yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] rzk333:
Renesas position

I had a speak some time ago with renesas guys.

They have big big BIG mess with merging between Renesas and NEC (original developer of EV2). And also, developers are prohibited by NDA to publish GPL'ed linux kernel sources for anything related to Renesas. So yes, Renesas clearly violates GPL.

sources posted above is leak from people developing roms for various chinese devices, but again, renesas saying that it is under NDA.

also I saw sources from another tablet-developing company making tablets on ev2, people there was clearly said to violate gpl and dont post any sources of EV2 or other stuff related to Renesas. I got them only by trust, I will never publish them or that company will not recieve next EV2 party for their devices.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] Zombieff:
NDA cannot be above the law. If Renesas claims that the distribution of the source is illegal, then it might come to a class action on GPL violation.

Thx for this post, now I see why ev2-related guys don't want to publish the source themselves.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
If Renesas knowingly violates GPL, and refuse to provide GPL source code even when asked, whether the source code is under NDA or not. They are putting themselves into bigger trouble than the case of Samsung vs Apple, eh?

I hope Renesas management will wake up soon and do the right thing, than waiting to be sued by someone for GPL violation. Plus, keeping the code under NDA isn't helping them to sell more chips either....

I wonder if the merging mess is the reason why we have not seen actual retail products running the newer chip, the SH-Mobile APE5R, featuring Imagination Technologies' POWERVR SGX MP™ (multi-processor) graphics and ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ running at 1.2 gigahertz (GHz) which was demo in February 2011 or was it the Japan Earthquake to blame?

http://www.renesas.com/press/news/2011/news20110210b.jsp
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] fun_:
hi

it's very interesting thread :)

I heard vanilla AOSP gingerbread can run on some EMMA EV2 eval board. so hopefully it can be possible to run basic part of AOSP/CM on your tablet.

(I made/am making CM7 for rockchip/telechips/amlogic tablets only from CM source)

probably making "perfect ROM" (many people want it) is very very difficult. enjoy hacking!
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
With the release of Android 2.3, Renesas has moved to kernel version 2.6.35.7 (that is at least what my tablet info show).

I wonder if there is any "leak" available for that version too... :)

Anyhow, I'd be interested in joining a user association to pursue the GPL-violation route, to obtain regular sources. Anyone knows where to start from?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] darkwingcraft:
Today ice cream sandiwch was released, will the devices based on ev2 be able to run it smoothly? anyone knows?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] tocixxx:
Just file a violation at gpl-viloations.org

This is a start.

I have a GT-PAD LY-F528 and already file one.

---------- Post added at 01:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------

Without the correct kernel source EMMA EV2 based tablets will not work with ICS.

Technically speaking the processing power should be more then enough ro tun ICS.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Well... In spite I thought since the beginning it wasn't easy at all, I tried myself approaching the huge task of merging Renesas Emma EV-2 kernel code into CyanogenMod one. But I had to give up. I wish someone here can tell if I ever went totally off the right direction. Here's the story.

CyanogenMod (will call it "CM") 2.6.37 kernel from github.com "cm-kernel" repositry and forked it to my personal repository (ffxx68/cm-kernel).

Renesas SDK code (will call it "R") 2.6.29 kernel from github.com "cAPSLOCK7" repo.

I looked for Renesas-specific in R with commands like:

find . -type d -name "*emxx*"

find . -type f -name "*emxx*"

find . -type f -exec grep -l -n -i "emxx" /dev/null {} \; | sort

find . -type f -exec grep -l -n -i "emev" /dev/null {} \; | sort

Then, all files found were either moved to CM (if missing) or compared one by one for differences.

Renesas-specific code in R is either included in entirely new directories, or files, or wrapped inside a #define ..._EMXX / #endif.

That made almost straightforward moving entire directories or files from R to CM, and also helped a lot looking for the differences in most of common files. But... devil is well hidden in the details, as usual :)

The first relatively complex file to merge was ./drivers/media/video/videobuf-core.c. But I manged to do that, somehow.

Merging of ./drivers/mmc/core/*.c and ./drivers/mmc/card/*.c was even trickier. I had to leave some sections unchanged in CM, as they looked like already including logic found in R. But, once again I managed to merge the code, though I'm afraid not all necessary changes are there, or what I've done is entirely correct. Infact, being a newer kernel, non-Renesas code has evolved in CM too, with respect to R.

I finally gave up when I reached ./arch/arm/mm/proc-v7.S, which in my opinion is too complex to merge without specific knowledge of ARM and Renesas EV CPU architecture.

I finally gave up when I reached ./arch/arm/mm/proc-v7.S, which in my opinion is too complex to merge without specific knowledge of ARM and Renesas EV CPU architecture.

