Related
Yes, I've decided to take on a mammoth task, welcome to "ROSS"... "Replacment Operating System Structure" for Mobile phones & PDA's =]
The website is located here!
Yeah, you all think i'm crazy "hang on, you can't port Android to X50v!"
Well, not YET, but with help It will be done.
What is android you may ask?
Android is google's open source platform for Mobile phones and PDA's =]
So yes, I plan to create a operating system for X50v to replace WM6 with and allow users to develop/change bits of the operating system they don't like.
There will be a few "flavours"
Lite: Basics, very Basics, just Wifi/bluetooth support, a simple GUI and No applications (just a few settings). This free's up a LOT of RAM + ROM
Medium: The one "hopefully" most people will use, This is the standard one, basic office applications (replacing all the standard WM6 ones) a few games, decent GUI etc.
Heavy: The one that leaves least RAM and ROM available, the one with the most applications + usability, although it may lag a little.
Of course, we're going to build a "super-lite" version first, just to make sure it's flashable to the X50v =]
Maglite_RUS & Football may be willing to help, maybe not, we hope for his help + support throught this project
but first we need a team!!!
If you have any experience in making ROMS for X50v (ONLY, we will work on others after the X50v is done) or developing operating systems (various Linux distro's included) and Java (what the majority is coded in) then please please sign up. I plan to help develop the applications rather than the operating system myself, but I will work on ALL aspects of the project of course
If you're interested, and have found this link of google or something, then don't hesitate to email me here
Feel free to discuss =]
Hi Obsidiandesire...
This could be a great project!
It's very nice to see you're a PPC enthusiast like me...
I'm a PC software developer (not PPC) with quite experience but to start this project we need some black belt coders...
Another Linux project was already started here
http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/DellAximX50 but the developing speed was not so fast...
Another issue would surely be the ROM compaction problem that will kick in also on a different OS.
The only thing that could solve this on x50v would be to hack the bootloader in a way to load OS from SD or CF , so all data will be written on a fast write NAND device... By the way this would mean loosing the internal ROM!
But your approach seems to be the most sensible one, as one would never lose the possibility to startup the phone's default os (windows mobile).
It seems quite an interesting project, i have to admit i have a strong will to help you out, as i am also a professional programmer, however i am not a java, or C developer (long time i do not do anything in C), so i guess i am more of a designer myself
Well, i will keep up with this post and maybe we will colaborate in the future, i feel it's time to have our own software in the mobile's, i hate the microsoft's approach to the os handling.
Glad to see we're getting some interest in this project!!!
Hopefully, soon we could set up a website and start developing =]
who knows, we may be the lucky winners of the google competition and get $10 million! (not much use to me because im british lol)
So, you're Idea would be basically multi-boot?
sounds good, but we'd need to modify the bootloader (maybe hold enter, power + reset to switch to ROSS-Mobile?)
Sounds good! and i've just started learning Java too, so this project could take a while, hopefully, if it starts getting quite a bit of attention, we could move it to other platforms (HTC touch etc) which would make us Gods within the PDA community
I do like the posibilities of Android as it looks like it could make good use of the graphics chip in the X50v and it wouldn't have Windows Mobile lagging it down
How much RAM does it have again? It would be as powerfull as an old PC if you overclock it slightly (700mhz, 32MB RAM, 16MB graphics or something like that) and slap on a minimal OS and you could have your own [email protected] Pocket version! lol
Sorry if i've gone off on a tangent, i'm really excited about Android and it's possibilities.
First steps though, how would you get the DEFAULT android software to boot on the X50v? I think this should be our goal before starting on the project itself
this is cool. if anyone gets this to work i would be happy to be a tester. i don't know much about programming but have flash other devices with Linux.
A bit a info i picked up on flashing Linux on ipaqs is that you had to flash a new bootloader that would boot both wince and Linux. don't know why both but maybe to return to wince because to flash the boot loader you did it with a app that ran on wince and after that you would boot the bootloader and make a serial connection so that you could send the linux distro and erase wince.
Thanks for the info, more help on how to do this would be great! (I could try this on my X50v for testing purposes)
would it not be actually possible to boot the android/linux directly from a storage card? so as to effectively allow users to 'dual' boot?
duke_stix said:
would it not be actually possible to boot the android/linux directly from a storage card? so as to effectively allow users to 'dual' boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Each time you would boot a os you would erase saved data (hard reset) because you would need the memory were the settings are for each os. but thats is what i think i haven't flash a device for a long time so im out of date on this as far as if they gotten a doul boot win ce and linux but i assume that this will be a problem with win ce and android dual boot.
You would have to put both os in the flash mamory(were the os goes) and find a way to save the settings from a os and store them so that it can load the settings for the other os and vice versa
but you could do it like linux on a palm zire72. i have linux on my zire but linux is on the memory card when i reset the device it will reboot onto the palm os, so no flashing happens just load the bootloader through the palm os and linux kernel loads, but at the same time palm os is hard reseted, this is palm but same linux that is used on ppc. You would need to find a way too load a bootloader during win ce but dont see that this is possible. only one os at a time.
