An opensource Mali-400 driver is being developed - Galaxy Note GT-N7000 General

A reverse engineered, open-source, Mali-400 driver.
Pretty cool, but don't expect to see it running on the Note soon.
It would be nice to see more opensource drivers!
Imagine if a new Android build's source comes out and a developer already has access to drivers for i.e the camera.
I don't understand why ARM or any other company doesn't make their drivers opensource in the first place.
Popular hardware will get reverse engineered opensource drivers eventually.
Nvidia's optimus for example. It just takes a lot of time.
But a driver is software and software has to be closed source for some reason
Here's a link for some more information if you're interested.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=arm_mali_reverse&num=1

So the waiting begins. Bump this thread next year when they're done

DaanJordaan said:
A reverse engineered, open-source, Mali-400 driver.
Pretty cool, but don't expect to see it running on the Note soon.
It would be nice to see more opensource drivers!
Imagine if a new Android build's source comes out and a developer already has access to drivers for i.e the camera.
I don't understand why ARM or any other company doesn't make their drivers opensource in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its just one of those bloody minded ideas in business. "We don't do it that way because thats not the way we do things." Kind of circular logic stupidity.
If you are selling a product then surely its in your interest for your product to be more useful and become more popular!
Imagine buying a sports car which required you to use a driver with it as you were never allowed to know how to drive it yourself ;-)

PurpleMelbourne said:
Imagine buying a sports car which required you to use a driver with it as you were never allowed to know how to drive it yourself ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice comparison!

Related

Android: will it work on current devices ?

