to make to pure AOSP to get it to work with all the hardware specific bits.
Due to GPL, HTC are required to release the source modifications to the kernel and android (I assume), for any released binaries, but they can be a little slow. The JB stuff should be out soon, in theory. Hopefully that's enough to get everything working, but you will also need any binary drivers from nVidia etc.
It's a long road, and you'd do well to start with something working and work backwards towards AOSP.
I'm not sure what you mean by not even with AOSP, do you intend to create your own OS?

BenPope said:
You can branch cm10 and build that, it's a good place to start, you'll learn a lot.
After that, you may want to say, diff the AOSP kernel against a similar HTC kernel to see how many changes you'd be required to make to pure AOSP to get it to work with all the hardware specific bits.
Due to GPL, HTC are required to release the source modifications to the kernel and android (I assume), for any released binaries, but they can be a little slow. The JB stuff should be out soon, in theory. Hopefully that's enough to get everything working, but you will also need any binary drivers from nVidia etc.
It's a long road, and you'd do well to start with something working and work backwards towards AOSP.
I'm not sure what you mean by not even with AOSP, do you intend to create your own OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the thorough information! If it is possible to create your own OS, then yes, it would be awesome. Actually my idea is to make a ROM similar to the Linux distribution Tiny Core Linux; only the most essential stuff are present and bloatware and other features are removed. It could maybe serve as a good starting point for other ROMs to build on that want a minimalistic base. However, that is very, very far into the future. Now I would just like to compile a ROM that I have developed. But as I said before, if possible, skip AOSP and build my own OS definitely! Is that even possible?

Of course its possible, Android wasn't invented by some higher being or alien lifeform.
Nobody would use it though, because there would be no apps.

BenPope said:
Of course its possible, Android wasn't invented by some higher being or alien lifeform.
Nobody would use it though, because there would be no apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, so I am locked to AOSP then? i better start with the CM branch, thanks a bunch.