[Q] [Just an Idea] Emulating Bootloader/Firmware from SD (multiboot) - Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini

Hi,
first of all, I'm no Dev and I (for now) don't know much about Android...
Wanted to post this into DEV-related Forums, but I can't coz of my little post-count (I just registered yesterday)
But I am very interested in flashing/downgrading and just play around with Video Game Consoles Firmware such as PSP, Xbox(360), PS3 and so on.
In 2005/2006 (early years of the PSP) it was not yet possible to downgrade to older or install Custom Firmwares on PSP for the ability to run homebrew, but there was a nice workaround called "Devhook" or "Devicehook".
Trough Devhook it was possible to emulate firmware Image stored on MemoryStick.
Would something like this not be an opinion to run our Android Devices as "multiboot" or , maybe, run an custom Bootloader on locked down devices like U20i?
I mean we are already able to install custom ROMs on our Devices, we are able to boot into xrecovery, nearly full access (?!?!) to the nand?
Would it not be possible to have one firmware/bootloader in the Nand and one ore multiple Firmwares/Bootloader on SD, Boot into a menue (like booting into xrecovery) and choose which one to load at next Startup?

I am also interested in the question how to organize multiboot through xRecovery?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=847423

Related

Android on the HD2 - is it just run from the microSD card or an actual "ROM" ?

Android on the HD2 - is it just run from the microSD card or an actual "ROM" ?
I'm not new to ROMs (been mucking around with cell phones and PocketPCs for many many years now) but I'm a bit confused about the Android situation with respect to the HD2 (just found one, literally found one, and if I can get it functional I'm keeping it).
I see all these "ROMs" here and I have to ask the question:
Are they actually ROMs that I'd be using to replace the Windows Mobile stock factory ROM, or all these just "ROMs" that exist in a folder on the microSD card and I simply run some executable that fires up Android as though it were just another application running on top of Windows Mobile?
Trying to make the question simple so I hope that's enough. Wasn't sure exactly where to put it so Q&A seemed the best choice.
Thanks for any information anyone can provide.
br0adband said:
...Are they actually ROMs that I'd be using to replace the Windows Mobile stock factory ROM, or all these just "ROMs" that exist in a folder on the microSD card and I simply run some executable that fires up Android as though it were just another application running on top of Windows Mobile?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the latter...you fire up haret which shuts down windows and loads android. android does not / cannot (for the time being) exist without windows. if you remove the sd card, android ceases to exist on your phone; windows cannot be removed.
hope that answers your question.
Ok, so when you say that one app "shuts down windows" does that mean that Android fires up and is in complete control of the device as though it had actually booted off it directly from ROM, or is it running as an application on top of Windows Mobile, that's where I get confused.
I saw a reference that some Android builds on the HD2 actually run faster or at least they benchmark higher than a real Android device like the Nexus One. I find that tough to believe but hey, if the HD2 can do it, awesome...
br0adband said:
Ok, so when you say that one app "shuts down windows" does that mean that Android fires up and is in complete control of the device as though it had actually booted off it directly from ROM, or is it running as an application on top of Windows Mobile, that's where I get confused.
I saw a reference that some Android builds on the HD2 actually run faster or at least they benchmark higher than a real Android device like the Nexus One. I find that tough to believe but hey, if the HD2 can do it, awesome...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my understanding is it shuts windows down - it is not running as an app on top of windows, though uses the hardware to fire android. when android runs it is in control of the device. you cannot have windows and android running at the same time.
"But Maaaaaaa" (ala Eric Cartman, South Park)
Ok, so we can only run Android from the SD card. But this begs the question....WHY? What is it about the HD2 that precludes the ability to remove Winjunk altogether?
To be able to run android directly from ROM, Android needs to use NAND.
AFAIK NAND is available, but noone knows how to use it directly.
Developpers are busy trying [thread], but until now without success, however signs are it is nearly completed.
As far as I understand, NAND preloads some drivers needed for Android. (like CLRCAD which is needed for sound)
Someone knows answer to folowing:
If NAND is possible/available, will booting Android be faster? Will the "Linux boot output" disappear or not.
Until now I think Android is booting (very) slow, partially due to the "Linux boot output" (scrolling lines)