Hi !
Does anyone actually know if android can be installed / flashed on current devices ? Or it's only for certain devices that come with it preinstalled ?
Please don't post things like: "i would love it if it did" or "omg, android is great"...
I'm looking for an answer from someone who actually knows or someone who knows exactly how this stuff works...
Thanks
PS: Menneisyys, i hope you'll post something
I don't think that you'll be getting your answer any time soon as nobody has seen the thing yet.
But i would speculate that as HTC is one of the partners, it might be possible. HTC probably wont reinvent their phones again for the android.
Not a programmer...
but i was listening to leo laport yesterday and it seems that ggls world domination strategy would be all including. so it seems very likely that they would allow some version of it for use on other phones.
http://techguylabs.com/radio/ShowNotes/Show403#toc5
At this point, since there there is no release yet and nobody has/can play with it, it's probably hard to say. However, knowing Google, there is a good possibility they will come out with an app that allows you to use your current phone (speculation).
I heard that Android based on some Java-sintacsys - maybe it is good for us?
Well, the SDK has been released, get it here: http://code.google.com/android/. A demo video is available on the page to show you what it's capable of thus far--looks promising. I'm no coder, but I wish someone would develop this for current HTC devices. As an incentive, Google launched an Android Developer Challenge (http://code.google.com/android/adc.html), where developers of "innovative, useful apps" can win up to $275,000.
leetsauce said:
Well, the SDK has been released, get it here: http://code.google.com/android/. A demo video is available on the page to show you what it's capable of thus far--looks promising. I'm no coder, but I wish someone would develop this for current HTC devices. As an incentive, Google launched an Android Developer Challenge (http://code.google.com/android/adc.html), where developers of "innovative, useful apps" can win up to $275,000.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I grabbed the SDk and got a basic hello world up and running. From what the video said and what I can glean from various sites. The Android OS is designed to run on existing hardware. I would imagine that includes HTC machines. Its a complete OS though not an app so I would imagine you have to blow away WM6 and put android on in order to take advantage of its functionality. The actual coding appears to be extremely easy.
I can see google or the community releasing a "shell" of Android.
The more people with it the more money for them. If you watched the video they are really trying to push the location based services from GPS, cell towers, IP address... can anyone say more cash for ads.
I wouldn't mind having it on WM and its open source so there a good chance we will see it.
Alpine would be perfect for Android
Alpine would be a perfect phone if recycled with android !!
Good processor, lots of mem and a big screen for touch sensasions!!
Is it a dream or could that become reality?
Is Android compatible with HTC Touch-style hardware or does it require the numberpad?
There is a linux-2.6.23-android-m3-rc20.tar.gz kernel file on the android google code project site, there is also ADB utility - Android Debug Bridge (comes with SDK), it has an option of flashing a device (over usb) or an emulator (which is also included in the package)...the question is how to compile that kernel and make it run on our HTCs, and what kindof boot loader does it require? Maybe guys from Xanadux know better
It's also interesting how JAVA is being used after becoming open source, it appears that android is mostly independent from the JAVA API, the only relevance I found was only basic stuff like java.util, java.io and etc (included in the android.jar)...
i think that android will work on htc devices because pretty much they are the ones that will be releasing the first devices preloaded with android and i think that white device was made from htc. I see a potential here so i ask some one to make a thread on porting android to any or a specific device. good luck and may the force be with you.
ps. i hope its a htc wizard
I'd say we'd be waiting to see the HDK come out before we can put it on our own devices, can't wait though.
A dream
The Android SDK includes an emulator, see here http://www.ohadev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15
Quote: "It seems that the main binary is emulator; this includes a qemu-0.8.2, which runs (in system mode) the ARM kernel image at lib/images/kernel-qemu.
Two more images are mounted from lib/images : the system.img (which appears to be the rootfs, and userdata.img, which gets replicated (and mounted from there) at $HOME/.android/userdata.img."
This guy (http://mamaich.uni.cc/fr_pocket.htm) got Qemu compiled for ARM, buggy/crashing, no visible update for several years, see also here http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/in...e_to_running_ms_dos_8_12&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Question: Anyone have any more recent news/experiences about Qemu on ARM/HTC?
So, theoretically one could try running the Android Kernel image from the SDK emulator on Qemu on PocketPC.
Even if it works (highly unlikely), this megasandwich AndroidImage->Qemu->PocketPC would probably be fantastically slow, with dodgy/absent I/O support.
Real solution is to wait for a modifyable Kernel which can run natively on the HTC ARM processor.
Did not someone from google mentioned at the day of the release that android will run on any ARM9 based device?
dirac said:
Real solution is to wait for a modifyable Kernel which can run natively on the HTC ARM processor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such thing as "HTC ARM processor". All major ARM-based CPUs
are supported by Linux, it's the device drivers for external hardware that are
often missing because of the missing documentation.
cr2 said:
There is no such thing as "HTC ARM processor". All major ARM-based CPUs
are supported by Linux, it's the device drivers for external hardware that are
often missing because of the missing documentation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im sure that HTC will release drivers for all their devices since they are partners in the Open Handset Alliance..
prodinho said:
Im sure that HTC will release drivers for all their devices since they are partners in the Open Handset Alliance..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some doubts that the (future) drivers will be released as free software, and not some binary blobs like nvidia, ati and m-systems did it in the past.
Binary linux kernel drivers are evil

