[UNOFFICIAL] Stock ROM Android 4.4.2/4.4.4 Kitkat for FP1 & FP1U

I absolutely agree :smile:
I have to admit I was a bit brave and risk to loose data trying different beta FPOS installs in the past, but flashing experimental builds is very dif|erent!

As I am a little bit lost in all the disussions about ROMs/MTK/CW/Android 4.2+@FP1;

Can anybody explain to me:

  • why @chrmhoffmann can do bring us Android 4.4.2 to the FP1(U) (THANKS!) while FP are not able to do (at the moment, or dont want to)?
  • Is this in any connection with the FP1 software announcment, FP recently did?
  • What is about the MTK-software part, which is still not available for the public (afaik) - but how the Android 4.4.2 can run at all?
  • If Kitkat 4.4.2 is now running well - where is the difference in bringing recent CM running?
  • If Kitkat 4.4.2 is now running (which already is a big jump from 4.2), where is the difficulty to go even further (5.0 …)?

Thanks for making some points clearer…:confused:
Cheers, Robert

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This is my understanding of the issues:

Without wanting to detract in any way from chrmhoffmann’s efforts, this should be seen more as an alfa version. Testing, packaging and supporting a new version for the general user takes a lot more than putting a version out aimed at technical users for testing.

No, as outside of Fairphone nobody has access to the sources mentioned in the announcement. The XDA thread mentions that some of the required information came from places on the web:

This is Android 4.4.2 kitkat compiled from scratch from some other device sources that you find on the web. Adapted to fairphone FP1(U).

Not sure what you’re asking. Could be that the quote above is what you’re looking for. There is no source code for a bunch of the specific hardware in the phone. Occasionally using compiled parts (binary blobs) can help, but sometimes this isn’t compatible with other parts of the system.

The CM ROM used different code to interact with the blobs, which lead to some things not working. For instance:

Which shows that MediaTek changed a lot of things in the system so it works with their hardware.

At least (probably more): More issues with incompatibilities with the blobs and a lot of work to adapt the kernel sources in such a way that they build for this device (a kernel source for mediatek devices for the kernel used in 4.4 is floating around on the web, but not one for the kernel used in higher versions, if I’m not mistaken).

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Well put! Also this often quoted LWN article sums it up very nicely. There is more to it (how companies work and make money, selling the same licensed features with different names), but I don’t want to warm up this topic every time … there a already a few topics about this here already.

The Linaro group tried to help in this area, but I guess nobody was really interested in discussing those links :smile: One can also use their build chain to compile the FP1 kernel.

Regarding BT: The MTK’s bluetooth (BT) stack is a blackbox. I only know about the changes in the Android BT stack, the changes in MTK’s BT are not published in google’s android changelog, that’s why I was asking if newer MTK lib versions were used.

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Does that translate to “one could potentially” or have you actually done it (or know of anyone who has done it)?

Done it. But a kernel is not a working ROM. What I’m was looking for is a full BUILD-chain (it throws out a ROM more or less) this is only the TOOL-chain to build the kernel for the SoC. I hope that is not too confusing. I send you a private message :smile:

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I am running @chrmhoffmann’s build since three days now and had no issues whatsoever.

This first day i ran without google apps, then i installed google apps from opengapps.org. So far, everything works well. The phone feels quity snappy, data, gps and wifi works. Camera works as well!

Great work!

2 Likes

Just out of a hunch to test something else, I also installed chrmhoffmann’s rom using CWM. I agree, 4.4.2 feels snappy.

Update:
For people that look for a howto for the FairphoneHome.apk (see keesj’s comment). I also missed the side-swiping:

Unzip the lasted Fairphone-image (I used the FP1-Fairphone_OS_v1_8_7_Image_2015081400.zip, that was on my hard drive already):

$ simg2img system.img sys.raw.img
$ mkdir sys-image
$ sudo mount -o loop sys.raw.img sys-image
$ cd sys-image/app
$ adb install FairphoneHome.apk

Reboot and select.

