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[WEBTOP] GenTop2-20120509 (Beta) - Next Generation Gentoo Webtop Replacement

[size=+1]Introduction[/size]
What is GenTop2?
GenTop2 is a full-fledged Gentoo Linux able to replace the original Motorola Webtop. It is faster, fully-customizable and gives you the power of a complete Linux system on a mobile phone. It is a peek into the future of mobile computing!
Thanks goes to kholk, who did the original GenTop, otherwise I would have long given up.
Why use Gentoo Linux as WebTop?
Programs are fully optimized for the ARMv7a CPU contained in the Atrix.
Thus the whole system is faster and more responsive.
No shackles put around the WebTop by Motorola.
You can install any program (which compiles on ARM).
All software (except X11) is fully up-to-date.
You remember old times with desktop computers having far slower CPUs and less RAM than your phone and you wonder what you can do with this pocket computer.
Why NOT use Gentoo Linux as WebTop?
Gentoo is huge because it must install all development files.
The system and all programs must be compiled on the phone. How crazy is that?
Firefox could not be built. But, there is a smaller replacement.
Why bother using a phone, when you already have a notebook?
Working and Installed Applications
X11 via WebTop or HDMI (with hdmi-hack)
Xfce4 with thunar file manager
midori web browser with Flash player
claws-mail client
audacious
evince (pdf viewer)
ssh daemon
rxvt terminal
aiw Android In-A-Window!
Sound output via Android media system.
All are very light-weight Linux applications perfect for a small system.
Not Working:
webtop-panel (system status bar on top)
non-flash video playback ?
Installable as binary packages:
firefox (renamed to Aurora due to trademark stuff), approx 30 MB.
thunderbird (renamed to Earlybird due to trademark stuff), approx 44 MB.
libreoffice, approx 250 MB.
abiword, pidgin, emacs, texlive,
and many more, drop a note for more wishes here. However KDE is just too large.
[size=+1]Installation Instructions[/size]
Prerequisites:
Motorola Atrix
[size=+2][highlight]BACKUP.[/highlight] This will break your device![/size]
Okay hopefully it won't. A full restore will of course overwrite the webtop.
root privileges.
unlocking is not necessary.
adb and Linux knowledge.
webtop2sd is not supported (!)
CM7 is NOT supported
GenTop2 Space Requirements, Disk Speeds and a Note About WebTop2SD
Gentoo is very large because packages contain all development files. This cannot easily be changed, therefore one must work around the space limitation of the /osh partition in some way.
I did some "disk" performance measurements using bonnie++ (see [1] for full info). Here the through-put results in short: /data (ext3) 20,800 KB/s read and 6,200 KB/s write, /sdcard (fat32) 21,500 KB/s read and 8,000 KB/s write, /sdcard-ext (ext3) 12,300 KB/s read and 4,200 KB/s write, /sdcard/loopback.img (ext3) 16,150 KB/s read and 4,400 KB/s write.
One way to go would be to require webtop2sd, however, GenTop2 does not support webtop2sd because the read/write speed of the internal sdcard is much faster than on the external sdcard. Thus I tried to install as much on the /osh partition as possible and move directories onto other partitions as necessary, leaving symlinks behind. WebTop2SD also requires dpkg for some reason, which Gentoo does not have.
Therefore, it's pretty unavoidable that you do some space management yourself.
I have decided to utilize the /preinstall partition for /var. I'm not fully sure that this partition is unused on every Atrix released, but I guess in most cases it contains only provider specific bloatware that people don't want anyhow. On my Atrix it contained some car racing game, which I find hilarious to play on a mobile phone.
Anyway, the /preinstall partition is 300 MB and perfect for /var if reformatted to support many small files. The /var/db/pkg/ directory contains lots and lots of small files describing the installed packages. See the installation instruction for the mkfs line.
I also decided to require some extra ext3 partition for further program, data and portage files. It is needed anyhow to install further programs, which is what most people want to do. The /data partition would be the obvious choice and for that reason the first GenTop2 put files in /data/osh/. However, /home/ is also on /data by default and it gets pretty annoying when your home directory is full.
The only alternative to /data is either a partition on an external sd-card or a loopback mounted file-partition on /sdcard/, both are not as fast as /data (/cache cannot be used as it must be wipeable). So there really isn't much choice left except for external storage.
The main GenTop2 tarball puts 630 MB in /osh (leaving 145 MB free) and 178 MB in /preinstall (with 150 MB free), which must be mkfs formatted.
The portage GenTop2 tarball puts 1460 MB into /mnt/gentoo/ of which 475 MB are data files from /osh/usr/ and 810 MB are the portage tree.
[size=+1]Steps to install GenTop2:[/size]
There are some complications involved when using faux123's kernel, because it only contains ext4 filesystem modules and explicit mounting of ext3 will fail. The ext4 module will however mount ext3 filesystem without problems.
use adb shell and get root:
Code:
$ su
# cd /osh
# mv etc etcx
# reboot
Reboot. The above will disable the webtop.
Download http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509.tar.gz (275MB) and put it onto /sdcard via USB or adb push.
use adb shell to overwrite the existing WebTop:
Code:
(first we delete /osh)
# cd /
# ls bin
bin: No such file or directory
(this tests whether the old webtop is disabled)
# rm -r osh/*
# ls osh
(should be empty)
(next we disable and reformat /preinstall)
# mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p12 /system
# mv /system/bin/load_pia.sh /system/bin/load_pia.sh.disabled
# umount /preinstall
(depending on your ROM this might fail. ignore this problem if the following format works)
# mke2fs -m 0 -i 2048 -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p17
# mount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p17 /preinstall
(for faux kernel: replace ext3 -> ext4 in above line)
(now we unpack the main tarball)
# df
(/osh and /preinstall should be almost empty)
# cd /
# tar xvzf /sdcard/GenTop2-20120509.tar.gz
# sync
(begin extra for faux kernel: we change ext3 -> ext4)
# sed -i s/ext3/ext4/ /osh/ubuntu.sh
(end extra for faux kernel)
# sync
# reboot
Once rebooted you will get an X11 login on the HDMI connection or you can access the phone via ssh.
Account Passwords:
root / atrix
adas / atrix
To make GenTop2 more useful and to compile/install further packages you currently must have an external sd-card (or someone must devise a method to use a loopback device).
I have partitioned my external sdcard using a desktop computer into the following two partitions:
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 (remainder)
/dev/block/mmcblk1p2 (4.0 GB, formatted ext3)
Advanced: (Actually most of this stuff is advanced.) You can also use the new GenTop to partition the external sd-card. Open a terminal, and use something along the lines of:
Code:
# fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk1
(partition it, see further description of fdisk on the net)
# mkfs.ext3 -m0 /dev/block/mmcblk1p2
The boot-up script /osh/ubuntu.sh will mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 to /mnt/gentoo. This place is referenced by /usr/portage, /var/tmp and /preinstall/usr and will enable emerge if you install the second GenTop2-portage-20120509.tar.bz2 tarball.
Download http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509-portage.tar.bz2 (124MB) to /sdcard/ using any method.
Use adb shell or a terminal on the desktop
Code:
$ su
# cd /
# tar xvjf /sdcard/GenTop2-20120509-portage.tar.bz2
Note: If you trust your network connection, you can also download and unpack simultaneously (without saving) it using:
Code:
$ su
# cd /
# wget -O - http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509-portage.tar.bz2 | tar xvj
[size=+1]Installing further software[/size]
How do I install applications in Gentoo?
- Read http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=1
- Read http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=3
I have set up a portage overlay "atrix-overlay" which unmasks many packages and includes some custom patches required for compilation on arm. It is included in the main tarball and automatically synced alongside "emerge --sync". Most updates will now be performed via this overlay.
See https://github.com/gendol/atrix-overlay for details.
Furthermore, for large binary packages like firefox, thunderbird and libreoffice I have set up a binary package repository with the same USE flags as the atrix-overlay. These are built using cross-compilation on my desktop computer.
See http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/packages/
To force installation from binary packages use emerge -G <package>. See the list of "Installable as binary packages" above.
[size=+1]Miscellaneous Questions[/size]
Why no thumb instructions?
- I did a speed test of cryptography functions and thumb instructions were approximately 10% slower than usual ARM code.
Where was GenTop2 compiled?
- Most of the system was fully compiled on my own Atrix. Larger binary packages are compiled on my desktop using cross-compiling.
Why is X11 not up-to-date?
- The only xorg driver I could get working is the one on the original Webtop, and that requires an older version of X11.
Why is udevd not running?
- If you look at logcat there are lots of the following messages, some of which are due to udevd. Disabling udevd reduces (but does not eliminate) these messages and probably also some unnecessary background process that draws battery.
NetlinkEvent: NetlinkEvent::FindParam(): Parameter 'UDEV_LOG' not found
NetlinkListener: ignoring non-kernel netlink multicast message
NetlinkListener: ignoring non-kernel netlink multicast message
[size=+1]Reinstalling the old WebTop[/size]
Some people on the forums struggled to reinstall the old webtop for some reason. It shouldn't be that difficult and I created a tarball of the original Webtop WT-1.2.0-133_38. These instructions were not tested by me:
Download http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/WT-1.2.0-133_38.tar.gz to /sdcard/ using any method.
Use adb shell or a terminal to disable mounting of webtop:
Code:
$ su
# cd /osh
# mv etc etcx
# reboot
Use adb shell to unpack original tarball into /osh:
Code:
# cd /
# ls bin
bin: No such file or directory
(this tests whether the webtop is disabled)
# rm -r osh/*
# ls osh
(empty)
# cd /
# /sdcard/WT-1.2.0-133_38.tar.gz
# sync
# reboot
[size=+1]Downloads[/size]
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509.tar.gz (275MB main tarball)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509-filelist.txt (Filelist of tarball for your reference)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509-portage.tar.bz2 (124MB portage tree for /mnt/gentoo/, see above)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120509-portage-filelist.txt (Filelist of tarball for your reference)
Old Downloads
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120428.tar.gz (369MB main tarball)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120428-filelist.txt (Filelist of tarball for your reference)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120428-portage.tar.bz2 (44MB portage tree for /mnt/gentoo/, see above)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120424.tar.gz (364MB main tarball)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120424-filelist.txt (Filelist of tarball for your reference)
http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/GenTop2-20120424-portage.tar.bz2 (44MB portage tree for /mnt/gentoo/, see above)
Changelog
From 20120428 to 20120509:
Added atrix-overlay for pulling in updates using layman.
Reorganized /etc/portage/ to symlink into atrix-overlay files.
Removed mplayer from default install.
Added xarchiver, leafpad and some customization for the terminal.
Reorganized directory structure to use /preinstall.
From 20120424 to 20120428:
Readded resolutions to xorg.conf like in original webtop. Nevertheless you can switch using Xfce's settings dialogs.
Installed Flash: copied libflashplayer.so and emerges nss nspr.
Readded lots of the original .desktop files and corresponding icons. These launch Android apps.
[1] http://kristallsturm.de/GenTop2/docs/atrix-bonnie.html