Dexter (Possible kernel/driver source) A7

Was searching around about our elocity interesting how this offers a built in 3g or bluetooths and sim card option this product seems quite a bit like our elocity same components too.
Dexter and any other developer see what you kind find out about this, looks like different interface could be the break in the kernel we wanted.
pioneercomputers.com.au/products/configure.asp?c1=183&c2=185&id=3203
Drivers and more under support tab
Hope this is what we needed to really get this ball rolling on other O.S.
Anyone feel free to find out what you can about thisw site and the drivers listed and lets work on pulling what we need from it and establishing a center for all the drivers.
rombold said:
pioneercomputers.com.au/products/configure.asp?c1=183&c2=185&id=3203
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice findings.. i tried search naz10 and epad n700, aigo N700 etc.. but no luck, but i guess you hit jackpot here
thanks..
ok, the site does not have any files for this tablet..
Dex I know it list everything for every product they have or so it would seem under driver tab. I wonder if we can email thier support and them compile the files or point them out for us.
Anyone have an in at Compal?
It would be awesome to get our hands on the boards they were making before they removed the GSM provisions.
As for that site, it just looks like a reseller to me.
codon.org.uk/~mjg59/android_tablets/
List android devices who are compliant with open kernel and access to them
Now there is alot I don't understand with these devices and how to build a rom, but with this from nvidea can't we use a existing kernel and patch into it.
NVIDIA Tegra 250 Developer Kit Hardware
rombold said:
Now there is alot I don't understand with these devices and how to build a rom, but with this from nvidea can't we use a existing kernel and patch into it.
NVIDIA Tegra 250 Developer Kit Hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but you understand your PC?
so if you board has a core2duo with 2GB memory, and you add a Geforce, and as modems are rare, you find a nice windows7 compatible modem card + a wifi from broadcom with integrated bluetooth.
Next guy does almost the same but he uses a different wifi and bluetooth card for his pc..
so we got 2 pc's equipped almost the same but with different wifi/bt and of course on chose panasonic touch display , where the other one got LG touchscreen which again uses different drivers.
its all about drivers, not just the chipset
I will continue the search for every driver for this device. If you could list any known manaufacters and the part they made. I will search for every driver I can, and will keep you up to date with my progress. Keep me informed on your break throughs with honeycomb or if there is something you need to find and I will help.
u-boot, drivers and kernel source
Does anyone have the nvidia Tegra 250 devkit? Supposedly they were going to include u-boot support and source. See tegradeveloper.nvidia.com/tegra/forum/uboot-tegra-250
Does the dev kit even have open source for drivers and kernel patches. Is full support for the tegra 250 already at kernel.org or is it missing some key features?
I've held up on ordering the dev kit since my experience with nvidia is that they tend to keep as much information private as possible even with an NDA in place.
I'd gladly help develop a completely open bootloader with u-boot, Linux kernel and distro for this device if hardware specifications are actually available. Google was talking about a possible tegra based device that surely would include open source, but I don't think that project ever made it to market.
2ShedsJackson said:
Does anyone have the nvidia Tegra 250 devkit? Supposedly they were going to include u-boot support and source. See tegradeveloper.nvidia.com/tegra/forum/uboot-tegra-250
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you sign a NDA with Nvidia, so no chance of anyone releasing it to community. if they do if will be figured out, and a lawsuit coming their way..
so thats a no go.
Registered developers with Nvidia, know this, so they wouldn't dare risking a lawsuit..
So in their typical control freak fashion they don't want specs or source getting out into the open. Looks like I'll be skipping the A7 until it gets at least a touchscreen update.
2ShedsJackson said:
So in their typical control freak fashion they don't want specs or source getting out into the open. Looks like I'll be skipping the A7 until it gets at least a touchscreen update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not entirely true, its only the parts you asked about..
kernel is GPL and parts of related drivers follows.. but bootloaders are a protected part, and some the vendor specific parts used to manage the chipset together with their nv drivers.. but thats how i read it..
more might be available, but i have not seen all of it.
toshiba + xoom is the only kernels with drivers i seen so far..

