Porting AOSP above 1.5 to A7HT

[kornyone]

I have been consumed with work the past few days. I was trying to isolate a few bugs before putting out an image. I will work on this and provide what is available soon.

[kornyone]

DISCLAIMER: Do not use this image for your Archos unless you fully understand it's unstable, work in progress, and lacks the original Archos software. There are no Soft buttons (HOME/BACK). You will likely have to flash back to another image immediately after trying it.

I have spent hours trying to isolate the apparent instabilities introduced when the Google Applications are installed.
The behavior is predictable -- The first bootup will load successfully into the Setup Wizard. Subsequent bootups will result in the system and services crashing repeatedly (2-12 times). *The crashes are short lived, and once they are all done, the device appears stable*. These crashes can force the start up time to be noticeably longer.
Logcat logs a bunch of services dying each time the UI crashes, and it appears each crash occurs due to a unique reason. I have not isolated many of the issues, as they are obscure in their logging.
Knowing the crashing pattern, I attempted to use gapps from other sources. I also tried to use less packages/apks to make gapps function. With other sources, the stability was worse. With less files, gapps (namely Market) functionality was lost.

Of note with the Google Apps mostly working, contacts synchronizing does not function. Youtube is broken, it doesn't scale, and it works intermittently... but I left it in. Maps doesn't scale properly, but once you have signed into Google and run Market to see what updates are available, Maps will have an available update to fix the issue (and provide more functionality).

I really am not sure how stable the image is, I have not used it for more than a few hours without flashing it again. It remains a challenge to do things without the soft buttons (though I have found a way to get around with Smart Taskbar + Task Manager).

Known bugs:
* Bootup crashing (noted above).
* SD Card works for reading, but when ejected, it causes the system to go into a similar crash loop as seen at bootup. After a dozen or so crashes, it stabilizes again.
* If you activate USB Mounting in Android, you will have to reboot to disable it.
* The music app crashes on load sometimes, but will work if retried.
* Sound notifications do not work.

.. and still no soft buttons.

I have decided to provide two image downloads:
Donut image with GAPPS -- subject to bootup and sd card crashing. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XSI164VY
Donut image without GAPPS -- no bootup/sd card crashing, more lean. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XN9KE0QV

I have been very hesitant to put out an image of the work, but I am really eager to receive feedback on it

Changes since last update (not yet added to the wiki):
* Edited default.prop to have adb persistence & allow root access
* Added audio from aosp source (still not working with notifications)
* Used setupwizard.apk from dell streak 1.6 firmware to fix rotation issue
* Used wpa library/binary from original firmware to aid in stability
* Added su/superuser. Cleaned up included apks (voicesearch, mms, etc). (Removing Phone.apk and Telephony.apk breaks gapps).

[speddish]

Hi kornyone,
first I wish to compliment and thank you for the work and effort.
Next, I will receive my a7ht today (at least it should arrive), and wold like to help in the process of porting.
Are you using the sources archos released under GPL? For what I've seen there you should have all drivers sources. What are you doing is a full rebuild of kernel and so starting from these or modifying an existing image of donut?
Sorry if I lost something you already wrote...

Thanks
Nicholas

[specialb]

This build uses unmodified kernel from official Archos firmware and the rest of the build is taken from the Android Open Source Project GIT repository. No custom kernel being used at the moment. Seems like korny had some problems with the kernel.img that the toolchain that comes with the sources generates, hoping he will tell us what problems are exactly to try to help him, I already asked on other topic and waiting from reply.

[speddish]

Ok, waiting for the device I'm making my mac ready for custom firmware development, but probably I'll try to get headache with froyo directly... I'm mad I know . If I have some news I'll share ASAP! Meanwhile I'll wait for kornyone's reply...
My thought is that the way is a full rebuild, but I'm in no way an expert...

[kornyone]

Hello,
This project uses the kernel and base files from the most recent Archos 7 HT firmware, combined with compiled Donut OS from the Android Open Source Project.

I have only tinkered with the kernel itself a small amount. Like others, I have successfully compiled modules using the provided Archos kernel source. I have not had success compiling the kernel in a usable form for bootup, but I have not put much time into it. I initially wanted to try to port the kernel modules for the system drivers to a newer Froyo-supported kernel, but pretty much stopped when I began to realize there would be more roadblocks preventing Froyo from ever being a success. Specifically - there are OS userspace drivers which communicate with the kernel. While we might be able to spend a lot of time porting the kernel, we would never be able to recreate the OS drivers. Example being libaudio.so.

To get around this limitation, I could bring in these proprietary files from Cupcake -> Donut. However, doing the same for Froyo breaks the system completely.

We do not have the source for the original Cupcake OS build, which would have source for the OS audio driver and the customized menu bar with soft buttons.

So from where I see it, there would likely not be much benefit from working on a new kernel, as I really don't expect Froyo to work on this device (I sure gave it my best shot).

[speddish]

Ok, thanks for the info... I'm getting the donut source &co and try to help... If my internet connection assist me meanwhile I'll try your last image (the one without gapp).
Keep up the good work!

[Tunker]

[quote="kornyone"]DISCLAIMER: Do not use this image for your Archos unless you fully understand it's unstable, work in progress, and lacks the original Archos software. There are no Soft buttons (HOME/BACK). You will likely have to flash back to another image immediately after trying it.

So I thought I'd give it a try. Here are my observations:

- Got wifi to connect to my wireless router
- Managed to launch Google maps, found my house and managed to launch and use Street View. The map display size is stuck on small as mentioned above.
- The speed is peppy -- at least as fast as 1.5, maybe faster
- Managed to change the background.
- No audio (as mentioned)
- SD card is not recognized (as mentioned)

Wondering if there is a way to get the code for the new Archos 70 (capacitive model) soft keys / menu panel ported over to this build?