And Obsidiandesire i will try to get an old friend that used to work on porting linux to ppc he might help on the bootloader part but haven't herd from him for a long time but will try hard on finding him. but as long as we get many people this might be possible. i will post later if i find him.(good luck on your leg)
or, the flash memory card from which you 'boot' the android/linux from could actually hold a partition which served as a flash drive/storage drive aswell? so effectively it would mean you would require something like a 1gb or 512mb card, splitting that to allow you RAM and ROM space but i cant see why that would be too difficult. it would just be a matter of tricking the linux to thinking the local on-drive storage is its 'root' drive and the default drive to save to and to completely and totally NOT access any of the WM stuff on the flash memory that is hard-soldered onto the handset.
not sure if this helps, just bandying ideas around at the mo!
duke_stix said:
or, the flash memory card from which you 'boot' the android/linux from could actually hold a partition which served as a flash drive/storage drive aswell? so effectively it would mean you would require something like a 1gb or 512mb card, splitting that to allow you RAM and ROM space but i cant see why that would be too difficult. it would just be a matter of tricking the linux to thinking the local on-drive storage is its 'root' drive and the default drive to save to and to completely and totally NOT access any of the WM stuff on the flash memory that is hard-soldered onto the handset.
not sure if this helps, just bandying ideas around at the mo!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see what you mean, but then the card might not be recognised in windows =/
However, denying the operating system access to writing the rom (and store everything in RAM) might work, but all settings would have to be stored on the SD card which could lead to a slow application.
The SDK (with the sample apps) itself is around 100MB, but Methinks that the final OS will be around 30MB (Without any apps)
Expanding on the partition Idea, what about partitioning the ROM itself? This might require a special WM6/5/CE ROM but one flash compared to many (everytime the device boots) could be worth it, and it could get round the setttings loss if we restrict each one to not write over the other?
My leg is getting better thankyou, seems like a severe muscle strain (The doctor said) so i should be back in school tomorrow.... great
i see what you mean by the card not being recognised by windows and offer a simple solution:
have a DEDICATED card for android and a seperate card for storage under WM.
to be completely honest with you, theres people on here spending hundreds and hundreds of pounds to have the latest device (and im one of them) im sure they wouldnt mind spending an extra few pounds for another memory card which would allow amazing functionality without actually jeapordising their current WM install (so they can have an install of WM6 to fall back onto)
what i propose is the following system:
1) MEMORY card formatted and partitioned to allow more or less the same sort of structure of memory/ram as the onboard memory does
2) INSTALL the actual android/linux to the memory card utilising the space as you would the hard-soldered memory on the phone without actually modifying the handset itself in any way whatsoever.
3) THIS method allows people to effectively dual-boot android/WM6/5 without the danger of them actually ruining their WM6 install, effectively using the android/linux platform to play about with whilst having the original WM6 to fall back onto for day-to-day usage.
shouldnt be too difficult to accomplish, im sure a modified bootloader would do the job pretty well, cant see why without the help of Olipro and Pof this cant be done!
LETS GET THE BALL ROLLING!
Seems good, but what, have the SD card for storage and CF for the OS? 'cos you obviously can't have 2 SD cards in the X50v (unless there's a CF-SD card adapter lying around somewhere on the web or on a shelf)
But as far as getting the ball rolling, yeah!!
Work on having the vanilla build of android (one included in the SDK) running before starting from scratch!
Obsidiandesire said:
Seems good, but what, have the SD card for storage and CF for the OS? 'cos you obviously can't have 2 SD cards in the X50v (unless there's a CF-SD card adapter lying around somewhere on the web or on a shelf)
But as far as getting the ball rolling, yeah!!
Work on having the vanilla build of android (one included in the SDK) running before starting from scratch!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
another problem would be on getting the bootloader to see the cf card and that maybe a problem, we would need to add one of the slots(sd or cf) to the bootloader and let us choose what os to boot or what memory to boot(sd,cf, or rom mem).
the other way if we don't want to modify anything would be loading a bootloader during winidows mobile.
i hate this time difference
i cant see why you cant actually have the android on the SD card and stick to having the CF card as storage for both WM and Linux
that way, it would mean a sort of 'standardising' for people to port over to other phones which use SD based memory cards.rather than making it bespoke to CF capable devices (of which there arent many!)
Yes, the problems will be a rebuild of the bootloader to recognise both SD + CF cards.
And loading the bootloader under Windows mobile could be good, but you'd then have to terminate WM (which could be a problem)
And which part of the USA do you live in? There's probably an 8 or 9 hour time difference :-(
@dude_stix
well, even so, you'd need both SD + CF storage, which AGAIN could be a problem. But (in my experience) CF is more expensive, and considering Android will take up less space, It seems a more viable option (in my example, a 32MB CF card would be useless if I installed Android on a 2GB SD card and nullified the rest of the space for use (which could happen))
I think the easier option would be to modify the bootloader to look for images on both cards and install on the one with the image on it.
What about drivers etc? Obviously these would be needed for most things.
drivers????
thats all i got but it would not be hard if htc releases its android devices soon so we can get ideas from them. still today linux devices have problems with bluetooth, wifi, backlight, sd, etc...
posted on 5:23 pm here in south central US (Texas)
That's a 6 hour time differance :/
The Drivers being the things (mainly DLL's in WM) that controll the wifi/bluetooth etc.