Also, the external drivers in R are those of a development board (I'm not sure which one, but I'm pretty sure it isn't a real tablet board), so I also started wondering how much would this merge miss, to make it work in a real tablet.

I know many here already knew what I discovered while doing this exercise, but... direct experience is everything!

Anyhow, although incomplete, I've committed my merged code into my repositry on github (ffxx68/cm-kernel), just not to throw away what I've done until now. Maybe someone else could be curious to have a look at it. See Merge.txt with status.

Once again - can anyone tell if this is the right approach? Or do we definitely need Renesas to release the tablet sources? Or something else that can be done?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
Yes, my supplier have said Android 4.0x ICS will be running on their EV2 tablet soon. They said they already have beta version of it running on the tablet, so I guess EV2 with ICS will come out sooner or later.

The problem here is still no source code being released publically.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
Well, not long ago, I was approached by a company from Spain who is also selling EV2 based tablet. They obviously saw my threads and kernel source code.

They said they have developers porting Android 4.0 to their EV2 based tablet. The last time I heard from them, they said "the first alpha for Android 4.0 working on the device. Bluetooth, and some other aspects are not yet working, but, the device itself is working."

However, since then, their domain name have stopped working and I was unable to sent them any e-mail or visit their site. (or does anyone know why *.es spain domain name suddently doesn't work from Australia? It simple says domain does not exist... I can't run WHOIS over the *.es domain either, WHOIS says "There was problem looking up WHOIS information for *.es". If I can get through to them, we will have better chances of having newer public source code for EV2...)

If they are still around, you maybe able to get the code from them when they have finished. They mentioned that they did plan to release the source code publically when it is done.

The message here is the kernel source will work and someone have demonstrated that. The point is you have to figure out how to do it right. Alternative, can those who know how to do this please contribute? Don't just grab the code and disappear?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Who are these Spanish guys?

Any reference you can share?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
Well, their e-mail address uses this domain: http://telcomm.es/

(Anyone knows who they really are? Their domain name seems to imply that they are a large telecommunication company there. If so, there is no reason their web site can go down for so long....)

This domain name used to go to a web site that sells mobile phones but have since ceased to function and now display a web page that seems to imply the owner have not renewed it.

I only started to notice that their domain name is gone when my e-mail to them bounced back. I wonder why.. (they have indicated their intention to continue to sell EV2 baed tablet, so there is no reason they would just close shop so soon...)

If you manage to find out who they are or able to contact them, please ask them to contact me.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
I'm not sure these ever existed as a company... I think the only possible source for the SDK is Renesas itself, but I guess they would only release it to OEMs with an non-Disclosure agreement.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
Well, I finally know what happened. They are still around ;)

They replied and I was told they were doing some server changes previously. (that surely took quite a while... I noticed it was down for several weeks..)

That web site is up now if you want to see what this company sells..

Here is the reply

Seems like you may need to get the SDK from Renesas or ask them to make it publically available.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Great! Especially becasue it's in europe. Could you get me in touch with them introducing me? You can tell I did this:

http:// www.slatedroid.com /topic/21055-ive-managed-to-boot-into-cyanogenmod-71-android-235-on-our-device/page__view__findpost__p__271957

I'd like to understand:

1) if the SDK they're using is the same you have, or another one.

2) if different, what device board it correspond to (i.e which interfaces it handles)

3) what kind of agreement they have with Renesas

4) if they managed to compile the Kernel at least

5) which version of the kernel is this SDK based upon

6) having some experience, if I could collaborate to development

7) if this effort can go open source

thanks

Fabio
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ericwong:
I have already told them to reply to this thread directly but they decided to tell me instead..

If they want to tell you, I suppose they will answer it here.....

Sorry, I don't know much and I can't answer most of your questions.

I have already answered most of your questions you asked before...so please re-read them.

The thing I can tell you is they were selling the Rena3 hardware, don't ask me exactly which model of Rena3, I know there are various models. So, I assume their port refers to the specific hardware they have.

Yes, they are using exactly the same SDK posted at this thread. They don't really have much more than what you have here....

I don't know what agreement they have with Renesas or what agreement you need to get SDK from Renesas.

I have already said they said they plan to open source it when it is complete. If and when is not in my control. They have not mentioned nor indicated the intention to have their work made open source while they are still working on it.

If I get any further progress on this, I will try to post here.

If I have not mentioned this before, Android 4.0 ROM is expected to arrive for EV2 based tablets "offiicially" by the manufacturers in the next few months. Manufacturer for Rena3 doesn't seems to be interested to port Android 4.0 to their EV2 tablet though but I heard our supplier is working on it.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] johnnyfg:
I looked around and found "EMMA_Mobile1_SDK_v310_ej.zip" from renesas site.

