Hello everyone.
Berfore I write anything, I am aware that ARM processors are not nearly powerfull enought for this to pay off, but I have some spare time on my hands and an old android phone (samsung galaxy S) that has no other use whatsoever.
So, here is what I was thinking:
Is there a way to completely strip the phone of android, so it runs an os (preferrably a flavour of linux) that is as easy on resources as possible and is capable of running wireless drivers and mining software. My knowledge on this part is full of holes, so there are several questions I would like an answer to:
1. Can an android phone (running an ARM processor) run ONLY a distro of linux. I do not mind loosing the phone's capabilities (camera, GSM, touchscreen...). It needs to support a usb mouse and keyboard, a wireless connection and basically run as low on power as possible.
2. Where would I start when reading up on such a thing?
3. Is there already such a thing out there and I'm just incapable of finding it?
Again, I just want this to be a fun project, I bet a lot of you guys have useless old hardware laying around, let's put them to work
JasonXtreme said:
Hello everyone.
Berfore I write anything, I am aware that ARM processors are not nearly powerfull enought for this to pay off, but I have some spare time on my hands and an old android phone (samsung galaxy S) that has no other use whatsoever.
So, here is what I was thinking:
Is there a way to completely strip the phone of android, so it runs an os (preferrably a flavour of linux) that is as easy on resources as possible and is capable of running wireless drivers and mining software. My knowledge on this part is full of holes, so there are several questions I would like an answer to:
1. Can an android phone (running an ARM processor) run ONLY a distro of linux. I do not mind loosing the phone's capabilities (camera, GSM, touchscreen...). It needs to support a usb mouse and keyboard, a wireless connection and basically run as low on power as possible.
2. Where would I start when reading up on such a thing?
3. Is there already such a thing out there and I'm just incapable of finding it?
Again, I just want this to be a fun project, I bet a lot of you guys have useless old hardware laying around, let's put them to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, first of all using a Galaxy S as a mining rig would be very inefficient. It has a too small and old GPU, even on a Nexus 6 it would take forever to make even a LiteCoin or DogeCoin. So no, that's not really what you should do with it. The best way is to turn it into a mediacenter. You heard of XBMC?
Here is a really great guide on how to do that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xpe...de-cracked-screen-beast-life-tv-xbmc-t2907921
I guess this is the best what you can do with your old phone. :good:
Besides, I sometimes use mine to experiment things in terms of Android. Like building an experimental ROM and flash on it, because a brick is not so terrible on such a old device.
Hope I could help you!
Thank you for your input
As I've stated, I am aware that I am barking completely up the wrong tree, but nontheless - I am interested in rewiring the SGS into a linux-only machine, meaning I want to eliminate android completely. The mining is just a bonus here, even if it does produce mHashes
you can mine with the app called miner gate . I mine on my s3 korean and get an hashrate of 8 mb s easily available on play store
Related
Is this even possible? I think that device has a potential. It's the crappy software that is preventing me from purchasing it. It would be nice if someone developed true android ports for those cheap Chinese mobile phones so poor college students like myself who do not wish to be locked to a contract can get a cheap phones. I finally found that the Airphone has a processor with the following specs:
Mtek MT6235 ARM9 core, 208MHz Speed CPU
I read somewhere that Android needs at least 200mhz to run, so this processor should be able to support it, right? I am interested in getting into the mobile hacking scene for Android, but I do not know where to begin. If I purchased this mobile phone (its cheap, I can get it for 89$) which tools would I require to begin hacking it?
Yes, I know this mobile phone does not have 3G, but I have no use for that technology on a phone because I have other means of accessing the internet. I like this mobile because it is very very slim, about the same size as my ipod touch. I know so many other people would purchase this phone if it had android instead of the sucky iPhoney OS.
Many thanks!
So many views yet no replies. Do you think I would have better luck asking this in the Official Google Android developer forum? Or is this type of chinese technology as unknown and elusive as I figured it would be?
if the mtek run winmobile
you can try to start android whit haret
i think that the cpu is the same of htc opal(omap 850)
look here
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/wing-linux/wiki
It doesnt run windows mobile unfortunately. It runs a weird OS called "MTK OS", which apparently is a modified version of Nucleus OS.
Hey thanks for your responses! I will take this to the Official Google Android Forum.
Looking to for something like Airphones
I want to play the video on my pc monitor
and steam the audio of this video on my android phone to listen with headphones
linux port
Hello,
some russian guys made a linux port to MT6235 (Google: Linux'у на MT6235 быть (инструкция прилагается))
Starting an Android kernel would be trivial, but RAM is not enough, so Android on MT6235 is useless.