AMD Joins Android

It was only a matter of time before AMD followed Nvidia's lead and finally jumped onto the Android bandwagon, as the company is now recruiting engineers to create chipset drivers for Android. According to unnamed sources, the nation's second largest CPU manufacturer is now looking to offer notebook and tablet partners chipset solutions supporting Google's popular mobile platform.
"The Linux Base Graphics team is looking for Android Driver Development engineers to help us evolve our driver stack for new platforms and in line with the development trends in the Android ecosystem," reads the job description. "Experience with video decode acceleration within the Android web browser or video player application would be an asset. Experience with webm and/or OpenMax would be a bonus."
The company confirmed its interest in Android during an interview back in mid-March. Neal Robison, senior director of content and application support at AMD, indicated that offering support for Google's mobile platform makes a lot of sense for the company. "That is something we will be investigating as we take our Fusion architecture [into new markets] and we are able to create versions of this architecture for lower power environments that would work quite well for, perhaps, a tablet using this operating system."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full article @ http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Brazos-Llano-APU-AMD-Fusion-Google-Android,12548.html
Funny because the other week I speculated this
Does AMD even have an ARM CPU? Or can Android run on x86?
It's good ATI will come to Android.
I just ordered a lot of ati gear. Great was my surprise to receive it in hp boxes. So basically hp is creating phones?
sargasso said:
I just ordered a lot of ati gear. Great was my surprise to receive it in hp boxes. So basically hp is creating phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HP is WebOs but they aren't apart of AMD. They're just buyers of AMD/ATI products and embed them within their systems.
good news for us
hopefully this time they actually make the drivers open source
last time i purchased an AMD/ATI based Windows Phone, it was a disaster, no drivers, so the GPU was wasted
AllGamer said:
good news for us
hopefully this time they actually make the drivers open source
last time i purchased an AMD/ATI based Windows Phone, it was a disaster, no drivers, so the GPU was wasted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
blame it on Microsoft they'll have to release source to comply with android. Otherwise they will be in trouble.
Who knows? Nexus 4 could feature amd. Amd definitely have a lot of work to do to catch up to its competitors.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
a company who open the specs to some of their products
imagine they open the specs to the CPU, GPU, Sound Processor, WiFi, radio.... you know the rest and a Google Experience device... maaan
I WANT!
mingkee said:
It's good ATI will come to Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the Qualcomm CPUs use Adreno GPUs, which is a rehashed ATI product. ATI used to own Imageon.
Hopefully this will lead to cheaper phones too....like the six core they have for like 200
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Intel also jumped on the bandwagon and is reportedly going to use its atom cpu.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

Open Source Hardware

www auraslate com
Hey guys here is an open source hardware tablet site... it might help those out there
johanngummy said:
www auraslate com
Hey guys here is an open source hardware tablet site... it might help those out there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open Source, never pertains to hardware, because you don't chisel code on to a circuit board, its Open Design, in which they also offer full open source code for the said open designed tablet. Just saying.
3D printers with atom precision/accuracy are possible in theory, that would really make open source hardware possible
RolAr said:
3D printers with atom precision/accuracy are possible in theory, that would really make open source hardware possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except theory isnt reality.
Very cool!
Good luck with this project, looking forward to see where it goes. Boards still seem a bit on the expensive side...
http://www.auraslate.com/
sounds awesome, but from pieces of hardware to all components of a smartphone it's a hard way.. hope they will coming
Ha, u guys may heared about open moko? Far away from first android, open source hardware and linux, no one take attention, its almost dead, a phone using linux os, it was born before android, and yet still in birth state, jus cox it have very few supporters,and devs.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
Anybody have tried this tablets? The website says it's open for deliveries. The 7 inch version is just 150usd
Adam Outler did an "unboxing" with the 10 inch version.
I'm interested with a review of any of the unit, have any suggestion?
garuhhh said:
Anybody have tried this tablets? The website says it's open for deliveries. The 7 inch version is just 150usd
Adam Outler did an "unboxing" with the 10 inch version.
I'm interested with a review of any of the unit, have any suggestion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least Adam's first impression (him being an actual device owner) and mine (based on reading through their site) is they are not nearly as open as they claim to be.
1-2 months ago they were providing ICS firmwares without kernel source - that's less open than any legitimate Android tablet manufacturer. Not sure if they've rectified these issues, but any vendor claiming to be open source/open hardware should NEVER have done that except by accidental error - however there was a post in their forums effectively saying they were withholding source.
http://auraslate.freeforums.org/kernel-for-ics-t53.html - found it, see auraslateadmin's post - This is UNACCEPTABLE from ANY company, ESPECIALLY one that claims to be open source. If you have provided a kernel binary to the public, you MUST provide source code upon request.
Auraslate's marketing of being "open" is a blatant lie - they keep talking about how open they are to sell devices, but then withhold kernel source.