It is a good job. I try this. Thank you.

This is a very agressive aproach. /osh dose have some Moto magic sauce in it. How well can you drive the screnn with a stock X system? Most of the cutesy features from WT I can live w/o, but the "phone"app really is usefull. Seams like this would be worth the effort to figure out.
If I was using a less "pure" setup (spinning up X and the phone app in Motos osh) then bringimng up the desktop in Gentoo, how would that compare to oither the same concept with other distros?
Please post on. I think this is the first time somebidy has run a non /osh X. Would love to see if it really can be done.

exwannabe said:
This is a very agressive aproach. /osh dose have some Moto magic sauce in it. How well can you drive the screnn with a stock X system? Most of the cutesy features from WT I can live w/o, but the "phone"app really is usefull. Seams like this would be worth the effort to figure out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, the approach is radical, but not as aggressive as you may think. All the "magic sauce" in /osh lives in /osr/usr/local/ and all of that is retained. The only problem is that some dynamic link libraries are missing, but most of these problems can be fixed.
They actually had to be fixed because the GenTop2 does need to send some magic signals to Moto's PortalApp/DockService to work correctly. This is done using the /usr/local/bin/rmtest tool via the "fbcp" instance of dbus.
Other than /osh/usr/local/, /osh is really just Debian.
With the phone app, you mean the green phone button? I just tested that, it can be added. The phone button is nothing but a .desktop mime file, which calls one of the magic apps /usr/local/bin/androidlauncher. And it popups up in the aiw display.
I even tested the HD Media Center laucher and that too worked without problems. That really should be included in the next GenTop2 tarball.
exwannabe said:
If I was using a less "pure" setup (spinning up X and the phone app in Motos osh) then bringimng up the desktop in Gentoo, how would that compare to oither the same concept with other distros?
Please post on. I think this is the first time somebidy has run a non /osh X. Would love to see if it really can be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I don't understand what you mean with a non /osh X. GenTop2 does run X11 and you really need to replace the system libaries to get a well-working Gentoo.
Greetings,
Gendol

Great job! Does this work with cm rom's aswell or only with blur based ones? As another fact, we could use distcc or crosscompile distcc to compile most of the stuff, actually even a crosscompile binhost would be doable for several packages. One more thing, we could probably use an .img file on the internal sdcard partition, that would be ext3/4 formatted instead of using the external sdcard (but probably its better and safer to sue the external card, due to the flash wear)
edit: so i tried it on my atrix with nottachtrix rom installed, it starts fine and seems to work rather well, i only saw two to me rather annoying bugs:
1. somehow the X server thinks that my tv (1080p lg) has a virtual size of 1366x768 and will not allow to use the 1920x1080 resolutions that are in the TV's EDID and that the system puts into the xorg.conf file aswell as it shows in the Xorg.0.log
2. the atrix's screen stays on all the time in the "normal mode" and if one uses the mouse on the gentop its moving and functioning on the atrix's screen aswell (ie you can launch apps by accident with the mouse in android)
I do not know if these are issues with nottachtrix or something else, but for me on the "normal webtop" 1080p worked on this same TV.
here the xorg log: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24268926/Xorg.0.log

Really nice, installing it right now!
Does flash work on Midori?

I don't know about CM7, you'll have to try to replace the Linux system like moto does it.
The X11 screen size defaults to WebTop resolution 1366x768, but you can change that to 1920x1080 by editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf. The first thing to try is to comment out all Modelines and let EDID detection do the work. But for that a monitor must be present, so you need to Zap (Ctrl+Alt+Bckspace) your X, and that brings up the dual input problem.
I also use nottach's ROM. The dual input problem happens when something in motorola's magic communication goes wrong. I have not been able to figure out how in particular moto disables input on the touchscreen. For me it works most of the time. I also have all the Modelines in xorg.conf enabled, because they fit my monitor.
I didnt really focus on Flash, yet. But as it works on the original Webtop, you should just be able to copy the plugin files.
Gendol

Can't get Midori working .. Got network (via ping), but no web browsing
EDIT: Solved by disabling proxy settings inside Midori

i haven't run gentoo in over 10 years but this is tempting!!!!!