Not sure if that actually is for EV2. It have linux3.0 everything(?) have source or precompiled object-files.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] samrou:
About renesas EM/EV BSP

Hi guys

Thank you for attention on EM/EV2 platform.

I'd like to explain more about this paltform

1. About the BSP source code

EM/EV2 platform now have Froyo and Gingerbread BSPs, the file Eric Wrog set is the last official version on Froyo, it is based on Kernel 2.6.29, release time is (maybe) 8th Mar 2011.

Gingerbread BSP is officially released on end of Sep, the last version(RC4) is release on Nov. RC5 is planned to release but still delaying.

The BSP is under GPL but not all files under GPL license, SGX driver and DSP firmware is under NDA. Renesas has NDA with the vendors, and all Renesas developers have also signed NDA about this. I don't know who release this files, but obviously someone violates NDA.

For someone who want to develop on EM/EV2, A BSP package whithout SGX and OMF part is legally to spread. If you want more, please reply here, I will find a way to release the BSP (include newer version) by some legally way.

2. ICS

ICS BSP is now developing inside Renesas, the plan and development status is not clear, the only information can be confirmed is that the device itself runs, but few peripheral devices can run now.

3. To johnnyfg

EMMA_Mobile1_SDK_v310_ej.zip: this is not for EM/EV2 but previous platform "EMMA mobile 1" chip, and it is not based on Android, but Windriver. It is valueless to study it.

Want more information, please reply or send email to me. (shield.liu@gmail.com)
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Hi samrou, this is VERY interesting info indeed! But can you give some reference with respect to the supported platform? e.g. what peripherals it supports, etc. I mean, it isn't clear to me if it is used in our tablets, or it has a different aim. In any case, I'm very much interested in the latest versions of the SDK! Thanks.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] samrou:
I'm glad to answer any question. If you want to know more, please list here.

Prepherials? What do you want to know? Can you make your question more clear?

Last SDK is for Gingerbread, but I have to negotiate to renesas to releast it.(I think a SDK without SGX and OMF is easy to release, but it's useless)
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Hi,

glad to know you're so helpful. I wrote you a private e-mail but I think anyone else who's interested could benefit of the discussion here too.

About the peripherals, what I mean is that it isn't clear to me whether this BSP is used in our Renesas Emma-based tablets, or it has a different aim.

For example, while browsing in the SDK Kernel 2.6.29 and looking for the chipset drivers, I found the code for the "adv7523" as an HDMI transmitter chip. But, the tablet board has a different chip to make that function: IT6610. A similar discrepancy I found for the battery & power module (a DA9052 chip is used for the A/D in SDK source, while that function is made by an AXP192 on tablets), or the WiFi (tablets use the BCM4329, which isn't found in code).

So, I'd like to understand whether the newest SDKs has additional drivers included, or these need to be developed/integrated independently.

But, I'm very much interested in the latest versions of the SDK in any case! I don't need the SGX or DSP source code, which could be released as a binary library only.

thanks

Fabio
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] samrou:
there so strict rule that I can not post replay here

ffxx68 : can you re post this message from your e-mail ?

---------- Post added at 03:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 PM ----------

There are some common peripheral devices used by all EM/EV2 vendors:

AXP192: Power management chip, it almost don't need driver. <failed to paste the datasheet pdf file 2.0MB>

BCM4329: There are drivers in newer version kernel source code, but commercial driver offered by Broadcom is used by the vendors, I can help you try to run the opens source version.

IT6610: The driver comes from chip vendor, I don't have this driver. I think it's possible to get the driver from manufacture. You can directly send email to ITE.

Any other devices?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
I've just send an e-mail to the address you gave before. Thanks
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] tocixxx:
guys any news here?

How is the status about ICS ? Or at least the kernel sources ?

Best Regards
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Here's what I came to know:

<< the ICS development work is translated to China side... We have Wifi, Blue tooth and Audio run. But all the part related to display is delayed, because they are depend on 3D driver. It took us too much time on getting these resource. but we recently achieve good progress: 3D driver development kit is released to Renesas China ... We are expected to release the first ICS demo version on Feb/M >>

Though they can't obviously promise anything officially, let's encourage them, to keep up with the good work they're doing on this platform...