Congrats and keep up the good work!

[specialb]

I have not had success compiling the kernel in a usable form for bootup

What problems did you exactly have for this?

Also, the kernel tree on the Archos source release include some sound code, so about that libaudio.so file, are you sure it is just not an standard kernel module?

[pettipiere]

Hi All,

Sounds like its time for Archos to get involved.

As Pmarin said

If Archos would help us a little bit how different this whole thing would be...

So how about someone from Archos making at least a comment.

Cheers,

Chris

[GNU/Blind]

I have not had success compiling the kernel in a usable form for bootup

What problems did you exactly have for this?

Also, the kernel tree on the Archos source release include some sound code, so about that libaudio.so file, are you sure it is just not an standard kernel module?

As far as I know .so files are shared library files, .ko files are kernel modules

[pettipiere]

Hi All,

I have made the Kornyone images available from www.a7ht.co.cc under the experimental firmware
Please take note of the following Disclaimer from Kornyone.

DISCLAIMER: Do not use this image for your Archos unless you fully understand it's unstable, work in progress, and lacks the original Archos software. There are no Soft buttons (HOME/BACK). You will likely have to flash back to another image immediately after trying it.

I have spent hours trying to isolate the apparent instabilities introduced when the Google Applications are installed.
The behavior is predictable -- The first bootup will load successfully into the Setup Wizard. Subsequent bootups will result in the system and services crashing repeatedly (2-12 times). *The crashes are short lived, and once they are all done, the device appears stable*. These crashes can force the start up time to be noticeably longer.
Logcat logs a bunch of services dying each time the UI crashes, and it appears each crash occurs due to a unique reason. I have not isolated many of the issues, as they are obscure in their logging.
Knowing the crashing pattern, I attempted to use gapps from other sources. I also tried to use less packages/apks to make gapps function. With other sources, the stability was worse. With less files, gapps (namely Market) functionality was lost.

Of note with the Google Apps mostly working, contacts synchronizing does not function. Youtube is broken, it doesn't scale, and it works intermittently... but I left it in. Maps doesn't scale properly, but once you have signed into Google and run Market to see what updates are available, Maps will have an available update to fix the issue (and provide more functionality).

I really am not sure how stable the image is, I have not used it for more than a few hours without flashing it again. It remains a challenge to do things without the soft buttons (though I have found a way to get around with Smart Taskbar + Task Manager).

Known bugs:
* Bootup crashing (noted above).
* SD Card works for reading, but when ejected, it causes the system to go into a similar crash loop as seen at bootup. After a dozen or so crashes, it stabilizes again.
* If you activate USB Mounting in Android, you will have to reboot to disable it.
* The music app crashes on load sometimes, but will work if retried.
* Sound notifications do not work.

.. and still no soft buttons.

I have decided to provide two image downloads:
Donut image with GAPPS -- subject to bootup and sd card crashing. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XSI164VY
Donut image without GAPPS -- no bootup/sd card crashing, more lean. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XN9KE0QV

I have been very hesitant to put out an image of the work, but I am really eager to receive feedback on it

Changes since last update (not yet added to the wiki):
* Edited default.prop to have adb persistence & allow root access
* Added audio from aosp source (still not working with notifications)
* Used setupwizard.apk from dell streak 1.6 firmware to fix rotation issue
* Used wpa library/binary from original firmware to aid in stability
* Added su/superuser. Cleaned up included apks (voicesearch, mms, etc). (Removing Phone.apk and Telephony.apk breaks gapps).

Cheers,

Chris

[specialb]

As far as I know .so files are shared library files, .ko files are kernel modules

Totally right, too much file extensions sometimes confuse me

[pettipiere]

Anybody still working on this?

Cheers,

Chris

[lakehousetech]

I've been working on a soft-menu button application for 1.6 during free time from work. I'll post the apk as soon as it's ready. Haven't heard a word from Korny, but I assume he's taking a break considering how much time he's already put into this port.

[metzo]

great news!!! Are you going to copy the old 1.5 backbutton, or can we expect the Gen8 style?

regards, Metzo

[kornyone]

I am still around, but I have not put any more work into this since my last update. I got to a point where I felt I was spinning my wheels on the same thing (stabilizing the OS crashes with GAPPS), so I stepped away from it. I was hoping someone might have some insight into this issue since my last post (someone with more debugging experience then myself).

This has all been a learning experience, and there's really not documentation for a lot of what I have done, or fixing what's left to be done. It has been a blast to see how far I could get with it. With that said, I am still not sure I can take the project much further.

I am glad to hear lakehousetech has been putting work into a soft menu button, that will be awesome. It will definitely inspire me to return to this project once more.

[pettipiere]

Hi Lakehousetech & Kornyone,

With the soft-buttons in place we probably could really get somewhere with this.

It's a shame that Archos have shown no interest in helping with this - not even an "attaboy" for kornyones efforts. I shouldn't be surprised but I did message them about this thread from the site.

If we can just get a working model up and running warts and all (with soft buttons) hopefully somebody can step in and help clear the bugs.

But for now to both of you,
Thank you for your great efforts,

Cheers,

Chris

[AllenPapapetrou]

+1

Great work

Allen

[kot_u_ko]

Greetings to all!! I write through the translator, therefore I ask to excuse for my English. I want to help with soft buttons, there is an alternative desktop (truth while Chinese) it is possible to try to combine it with an insertion. http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=194873