First: I am a absolute n00b
I want to learn about porting Android for Nokia phones. I want to do something like porting Android for Nokia 5233/5228 phone, which my friend has. I saw its specifications and found that It has got NAND memory, external SD card support, It runs on ARM11 processor.
I tried to do some searching and found Android supports ARM Architecture, so I think the porting is possible (may be difficult). I then headed to the Android site and tried to learn about porting, but I couldn't make out much out of it.
Can someone on this forum help me out. Even if there is no direct solution, I would be happy with learning how to port the OS. May be there is no solution to the thing I am talking about, still you could help me learn porting.
P.S: Kindly don't post something like "What you talk is impossible, get out of this thing." I am serious in learning things.
tecoholic said:
First: I am a absolute n00b
I want to learn about porting Android for Nokia phones. I want to do something like porting Android for Nokia 5233/5228 phone, which my friend has. I saw its specifications and found that It has got NAND memory, external SD card support, It runs on ARM11 processor.
I tried to do some searching and found Android supports ARM Architecture, so I think the porting is possible (may be difficult). I then headed to the Android site and tried to learn about porting, but I couldn't make out much out of it.
Can someone on this forum help me out. Even if there is no direct solution, I would be happy with learning how to port the OS. May be there is no solution to the thing I am talking about, still you could help me learn porting.
P.S: Kindly don't post something like "What you talk is impossible, get out of this thing." I am serious in learning things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey buddy lots of people want to port android to s60v5 phones.
the thing is that firstly symbian doesn't allows any other os so you need dediated separate external hardware to wipe symbian off the nokia phone then you have to be prepared to port android to it.
Keep this thing in mind that you need to convert all the necessary files to the resolution of the nokia phones.
if you wanna run an application then also yo need to convert it to your native resolution only..
its gonna be a quite tiresome job.
i wish you all the best...
well, then i guess porting a QVGA version of android on to a QVGA Nokia Device (like the C5) or a landscape QVGA (say, from Galaxy Pro) on to a Landscape QVGA symbian device could ease things off a bit?
not so easy..
Its nearly impossible to replace symbian from nokia...
Not starting
my phone is not sarting after installing nopkia evolve
divyanshu308 said:
hey buddy lots of people want to port android to s60v5 phones.
the thing is that firstly symbian doesn't allows any other os so you need dediated separate external hardware to wipe symbian off the nokia phone then you have to be prepared to port android to it.
Keep this thing in mind that you need to convert all the necessary files to the resolution of the nokia phones.
if you wanna run an application then also yo need to convert it to your native resolution only..
its gonna be a quite tiresome job.
i wish you all the best...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The resolution would be the least of his problems. The real problem is. Android needs source. Although you could just hope that, for example, an android version for Samsung Galaxy Ace would work. If it doesn't work. You have a completely wiped phone that is basically a bricked one.
Then there are the problems of incompatible components. While Nokia build their software with that phone in mind, the components work together nicely. Android on the other hand was built for Nexus Phones. And since there is no open source OS from Nokia that I know of, you can't copy over drivers.
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium
Hey there, i hope i`m right in here and you pros can answer me some questions.
We are currently building a new software which will be released soon, i won`t go into details in here, because we not ready to release some infos about it yet. Anyway, thats not the problem....
Here is my question: Our Software could expand to TVs and now we are searching on how to get our solution onto TV Screens. We cam across all those Android based TV Boxes, we ordered some and tested them, unfortunatly they didn`t offer everything we needed.
Sooo, is it possible to release a custom Android Installation on such a Box?
What if we get the blank hardware boxes, can we get an Android Installation up and running? (With the paid help of some XDA-Developers..)
We would really need a stripped down Version only with our APP and some other stuff running.
Also another question, if it is possible to release a custom box, is it legal to Google`s Terms?
We are brand new in this field, so please be so kind and help us out. If it is possible and we can implement this thing we are definitly will be going over xda-developers, because we just don`t have any clue about Android Systems.
Are you meaning something like this?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/244278/meet_cotton_candy_the_dualcore_android_usb_device.html
We all know that Android is flexible enough to be put on phones, tablets, laptops, and TVs. FXI, a technology lab based in Norway, decided to add USB drives to Android’s host of platforms.