This is why Linux has problems with them, i think they have to rebuild their own or something, which could pose a problem.
Do you think we should set a website & Forums up, or is it too early at the moment?
ultraprimeomega said:
drivers????
thats all i got but it would not be hard if htc releases its android devices soon so we can get ideas from them. still today linux devices have problems with bluetooth, wifi, backlight, sd, etc...
posted on 5:23 pm here in south central US (Texas)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... ...Drivers!!
This will be the hard one...
With WM6 cooked rom it was easy... We could reuse WM5 drivers written specifically for that device (x50v and x51v needed a specific driver for the 2700G chipset).... So if there won't be any Smartphone with such chipset with Android pre-installed it would be very hard to write that drivers from scratch... By the way somewhere I remeber I found a PowerVR driver source code for Linux that could be useful to do the job...
Cheers
Antineutrino said:
Yeah... ...Drivers!!
This will be the hard one...
...
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't the drivers' job what the linux kernel is supposed to do? Why don't you go grab the kernel from the gpe/opie project and add the android image to it, partition the sd card with a windows and a linux partition like the other linux guys do, load the ramdisk like they do and see if it works. At least they have a start on the drivers for the Axim.
wovens said:
Isn't the drivers' job what the linux kernel is supposed to do? Why don't you go grab the kernel from the gpe/opie project and add the android image to it, partition the sd card with a windows and a linux partition like the other linux guys do, load the ramdisk like they do and see if it works. At least they have a start on the drivers for the Axim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this could be a start indeed, now how do we get android actually ON the x50v??
Hello,
I need some help. Install its Android OS, but after he reset my Kaiser again charged WinMo OS. My question is whether it is possible to choose which OS to load first or with any program or edit the file to indicate to launch the first Android.
Sorry for my bad english :S Use Google translator
If you have installed Android to SD card and use Haret.exe then it will always reboot to WM.
You must install to nand if you wish to boot to Android only, which will wipe WM totally and replace it with Android.
The guide stickied at the top of the forum is a good tutorial in doing this
That does bring a good point to my mind though, we could create an exe that loads at startup of wm to auto load haret and startup if the user doesn't cancel in so many seconds (like grub). I keep WM on my phone so I can easily change my droid version and also I know everything works including opening office files (actually that's the biggest sticking point for me keeping it).
Thanks for support. Today I try to flash via NAND method.
Kind Regards
Lybomir
I flash my Kaiser with latest zImage-2.6.32-froyo-09-09-10_21 from here http://it029000.massey.ac.nz/vogue/files/?C=M;O=D and my device loading Android OS very slow, and big problem is : Phone go in screensaver and I try to unlock and screeen stay only in white light, no picture, no widgets... total block. Only solution is it a use Soft reset button or remove batery
Maybe you choose the wrong panel type?
I can read in your signature Duo Boot so I guess you installed onto the SD and use Haret to run Android.
If so, you have to edit the default.txt file locate in ANDBOOT folder and modify the value following htckaiser.panel_type.
You can specify 1, 2 or 3 (most Kaisers use panel type 2)
Wrong panel type may lead to awake problems or wrong colors...
The excessive slowness may be due to a slow SD. Which class is it? Use at least class 4 SD.
---- EDIT -----
In case you already flashed to NAND, to change the panel type you have to choose the right kernel (the kaisimg file) or you can edit the one you flashed following instructions and links you can find in #4 at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=680518
obviously you have to reflash the kaisimg.nbh but you don't need to flash Android again
I try with 1,2 and 3 but every time show me a this problem, and now i run HaRET and in 2 from 3 times phone block and not response only Soft reset work, and if case phone load complete Android and again in screen seaver system not respond... ;(
I flash my phone with ext2 partition on my sd card/ class 4 8 GB SDHC/ and try with system and data on sdcard an again freez white screen/
Sorry for my bad english
dlink.bg said:
I try with 1,2 and 3 but every time show me a this problem, and now i run HaRET and in 2 from 3 times phone block and not response only Soft reset work, and if case phone load complete Android and again in screen seaver system not respond... ;(
I flash my phone with ext2 partition on my sd card/ class 4 8 GB SDHC/ and try with system and data on sdcard an again freez white screen/
Sorry for my bad english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May you try to install a different build and see if you fall into the same problem?
BTW, just after installing, don't start playing soon with the device: initially skip all settings (touch the android, don't set google account and so on) and leave the phone quiet for at least 10-15 minutes: some builds need to copy file to the cache and playing with the device may interfere with this operation leading to unpredictable effects...
Let we know...
It is slow because you installed it on sdcard.. both partition.. if you are on nand. Try install both partition on nand partition.. and try hawks soad rls 3 as me.. its fastest build for kaiser.. and I haven't ever problem with white screen ata awake.. try it in that haws soad ion build.. you can finf it in that forun.. just find it
Sent from my HTC Kaiser Ion using XDA App
I find a solution! Later I post how find solution
Thanks on every in this thread to help me!
dlink.bg said:
I find a solution! Later I post how find solution
Thanks on every in this thread to help me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome
And I'm waiting to know
Don't suppose any of you have actually seen this thread?