Hello! I am a bit newbie in linux and i have 2 questions
1) Could someon please tell me how to install GenTop2-portage-20120424.tar.bz2 tarball?
2) Is there any way to install synaptic so i can install other linux apps?

snik38 said:
Hello! I am a bit newbie in linux and i have 2 questions
1) Could someon please tell me how to install GenTop2-portage-20120424.tar.bz2 tarball?
2) Is there any way to install synaptic so i can install other linux apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) use ADB and first post
2) Gentoo Portage - it's command line but very easy

Hmm, anyone using this with webtop over HDMI? I get the login screen, but the webtop touchpad thingie doesn't come up so it's impossible for me to log in.

nalorite said:
Hmm, anyone using this with webtop over HDMI? I get the login screen, but the webtop touchpad thingie doesn't come up so it's impossible for me to log in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to use a hd dock, lapdock or a modded powered usb hub with mouse + kb

Vazay said:
1) use ADB and first post
2) Gentoo Portage - it's command line but very easy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) After the reboot i used
adb shell
# tar xvzf /sdcard/GenTop2-portage-20120424.tar.bz2
but it gave me an error, am i using the correct command or i should use something else?

Yes. The touchpad thingy is also an open end. I have no idea why it doesnt come up. The GenTop2 tries to do everything in the same way as the original one, but for some reason that doesnt appear.
I guess the touchpad is some Android program part of DockService or PortalApp, which drive the Webtop switch. But I havent debugged how to activate it.
@snik38
To extract a .tar.bz2 you use tar xvjf ...
Gendol

three items one that caused some grief, but other than that this has lots of cool potential!
I have a stock rom with root.
1. resolution was pretty screwed up. I did try to adjust the resolution, but it was locked into one setting.
2. flash isnt installed on the browser so many websites where disabled.
3. I could not get AIW to start.
I see you answered #1 in a previous post. But I think all three of those items are minimum requirements to replace webtop. BTW great job again! Its seemed much faster than the webtop app.

2. Try to copy the flashplugin from original webtop(not sure if it works with midori)
3. aiw works fine try to reboot the phone

Took me a while to get this all running, but it's great now it is. Have this over Nottachtrix 1.3.1. Everything installed and works fine!
Cheers!

When my phone turns on and gets to the preparing sd, it takes forever. Does this happen to anyone else?

anyone tried to emerge chrome/chromium?

[GUIDE] Compile CWM Recovery

Hi. I am creating this guide because i did not find any particular functional guide with details.
You must be running a 64 or 32 bit version of Ubuntu. Please note that i wont be going in the details on how to setup a build environment and sync sources as there are many guides for that.
Step 1 :
Install the required packages
Step 2 :
Setup the build environment and sync the sources for the required CWM. CWM source comes bundled with the CyanogenMod source.
Code:
CWM 5 - Gingerbread
CWM 6 - Jellybean
Step 3 :
Now we come to the actuall compiling part. Make sure you have synced the latest source using the "repo sync" command.
Change directory to your source.
Issue this command :
Code:
make -j4 otatools
Step 3.5 :
Do this step if your device is not officially supported by CM10.
Using terminal emulator on your device, issue the command
Code:
dump_image boot /sdcard/boot.img
This will dump the boot image to your sdcard. Transfer it to your home directory.
To build Android from source for a new device, you need to set up a board config and its makefiles. This is generally a long and tedious process. Luckily, if you are only building recovery, it is a lot easier. From the root of your Android source directory (assuming you've run envsetup.sh), run the following (substituting names appropriately):
Code:
build/tools/device/mkvendor.sh device_manufacturer_name device_name /your/path/to/the/boot.img
For example if you are having the Samsung Galaxy Ace device, the command will go as follows :
Code:
build/tools/device/mkvendor.sh Samsung cooper ~/boot.img
Please note that Cooper is the device name. Only use "~/boot.img" if you have the boot image in your home directory. Or else please specify the correct path.
You will receive the confirmation "Done!" if everything worked. The mkvendor.sh script will also have created the following directory in your Android source tree:
manufacturer_name/device_name
Step 3.5 ends here.
Step 4 :
Now that you have the device config ready, proceed.
Type the following code in your terminal in the source directory.
Code:
. build/envsetup.sh
This will setup the build environment for you to work.
Now launch the command
Code:
lunch full_device_name-eng
This will set the build system up to build for your new device. Open up the directory in a file explorer or IDE. You should have the following files: AndroidBoard.mk, AndroidProducts.mk, BoardConfig.mk, device_.mk, kernel, system.prop, recovery.fstab, and vendorsetup.sh.
The two files you are interested in are recovery.fstab and kernel. The kernel in that directory is the stock one that was extracted from the boot.img that was provided earlier. For the most part, recovery.fstab will work on most devices that have mtd, emmc, or otherwise named partitions. But if not, recovery.fstab will need to be tweaked to support mounts and their mount points. For example, if your /sdcard mount is /dev/block/mmcblk1p1, you would need the following lines in your BoardConfig.mk
/sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
Once the recovery.fstab has been properly setup, you can proceed to the next step.
Step 5 :
Now we build the actual recovery.
Code:
make -j4 recoveryimage
This command builds the recovery image
You can use the command
Code:
make -j4 recoveryzip
to make a fakeflash recovery i.e. a temporary recovery to test out on the actual device.
Your recovery can then be found at "your_source_directory/OUT/target/product/device/recovery.img" and the temporary fakeflash zip in the utilities folder at the same location.
If everything works out well, you will have a working recovery.
Once you have working builds, notify "koush", on Github and he can build official releases and add ROM Manager support!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some tips :
If you want to compile CWM 6, sync the jellybean branch using the command :
Code:
repo init -u git://github.com/CyanogenMod/android.git -b jellybean
repo sync
If you want to compile CWM 6 on a 32 bit system, you need to sync THIS source too. Instructions are given in the readme.
Run "make clobber" between builds if you change the BoardConfig.mk, or the change will not get picked up.
Credits :
Koush for this guide.

Nice.
Will come in handy

Excellent guide!
Thanks!

I will try on my Motorola PRO+, wish me luck

any ideeas how i can make the recovery font smaller? i read somewhere that i have to edit ui.c file, but what syntax? thanks

thank you for this
i will try to compile this
i tried before using koush online builder but the cwm has bugs.

Okay, I'm problly stupid, but.
repo init -u git://github.com/CyanogenMod/android.git -b jellybean
seems to work fine, but
repo sync does this:
Code:
fatal: '../CyanogenMod/android_abi_cpp.git' does not appear to be a git repository
fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly
error: Cannot fetch CyanogenMod/android_abi_cpp
What did I screw up, or not have prepared correctly?
I have built AOSP and currently build kernels on this box, so I know git and all that is setup correctly.
D
.

edited

Got it. Needed an updated repo script.
D
.

what's this ?
shaaan said:
Hey guys, i present to you a new updated version of CyanogenMod Recovery a.k.a CWM 6.0.1.3. The current version that we use is 5.0.2.6
Edit : As you guys know, i bricked my ace while trying to get CWM working. The bootloader is lost. So there is no way i can get it working back. This is the end of developing for me for now atleast. I will have to replace the motherboard or get a new device. Any dev wanting to take over the project, please feel free. Contact me for help and i will try my best. But if you use my sources, please give credits to me and TeamCooper.
My sources are here.
Edit : You can refer my guide on compiling a recovery here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now afraid to do it on my own

So you copy pasted a guide (and linked it in the end), and then you say you can't find any other guide.
Orelly?

Can jou tell a bit more about run "envsetup.sh"thats what i mis in this guide and the original guide. and most other guides.
The file "dump_image" needs to be placed on the phone. Can be put on the sd of the phone and than place on a place you like.(Folder bin/xbin ore some other) Use terminal on the phone. (any from google store play) cd to the dir the dump_image is than run the command.
How do i find the device name for my phone/tablet. I know the name of the tablet i bought.. But still. samsung ace hase device name cooper? Where did you find it?
Thx by the way. This guide is a bit more clear than the original.

the device name is in build.prop

[email protected] said:
Can jou tell a bit more about run "envsetup.sh"thats what i mis in this guide and the original guide. and most other guides.
The file "dump_image" needs to be placed on the phone. Can be put on the sd of the phone and than place on a place you like.(Folder bin/xbin ore some other) Use terminal on the phone. (any from google store play) cd to the dir the dump_image is than run the command.
How do i find the device name for my phone/tablet. I know the name of the tablet i bought.. But still. samsung ace hase device name cooper? Where did you find it?
Thx by the way. This guide is a bit more clear than the original.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dump_image would be on the phone, it was for MTD devices now a days ytou want to use DD on mmcblk devices

i solved the font problem, you need to edit the Anndroid.mk from bootable/recovery, but now i got messed up Graphics in the recovery and i cannot boot back into the OS. ideeas? thanks
PS: i think that the graphics.c may be the problem. but for booting, i really have no clue.