FXI’s Cotton Candy USB device might look like any other flash drive, but it packs smartphone parts like a dual-core 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos processor and its own ARM GPU for 1080p video playback. It also has lots of connectivity, including Wi-Fi, HDMI, Bluetooth, and a MicroSD card slot to expand its 1GB of storage.
This Raspberry Pi-eqsue miniature PC comes with Android 2.3 (also known as Gingerbread). When you plug it into a PC or Mac, it automatically bring up a separate pop up for the Gingerbread OS. This functionality could be used to bring Android apps or games to any computer. Alternatively, if your HDTV has HDMI ports, you could potentially turn it into a smart, Internet-connected monitor.
Angry Birds might be a little hard to play on your TV. [Photo: FXI]
The only down side of the device is that it is not supported by Google, so you won’t be browsing the marketplace anytime soon. Instead, FXI is working to get a third-party app store together. For now, though, you'll have to side-load any apps you want to run on it.
FXI is in talks with other companies to bring Cotton Candy to market by the second half of 2012 and predict that the device will cost "well under $200" according to The Verge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MoPhoACTV Initiative
Yes, thats also this kind of thing we might need. But currently we are more looking into these kind of Boxes: cect-shop.com/Android-TV-Box_c55_x1.htm
And we would need a custom Android installation on one of these boxes? As asked above, is this possible and legal?
Why android?
i don't know the exact details about, but I think getting regular linux to run on a set op box is easier and cheaper to customize with exactly the software you want it.
It doesn`t have to be Android. Andorid was just a possible solution we found and the other reason is that i`m capable of programming apps for Android so it was the closest possibility.
You say Linux...hmm... also a possible solution.
Lets tell you at least some details. The Box should run only with our application, and should be able to be connected to a TV where the application is started then and does their thing. It`s a specialized kind of Software Application for targeted companys.
What it should be able to do:
At least an output resolution of 1280 * 720
Connectable with HDMI, DVI etc. to Televisions
As you say Linux, are you capable of doing such a thing? We might need you...
Or do you have some resources where we can find some developer who can achieve this?
surekin said:
It doesn`t have to be Android. Andorid was just a possible solution we found and the other reason is that i`m capable of programming apps for Android so it was the closest possibility.
You say Linux...hmm... also a possible solution.
Lets tell you at least some details. The Box should run only with our application, and should be able to be connected to a TV where the application is started then and does their thing. It`s a specialized kind of Software Application for targeted companys.
What it should be able to do:
At least an output resolution of 1280 * 720
Connectable with HDMI, DVI etc. to Televisions
As you say Linux, are you capable of doing such a thing? We might need you...
Or do you have some resources where we can find some developer who can achieve this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think any experienced linux dev is capable of doing such a thing, not that difficult. Get a good supported distro, remove all the bells and whistles and let it just boot to your application. I think that is the most elegant solution. Android is much more difficult to customize in such a way. I might have the technical skills to pull it off, but I'm not interested, sorry.
It all depends on your needs and resources. Try googling for embedded linux. linuxfordevices.com is a good place to start i think.
Why the choice for a setopbox and not a regular application? In call centers and other businesses normal programs are used to display information on a large screen, while running on a regular OS. The cost of having to develop and deliver support on not only the software, but also on the setopbox and its embedded OS is quite large. You have to take that into account. Given that you post this question on this forum, I suspect that your resources are rather limited. If I were you, I would reconsider the choice for a setop box.
First, thx for your time...and second, i understand what you mean in your post, but our software already runs on Mac OS, Windows and iOs, so we already have an application running. The settopbox would just be an addition, because some of our customers might need such a thing. Thats the reason why i`m doggling around searching for some ideas.
Our resources are limited sure, but not too limited, the reason why i posted here, is because i`m searching for answers here too, and xda is always a good place to ask in my opinion. We are going other ways too, let me make that clear!
So, i understand what you meant by Linux, i am now contacting some Linux devs who might want to achieve this.
Thx!
For all the developers on this board, what if you had...
a higher powered Mini
AOSP, let's say Marshmallow or better
all the dev tools you'd need to get to work
...what would you, could you dream to develop this computer to do?
TV box? Gaming console? Android PC? Smart home device?
Please share with us your brainstorm ideas on this. Have fun with it and don't think about what's already out on the market... think out of the box, reach for the stars, and all the other cliches you can think of. Please share in the comments below.
Thanks!
A combination of all the above!
Smart nuclear powered anti-starship laser guns.