[Q] PSFreedom for HD2 that ALREADY has Android on it

Just a quick one as I haven't been able to find a post about it so far...
For those who have heard of PSFreedom, there's a build for the HD2, but it has Android bundled with it because it's aimed at WinMo users.
I am already running Android on mine and dont want to inadvertently copy over vital files so does anyone know/has anyone tried and managed to get it to work?
Pav
Its not bundled with android because its aimed at winmo users, It has android because the whole android build is custom and needs to be that way(currently). I'm sure sometime soon it will be possible to add to a current android build but for now you have to use it this way.
The easiest thing to do is to download one of the multi loaders for winmo, which lets you have multiple builds of android on you sd card and select which one you boot into. I currently have the PSfreedom build plus four other builds on my SD card and I just select which one I want to boot.
Nice one mate, thanks! I'm gonna trawl for a multi loader and give it a go now
what exactly does this app do? have a ps3 but never heard of this...
Its a custom build of android that allows you to "jailbreak" the ps3 so that you are able to run homebrew and backup games on it. It needs to be used each time the ps3 is turned on to re-jailbreak it.
It started out as a usb stick with a processor on it that you plugged into the ps3, each time it was turned on. but it has now been ported to many devices.
Heres the link for the android build that has been made for the hd2.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=777120
With the multi-loaders that we have, it's not really that inconvenient to boot into the android build each time. It would be nice though if it could somehow be added to the current full android builds that we have, though I'm not sure if that is even possible as I don't know how it works.

[Q] Archos 43 Flash a Custom ROM.

Hey guys, Ive got a question.
My company has an android application that we license to companies, and we would like to purchase a few hundred android devices to load our application on to and then sell the devices at cost, but license the software that is on the device.
We have looked at several different android devices and saw the Archos 43 at a good price point, with the screen size we want. We are currently using Motorola i1's, but want something cheaper, and something that give us the ability to customize what firmware is on the device.
I was wondering if there is quick way (remember, we are going to have hundreds of these devices) to load our application on this device, and strip/remove all pre-loaded applications that came with the device.
We only need the wifi and the camera to work.
Would it be easiest to have a custom ROM that has basic Android with our program built in? Can this even be done, and are there any restrictions on this device as far as flashing a custom programmed Android OS. I see on Archos's website they talk about being able to load custom images, but not much detail about it.
On their website it states, "...ARCHOS has ‘opened up’ their Internet Tablets allowing users to install or even replace the Android system installed on the device."
This statement says that its "opened" up the tablets, but throughout the forums I see that the device doesn't already come rooted, and you need to root it before flashing a new ROM.
Thanks,
Christopher
1. Std. Archos is not rooted and is not even able to be rooted atm.
2. Archos has provided the SDE, a customised FW that allows a second kernel and Initram to be installed.
3. because you can then remove the Archos Android you can have a "custom rom".
You can't really stip down the Android to a point where it is secure without a very good knollage of android and the device itself.
To see how easy a custom ROm could be installed, look at UrukDroid installation.
http://code.google.com/p/urukdroid/wiki/Installation
Hey Chris
What you've read on the ARCHOS website is the SDE firmware. This "special" firmware from ARCHOS will not replace the operating system but it will you allow to install any custom kernel / initramfs.
So I think you better stick with the original firmware, but modify the system image as far as you want to go. Then you modify the init script in the initramfs to do not check the signature of the system image and there you go, easily customized Android, based on the original ARCHOS firmware.
BUT: Even though it's quite easy to flash a custom kernel / initramfs (just boot into recovery mode), it's not that easy to replace the system image because you have to write some scripts in the initramfs to do so and to be able to "upgrade" the image, etc..
That's just my input. Have a look at the links in my signature for further tricks and hints how to do stuff and links to my projects which are based on SDE and ARCHOS firmware.
There might be another solution, stick with UrukDroid (search the forums), an already highly customized and improved version of the official ARCHOS firmware, including installer, tools, etc..
Thank you both for the fast replies.
I'd rather not try go the two routes you have mentioned just for legality reasons, because the devices will be resold and I wouldn't want to get into that area...
Do you know of any devices that are more open to modification?
Thanks again.
Just yesterday i stumbled across http://www.taztag.com/index.php?opt...e&id=75:tazcard&catid=38:slideshow&Itemid=125
I don't know a price, but esp. for my needs the nfc part is interesting.