This will give you a non touch version of CWM
Any idea if the touch modifications are also available opensource to modify code?

Not yet. But finding it. Once I get it working, will add it to the op.

Thx for the answar on my question.:good:
I have a nother question:silly: For example, my recovery.fstab hase: /sdcard mount is /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
What lines do i ad in my BoardConfig.mk:
? what is here? /sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
just adding /sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p0 does not seem to work..
my recovery.fstab:
# mount point fstype device [device2]
/boot mtd boot
/cache yaffs2 cache
/data yaffs2 userdata
/misc mtd misc
/recovery mtd recovery
/sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 /dev/block/mmcblk0
/system yaffs2 system
/sd-ext ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
My vold.fstab hase:
# External NAND Storage
dev_mount sdcard /mnt/sdcard auto /devices/virtual/block/ndda
# External SD card
dev_mount ext_sd /mnt/ext_sd auto /devices/platform/tcc-sdhc
# External USB storage
dev_mount usb_sda /mnt/usb_sda1 all /devices/platform/dwc_otg /devices/platform/tcc-ohci /devices/platform/tcc-ehci
dev_mount usb_sdb /mnt/usb_sdb1 all /devices/platform/dwc_otg /devices/platform/tcc-ohci /devices/platform/tcc-ehci
Some other info i found..:
/dev/block/platform/tcc-sdhc0.0/mmcblk0
if i use mount in terminal i get this:
/dev/block/vold/179:0 /mnt/ext_sd vfat ...
/dev/block/vold/240:0 /mnt/sdcard vfat ...
cat /proc/mtd
geeft:
dev: size: erasersize: name:
mtd0 00a00000 00100000 ¨boot¨
mtd1 00500000 00100000 ¨kpanic¨
mtd2 12c00000 00100000 ¨system¨
mtd3 00400000 00100000 ¨plash¨
mtd4 09600000 00100000 ¨cache¨
mtd5 40000000 00100000 ¨userdata¨
mtd6 00a00000 00100000 ¨recovery¨
mtd7 00100000 00100000 ¨misc¨
mtd8 00100000 00100000 ¨tcc¨
partitions /proc/partitions:
major: minor: #blocks name:
7 0 16664 loop0
31 0 10240 mtdblock0
31 1 5120 mtdblock1
etc/ sow on
179 0 15339520 mmcblk0
240 0 2392064 ndda
240 1 2392064 ndda1
240 0 16663 dm-0
My boot.img files on github. + some adding ...(/device/YG/m805_892x) https://github.com/Frank77GLD/Telechip_tcc892x
(just testing a github for fun...)
Hope you could give me some advice?

can someone please make an english working cwm for samsung galaxy young cdma ich-509 please?

Porting to a new "unknown" device
Hi folks. I`m trying to start to develop some stuff to an chinese tablet and, of course, my first need is the cmw ...
Then. I only can have it using the fakeflash method(locked bootloader). My problem that it`s kinda new stuff to me.
I have some files built by utkanos to start the job. But now I dont know where to go to ...
Theere appears do be no documentation in what files in what folders I have to edit/add to get it fully functional.
When i flash the zip and the cwm load there`s no partition table. It loads a lot of errors on the screen saying no /dev/block* ...
I little help will be much appreciated here. Even just a start point .. anything that can help!