Just kidding, possibly a wireless router or a media server.
well I like something like win 7 ultimate. with a htpc media center,good gaming and nice professional os with good look.
not the current flat look but something more 3d like seven was.
but I am sure you prefer a idea for your Android stuff...
so what about jide making intel cherry trail devices? those could be nice for TV box or computer? or good snapdragon with long term support?
tailslol said:
well I like something like win 7 ultimate. with a htpc media center,good gaming and nice professional os with good look.
not the current flat look but something more 3d like seven was.
but I am sure you prefer a idea for your Android stuff...
so what about jide making intel cherry trail devices? those could be nice for TV box or computer? or good snapdragon with long term support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or MediaTek, but force them to give you updated kernel sources and release them to the public.
Just saying because MTK chips last longer, and perform better (except for GPU performance) than counterpart Snapdragon chips.
moriel5 said:
Or MediaTek, but force them to give you updated kernel sources and release them to the public.
Just saying because MTK chips last longer, and perform better (except for GPU performance) than counterpart Snapdragon chips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not mediatek they hide their resources sometime. and absolutely not Allwinner their chip are ****s... Rockchip or amilogic S is OK in the worse case scenario...
NVIDIA tegra are pricey but good for all in ones.especialy with Google support behind.
Or you can cheat on the support by using same Chips as Android one phones, nexus. or pixel..so no source hiding.
tailslol said:
not mediatek they hide their resources sometime. and absolutely not Allwinner their chip are ****s... Rockchip or amilogic S is OK in the worse case scenario...
NVIDIA tegra are pricey but good for all in ones.especialy with Google support behind.
Or you can cheat on the support by using same Chips as Android one phones, nexus. or pixel..so no source hiding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you not see what I had witten about forcing MediaTek to release their kernel sources?
Rockchip also hides many of their kernel sources, and are a pain to work with, (I had to use an ancient computer from over a decade ago, and had to install Windows XP, since it wouldn't work with anything newer).
Allwinner are a solid choice, since they are much more open with their sources, and are much easier to work with, it's just that not many developers work with them, but those that do, testify to them being much easier to work with.
About Amlogic, I have no idea.
Nvidia, are really good, but are even worse than MediaTek and Rockchip at releasing kernel sources, so unless it's the same chipset as the Nexus 9, it needs to be out of the question.
But please no BIG.little processors, they are great on paper, however in the real world, while they deliver, they don't deliver even close to what they should, ending up being a waste of money, since the worth:cost ratio is much farther.
moriel5 said:
Did you not see what I had witten about forcing MediaTek to release their kernel sources?
Rockchip also hides many of their kernel sources, and are a pain to work with, (I had to use an ancient computer from over a decade ago, and had to install Windows XP, since it wouldn't work with anything newer).
Allwinner are a solid choice, since they are much more open with their sources, and are much easier to work with, it's just that not many developers work with them, but those that do, testify to them being much easier to work with.
About Amlogic, I have no idea.
Nvidia, are really good, but are even worse than MediaTek and Rockchip at releasing kernel sources, so unless it's the same chipset as the Nexus 9, it needs to be out of the question.
But please no BIG.little processors, they are great on paper, however in the real world, while they deliver, they don't deliver even close to what they should, ending up being a waste of money, since the worth:cost ratio is much farther.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the thing about big little... nowadays with the failure of TV boxes and the slow death of tablets most big company are targeting the phone market.
and big little is mostly for phones ...
but I think the only problem is not targeting the lower end or not using too old than 2 years chips and sometime it is just better to spend a lil more for higher support and better performances.
on Nvidia side almost all chips have been open sourced by Google long time ago.
the tegra x1 in pixel c the tegra 2 3 4 and k1 in nexus tablets... so yea....
tailslol said:
the thing about big little... nowadays with the failure of TV boxes and the slow death of tablets most big company are targeting the phone market.
and big little is mostly for phones ...
but I think the only problem is not targeting the lower end or not using too old than 2 years chips and sometime it is just better to spend a lil more for higher support and better performances.
on Nvidia side almost all chips have been open sourced by Google long time ago.
the tegra x1 in pixel c the tegra 2 3 4 and k1 in nexus tablets... so yea....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry, I had checked it.
And it looks like they have their own code repository now, so things have definitely changed.
RemixOS_Jason said:
For all the developers on this board, what if you had...
a higher powered Mini
AOSP, let's say Marshmallow or better
all the dev tools you'd need to get to work
...what would you, could you dream to develop this computer to do?
TV box? Gaming console? Android PC? Smart home device?