Jolla for Nokia N9?

Any devs planning on porting this to the N9? Since Jolla is based of Meego (I Think?).
l.Urker said:
Any devs planning on porting this to the N9? Since Jolla is based of Meego (I Think?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They said that the N9 can be flash on sailfish but there will be no support provide by Jolla.
Plus, you can find some video with the N950 running sailfish. As the N950 have the same hardware as the N9 so it is compatible.
Please do. I heart my n9 so much...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
There'll eventually be a community port of Sailfish*, don't expect it to be very reliable/slick though, there'll be some things that never work properly.
This has all been explained time & time again, I'm not going into the back story as-to-why all this is true, the information is out there.
*not Jolla's flavour, just the stock version of Sailfish, which means it'll be quite bare-bones compared Jolla's Sailfish (initially anyway).
oh thanks for all the replies. my N9 is just collecting dust right now. whats the difference between jolla sailfish and normal one?
Swyped from my M9704
l.Urker said:
oh thanks for all the replies. my N9 is just collecting dust right now. whats the difference between jolla sailfish and normal one?
Swyped from my M9704
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jolla is the name of the company..
Sailfish is the name of the operating system
Do we have any news on this?
Still now, don't seen any port from Jolla..
even SDK is out..
But I really like to see Jolla port to N9.. :good:
any news about this?
and anyone has stock sailfish on n9?
Chyea!
Sent from my VZW Galaxy Note II, hyper powered via MeanBean - ICE 1.0
- Hyperion 6,200MAh Extended Battery
- Modded Otterbox to fit battery
- An S-Pen (deal with it)​
Just to clarify things.
There is this company called Jolla. They make this operating system called SailfishOS which in fact is Mer.
So what is Mer? Mer is an operating system without hardware layer and UX. This means it's useless because it won't run on any hardware. You need the hardware layer which means drivers und you probably need the UX which means the GUI. This 3 parts together give you an operating system that you can use on your hardware. An example of this is SailfishOS.
If you take Mer and add the Hardware layer for the Jolla device and then the Sailfish Silica UI you get SailfishOS. The only other iteration of SailfishOS which exists is the one with the hardware layer for the Nokia N950. This will never be released as an official or supported Version.
So for all you guys waiting for a port of SailfishOS for device xyz. This won't happen. There is only one thing that could possible become reality and that's a leaked, unsupported beta image of SailfishOS for the Nokia N950/N9. Maybe this image will be the same which we saw in early demos of SailfishOS.
So the rule is as follows:
Even if you get all the linux drivers (not Android) for Mer so that you could possibly run Mer on your device you still need the UX. Jolla won't give you their Sailfish UI. You could use the Nemo mobile UI that is similar to it but the Sailfish UI will only be available on official Jolla devices.
But let's dream a little bit. If you really get Linux drivers for your device xyz and the Jolla device is out there and it has nearly the same hardware as your device it could be possible that you take all the packages that contain the Sailfish Silica UI and install them on your own device with Mer and your own hardware layer. This is possible in theory. In reality I don't think we will see a usable port that can be your daily driver.
An exchange which should help folks understand why there's no images*: http://pastie.org/private/lgldc4h3dikjkqc9nxecaq
They've said once they have one or more devices shipping, they'll probably start to open Sailfish much more, but not a minute before, for several reasons.
But that doesn't mean they'll also start to support images for 3rd-party devices, they'll probably never do that to the degree Canonical does, see the above.
*original source for that pastie
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1941044&p=48#r950
Jolla will be ported to N9. It won't hava all the functions, that on the Jolla device (for ex. no Voice control...anyway who needs it?), but it will be officially released around september/october 2013. So be patient
Giorgio84 said:
Jolla will be ported to N9. It won't hava all the functions, that on the Jolla device (for ex. no Voice control...anyway who needs it?), but it will be officially released around september/october 2013. So be patient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For real? or just your wish?