[DEV]How to compile TWRP touch recovery

All of TWRP 3.x source is public. You can compile it on your own. This guide isn't going to be a step-by-step, word-for-word type of guide. If you're not familiar with basic Linux commands and/or building in AOSP then you probably won't be able to do this.
You can currently use Omni 6.0, Omni 7.1, Omni 8.1, Omni 9.0, CM 13.0, CM 14.1, CM 15.1, LineageOS 16.0 source code. Omni 9.0 is recommended for now unless your device has a super partition.
If you are using CM/LineageOS, you'll need to place TWRP in the LineageOS/bootable/recovery-twrp folder and set RECOVERY_VARIANT := twrp in your BoardConfig.mk file. TWRP source code can be found here:
https://github.com/TeamWin/android_bootable_recovery (NOTE: The location for the latest TWRP source code has changed!)
Select the newest branch available. This step is not necessary with Omni because Omni already includes TWRP source by default, however, if you are using an older version of Omni, you will probably want to pull from the latest branch (the latest branch will compile successfully in older build trees)
If you are only interested in building TWRP, you may want to try working with a smaller tree. You can try using this manifest. It should work in most cases but there may be some situations where you will need more repos in your tree than this manifest provides:
https://github.com/minimal-manifest-twrp
*BEFORE YOU COMPILE*
Note: If you add or change any flags, you will need to make clean or make clobber before recompiling or your flag changes will not be picked up.
Now that you have the source code, you'll need to set or change a few build flags for your device(s). Find the BoardConfig.mk for your device. The BoardConfig.mk is in your devices/manufacturer/codename folder (e.g. devices/lge/hammerhead/BoardConfig.mk).
Your board config will need to include architecture and platform settings. Usually these are already included if you're using device configs that someone else created, but if you created your own, you may need to add them. Without them, recovery may seg fault during startup and you'll just see the teamwin curtain flash on the screen over and over.
We usually put all of our flags at the bottom of the BoardConfig.mk under a heading of #twrp For all devices you'll need to tell TWRP what theme to use. This TW_THEME flag replaces the older DEVICE_RESOLUTION flag. TWRP now uses scaling to stretch any theme to fit the screen resolution. There are currently 5 settings which are: portrait_hdpi, portrait_mdpi, landscape_hdpi, landscape_mdpi, and watch_mdpi. For portrait, you should probably select the hdpi theme for resolutions of 720x1280 and higher. For landscape devices, use the hdpi theme for 1280x720 or higher.
TW_THEME := portrait_hdpi
Note that themes do not rotate 90 degrees and there currently is no option to rotate a theme. If you find that the touchscreen is rotated relative to the screen, then you can use some flags (discussed later in this guide) to rotate the touch input to match the screen's orientation.
In addition to the resolution, we have the following build flags:
RECOVERY_SDCARD_ON_DATA := true -- this enables proper handling of /data/media on devices that have this folder for storage (most Honeycomb and devices that originally shipped with ICS like Galaxy Nexus) This flag is not required for these types of devices though. If you do not define this flag and also do not include any references to /sdcard, /internal_sd, /internal_sdcard, or /emmc in your fstab, then we will automatically assume that the device is using emulated storage.
BOARD_HAS_NO_REAL_SDCARD := true -- disables things like sdcard partitioning and may save you some space if TWRP isn't fitting in your recovery patition
TW_NO_BATT_PERCENT := true -- disables the display of the battery percentage for devices that don't support it properly
TW_CUSTOM_POWER_BUTTON := 107 -- custom maps the power button for the lockscreen
TW_NO_REBOOT_BOOTLOADER := true -- removes the reboot bootloader button from the reboot menu
TW_NO_REBOOT_RECOVERY := true -- removes the reboot recovery button from the reboot menu
RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_SWAP_XY := true -- swaps the mapping of touches between the X and Y axis
RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_Y := true -- flips y axis touchscreen values
RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_X := true -- flips x axis touchscreen values
TWRP_EVENT_LOGGING := true -- enables touch event logging to help debug touchscreen issues (don't leave this on for a release - it will fill up your logfile very quickly)
BOARD_HAS_FLIPPED_SCREEN := true -- flips the screen upside down for screens that were mounted upside-down
There are other build flags which you can locate by scanning the Android.mk files in the recovery source. Most of the other build flags are not often used and thus I won't document them all here.
*RECOVERY.FSTAB*
TWRP 2.5 and higher supports some new recovery.fstab features that you can use to extend TWRP's backup/restore capabilities. You do not have to add fstab flags as most partitions are handled automatically.
Note that TWRP only supports v2 fstabs in version 3.2.0 and higher. You will still need to use the "old" format of fstab for older TWRP (example of that format is below), and even TWRP 3.2.0 still supports the v1 format in addition to the v2 format. To maximize TWRP's compatibility with your build tree, you can create a twrp.fstab and use PRODUCT_COPY_FILES to place the file in /etc/twrp.fstab When TWRP boots, if it finds a twrp.fstab in the ramdisk it will rename /etc/recovery.fstab to /etc/recovery.fstab.bak and then rename /etc/twrp.fstab to /etc/recovery.fstab. Effectively this will "replace" the fstab 2 file that your device files are providing with the TWRP fstab allowing you to maintain compatibility within your device files and with other recoveries.
Code:
PRODUCT_COPY_FILES += device/lge/hammerhead/twrp.fstab:recovery/root/etc/twrp.fstab
The fstab in TWRP can contain some "flags" for each partition listed in the fstab.
Here's a sample TWRP fstab for the Galaxy S4 that we will use for reference:
Code:
/boot emmc /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot
/system ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system
/data ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata length=-16384
/cache ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache
/recovery emmc /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery
/efs ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/efs flags=display="EFS";backup=1
/external_sd vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /dev/block/mmcblk1 flags=display="Micro SDcard";storage;wipeingui;removable
/usb-otg vfat /dev/block/sda1 /dev/block/sda flags=display="USB-OTG";storage;wipeingui;removable
/preload ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/hidden flags=display="Preload";wipeingui;backup=1
/modem ext4 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/apnhlos
/mdm emmc /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/mdm
Flags are added to the end of the partition listing in the fstab separated by white space (spaces or tabs are fine). The flags affect only that partition but not any of the others. Flags are separated by semicolons. If your display name is going to have a space, you must surround the display name with quotes.
Code:
/external_sd vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 flags=display="Micro SDcard";storage;wipeingui;removable
The flags for this partition give it a display name of "Micro SDcard" which is displayed to the user. wipeingui makes this partition available for wiping in the advanced wipe menu. The removable flag indicates that sometimes this partition may not be present preventing mounting errors from being displayed during startup. Here is a full list of flags:
removable -- indicates that the partition may not be present preventing mounting errors from being displayed during boot
storage -- indicates that the partition can be used as storage which makes the partition available as storage for backup, restore, zip installs, etc.
settingsstorage -- only one partition should be set as settings storage, this partition is used as the location for storing TWRP's settings file
canbewiped -- indicates that the partition can be wiped by the back-end system, but may not be listed in the GUI for wiping by the user
userrmrf -- overrides the normal format type of wiping and only allows the partition to be wiped using the rm -rf command
backup= -- must be succeeded by the equals sign, so backup=1 or backup=0, 1 indicates that the partition can be listed in the backup/restore list while 0 ensures that this partition will not show up in the backup list.
wipeingui -- makes the partition show up in the GUI to allow the user to select it for wiping in the advanced wipe menu
wipeduringfactoryreset -- the partition will be wiped during a factory reset
ignoreblkid -- blkid is used to determine what file system is in use by TWRP, this flag will cause TWRP to skip/ignore the results of blkid and use the file system specified in the fstab only
retainlayoutversion -- causes TWRP to retain the .layoutversion file in /data on devices like Sony Xperia S which sort of uses /data/media but still has a separate /sdcard partition
symlink= -- causes TWRP to run an additional mount command when mounting the partition, generally used with /data/media to create /sdcard
display= -- sets a display name for the partition for listing in the GUI
storagename= -- sets a storage name for the partition for listing in the GUI storage list
backupname= -- sets a backup name for the partition for listing in the GUI backup/restore list
length= -- usually used to reserve empty space at the end of the /data partition for storing the decryption key when Android's full device encryption is present, not setting this may lead to the inability to encrypt the device
canencryptbackup= -- 1 or 0 to enable/disable, makes TWRP encrypt the backup of this partition if the user chooses encryption (only applies to tar backups, not images)
userdataencryptbackup= -- 1 or 0 to enable/disable, makes TWRP encrypt only the userdata portion of this partition, certain subfuldes like /data/app would not be encrypted to save time
subpartitionof= -- must be succeeded by the equals sign and the path of the partition it is a subpartition of. A subpartition is treated as "part" of the main partition so for instance, TWRP automatically makes /datadata a subpartition of /data. This means that /datadata will not show up in the GUI listings, but /datadata would be wiped, backed up, restored, mounted, and unmounted anytime those operations are performed on /data. A good example of the use of subpartitions is the 3x efs partitions on the LG Optimus G:
Code:
/efs1 emmc /dev/block/mmcblk0p12 flags=backup=1;display=EFS
/efs2 emmc /dev/block/mmcblk0p13 flags=backup=1;subpartitionof=/efs1
/efs3 emmc /dev/block/mmcblk0p14 flags=backup=1;subpartitionof=/efs1
This lumps all 3 partitions into a single "EFS" entry in the TWRP GUI allowing all three to be backed up and restored together under a single entry.
As of TWRP 3.2.0, TWRP now supports a version 2 fstab like those that have been found in Android devices for years. Yes, I know we're really slow to adopt this one, but I also saw no major advantage to v2 and the v2 fstab was being used in regular Android as well as recovery and I didn't want full ROM builds crashing or doing other weird things because of TWRP flags being present in the fstab. Version 2 fstab support is automatic. You don’t need to add any build flags. The regular version 1 fstab format is also still valid and it’s possible to use both v1 and v2 types in the same fstab. TWRP 3.2.0 also supports using wildcards via the asterisk in v1 format which can be useful for USB OTG and micro SD cards with multiple partitions. Note also that v2 fstab formats haven’t been extensively tested so developers should test their v2 fstabs before shipping to users (you should always be testing anyway!).
This is a v1 fstab line with a wildcard intended for a USB OTG drive. All partitions should show up in the list of available storage devices when the user plugs in a drive:
Code:
/usb-otg vfat /dev/block/sda* flags=removable;storage;display=USB-OTG
This line is straight from the v2 fstab for the same device and also should work. In this case the kernel will notify us that new devices have been added or removed via uevents:
Code:
/devices/soc.0/f9200000.ssusb/f9200000.dwc3/xhci-hcd.0.auto/usb* auto auto defaults voldmanaged=usb:auto
In addition to the v2 fstab, you can include /etc/twrp.flags which uses the v1 fstab format. The twrp.flags file can be used to supplement the v2 fstab with TWRP flags, additional partitions not included in the v2 fstab, and to override settings in the v2 fstab. For example, I have a Huawei device with the following stock v2 fstab present as /etc/recovery.fstab
Code:
# Android fstab file.
#<src> <mnt_point> <type> <mnt_flags and options> <fs_mgr_flags>
# The filesystem that contains the filesystem checker binary (typically /system) cannot
# specify MF_CHECK, and must come before any filesystems that do specify MF_CHECK
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system /system ext4 ro,barrier=1 wait,verify
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cust /cust ext4 ro,barrier=1 wait,verify
/devices/hi_mci.1/mmc_host/mmc1/* auto auto defaults voldmanaged=sdcard:auto,noemulatedsd
/devices/hisi-usb-otg/usb1/* auto auto defaults voldmanaged=usbotg:auto
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata /data f2fs nosuid,nodev,noatime,discard,inline_data,inline_xattr wait,forceencrypt=footer,check
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cache /cache ext4 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,data=ordered wait,check
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/splash2 /splash2 ext4 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,data=ordered,context=u:object_r:splash2_data_file:s0 wait,check
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/secure_storage /sec_storage ext4 rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,discard,auto_da_alloc,mblk_io_submit,data=journal,context=u:object_r:teecd_data_file:s0 wait,check
In addition I have also included this in /etc/twrp.flags:
Code:
/boot emmc /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/boot
/recovery emmc /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/recovery flags=backup=1
/cust ext4 /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/cust flags=display="Cust";backup=1
/misc emmc /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/misc
/oeminfo emmc /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/oeminfo flags=display="OEMinfo";backup=1
/data f2fs /dev/block/dm-0
/system_image emmc /dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/system
The first 2 lines in twrp.flags adds the boot and recovery partitions which were not present at all in the v2 fstab. The /cust line in the twrp.flags file is added to tell TWRP to allow users to back up the cust partition and to give it a slightly better display name. The /misc partition is also only present in the twrp.flags file. Much like the /cust partition, the /oeminfo partition is in the twrp.flags file to tell TWRP to allow users to back it up and give a display name. The /data line is needed because this Huawei device, like many Huawei devices, is encrypted but the encryption uses some special Huawei binaries and is encrypted with some sort of default password that the user cannot change. We use the Huawei binaries to decrypt the device automatically in recovery. The /data line here tells TWRP to use /dev/block/dm-0 instead of /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata which is required for proper mounting, etc. Lastly we have the /system_image line so that TWRP will add a system image option for backup and restore.
As we add more new devices, we’ll add more example device trees to https://github.com/TeamWin/ which should help you find more ways to use this new fstab support. Please note that using the v2 fstab format at this point is completely optional, so feel free to continue using v1 if that is what is more comfortable or if you have trouble with the v2 format support.
If you have questions, feel free to stop by #twrp on Freenode. If you post here I may not see it for a while as I have lots of threads out there and there's no way for me to keep track of them all. If you successfully port TWRP to a new device, please let us know! We love to hear success stories!
If you have code changes that you'd like to submit, please submit them through the Omni Gerrit server. Guide is here.
Once you get Omni or CM sync'ed and your TWRP flags set, you should do a source ./build/envsetup.sh We usually lunch for the device in question, so something like "lunch omni_hammerhead-eng".
After you lunch successfully for your device this is the command used for most devices:
Code:
make clean && make -j# recoveryimage
Replace the # with the core count +1, so if you have a dual core it's -j3 and a quad core becomes -j5, etc. If you're dealing with a "typical" Samsung device, then you'll need to
Code:
make -j# bootimage
Most Samsung devices have the recovery included as an extra ramdisk in the boot image instead of a separate recovery partition as found on most other devices.
Old guide here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=65482905&postcount=1471