Gen.Y DualBOOT v1.0.6.0
Should work fine on Kaiser, certainly works fine on other devices, such as Diamond, Blackstone etc
zenity said:
Don't suppose any of you have actually seen this thread?
Gen.Y DualBOOT v1.0.6.0
Should work fine on Kaiser, certainly works fine on other devices, such as Diamond, Blackstone etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Zenity... Yes, know that piece of software.
But as You have to boot WinMo (Yes, I Know, not all the services need to be running but system must be loaded and started, GUI must be running and so on) in order to DualBOOT can start, I can guess it's only a partial time-save... isn't it? Did You tried it?
Have not tried it on my Kaiser, since it is Nand flashed, but I think it is what was being asked for really, a way to boot either WM, or straight into Android on SD.
I don't think it will ever be possible for both WM and Android to co-exist on nand, since there simply is not enough room on the internal memory for both.
It is a time saver on other devices I have tried it on, Diamond, Blackstone, however since neither of these devices is nand-flashable this is more what Gen-Y's dual boot was intended for.
If it was possible to run WM from SD then we might be able to truly Dual Boot, in a similar fashion to Windows/Linux on PC, but as far as I know this is not possible either.
zenity said:
Have not tried it on my Kaiser, since it is Nand flashed, but I think it is what was being asked for really, a way to boot either WM, or straight into Android on SD.
I don't think it will ever be possible for both WM and Android to co-exist on nand, since there simply is not enough room on the internal memory for both.
It is a time saver on other devices I have tried it on, Diamond, Blackstone, however since neither of these devices is nand-flashable this is more what Gen-Y's dual boot was intended for.
If it was possible to run WM from SD then we might be able to truly Dual Boot, in a similar fashion to Windows/Linux on PC, but as far as I know this is not possible either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, of course we haven't enough NAND to have both OSes!!!
What I was thinking to (but I'm a lot far to inspect WinMo booting sequence...) is if may be possible to wedge a sort of bootloader running BEFORE the OS loads or in the early booting process and letting we choose to boot WinMo (in NAND) of Android (on SD).
At present moment I've Android running from SD but kernel NANDed (I've got problems running out of NAND and no time to solve them so I'm using the solid build previously installed on SD) so Kaiser boots quickly... and this confirms it's possible boot SD Android without having to load WinMo or Haret. The more relevant matter I can see is that we have to find a way to wedge the bootloader without have to manual modify the WinMo ROM (virtualization is far from be considered on such devices...)
I suppose this is just a "mind exercise" (Sorry, I don't know how to correctly translate an Italian common saying...
Mind exercise describes it perfectly
Not sure why you would run out of space on nand, unless you are loading a lot of apps, and there are ways to run android that may help with that, such as apps2sd, or data on SD partition.
If you must have WM then your only choice would be using Haret.exe, and the most efficient way to dual boot we have at the moment is the Gen-Y solution, which is not ideal, but does offer at least part of what you seek.
The Android bootloader we use (tinboot.s) is not flexible enough to allow dual booting, but may have some information that may be of some use in this
tinboot thread
See what you think anyway
Sorry, I was not able to be clear... I apologize for my English...
When I said "I've got problems running out of NAND" I intended to say "I've got problems - very bad performances - when Android was running from NAND"!!!
Maybe we are a bit OT...
BTW, I was far from software developing for a long while and never developed low level software for Linux/Unix... but in the past I messed up with Z80, 65xx, 68K and x86 platforms's assembly
Recently I need to approach software developing again (but at a really different level...)
I'd like to have spare time to start again, as this world attracts me more. Maybe I'll give it a chance...
Let me understand... tinboot is actually used bootloader?
BTW, just to be clear... I don't need WinMo and I'm giving Android a chance to revive my Kaiser. I'm looking for a fast and stable build and actually I'm running VaniljEclair RLS11 (Yes, I know, I'd try your Polymod 2.1D build... )
Tinboot is the bootloader we use to get android in nand, not being a coder my understanding in limited, however I did think that thread may have useful information for anyone interested in the low level workings of out devices.
I assumed you meant running out of space on nand, lol, i see now what you mean, no need to apologise for you english, it's fine
zenity said:
--- CUT ----
however I did think that thread may have useful information for anyone interested in the low level workings of out devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you're right... it's a useful starting point and I'll read it accurately...
Unluckly, I need a lot of spare time (and I don't, at present) to build a solid knowledge base and to start developing for Android.
yes there should be plenty of room for both oses on Nand, I still have over 90 mb on my wm6.5 nand install with come extra apps in there. So if you stripped down both oses you could easily fit them both on nand and still some space left. But then you need to have a boot loader that will be able to load both oses. I think I heard someone say somewhere they are using grub to boot android from nand, that can boot windows also with the right configuration, that would be where to start.
Hi! I managed to compile a bionic version of cryptsetup with libcrypto instead of gcrypt, and I put it inside Steam Kernel, so anyone can play with it. This is actually not new to android, as from Froyo, the APKs that can get installed on the external SD, are actually also uding dm-crypt, although they are doing through vold, and not via device-mapper. It is actually strange, that Android has filesystem encryption on inside the kernels by default, but they are using it to keep us out from the system, and not actually to make other people get inside the system more harder.
