[DEV][CM9][HOWTO] Build CM9 From Scratch! - Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

It's time. As offered previously for the Nook Color and HP Touchpad...
A Build CM9-for-NookTablet Walkthrough
What is this?
This document provides instructions for developers to build a complete Cyanogenmod 9 update.zip for the Nook Tablet aka "acclaim" (and more theoretically the newer 512MB model, aka "elation") from source code. The instructions require a Linux computer and appropriate tools (discussed below).
It is important to emphasize that CM9 is a work in progress and if you try it you will be building/using something in mid-development. Things may break and/or not work at any time. Read below, the build instructions, and the relevant licenses for additional info and disclaimers.
Hopefully, for those developers who are interested and willing to take the risks, this can be a fun and educational experiment. And hopefully more developers will help chrmhoffman, kuzma30, mik_os, and others improve CM and the 3.0 kernel.
So does this build use the new, experimental 3.0 kernel then?
Update: At first, I mentioned that 2.6.35 was also supported, but apparently this will require additional files that aren't currently installed. So for now, yes, it uses the 3.0 kernel, which may not be compatible with the newer 512MB NTs. Although it is not confirmed one way or the other, as it has not been tested on these devices.
The configuration uses the experimental 3.0 kernel, which is built on-the-fly from the latest source code.
Unless you really want to take some risks, if you have a newer-model 8GB/512MB Nook Tablet (aka "elation"), the 3.0 kernel build is not for you...yet! It may boot, it may not. It has not been tested by any of the developers with that device, and as of this writing there are known kernel issues with the 512MB. (So actually, this is a good opportunity for developers to try it and contribute.) The 3.0 kernel development thread has more on this.
Any further discussion below assumes the 3.0 configuration, as the 2.6.35 branch isn't as up-to-date and isn't really being maintained. 3.0 is the future!
These instructions are for Linux. How do I build on Windows/Mac/etc?
If you have Mac or Windows or something else, you may consider installing a virtual machine such VirtualBox (which is free). Then run Linux, say a Ubuntu distribution, as a guest from your host computer. This allows you to "sandbox" your development environment, and gives an opportunity to learn about Linux with actual hands-on experience, all without reformatting your computer...
CM9 can also be built on Mac natively, either in Snow Leopard or Lion. Instructions for building (CM7) on a Mac can be found on the CyanogenMod wiki.
A few modifications need to be made to those instructions for CM9 & Lion, but such instructions aren't hard to find.
Will my build actually be usable?
CM9 (and the acclaim port) is in active development, and when you do a build from the latest source, you are using a bleeding-edge build of whatever happens to be in the repositories at the time. There is no guarantee it will work in any capacity. It may actually cause terrible damage. So only try at your own risk, and assume responsibility for your actions. If you find a bug, help fix it.
It is critical that you understand the risks before trying this and fully back up your system before trying any build. It is equally important to have a bootable SD standing by so that you can restore your device to a known good version if something goes terribly wrong, which may actually happen. Hopelessly staring at a non-booting device is never fun. There are other threads about recovering hosed acclaim systems, so I will leave you to finding and understanding them and preparing yourself for solving such problems. You should always assume the worst will happen, so be prepared.
Speaking personally, I don't have either model of NT and have never run CM9 on one, so can not attest to its usability per se. You should consider this a work in progress full-of-bugs until told otherwise.
Which bootloader is this using?
Cyanoboot, based on u-boot. The full github repo w/history (rather than raw files) is now available as well. Special credit to bauwks for fixing the locked bootloader design flaw.
Will this build result in a working update.zip suitable for use with ClockWorkMod recovery?
The build process has been modified to generate a fully flashable update.zip, but, as, with everything else, nothing is guaranteed.
Does this create a build for SD Card or for EMMC (internal storage)?
EMMC.
I'm stuck! I've been at it for hours. Something isn't working. Where can I get help?
If you have never built an operating system before-- this may be a good way to learn, provided you accept the risks and consequences of trying. This and other forum threads may be a good place to look for help. Also try IRC.
You are also able to leave comments in the walkthrough document itself. If you have a tip that might help others, post it there. If I get a chance, I'll take the best of them and incorporate it into the doc.
Does this build ClockworkMod recovery too?
It should. Check the $OUT directory for two files-- recovery.img and recovery.img.sdcard. The recovery.img file is (hopefully) flashable via fastboot:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
The recovery.img.sdcard can be renamed to recovery.img and put on your sdcard.
Can I build twrp2 instead of ClockWorkMod?
TWRP2, in case you're not familiar with it, is an alternative recovery image created by Team Win, particularly user dees_troy. It can be used for flashing update.zip files and making/restoring backups, among other things.st
The 3.0 build configuration currently contains the needed settings for a twrp build. You will just need to replace the ~/android/system/bootable/recovery repo with twrp's source code. You can do this by adding the following lines to your local_manifest.xml file:
<remove-project name="CyanogenMod/android_bootable_recovery"/>
<project name="TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project" path="bootable/recovery" remote="gh" revision="master" />
You can then repo sync (per the instructions) and then do this command to rebuild the recovery using twrp2.
mka recoveryimage
The recovery.img and recovery.img.sdcard files in $OUT should now contain the latest twrp2. (If it doesn't, try clearing out the recovery-related files in $OUT, including $OUT/obj/RECOVERY_EXECUTABLES)
Please direct twrp2-related questions and solutions to the twrp2 thread, not here.
Who do I thank?
Thanks to chrmhoffmann, mik_os, kuzma30, cyanogen, arcee, nemith, Texas Instruments, Barnes & Noble, and all the other devs, testers, and contributors, of which there are many. And special thank to bauwks, who made this all possible.
For this walkthrough in particular, big thanks to chrmhoffmann as well as eyeballer for testing. Everyone-- go find a thread by these people and thank them.
Who do I blame?
Yourself. Only yourself.
To whom do I donate?
Not to me. You can donate to any of the above if you feel like it. I do suggest considering a donation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who among other noble activities are fighting to keep "jailbreaking" and its Android phone and tablet equivalents legal. Your Android devices are full-fledged computers. Don't let corporate or government special interests take away the right to mess with your own possessions as you wish.
Finally, good luck. We're all counting on you. If and when you have problems, post them, and hopefully others will help find a solution.
Developers are needed. Enquire within.
-ft
(twitter)
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How To Build CM9 for Nook Tablet From Source
(Google Doc... or is it Google Drive now?)