So, now, hopefully you've compiled TWRP for your device and gotten it working. Now, you'd like to know how to get TWRP officially supported for your device so that it can be installed automatically with the TWRP app. In order for us to add "official support" for your device we'll need the following:
1) Device configuration files to compile TWRP from source for your device. This means that you cannot have repacked a recovery.img by hand to get it working. We need to be able to compile it from source so that we can easily release future updates.
2) We'll build a copy of TWRP and send it to you for validation. Once you've validated that we can build a working image for your device, we'll add it to the official TWRP app.
Note that we won't take credit for your port. You'll still get to post it on XDA to collect all the credit that goes with releasing something new for your device along with having your name listed on our website as the maintainer for the device. Also note that it's not always possible to provide automated installs for all devices.
You can now boot TWRP in an emulator. If you're trying to help develop TWRP, this can be a huge help as you don't have to risk your device and you can do everything directly on your computer.
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Download this set of device configuration files.
Compile a recoveryimage using those device files. In the Android SDK, click on Tools -> Manage AVDs. Click New. Set it up as the following:
AVD Name: TWRP
Device: Galaxy Nexus
Target: ICS or newer though anything will probably work here
CPU: ARM (armeabi-v7a)
Check the box for hardware keyboard (your computer's keyboard will work in TWRP)
Up to you if you want to have the skin with controls present
Front Camera: None
Back Camera: None
RAM: 1024 VM Heap: 64
Internal Storage: 200
SD Card: Size: 500 MiB
Then click OK.
Once you have your AVD and your recoveryimage, you can boot TWRP in the emulator by browsing to your android-sdk/tools folder and run this command:
./emulator -avd TWRP -ramdisk CMFOLDER/out/target/product/twrp/ramdisk-recovery.img
Note that ADB doesn't work right away. About 10 to 15 seconds after TWRP finishes booting, ADB will come online. We start ADB via init.rc so even if TWRP fails to boot due to some kind of code error that you may have made, ADB should still work. Enjoy!

TWRP and A/B devices:
From a TWRP standpoint, A/B devices aren't a whole lot different from regular devices, but developers seem to be shy about working on these devices. I'm going to try to shed some light on this subject and hopefully this will serve as a guide for porting TWRP to A/B devices.
Firstly, let's understand what is an A/B device and how it's different. A/B devices have duplicates of many partitions on the device. An A/B device has 2x system partitions, 2x boot partitions, 2x vendor partitions, 2x modem / firmware partitions, etc. Only one slot is in use at a time. During early boot, the first stages of the bootloader read some small amount of data called the BCB or Bootloader Control Block and decide whether to boot the A partitions or the B partitions. When an OTA update is available, the data from the active slot is copied from the inactive slot and patched / updated. For example, if you're currently on slot A, your device would download the update and copy the existing system partition from slot A and patch / update it with the new updates into slot B. Once the copying and updating is complete, the BCB is updated and the device reboots using slot B. Next time an update is available, the system partition in slot B is copied to slot A and updated, the BCB gets updated, and we reboot to slot A. When viewing partitions on the device, you'll see something like this:
Code:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot_a
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot_b
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system_a
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system_b
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/vendor_a
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/vendor_b
Note the dual boot, system and vendor partitions in the list above, but only one userdata partition.
While there is technically no requirement that I am aware of, all A/B devices shipped thus far have no separate recovery partition. Instead, the boot image contains the recovery in its ramdisk. The important thing is knowing that the boot image now also contains the recovery. For completeness, the system partition is a full root file system. During boot, if the kernel is told to boot to recovery, it will extract the ramdisk in the boot partition. If the kernel is not told by the bootloader to boot to recovery, then the kernel will mount the appropriate system partition (A or B) because the system partition is a full root file system. This means that the system partition on these devices is mounted to / instead of to /system and the system partition contains all of the files that would have normally been in the boot image ramdisk and a /system subfolder.
From a TWRP standpoint, there are 3 things that you have to do for an A/B device. First, you need to set
Code:
AB_OTA_UPDATER := true
in your BoardConfig.mk. Secondly, for any partition that has an A/B option, you need to add
Code:
flags=slotselect
in your fstab so something like this:
Code:
/boot emmc /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot flags=slotselect
/system ext4 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system flags=slotselect
/system_image emmc /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system flags=slotselect
/vendor ext4 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/vendor flags=slotselect;display="Vendor";backup=1
/vendor_image emmc /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/vendor flags=slotselect
Lastly, once you get into TWRP, you will probably want to make sure that bootctl hal-info responds correctly with no errors. Usually the bootctl binary requires a proprietary library or even a couple of services to work correctly. If bootctl does not work correctly, then you will not be able to switch slots within TWRP correctly either.
In addition to setting
Code:
AB_OTA_UPDATER := true
you may also want to set:
Code:
BOARD_USES_RECOVERY_AS_BOOT := true
BOARD_BUILD_SYSTEM_ROOT_IMAGE := true
If you set
Code:
BOARD_USES_RECOVERY_AS_BOOT := true
then make recoveryimage will no longer work and instead you will have to make bootimage. I don't recommend setting either of these flags for TWRP-only build trees. These flags will probably be required for developers building full ROMs for A/B devices.
Installing / Flashing TWRP on A/B devices:
Since all known A/B devices do not have a separate recovery partition, you will eventually have to flash TWRP to the boot partition. On the Pixel 1 and 2, we use fastboot boot to temporarily boot TWRP without flashing TWRP. We are then supplying a zip to allow users to flash TWRP to both slots. You can download one of these zips from our website and update the zip as needed to support your devices. Eventually we will add tools to TWRP to allow users to flash recoveries on these devices without needing to use zips.
Recently, I worked on the Razer Phone. The Razer Phone unfortunately does not support fastboot boot. Instead, users have to determine their currently active boot slot using
Code:
adb shell getprop ro.boot.slot_suffix
then use
Code:
fastboot --set-active=_a
to switch slots to the inactive slot. From here, the user can
Code:
fastboot flash boot twrp.img && fastboot reboot
to get into TWRP. Once in TWRP they can then go to the reboot page and change back to their originally active slot, make a backup, then install TWRP. Using the inactive slot allows users to get a good, unmodified backup of their device before installing TWRP.
Hopefully this helps!
Debugging with gdb in TWRP guide can be found here!