In Steam Kernel, you can now chose to apply filesystem encryption to any of the 3 main partitions (cache, data, dbdata). The password can be entered using the screen by one, or multiple Swypes (up to 255 elements). Each swype creates a word, and words will be separated by "_". This mechanism was invented, as with this one can potentially achieve a good-enough entropy (although I'm not a cryptoanalyst), than by for example a simple PIN code entry box.
If you worry about speed, quadrant scores are around 1400 if using ext4+crypt, so they're still better, than stock rfs. I can't say much about battery life yet.
This feature is beta however, so don't rely valuable data to it yet, as it hasn't been throughly tested yet. (ancrpytion should be fine, I'm actually worried about data corruption).
The way to secure android is not yet finished however. I'm trying to find a way to secure adb, even if it's running root mode. (as running adb in root mode is good for debugging, but bad for security).
Questions on this topic is welcome.
Very impressive stuff, and still opensource.
It's a real innovation, congrats!
sztupy said:
The way to secure android is not yet finished however. I'm trying to find a way to secure adb, even if it's running root mode. (as running adb in root mode is good for debugging, but bad for security).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First weak security point for the Galaxy S phones is definitely the ability to flash anything with Odin.
As you cannot trust, well... anything your Filesystem Encryption approach is definitely the good one!
Other current weak point is the adbd exploit (rageagainstthecage) - so easy to use. I guess you can replace adbd in your ramdisk by the Gingerbread one, which is not vulnerable, if not done already
Yes this is really impressive man...
You should be hired by samsung to set there software ass rite :-D
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
supercurio said:
First weak security point for the Galaxy S phones is definitely the ability to flash anything with Odin.
As you cannot trust, well... anything your Filesystem Encryption approach is definitely the good one!
Other current weak point is the adbd exploit (rageagainstthecage) - so easy to use. I guess you can replace adbd in your ramdisk by the Gingerbread one, which is not vulnerable, if not done already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would still lose the benefit of being secure + having the comfort of adb root. I'm more into the fact you have to login to the phone in order to use adb, just like you have to login to a real linux.
sztupy said:
You would still lose the benefit of being secure + having the comfort of adb root. I'm more into the fact you have to login to the phone in order to use adb, just like you have to login to a real linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant, for general security, we can replace the vulnerable adbd by a non vulnerable updated one - just that -
I feel your title could have security under [ ]. More noticiable.
AS I SEE IT NOW. supercurio's THANK's meter stands at 666. ROFL...
EVIL
Seems really great !
I'm not sure about a thing : Does this work when you power on the device (ie, you'll have to enter a pass to make it boot to Android), or before to be able entering into recovery ? Or none of these two things, and I totally misunderstood what you're saying ?
I was about to make a request to Koush if he could add some (basic?) security system to his recovery, as if you phone is stolen, they even won't be able to reflash a new rom.
This security layer + WaveSecure or any similar soft, and you would be sure that even if you phone is stolen / lost, nobody will be able to use it
Anyway thanks for your big stuff, will look deeper for sure when I'll get some free time, but your steam package seems amazing
Cheers
This works when you want to mount the partition. (eg at every boot). The partition can not be mounted wirhout a password ever
Amazing project. Good work.
Now wait just a moment...why would you encrypt those directories, when you alone (the user) are responsible for giving applications certain permissions. I mean...you agree to giving access to your Radio, messages and...whatever when you install applications, but then you want to encrypt certain directories. Why? You've already installed a trojan or a root kit and given it permission to do whatever it wants to do. That's the main security issue.
If your phone gets stolen they can't access your data.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
... But another issue! Great work, Great project!
Edit: to slow, I was referring the post 2 above
sztupy said:
This works when you want to mount the partition. (eg at every boot). The partition can not be mounted wirhout a password ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I guess the partition has to be mounted if you want to flash another rom (By recovery, Odin, Kies, whatever) ?
If it's the case, then it's really really great !!!
No, if you're flashing a new ROM, you don't have to mount the partition. But the point is that nobody can read your data from the partition - that's the security risk sztupy is trying to prevent.
kidoucorp said:
And I guess the partition has to be mounted if you want to flash another rom (By recovery, Odin, Kies, whatever) ?
If it's the case, then it's really really great !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you flash a new rom the data will be inaccessible (unless it's a steam rom and you know the password, or you can dump the partition AND know the password. Without the password the data can not be accessed, as it's AES encoded there).
This means that if you use all the security feautres inside Android (lockscreens, pin code, etc.), and use this too, and you don't allow adb to be run as root, there is actually no way of accessing your data (unless you can circumvent the security provided by Android, like the lockscreen), not even by flashing a new ROM.
Good work these kind of improvements make android better and better. I think the phones should be encrypted from the factory.
Great idea
If I might suggest though - can you make it so that it turns off decryption a couple of minutes after the screen is locked so that you have to enter the code again? Otherwise if the unit is on and stolen and never rebooted...
Being in Healthcare related IT I can say you'd have a product that is in severe need if any doctors really want to start using an Android tablet.
@sztupy
This is simply the best thing to happen to my SGS I've ever heard.
I can not test it right now (running 2.2.1 Darky's mod) but I have some questions about the security.
- What type of encryption is used? 128/256? weaker?