Is there an ETA?
Is there an ETA on when someone could make some early progress on this project? I'm worried that people are losing so much interest that a preview version of Sailfish running on the N9 might be a great idea to get people wanting more of the Meego successor.
That way, people would be falling in love with Sailfish and since it would have a significant spec-bump over the N9, people would be willing to buy it for the screen/display improvement, the "other half," and the great UI.
Giorgio84 said:
Jolla will be ported to N9. It won't hava all the functions, that on the Jolla device (for ex. no Voice control...anyway who needs it?), but it will be officially released around september/october 2013. So be patient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any source for this info? Because there is no official announcement that hit my attention.
hacker00740 said:
Is there an ETA on when someone could make some early progress on this project?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As always "when it's done". Please stop asking for ports. Just wait until Jolla came out with there first device. I'm sure there will be ports and adaptions all over the place once the Software gets in the hands of the right guys. And this community or t.m.o is prbably the first place to know it. But asking for it every second won't let that happen earlier.
Hello friends ..
No new news??
SDK when the operating system was released.
Test video of the operating system on it is N9. Why not port the operating system to handset N9 its wonderful ...
Please help developers...
maxomid said:
Hello friends ..
No new news??
SDK when the operating system was released.
Test video of the operating system on it is N9. Why not port the operating system to handset N9 its wonderful ...
Please help developers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SDK didn't include the full version of the Sailfish OS. It only contains a basic emulator for apps. So until Jolla releases a phone with Sailfish, it is impossible to port
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
tbo-art said:
The SDK didn't include the full version of the Sailfish OS. It only contains a basic emulator for apps. So until Jolla releases a phone with Sailfish, it is impossible to port
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer
Will be released in full when it is SDk?
Why developers do not work on this phone Nitdroid ROM Port ... Time to full Android experience on these phones ...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2342102
Hi, i want to share this post from a Jolla engineer giving tips to start porting Sailfish:
I'm pretty sure I phrased it a bit different So, both the N900 and N9 have the problem of having binary blobs, which Jolla is not allowed to distribute, and almost certainly never will be. The N9 additionally has the problem of having an older kernel than the N900 -- old enough that it's starting to cause problems. That's the reason why I probably mentioned N900.
As for Nemo and N9, Nemo is a community followup project of MeeGo, and as such inherited basic N9 hardware adaptation, and the right to redistribute those binary blobs. So, if you as user take a Nemo image and put Jolla stuff in there it works -- but we as Jolla can't do that.
Another problem is that the old N9 adaptation is based on X11, while we are using Wayland. We do have a proof of concept Wayland stack up on N9 (available through Nemo as well), but it has its fair shair of problems.
That we're using Wayland makes your suggestion of porting Sailfish libraries to Harmattan hard as well: Harmattan is an X11 stack (same in the different direction: you can't use a Harmattan binary on Sailfish. If you have the source porting is trivial -- unless it's using meegotouch. But if you only have a binary it won't run. In theory something hacking with xwayland might be possible, but that's pretty crazy, and a sailfish port/rewrite would almost certainly be the better option)
So, it should be pretty clear by now that we will not do N9 images. What needs to happen for community to be able to do the port? Easy: Get involved in Nemo. I mentioned that several times, though so far nobody showed interest.
It's mainly 3 areas that need work:
- finish port to the 3.5 kernel we started. The required tasks are in Nemos Bugzilla
- start fixing bugs in the Wayland proof-of-concept for N9
- reverse engineer hardware components where no driver exists, and do drivers (like GPS)
So, it's a hard task, but not impossible. The Nemo community and Jolla provided a very good starting point with Nemo, now it's up to community members to step up, and continue.
SOURCE: TMO

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