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And one more thing...
If I think of something to add, I'll put it here.

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Good stuffs. I'll give it a try later in the week. I have everything set up. Going to be fun testing.

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Im planning on doing this too. Thanks for making a guide, although I'll probably be in the IRC within 5 minutes of starting with questions
Sent from my Team A CM9 Alpha 0.03 Nook Tablet

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Thank you very much for putting this together!
I am testing on an 8GB nook.
I can verify that the cwm and twrp2 recovery images boot with the 3.0 kernel, however CM9 fails to boot, it hangs on a blank screen with the backlight on and eventually just reboots. I am not able to get it to connect via usb to print logcat so I don't think it is getting very far.
Do you happen to have any instructions for tapping into the serial on these devices to see what is going on?
Also, with the new cwm it will not mount the sdcard through the menu. If I open a shell within cwm recovery I can mount it fine, except it is read-only.
In case it is useful, here is a dmesg from cwm:
http://pastebin.com/0fkyuSwe

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arcon2600 said:
Also, with the new cwm it will not mount the sdcard through the menu. If I open a shell within cwm recovery I can mount it fine, except it is read-only.
In case it is useful, here is a dmesg from cwm:
http://pastebin.com/0fkyuSwe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, this is very interesting! It's similar behavior to twrp.. a mounting issue with sdcard... wonder if this means the kernel is somehow not letting it mount, or if the problem is with recovery.fstab...

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New patch, there shouldn't be a gpio_wp pin assigned to begin with...
Also, this is tested on my 8GB, I don't have a 16GB to test with.
diff --git a/arch/arm/mach-omap2/board-nooktablet.c b/arch/arm/mach-omap2/board-nooktablet.c
index de38b5c..a10dd93 100644
--- a/arch/arm/mach-omap2/board-nooktablet.c
+++ b/arch/arm/mach-omap2/board-nooktablet.c
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ static struct omap2_hsmmc_info mmc[] = {
.mmc = 1,
.caps = MMC_CAP_4_BIT_DATA | MMC_CAP_8_BIT_DATA | MMC_CAP_1_8V_DDR,
// .gpio_cd = -EINVAL,
- .gpio_wp = 4,
+ .gpio_wp = -EINVAL,
.nonremovable = false,
// .no_off_init = true,
#ifdef CONFIG_PM_RUNTIME

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Build environment ready but cannot use repo command
HI! i would love to build a zip with the new kernel but i cannot use the repo command in the terminal in Linux Mint latest build. I have downloaded Android SDK and all the required build libraries and set up all the directories. i have the NTsparkkernel folder in the android directory. Could anyone offer some advice on how to apt-get (the REPO module) so I can build the zip. Thank you for your time. Bruce

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about repo
C64assembly said:
HI! i would love to build a zip with the new kernel but i cannot use the repo command in the terminal in Linux Mint latest build. I have downloaded Android SDK and all the required build libraries and set up all the directories. i have the NTsparkkernel folder in the android directory. Could anyone offer some advice on how to apt-get (the REPO module) so I can build the zip. Thank you for your time. Bruce
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The repo command is actually something you get from Google. It's not in the apt-get repositories.
To install the repo script:
mkdir -p ~/bin
curl https://dl-ssl.google.com/dl/googlesource/git-repo/repo > ~/bin/repo
chmod a+x ~/bin/repo
The repo binary will be in ~/bin and you can add this to your path if you like.