- Is it possible for you to figure how to use this encryption with different kernels/mods? We're talking about quite big a deal breaker for lots of people here. Perhaps even a separate app? I almost bought a blackberry as a second phone *kugh kugh* because android lacks encryption I so hardly need.
Sierra November said:
@sztupy
This is simply the best thing to happen to my SGS I've ever heard.
I can not test it right now (running 2.2.1 Darky's mod) but I have some questions about the security.
- What type of encryption is used? 128/256? weaker?
- Is it possible for you to figure how to use this encryption with different kernels/mods? We're talking about quite big a deal breaker for lots of people here. Perhaps even a separate app? I almost bought a blackberry as a second phone *kugh kugh* because android lacks encryption I so hardly need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As already stated Android already uses dm-crypt for encrypting the application data on the external sd card, so in theory any kernel can actually use dm-crypt. Originally Android kernels only support aes-plain (which is AES-128 I think), and that is what you can use on probably every 2.2+ android (and even on some 2.1 too). (You can get a stronger encryption if you compile a better kernel as aes-plain has some weaknesses).
The hard part is actually not the encryption therefore (You just have to run cryptsetup before init, which is very-very similar of the process of creating "lagfixes"), but the fact that you'll need a way to enter the password every run. The latter is problematic, as you'll need to access the framebuffer to show the user the pin code panel, then leave the framebuffer in a state, so Android can boot from it without problems. On SGS, and probably all SGS based devices (including the Nexus S), this is already accomplished (in steam kernel). On other devices it might work too, but the framebuffer support might need to be rewritten. On other devices the fact that they use yaffs2 might also pose problems (as yaffs is working on a block), but that can be circumvented using a few tricks (like creating loop devices, putting the /data partition on the sd card, etc.)
I was recently given a new SCH-I435 from a family member. This is my first time having an android in a very long time(Switching from an iPhone 4s). I have a few questions about it. (this may be a lengthy post)
First I know that you cannot flash custom ROMs to it, as the bootloader is still locked. I have heard that there are some de-bloated stock ROMs out there, but have entirely failed to find any. I can probably get by without it, as I already have it rooted, but there are several things I am attempting to do, and every time I look up how to do it, step one is having a custom ROM.
If anyone can point me to a de-bloated stock ROM I would greatly appreciate it (or at least one that is compiled to not be a "production build" as I keep running into "adbd cannot run as root in production builds" and it is severely limiting what I am trying to do, and what I am going to want to do in the future)
What I am trying to accomplish next is taking over the "connected as installer" feature that Verizon has on it when you plug it into USB (I am using linux exclusively so have absolutely no use for their software). I figured I may as well put this feature to good use. I am attempting to swap the ISO file in /system/etc for a CrunchBang LiveCD.
This has only been a partial success, apparently /system is it's own partition, and there is not enough room to fit the whole ISO (It is 739mb and it stops at 423mb) Even though it does not get the whole ISO copied, if I reboot my computer the ISO does indeed boot into the options, but fails to load the live session (no brainer there) so I know I am on the right track. I don't want to use DriveDroid for this, as it is very very finicky, and only seems to work 1 out of 6 times (and that is a kind guesstimate) My guess it that the "connected as an installer" is messing with it, so I would hope to turn the problem into the solution.
So I either need to find a de-bloated ROM that can free up ~ 400mb on /system, find a way to link the ISO from elsewhere on the device (I tried a soft symlink from my SD card and that did not work, it opens the ISO as an archive and not a file system), find a way myself to free up ~400mb on /system, or find a way to re partition /system to be larger (I have the 16gb S4, so I have plenty of room to spare).
I would prefer the debloated ROM(I don't know if that will free enough room), but finding a way to re-partition would be a close second (Every guide I have found for re-partitioning starts of with "First you need cyanogen(or another custom ROM)") I may need to re-partition it anyway. (Honestly I would like to learn how to do all of these, as they would be valuable tools in the future)
I had more questions, but got kinda lost writing this up, I will append them to this post later when I remember them... Thank you in advance for any help you may send my way.
**edit**
Oh yea, my other issue is accessing the files on the phone under Debian Wheezy. I have tried mtpfs, jmptfs, ptp mode, mtp mode, go-mtpfs (that one somewhat works, I can see *some* of the files, and probably take them off the device, but I attempted to add a file to the SD card and it corrupted the entire card, had to reformat it, just glad I did not do that to the phone)
ADB partially works, but only for taking files off the device, or putting them onto the device in non root areas, I get stuck with "adbd cannot run as root in production builds". I have tried almost everything I can find under the sun in regards to USB access.
Hello!
This is my first post in this forum, please be indulgent if I don't understand some stuff or abbreviations immediately.
I recently bought a Galaxy A3 2017 (SM-A320FL) to replace my old one with shattered screen and back cover. I tried the new Poco X3 for two weeks, but I wasn't satisfied with it since it was just wayyy too large for me, and also the phone speaker was unbearably loud (all people around me could follow the conversation on phone, even on lowest volume), which then led to the decision of sending it back and buying another used A3 2017 in good condition, as I was very satisfied with it, except of limited internal storage which continued to be an issue over months and years. And since the spare parts would have cost the same as the smartphone costs used at the moment, the decision was easy.
To avoid the single problem I had with the old phone, I wanted to root the phone right from the start so I could adopt the SD card as internal storage and/or change the folder some apps (especially WhatsApp) are storing their data and media in. Since the phone is factory reset and I have the other one which is still functioning, I don't have to take much care while trying things, which is great. I took yesterday evening until late night for that plan, and although a lot of threads and posts I read said that rooting the stock OS with latest update of Android 8 is not possible, I did it after some trial and error with flashing the custom recovery TWRP through Odin and then flashing SuperSU through TWRP. If a tutorial is needed, I'd happily write down how I did it, just ask.
But I still have a problem with adopting the storage. And as far as I understood, this is related to the storage encryption of Android/Samsung. Please explain if someone knows, I'd really like to understand the mechanisms that make all of this so laborious. I tried to mount the storage in TWRP when I started it first after flashing (it persists btw, as some people said it is gone and no recovery system can be found after the phone booted normally once, why?), but ran into the problem of "internal storage (0MB)". This was solved by wiping it, then I was able to mount the SD card as internal storage and the internal storage also was shown with a reasonable size in MB. I then started the phone which was obviously factory reset by the wiping. Unfortunately I couldn't see any results in the OS (does stock Android or file manager even show these changes in some way?) and also noticed the adopted storage was not anymore adopted when inspecting it in the TWRP recovery and again the internal storage was at 0MB. I then stumbled upon the app "Root Essentials" which is said to be able to adopt the storage, but needs a zip file which must be flashed by the recovery for that process. I tried it, but the flashing process does not work, as it can't find an installation of the app - my guess is, that this also is related to encrypted storage and the 0MB problem, how should the flash be able to look for something in encrypted space?
Soo, my problem now is, that I want to adopt the storage and don't know how to continue & where to begin. I also don't know if that app "Root Essentials" is any good, just read it at several places while googling so gave it a try. The phone is rooted with TWRP (0MB problem persisting) and stock OS now, and the adoptable storage per se is no must-have for me - if there is any other solution to migrate apps and more importantly their data to the SD card, please let me know, I'd be perfectly fine with that also.
Thank you!
Flo
Hey there Flo,
I am facing the same issues like you, always having to clear up space (e.g. Chrome cache) because the internal storage is not enough for the apps. And you cannot move many of the apps to the SD card, only their data. Last time I had to rermove Teams altogether because it was eating up 500+MB, and I couldn't afford it anymore as the free space dropped below 600MB.
Sooo, here are some basics I have learnt while looking for solutions.
Current custom ROMs are not an option for me as I use this phone for banking and production tasks, and I could not find any of them stable and issue-free enough to switch from the stock one.
The stock ROM is full of bloatware, especially Samsung stuff I do not need, and some others, like the Facebook app. However, you cannot extend internal storage with your SD card as Samsung does not allow this, and this is impossible with the stock ROM.
So I am stuck here, as I cannot leave the stock ROM, but I am constantly running out of space. Currently, I have rooted my device and installed TWRP, too, and I am planning to try one of the debloated stock ROMs to see if they can solve at least my problem with running out of free space on the internal storage.
In any case, what I can confirm is that you either have the stock ROM, and then you can only install apps on the internal storage, or if you want to extend your internal storage with the SD card, you'll have to choose one of the custom ROMs that allow this and wave goodbye to Knox and some other features.
I hope the above helps.
Hi!
Thanks for your detailed answer!
I didn't find a way to adopt the storage persistently, and I think at this point I'll just take your word that it won't be possible with the stock ROM. I knew that the stock ROM adopt storage option isn't able to be brought back by some adb shell commands as it was possible earlier (until 6.0 Marshmallow I think), but I thought that it maybe is possible by tricking the storage the OS sees with the mount in TWRP before the first start. Doesn't seem to work at all (for mostly unknown reasons, at least for me ).
And same for me, I don't know if the custom ROMs nowadays are better a lot, but doesn't sound like that as you described it. I flashed Resurrection Remix on my Galaxy S4 a few years ago, and although I liked the customizability and slimness, I too often ran into bugs and errors with it, which is why I abandoned the phone in the end.
However, I kind of found a fix I can live with on the SM-A320FL: I downloaded Link2SD from Playstore and also upgraded to the plus version, which is reasonably priced. This enables to also store app data on the SD card. I tried it with the 64GB SD card I had rolling around, partitioned it with MiniTool Partition Wizard following this guide to conform Link2SD requirements, and it worked perfectly. I also uninstalled all sorts of bloatware, and as far as i saw the shift to external storage of the apps I tried works fine. All data, including app, cache and app data is moved (and/or linked, not sure) to the ext2 partition on the SD card (which is shown to be a broken partition in Android storage settings btw, but that's fine). If any, only <1KB of file size per app remains in internal storage, which seems great!
I am currently waiting for my ordered 256GB SD card (U3, A2) to arrive next week, then I will do the full port from the old to the new A3 and I'll see how WhatsApp and Spotify behave being stored in external storage. Hopefully Link2SD is able to shift them, especially WhatsApp, since that was the main factor in cluttering the internal storage very fast and efficient.
If the Link2SD doesn't work for WhatsApp media, I'll give FolderMount a try, the direct mount then seems to work for many.