Other notes:

  • Do not switch the runtime, Art is not working right in 4.4
  • Printing in the local network is not working out of the box (I’m not going to install “Google cloud print”). I read a few things about this online, basically you cannot print with Android without using extra apps or “the cloud”. How useless. :frowning:
  • bluetooth differs :wink:
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I just uploaded an updated version that moves the rom to 4.4.4_r2.0.1 and fixes lots of security fixes (now at November status). Head over to XDA and give it a try.

Beware: this is a merge of 4.4.4 over the mtk stuff, so I expect it to be a bit more buggy than the previous release. It was loads of work to get this merged.

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Sideloading fp1-kk444-CH-0.1.zip works, that’s all I can say for now (with your recovery). Maybe a screenshot is easier. Thanks for showing that 4.4.4 is possible.

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Would you suggest switching from CM to the new build?

Will you publish your sources so we can use it for an updated cm build as well?

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[Recovery] I like the ClockworkMod Recovery much better than the standard Android recovery. Can we keep that one or are there possible licensing strings attached? I guess the ROMs won’t mind which one we use, but CMR is much easier to use and navigate (up, down and enter work like expected), so I guess it’s also better for “normal” users. It also allows quick full backups.

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Or if you have a TB backup you can simply restore it from a backup and it works flawlessly :slight_smile: but you have to restore your widgets (I didn’t find a way to restore them with TB yet!)

I have some problems running OpenCamera and Barcode Scanner, they crash and are unable to open the camera device, I’ll investigate further

Bye! :smile:

For me restoring widgets with TB works.
I restore the App datas of the Widget-Apps & the Launcher, the I restore “Homescreen Widgets” and the I restart the phone.

Thanks, maybe it depends on the sequence of restoring, because I restore the same things but I don’t have the widgets on the screen, only the app icons and the contacts…

Hi allz
Step by step installation of stock rom android 4.4.4 for FP1 & FP1U is required for common users like me. because i do not understand how to flash or upgrade my FP1U (repartitioned). Thanks

To be honest, then this unofficial ROM that is still very much under development probably isn’t for you quite yet. Wait a bit longer for the version to become more stable (so you don’t end up flashing a new version every couple of days), or wait for an official update (though there is no guarantee that there will be one). If you do want to play around with it read this thread and the thread over at XDA - together with the pages linked from there you pretty much have a step-by-step guide. Before you start please note:

So if you go down this route know that there may be help, but you should assume that you’re pretty much on your own if/when something doesn’t work.

Also, from the XDA thread:

PHONES CAN BE LIFE SAVERS. DON’T RELY ON THIS PHONE AS YOUR SOLE COMMUNICATION MEANS.

Hence the emphasis on play above - don’t depend on a device with a custom ROM. Only use it if you can afford to lose that phone and the data on it.

That being said, here’s some points to get you going:

  • I urge you to read the entire topic at XDA, and this topic here to understand what is and isn’t working in the ROM.
  • Make a backup of all the data on the device. Note that the backup & restore app isn’t sufficient - it doesn’t back up everything. The forum has tips on proper backups, search around a bit. Titanium backup is usually recommended.
  • Post number 6 over at XDA has instructions for flashing (as does a link from a post by DUBWiSE about a week ago in this thread). Just use the latest files referenced in the original post of the XDA thread instead of whatever file is mentioned in the guide, if differences exist, as there has been a rapid succession of newer versions).
  • Instructions for installing adb can be found all over the net (e.g. here if you’re using windows), but beware of downloads from untrusted sources.
  • Also, please be aware of the recovery procedures as outlined on the XDA wiki here, and make sure you understand them so you can rescue yourself if something goes wrong.

Best of luck, and if you find any bugs that haven’t been reported in the XDA thread or here, please report them!

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My fault :wink: or better… XPrivacy functioning very well :stuck_out_tongue: I blocked too much /proc access so they were unable to open the camera device properly.
Bye! :smile:

haven’t looked into it, but this install guide for CM 11 should work alright for stock rom as well I’d guess. Just switch rom and just to be sure recovery.

cheers!

Yep, I can also report back that the camera worked with both ROMs. I forgot to report that here. I guess it’s better to remove XPrivacy for testing (just don’t install the 2nd part) because 4.4.4 brings it’s own system … I don’t think’s it’s better, but for testing :wink: