Linux/Android on CDMA Touch Pro -- Now working on Verizon! And with GPS!

[chrialex]

Thanks, it's good to be back.

I decided it was time to give 2.1 a go on my other card, so I am going to play with that for a while, then just do a refresh when 2.0.1 has another good update.

[88fingerslukee]

Okay then, I suppose it was a kernel panic then.

Stupid question:

What's the process needed to get drivers working? For instance, GPS and camera are currently non-functioning. Why is this so?

Thanks for all your help btw.

[88fingerslukee]

Originally Posted by makkonen

I doubt the reboot into Windows was due to the battery. Unexplained kernel panic, more likely. Battery would just cause a shutdown, and you'd have to turn it on again manually.

Okay, I witnessed this with my own eyes now. The phone had low battery (7%) and it then started to shut down. It said "Phone is shutting down". It did not go to Kernel panic or any shell-like screen. It looked like a completely normal shut down for power reasons. It proceeded to reboot immediately after.

So i'm definitely not hallucinating.

[aadcrasher]

Originally Posted by 88fingerslukee

Okay then, I suppose it was a kernel panic then.

Stupid question:

What's the process needed to get drivers working? For instance, GPS and camera are currently non-functioning. Why is this so?

Thanks for all your help btw.

gps and camera currently do not work, sometimes gps will appear to work but it is using cell towers not satallites so for now no camera or gps

[arrrghhh]

Originally Posted by 88fingerslukee

What's the process needed to get drivers working? For instance, GPS and camera are currently non-functioning. Why is this so?

Well if you want to know the process, learn how to write drivers for the Linux kernel

Essentially the devs need to work out the drivers for Linux first, then Android can communicate with the devices. If drivers were already available for the devices, it wouldn't be a big deal... but we don't have the drivers for the camera & GPS, so they have to build them from scratch. Just like HW3D, just like the touchscreen, just like the radio... just like everything else pretty much.

[88fingerslukee]

Originally Posted by arrrghhh

Well if you want to know the process, learn how to write drivers for the Linux kernel

Essentially the devs need to work out the drivers for Linux first, then Android can communicate with the devices. If drivers were already available for the devices, it wouldn't be a big deal... but we don't have the drivers for the camera & GPS, so they have to build them from scratch. Just like HW3D, just like the touchscreen, just like the radio... just like everything else pretty much.

I wish I could code enough to build drivers...I'm not anything like that. Thank you, this is exactly the information I was looking for. These guys had to build everything from scratch for this stuff? That's insane! Much props for that effort and skill.

I guess I assumed that either
a) the HTC Android devices are similar enough to the WM devices hardware-wise that the drivers could basically be copied

or

b) Basic Linux drivers already existed for hardware similar to what's in the HTC WM devices.

Whatever, go devs go!

[ChaosTheory]

So after using Android almost exclusively on my phone for the last week or so, I have decided I would like to do what I can to help completion along. I am not sure if I am capable of helping but would like to offer assistance in any way I can. This platform is awesome and since I have to wait a year (when my current contract is up) before I can get an actual android phone (assuming my carrier has them by then ) I would like to get this one as usable as possible.

I have created my own ROM for the TP a while back (Chaos ROM) based on Calkulin's kitchen, so I do have some experience in that area.

I am a web designer, so have a fairly good grasp on general coding syntax, etc.

I do NOT have a data plan, so anything regarding that is best left to someone else. I do use my wi-fi connection quite extensively for similar purpose though.

I am also a husband and father, so time is not abundant, but I would like to help.

So if anyone knows how I can help, a task I can work on, etc. let me know

[makkonen]

Originally Posted by 88fingerslukee

What's the process needed to get drivers working? For instance, GPS and camera are currently non-functioning. Why is this so?

Some drivers can be ported from similar Android devices. Some have problems. The ones that remain non-functional are the latter. I don't really know too much about the status of GPS or camera; I believe there's no driver for the specific variation on the camera chipset used on the raph. I imagine the problems could be solved if someone with coding experience were to put some time into them, but I think the devs tend to put general stability at a higher priority, and there's not a lot of manpower to go around.

Originally Posted by 88fingerslukee

Okay, I witnessed this with my own eyes now. The phone had low battery (7%) and it then started to shut down. It said "Phone is shutting down". It did not go to Kernel panic or any shell-like screen. It looked like a completely normal shut down for power reasons. It proceeded to reboot immediately after.

So i'm definitely not hallucinating.

Cool. I guess in that build the line of code that pegged the battery status to a minimum of 5% (to avoid just that problem) got removed. It's back in there now, looks like. Sorry about that.

New question: can someone try the latest autobuild kernel and tell me if it's WORSE than the standard kernel in terms of battery status? (standard meaning from the AIO, or really anything more than a couple weeks old)

[makkonen]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

So after using Android almost exclusively on my phone for the last week or so, I have decided I would like to do what I can to help completion along. I am not sure if I am capable of helping but would like to offer assistance in any way I can. This platform is awesome and since I have to wait a year (when my current contract is up) before I can get an actual android phone (assuming my carrier has them by then ) I would like to get this one as usable as possible.

I have created my own ROM for the TP a while back (Chaos ROM) based on Calkulin's kitchen, so I do have some experience in that area.

I am a web designer, so have a fairly good grasp on general coding syntax, etc.

I do NOT have a data plan, so anything regarding that is best left to someone else. I do use my wi-fi connection quite extensively for similar purpose though.

I am also a husband and father, so time is not abundant, but I would like to help.

So if anyone knows how I can help, a task I can work on, etc. let me know

I wish I had a good list of things to do that would be helpful, but I don't really know. I haven't spent much time on android lately myself, so I can't really give great direction.

I wish some people with extra devices could jump in and start playing around with flashing/accessing NAND from Android, because that seems like it'd be a big step in the right direction.

Of course, if you're willing to jump into the C code and try to figure it out, then there's all sorts of things that could be worked on -- but that's a lot of effort, and after looking at it for 6 months, I'm still not much use at it, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, unless you're interested for your own edification.

My suggestion is just to find the things you use your phone for, the features that are lacking, and try to figure out why. Like the folks here have done with MMS -- you might not be able to get everything working, but you'll start to figure out what works and what needs fixing.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by makkonen

I wish I had a good list of things to do that would be helpful, but I don't really know. I haven't spent much time on android lately myself, so I can't really give great direction.

I wish some people with extra devices could jump in and start playing around with flashing/accessing NAND from Android, because that seems like it'd be a big step in the right direction.

Are you referring to someone with a native android device? Or is that something I can do with my TP? It is the only one I have, so if I can use it for advancment without a huge risk (I know anything carries some risk ) I would be willing to try.

Of course, if you're willing to jump into the C code and try to figure it out, then there's all sorts of things that could be worked on -- but that's a lot of effort, and after looking at it for 6 months, I'm still not much use at it, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, unless you're interested for your own edification.

I am a coder by nature, and while C may be far ahead of what I am actually good at I know that learning any programming language only advances knowledge and capacity in others. So if you can point me somewhere to get started I'm ready (Though it may take a while before I am good enough to be useful )

My suggestion is just to find the things you use your phone for, the features that are lacking, and try to figure out why. Like the folks here have done with MMS -- you might not be able to get everything working, but you'll start to figure out what works and what needs fixing.

My current complaints are the same ones everyone else has i.e. camera, gps, battery life, and SD access. If there is something specific in any of those areas you can point me to work on (particularly the camera or SD access) I would appreciate it! Side note: MMS doesn't work with smartphones on my carrier last I was aware Don't really ever use them, but I hope they catch up with things soon, as I really like their rates and customer service, the phone selection and network features just leave much to be desired.