[Q] How to customize a "update.img" for a special device

anybody knows how to make a ROM customized and make a "update.img" to run on a un-rootable device? I know when you backup a linux image for example ubuntu, this image will run on all other PCs, the image will automatically knows the new PC's drivers and adapt everything with that, is it what happening to an android too ?
It's not clear what exactly you mean by "un-rootable" device, but one cause an Android device cannot be rooted is that it requires signed updates. This signing happens using a special private key, which only device manufacturer knows. So, answering your question, if a device is truly un-rootable, it's likely impossible to make install custom update.img (because otherwise you could just include superuser binary in that custom image, and it wouldn't be unrootable in first place ;-) ).
---------- Post added at 03:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 PM ----------
Answering second question, no, it's not the same for Android. Most Android device use ARM processor, and in ARM world you usually need to know addresses and other characteristics of every peripheral device (RAM, display, camera, etc.) to make it work, and those are different for different devices. So, full system image made for one device most likely won't work for another device (unless they're very similar).
But there're also those "partial updates", which doesn't have complete system image, but only some components, e.g. a theme or some application. Such partial updated might be possible to install on different devices. (But if such update comes from a vendor, it is usually locked for a particular device anyway).
let me make it clear, I have a MSI tablet, I tried all rooting ways like z4, Gingerbreak v1.20 and superoneclick nothing's working for it (so it's un-rootable at least because of I couldn't find any way for that!) .
I found an official "update.img" from msi website, i upgraded the ROM to the new version, it was when i found we can make root access by editing of the "update.img".
Well, "a MSI tablet" still doesn't sound too specific ;-). I guess, you might have more specific responses if you'd write the exact model name you have (did you also try to search forum for it?).
As an example, I can tell about Nook Tablet - its boot loader is exactly locked, requiring signed updates. But folks here at XDA devels still found a hole in it and described how to get root on it and how to install custom updates for it (and are working on CyanogenMod for it). I personally bought Nook because I knew there's a great, active community behind it, so there would be custom hacks and updates for it.
"MSI Windpad Enjoy 10" it's the exact model name. unfortunately this one is not a famous model and there's no useful information for this device
Goldiecalypso,
I do not know if it will work for you.
I have an Aishuo A816 which I could not get rooted, what I did was find a ROM that was pre rooted and forced an upgrade with that. Everthing is now fine and if I change rom I can now root with superoneclick.
Keith
we are also discussing on this matter:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1453613
we have the official ROM, but nobody's here to make it rooted.
try to rooting msi enjoy windpad
hi goldiecalypso
can you to try learning how to rooting ?and rooting the msi windpad,together?
(excuse me for my bad English)
I want to, but I have no idea how to start!

Turning any android phone/tablet into a raspberry pi

Hi guys!
I'm a software developer for some years now, and today I got a request if I could hack any tablet/phone to use it like a raspberry pi or something similar. Basically, the question is, if I can install & run whatever I want on it, like it's the case on the raspberry pi.
I don't fully understand the differences between a raspberry pi-like SoC with an attached touchscreen and an android phone/tablet, so I'm very interested in this topic.
Would you maybe be so kind and answer me some basic questions?
- Is it possible to extract the drivers, for example for the GPU or the touch screen, from a rooted device? If yes, is it hard? Is it always the same, or a completely different process for every different GPU/tochscreen etc?
- Is it possible to use those drivers with the normal linux kernel & any distro I like to use?
- In order to swap android with my linux distribution of choice, what will I actually need to replace, or to do in general? I know that a typical android phone/tablet's internal storage is usually formatted with different partitions, like the bootloader, system oder data partition,
- Will I need to reformat the internal storage and even install a different bootloader? Or is the preinstalled bootloader usually able to boot any system, not just android?
Of course you don't have to answer all the questions. I'm grateful for any answer that helps me in one of those questions or provides me some information I might want to know in this topic.
Thank you very much

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