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Confirmed by chrmhoffmann and committed. Thank you!

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Thank you for this guide. I've compiled stuff before, but built my first Android from source last night. Although the build from that time has random reboots (the nature of the beast).
I'll be building quite a bit I think

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Damn see I'm just porting right now I wanna build from source but my PC isn't Linux friendly yet I'm waiting on a tb internal so I can set up and learn this but it just looks so complicated and idk why. I feel once I learn it probably be easy as hell. Thanks Fattire
__________________________________________________
Sent from my SPH-L700-GNEX-using Tapatalk 2

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Danrarbc said:
Thank you for this guide. I've compiled stuff before, but built my first Android from source last night. Although the build from that time has random reboots (the nature of the beast).
I'll be building quite a bit I think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey congrats and welcome to the club!

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Cannot Make the bacon...
Hey Fattire! Thank you for your guide. I was able to finally download the source for cm9 and add the 3.0 kernel repository. I have everything in one folder. I am new to Linux and had to add a Path command to get Repo Sync to work correctly. Once I got the Repos I ran into another problem trying to issue command cd ~/android/system/vendor/cm , then enter “./get-prebuilts”. The Make Bacon and or Croot <enter> brunch acclaim does nothing either. It seems I am missing somthing here. Maybe a different distro of Linux besides Mint would work better for me... getting close to building (i hope). Thanks!
I have to issue PATH=~/bin:$PATH every time I repo sync.

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C64assembly said:
Hey Fattire! Thank you for your guide. I was able to finally download the source for cm9 and add the 3.0 kernel repository. I have everything in one folder. I am new to Linux and had to add a Path command to get Repo Sync to work correctly. Once I got the Repos I ran into another problem trying to issue command cd ~/android/system/vendor/cm , then enter “./get-prebuilts”. The Make Bacon and or Croot <enter> brunch acclaim does nothing either. It seems I am missing somthing here. Maybe a different distro of Linux besides Mint would work better for me... getting close to building (i hope). Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Ubuntu here I started with 10.04 LTS since it was the the build used and supported by Googles build instructions. Yous should still be able to do it though.
Did you initialize the build environment using ". build/envsetup.sh" at android/system (it looks like is the base of your source from your post)

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Yes. Thank you for your advice KeithN. I am going to start from scratch. I might just put Ubuntu 10.04 on my comp tonight if I cannot get it to build properly.

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I'm going for Ubuntu 12.04 command-line. If that doesn't go well, I'll go for 10.04 as well.

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I built mine on 12.04 (Xubuntu, but that doesn't matter so much).
I added a debian sqeeze apt repository to get sun-java6-jdk, then used -f install when it complained because one of it's dependencies exists in Ubuntu but not that same version #. Commented out the repository after it installed so I don't get more debian packages on accident. For everything else I think it was just following the guide as-is.

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C64assembly said:
I am new to Linux and had to add a Path command to get Repo Sync to work correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I had recommended doing that. The PATH=$PATH:~/bin command will ensure that no matter what directory you type "repo", it'll know where to find the file.
C64assembly said:
Once I got the Repos I ran into another problem trying to issue command cd ~/android/system/vendor/cm , then enter “./get-prebuilts”. The Make Bacon and or Croot <enter> brunch acclaim does nothing either. It seems I am missing somthing here. Maybe a different distro of Linux besides Mint would work better for me... getting close to building (i hope). Thanks!
I have to issue PATH=~/bin:$PATH every time I repo sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead of entering it every time, you can add that PATH statement so that it's automatically invoked when you open a new Terminal window.
Just add the line to an "invisible" file (it's invisible because it starts with a period (.) and won't show up in a normal listing) called .bashrc in ~/.bashrc (the ~ is a shortcut for your home directory, or /home/youraccountname/). The hidden .bashrc file will probably exist already. Just add the statement to the end.
Keithn said:
Did you initialize the build environment using ". build/envsetup.sh" at android/system (it looks like is the base of your source from your post)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is right. Try this:
$ cd ~/android/system
$ . build/envsetup.sh
(the $ represents the prompt and should not be typed. For the second command, it's literally a period followed by a space followed by build/envsetup.sh)
I am using the latest 12.04 ubuntu, fwiw.

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I know this is for CM9, but any help would be appreciated (trying aokp). I had issues with the packaging of the .zip it looks like. I was able to build for my fascinate so I know the source will build. Any suggestions?
Output