Beep boop zee doop

I know I've PM'ed you but I would like to ask you again. What should I do after compiling the TWRP recovery binary? What files have to be copied and where? I'm trying to integrate it with an ICS kernel.

Dees_Troy said:
Once you get CM sync'ed, I suggest that you go ahead and compile a build of ClockworkMod (ClockworkMod source is included in the CM repos). We usually lunch for the device in question, so something like "lunch full_tenderloin-eng".
After you lunch successfully for your device this is the command used for most devices:
Code:
make clean && make -j# recoveryimage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get this part. What is lunch supposed to be? is it supposed to be a individual command for a device or can I do "lunch full_tenderloin-eng" for all devices? Because I am building for a device that doesn't run Android natively (at least out of-the-box) so cyanogenmod doesn't support it on any way...
Also, can I use this for resistive screens? Just to make sure.
Thanks for the guide, I have been looking for this for a long time

thanks for the guide, well structured and not so complicated
i have only a question: i'm trying to build it for galaxy 5, the problem is that the resolution is 320x240, so can you tip me on modify the sources? (i've done this some days ago, but images were too large)

manuel100 said:
thanks for the guide, well structured and not so complicated
i have only a question: i'm trying to build it for galaxy 5, the problem is that the resolution is 320x240, so can you tip me on modify the sources? (i've done this some days ago, but images were too large)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set the device resolution to 320x240...I'm pretty sure they have support for that resolution...and if they don't then you can copy one of there's except resize it all to 320x240
Edit-they only have 320x480 https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/
My question: I built twrp from source a while ago using smasher's Samsung inject twrp zip...that worked fine for a while...but recently we switched to mtd format so that inject twrp zip doesn't work...neither does the inhect twrp button within twrp anymore...I've seen that the galaxy s has the same problem as well...just wondering if you know of a work around...
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

mg2195 said:
Set the device resolution to 320x240...I'm pretty sure they have support for that resolution...and if they don't then you can copy one of there's except resize it all to 320x240
Edit-they only have 320x480 https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/
My question: I built twrp from source a while ago using smasher's Samsung inject twrp zip...that worked fine for a while...but recently we switched to mtd format so that inject twrp zip doesn't work...neither does the inhect twrp button within twrp anymore...I've seen that the galaxy s has the same problem as well...just wondering if you know of a work around...
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for respond, however i've tried resizing images to 320x240 but i don't know what should be the size of bottoms, because they are alway out-of-screen
what is smasher's Samsung inject twrp zip? but i think that the recovery doesn't work because you have to built it with mtd support (for ex. on madteam they are trying to build a mtd kernel, but for install that testing rom they built a special cwm with mtd support)

manuel100 said:
thanks for respond, however i've tried resizing images to 320x240 but i don't know what should be the size of bottoms, because they are alway out-of-screen
what is smasher's Samsung inject twrp zip? but i think that the recovery doesn't work because you have to built it with mtd support (for ex. on madteam they are trying to build a mtd kernel, but for install that testing rom they built a special cwm with mtd support)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smashers inject twrp zip is a tool for Samsung devices that let's you get the recovery without flashing the whole kernel. You basically put the ramdisk-recovery.img in the zip and then flash. During the flash process it pulls the boot.img, replaces the current ramdisk-recovery.img with the new one that contains twrp. It then deletes the old boot.img and flashes the new one...not affecting the actual kernel...
The recovery itself has mtd support...I can use it if I flash the whole boot.img, but I don't want to release the recovery within a whole kernel...because then I have to keep it up to date with both twrp and kernel sources, not to mention the different kernels available for my device....I can't make a recovery for each kernel...don't have the time for that...that's where the inject came in handy....the user could use any kernel he wanted while still using twrp
Recovery logs say it fails to find the ramdisk inside the boot.img and then in parenthesis something about may not be using gzip compression...which it is....
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 07:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 AM ----------
Deestroy did this same tutorial on rootzwiki...if you look at the second post you'll see info about the smasher inject twrp I was referring to...http://rootzwiki.com/index.php?/topic/23903-How-to-Compile-TWRP-from-Source
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

mfsr98 said:
I don't get this part. What is lunch supposed to be? is it supposed to be a individual command for a device or can I do "lunch full_tenderloin-eng" for all devices? Because I am building for a device that doesn't run Android natively (at least out of-the-box) so cyanogenmod doesn't support it on any way...
Also, can I use this for resistive screens? Just to make sure.
Thanks for the guide, I have been looking for this for a long time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can I get help here please?

mfsr98 said:
can I get help here please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a single command...it opens up the menu for devices...just type lunch into the terminal and hit enter...you'll see what I mean. You will probably have to add your device to the menu by creating a vendorsetup.sh in your device repo if it doesn't already exist....
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

Thank you for the quick answer. Yes, I already have vendorsetup.sh on the boot.img. Sorry for the noob question

What about for android beginners???

Devarishi said:
What about for android beginners???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's only so much that you can dumb it down and simplify it. There's lots of other guides out there for getting started. Compiling a recovery is not a super simple task that anyone and everyone can do and there's plenty of potential pitfalls including the possibility of bricking your device. If none or very little of this guide makes sense, then you might see if a developer for your device is interested in working on it instead.

how would you compile this for a device without an official cm9 build?

azoller1 said:
how would you compile this for a device without an official cm9 build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you don't need official cm9 if you can find any working device tree for you phone you are good to go.. For lg spectrum 4g, this could be useful.

Hey guys I'm trying to compile this for my phone the problem I'm running into is I need the root.ts I've searched and it doesn't come up with anything any help would be appreciated thanks
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I577 using xda premium

I have a mtk6577 device which is not in de device tree of CM9.
I can compile CWM for my device with CM9. Because I was only making recovery, there was no need for setting up boardconfig.
In this guide there is a part starting with TARGET_RECOVERY_INITRC which is not there in my boardconfig.
Also is stated:
"Your board config also needs to include architecture and platform settings. Usually these are already included if you're using device configs that someone else created, but if you created your own, you may need to add them. Without them, recovery will often seg fault during startup and you'll just see the teamwin curtain flash on the screen over and over."
Does this mean that I cannot build TWRP without it, even I can build CWM ?

gls9 said:
I have a mtk6577 device which is not in de device tree of CM9.
I can compile CWM for my device with CM9. Because I was only making recovery, there was no need for setting up boardconfig.
In this guide there is a part starting with TARGET_RECOVERY_INITRC which is not there in my boardconfig.
Also is stated:
"Your board config also needs to include architecture and platform settings. Usually these are already included if you're using device configs that someone else created, but if you created your own, you may need to add them. Without them, recovery will often seg fault during startup and you'll just see the teamwin curtain flash on the screen over and over."
Does this mean that I cannot build TWRP without it, even I can build CWM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look for another mtk6577 device that has CM & copy the arch flags from it.