Please share with us your brainstorm ideas on this. Have fun with it and don't think about what's already out on the market... think out of the box, reach for the stars, and all the other cliches you can think of. Please share in the comments below.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would build my own version of Android!
Dual boot as much as possible!
Publish my Project ROC quicker
What about using the mini along with wireless display, and use them as a home security/automation hub? Allowing many apps and already existing "connected" devices like Philips HUE, WiFi Cameras, etc to connect and be configured for automation. Then assigning older android devices to pair and be set in various rooms, to be used as wifi motion detectors.
Well as a developer, I'd improve the way I interact with my devices as an user.
Chromecast and Android Home devices are great but they're not how the future should actually look. In my opinion Google is limiting hardware on those devices to keep prices low and make them impossible to run upcoming software, more powerful software.
Okay let's say we have an AIO device (similar to Android Home) but with a few sets of functionality baked in:
- Network attached Storage: Store all the things you want to share with the family (photos, music, movies...)
- Network attached Storage: Stream whatever is hosted in the box to the "cast enabled devices around the device"
- Network attached Storage: Synced folders between family devices per user request (similar to how resilio sync works)
- Network attached Storage: Remote access for downloads (you're out of home but you start a download that will be waiting for you when you arrive)
- Assistant: Always On Keyword detection
- Assistant: Customized context-aware commands per user inside the network (If John or his devices are not connected to the Wireless network or discoverable through BLE don't suggest content that he might like)
- Assistant: TV as a remote interface of the device with a dashboard, the device microphone as a IO device of the TV.
- Assistant: Device state awareness, notify when battery is low on x device.
BRAINSTORM -- What if Jide actually focused on getting the projects they currently have out working to perfection instead of coming out with new semi broken products?! Then, when everything worked as best as possible, Jide could come out with new stuff that makes the current goodness even better!!!! Wow, what a novel concept!
If i had it, (and if i can), I'll bring the android code and libs to windows,, it's just like WINE on Ubuntu, and isn't like the ancient emulator which is kill my usage
So,, yes... I'll open the play store just when i click it in my windows PC's, installing apk just in Program Files (Android) folder, using linux or android command in cmd (like bash actually) and getting a root access with just allow the UAC
So the whole idea of having a phone that can be put in a dock and used as a computer is really cool, but me and my friend came up with an idea to expand on that. Would it be possible to have both android and Linux on the phone and then have an app/desktop icon to switch operating systems? I know this can be done on other devices. My mate has a chrome book and installed Ubuntu on it. Just a keyboard shortcut will switch operating systems. So would it be possible to do the same thing just on an android device. Hardware wide, there shouldn't be any problems. His chrome book has a cpu that's low spec enough to not have any sort of cooling system/unit whatsoever and only has 4 gigs of ram. Since the ROG phone has a top of the line smartphone processor, an actual cooling unit, and double the ram I don't see why there should be any issues related to the hardware. The thing I'm not so sure about is software issues. From my perspective it should be possible to do something like this, but I'm not at all familiar with software and programming so I wouldn't have any idea if it were possible or not.
Oske829 said:
So the whole idea of having a phone that can be put in a dock and used as a computer is really cool, but me and my friend came up with an idea to expand on that. Would it be possible to have both android and Linux on the phone and then have an app/desktop icon to switch operating systems? I know this can be done on other devices. My mate has a chrome book and installed Ubuntu on it. Just a keyboard shortcut will switch operating systems. So would it be possible to do the same thing just on an android device. Hardware wide, there shouldn't be any problems. His chrome book has a cpu that's low spec enough to not have any sort of cooling system/unit whatsoever and only has 4 gigs of ram. Since the ROG phone has a top of the line smartphone processor, an actual cooling unit, and double the ram I don't see why there should be any issues related to the hardware. The thing I'm not so sure about is software issues. From my perspective it should be possible to do something like this, but I'm not at all familiar with software and programming so I wouldn't have any idea if it were possible or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do it with linux deploy afaik.
Honestly, it would be much better to get a fully OpenSource build running on this hardware, no chroot env, no android kernel, no android libs, no proprietary closed drivers.
Since Asus is going with the ROG branding on this one, maybe they will make source code (drivers, libs etc) available for the the linux hackers in the ROG fan community to build images for it.
There is already a lot of linux use on ROG notebooks and a pretty decent following in the ROG fanbase as it stands but if we can't get a pure OpenSource build, at least a libhybris supported port using LXC and the android kernel as a start.