Since you mentioned it: What are the great features of Knox? The secure folder? Data encryption by screen lock? I can't remember using Knox features knowingly in the past three years. Is Knox not already blown by flashing a custom recovery?
Thanks for your help!
Flo
The internal storage data partition not mounting in TWRP is due to the partition being encypted when Android is booted, but also due to quota being enabled and latest version of TWRP for this phone (3.2.3-0 AFAIK) being unable to mount this. Fix for this is to flash a zip from Zackptg5 which disables both these options. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...y-a3-sm-a320f-fl-y-2017.3562302/post-79260952 for full details
I see that OrangeFox is available now (https://orangefox.download/device/a3y17lte), so maybe this is able to mount without these problems, I am going to flash this soon so I will let you know!
FYI I am using H-ROM by Astrako. Very close to stock (it is a port from the A7) and seems to work well. VoWiFI is working in this ROM which was essential for me.
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
The internal storage data partition not mounting in TWRP is due to the partition being encypted when Android is booted, but also due to quota being enabled and latest version of TWRP for this phone (3.2.3-0 AFAIK) being unable to mount this. Fix for this is to flash a zip from Zackptg5 which disables both these options. See https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...y-a3-sm-a320f-fl-y-2017.3562302/post-79260952 for full details
I see that OrangeFox is available now (https://orangefox.download/device/a3y17lte), so maybe this is able to mount without these problems, I am going to flash this soon so I will let you know!
FYI I am using H-ROM by Astrako. Very close to stock (it is a port from the A7) and seems to work well. VoWiFI is working in this ROM which was essential for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did “orange fox” work?
King p1n said:
Did “orange fox” work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, with OrangeFox I didn't need to flash the zip file from Zackptg5 which removes quota. I didn't get on with the latest H-ROM 6.0 (too many niggles, particularly ambient light sensor doesn't work so no adaptive brightness; fingerprint scanner doesn't work in apps; video call doesn't work in WhatsApp), but OrangeFox worked really well, definitely recommend it. Sorry for not remembering to come back and update sooner!
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
Yes, with OrangeFox I didn't need to flash the zip file from Zackptg5 which removes quota. I didn't get on with the latest H-ROM 6.0 (too many niggles, particularly ambient light sensor doesn't work so no adaptive brightness; fingerprint scanner doesn't work in apps; video call doesn't work in WhatsApp), but OrangeFox worked really well, definitely recommend it. Sorry for not remembering to come back and update sooner!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
Which rom do you use and recommend?
Or can orange fox be used with the stock rom?
Doing this on behalf on a friend who is struggling with storage issues, been years since I’ve touched android
King p1n said:
Thank you
Which rom do you use and recommend?
Or can orange fox be used with the stock rom?
Doing this on behalf on a friend who is struggling with storage issues, been years since I’ve touched android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I use H-ROM 2.0 (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...7-port-v2-0-pie-oneui-64-bits-treble.3940532/) which works well. Only two main niggles that I might change back to stock - video doesn't work in WhatsApp (but is OK in WhatsApp Business) and some VoWiFi calls have echo, but this might just be normal for VoWiFi, not had echo on normal cell network calls. Stock ROM is now available with Android 8 (Oreo) so when I have time I was intending to try that again, maybe with debloat to remove some of the stock apps.
I would recommend OrangeFox, and although I started with TWRP and flashed this over the top, I think you should be OK to just flash this straight from Odin. TWRP would only flash in old version of Odin, I would guess OrangeFox maybe would be the same. Flash in AP using older version Odin3 v3.12.10. Untick auto reboot, when complete power off with vol down + power, then force to recovery using volume up, home and power
lastsaskatchewanpirate said:
Currently I use H-ROM 2.0 (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...7-port-v2-0-pie-oneui-64-bits-treble.3940532/) which works well. Only two main niggles that I might change back to stock - video doesn't work in WhatsApp (but is OK in WhatsApp Business) and some VoWiFi calls have echo, but this might just be normal for VoWiFi, not had echo on normal cell network calls. Stock ROM is now available with Android 8 (Oreo) so when I have time I was intending to try that again, maybe with debloat to remove some of the stock apps.
I would recommend OrangeFox, and although I started with TWRP and flashed this over the top, I think you should be OK to just flash this straight from Odin. TWRP would only flash in old version of Odin, I would guess OrangeFox maybe would be the same. Flash in AP using older version Odin3 v3.12.10. Untick auto reboot, when complete power off with vol down + power, then force to recovery using volume up, home and power
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just to clarify I could use Orange fox with stock rom and enable adopted storage? So I can use SD for apps when necessary.
I did get adopted storage working of sorts, but certain screens were missing from storage in the setting menu (I think Samsung didn't include or removed these as the phone was not intended to work with Adopted Storage), so it would crash when trying to perform certain actions. I can't actually remember now if you could move apps to the Adopted Storage using the standard system menus, it was so flakey that I stopped using that and switched to using Link2SD (which I had already used before so had a Plus license for) and this does exactly what I needed. These are the steps I used to get Link2SD working: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-1-6-link2sd.919326/post-82757807. I don't think you need the Plus version, but it doesn't cost much, removes the ads and lets you move a few more files. Hope that helps