[Q] how to make .img files from existing tablet?

I have a complete setup for the Nexus 7, part of a product we are working on, that I need to easily clone on "virgin" tablets for production. The app requires a rooted OS.
I want to write an installation script using fastboot to unlock the bootloader, erase partitions, then flash them with .img files for each partition (kernel, system, cache, etc.).
How do I extract .img files from my "master" tablet? I have an understanding from some where that these are simple byte-for-byte dumps of the partition -- is this true? As such can I create a .img file by simple doing 'cat blkfile >file.img' where "blkfile" is the appropriate block device for the partition in question?
Or do I need to use 'dd'? Or something else?
I have searched and searched, and can't find an anwer. I've found other answers using some tools to create these files from a build on a PC, but nothing about creating them from an existing tablet.
Thanks in advance!

Use the dd command. You can use it both to dump and write a partition. It's how I install recovery programs like TWRP
Sent from my Nexus 7

You can use dd for the boot partition and recovery partition - they are raw binary blobs. (Don't use dd on other Android devices, esp. those that have MTD flash devices, though - it only works most of the time there)
If you want to use the same fastboot-based scenario that Google uses for factory image sets, then for the system & userdata image files you will need to find out about "sparse ext4 filesystem images"
If you took a raw block-device based dump of any of your tablet ext4 partitions, you could actually take those image files and mount them on any other linux machine (using a loopback mount procedure).
But you will find that if you attempt to do that with the Google factory ".img" files (for system & userdata partitions), they will not mount. It's not a simple matter of a offset superblock, either.
Since these are the formats that the stock recovery expects, I suppose you ought to use those formats if you want to do the "all at once all partitions" fastboot flashing if you plan on using the stock recovery.
Note that there is absolutely nothing that prevents you from unpacking whatever you want from whatever archive format you want - so long as the recovery's busybox supports the archive format correctly - you could use cpio or pax or tar archives for that matter. (The stock recovery's "toolbox" has very little functionality, so this comment applies to custom recoveries, which typically have more robust functionality in their busybox) You will be writing your own scripts to do those things though, typically either in one of two ways:
1.A mount target filesystem partition
1.B do a deep recursive remove at that mountpoint ( rm -rf * )
1.C unpack your archive into same mount point ( tar xf archive.tar, etc)
1.D unmount the mount point
OR
2.A unmount target partition and zero it out (dd if=/dev/zero, flash_erase, etc)
2.B recreate filesystem in partition (mke2fs -t ext4 etc)
2.C mount target filesystem
2.D unpack your archive into the same mount point (tar xf archive, pax, cpio, unyaffs2, etc)
2.E unmount that mountpoint
Even though this post is for the Samsung Galaxy S II, the same thing applies to the factory Nexus 7 images from Google:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1081239
As that thread mentions, the simg2img and mkuserimg.sh programs are part of the Android project.
Here's a Nexus 7 thread where the contributor built the tools for both x86 linux and arm linux
Finally, I should note that because /system is typically mounted read-only, imaging /system from the live OS is no big deal. Trying to do the same thing with /data is an extremely dopey idea, however. Accurate backups are rarely made from live read-write filesystems.
cheers

Thank you so much for all the great information! I hit thanks for both of you.
The link to the nexus 7 thread is what I need... This is for my company, and I need a simple cloning solution that can be performed by a non-technical assembly person. The fastboot install procedure is about as simple as it gets.
Thanks again!

[vision][fried emmc] Booting CM 7.2 from SD card

Hi there,
I just found catherall's thread on [how to boot CM 7.1 from the external SD card][0] on a Desire Z/G2 with the infamously fried eMMC.
I used his instructions to boot CM 7.2 (the last stable version for the Vision); since the above thread ends with a dangling question on how to update the system to be booted, I thought I'd document my efforts.
anonymousthing said:
anybody know what system.img format he is using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just an ext4 file system:
Code:
$ file system.img
system.img: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=b4db3ed8-7d52-46a0-85fb-46fb67c5e837 (needs journal recovery) (extents) (huge files)
$ adb shell
~ # mount | grep system
/dev/block/loop0 on /tmp/boot.img-ramdisk/system type ext4 (rw,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,nouser_xattr,commit=19,barrier=0,data=ordered)
Disclaimer: On the original image, `file` actually identifies the FS as a `mounted or unclean` ext2; it's definitely an ext4 with journaling, though. Accordingly a `mount -t ext2` will fail with a `wrong fs type`.
You can create a new one with
Code:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=system.img bs=4k count=64000
$ /sbin/mkfs.ext4 system.img
# mount -o loop -t ext4 system.img /media/new_sys
anonymousthing said:
I have tried making my own system.img from the rom but it does not work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is potentially due to missing binaries:
Code:
$ diff -r /media/orig_sys update-cm-7.1.0-vision-signed/system | head -n 5
Only in /media/orig_sys/bin: cat
Only in /media/orig_sys/bin: cmp
Only in /media/orig_sys/bin: date
Only in /media/orig_sys/bin: dd
Only in /media/orig_sys/bin: dmesg
If you download a version of CM, at least the `toolbox` and the `busybox` binaries will be missing from the `system/bin` and `system/xbin` directories respectively. I couldn't be bothered to check for up-to-date versions but just copied the ones provided by catherall before copying over the new CM version:
Code:
# cp -r /media/orig_sys/bin /media/orig_sys/xbin /media/new_sys
# cp -r cm-7.2.0-vision/system/* /media/new_sys
This will obviously update all the files that come with CM 7.2 and just keep what's not included in the box.
While you're at it, you might want to add up-to-date gapps:
Code:
# cp -r gapps-gb-20131214-signed/system/* /media/new_sys
This gives you a booting CM 7.2. Just replace the `system.img` that comes with catherall's `.zip` with the one you just created and off you go
Unpleasant issue: Booting from SD seems to require a specifically prepared kernel, so the `boot.img` that comes with a different ROM/CM version won't work. So until someone finds out how to prepare a kernel for booting from SD, you will have to continue to boot the one provided by catherall. However, the WIFI driver has not been compiled into the kernel but lives in a separate kernel module in `/system/lib/modules/bcm4329.ko`. Which we (by copying over the `/system` dir from the CM 7.2 build) replaced with a version incompatible with the old kernel we have to boot. So if you intend to boot through `fastboot` and use WIFI (and why wouldn't you? ;P), we will have to put the old kernel module back:
Code:
# cp /media/orig_sys/lib/modules/bcm4329.ko /media/new_sys/lib/modules/
Weirdly enough, in the CM 7.2 version I downloaded, the permissions for the `dhcpd-run-hooks` script were broken, so I at least needed to fix those too:
Code:
# chmod 550 /media/new_sys/etc/dhcpd/dhcpd-run-hooks
So, `umount` your pristine new `system.img`, move it to your SD card and boot into CM 7.2.
HTH
D.
PS I naively tried to create a larger 1 GB `data.img`, copying over the content from the existing one, but the phone didn't boot with that one. I might have made a mistake (was rather late at that point -.- and I didn't investigate any further), but it seems like the size of the partitions may be hardcoded somewhere. If someone has any additional information, please let me know Thx!
PPS If anyone ([MENTION]@catherall[/MENTION]? ;P) knows anything about the kernel issue, I'd be highly interested
PPPS After creating this account (to be fair, I've been profiting from this community since the old Windows Mobile days), I was informed that as an account noob, I obviously didn't have anything to contribute to this community and was ordered to place my undoubtedly profane question (which certainly had been answered may times before, I was only too lazy/dumb to search) outside the elite developer forums [/rage]. Maybe one of the Mods can stitch the [original thread][0] and this st0pid workaround back together again? :/ Thanks!
[0]: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1572924