---------- Post added at 10:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 AM ----------

Also... find here a bunch of useful info, with respect to the boot loader architecture:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=22089664#post22089664
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
After some verification, Renesas representatives acknowledged that GPL says that anyone who receives a copy from you has the right to redistribute copies, modified or not. That to say, they decided he can distribute kernel source code, on dropbox:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60117641/BSPGB_kernel_20110729.git.tar.gz (size: 799 Mb)

NOTE - This is not a TABLET kernel, but the one released officially by Renesas to tablet manufacturers, for Gingerbread RC3 version, kernel version is 2.6.35 and it is configured for emev2 development board. So, many peripherals may be different from the tablet's ones... Hence it may need development, or integration work to make it work on a real production tablet.
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] evronetwork:
I've got an OPAD Renesas ..or at least it looks like that, I'd be more than happy to test whetever rom is available

In stock rom sometimes the touch screen is useless..for a few days or so, sometimes hard resets work some don't(its not a hardware problem, I check that before).. if I flash to a 2.3 android rom(simular tablet)..sometimes works but some parts are buggy

P.S. I've heard something about cm mod from a forum but nothing, btw there is a big thread on a forum here:

http://www.chinadigitalcomm.com/opa...398.html?sid=d72ad76bb0ffe605830c3be87c484c4a

my nickname there is crackez so if you see a post by him ..its me ;)
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] tocixxx:
Hi Guys

Any news on this ?
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
I can't disclose them, but I've obtained some source code for a 2.35.7 kernel image which is compatible with our tablets (with mine at least).

I have obtained then from a manufacturer which is called Smallart.

As you know different hw version of the Renesas tablet exist, though extremely similar. Smallart could provide a patched version of their kernel source which works for the "Liveall" ones. Liveall is the manufacturer of the tablet I own:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/607...etooth-wifi-GPS-and-3G-black-cngloryuion.html

(see here to compare pictures)

I'm not even sure if Smallart still sell their Renesas stuff right now. It may well be an aborted project for them (they say they met "lots of problems").

I can't make Smallart kernel sources public (yet...) but I can succesfully recompile and make it work on my tablet, so I think this is a good starting point. That's why I wanted to share with you.

View attachment uImage.zip

I also think replacing the kernel and not the Android fs is bringing some incompatibilties. I could share the entire Smallart firmware package, if you wish. Once more, this is for testing only, but I fixed something at least which wasn't working:

- 3G power can't be controlled by Android settings, but at least I made it to switch off when WiFi is on and viceversa (applies only to version with internal 3G).

- G-Sensor orientation now correct.

An issue I'm aware about is that, randomly, using the touch keys sometimes make the system hang. The I2C bus is involved, returning an error, but I'm not able to find the actual root cause. If anyone could help here, I can share some additional info (PM, only if you think you can help with coding please).

This kernel, once fixed completely, along with the original boot loader (see here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1476736) opens up the possibility to build an entirely customized Android environment, I think. ICS maybe? The undisclosed libraries concerning the GPU can be taken from the stock Android release.

Time to set up a developers' team...
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
The generic bootloader source code, including a README for the Renesas EM EV2 platform, is shared onto a public GitHub repository too:

https://github.com/ffxx68/RenesasEV2-bootloader
[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] ffxx68:
Let me provide some little additional contribution, by reporting that I've adapted a procedure to boot from SD card, for the "1220" (Android 2.3) firmware version.

This is a first step in order to test any re-built kernel or Android, without replacing the internal NAND installation.

Find attached this file:

Attached File bootsd_1220.tar.gz (79.13K)

Number of downloads: 9

Complete procedure is as follows:

- On your Linux host PC (tested on my Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit)

1) Extract from an original stock "1220" firmware update package into some temporary dir these files

android-fs4.tar.gz

uImage4

2) Expand the attached file into the same temp dir. A new bootsd/ subdir is created.

3) Insert a 2Gb SD card on your PC (through a USB card reader, or whatever).

NOTE 1 - The card content is going to be erased completely.

NOTE 2 - The script should be modified for cards smaller than 2Gb.

4) Note what new device is created for the SD card. It's "/dev/sdd" in my case.

5) Create the bootable SD card with:

cd bootsd
chmod +x create_bootsd.sh
sudo ./create_bootsd.sh /dev/sdd

6) Wait for completion of all steps (takes around a 30 secs, or so)

- On your Rena tablet (tested on mine "second version"):

1) insert the bootable SD card into tablet

2) Boot with Vol+&Power (as if you were updating firmware)

3) Be patient! It took two-three minutes to get to the Android home screen first time.

To start the original NAND firmware, just shutdown and restart with the Power button as usual.

-------

Known Issues

1) Overall device response is slower than that with internal NAND.

That's also a clue about what the final performance comes from...

2) Touchscreen doesn't work.

Use a USB mouse to interact.

The original author of the procedure also patched the uboot4 to put into the internal NAND, but before modifying that too, I'd like to understand better what he has patched...

-------

Technical details

If you wish to discover how our bootloader works, have a look at the README-Renesas in https://github.com/ffxx68/Renesas-BootSD

The uboot-sd.bin has been hex-edited to patch the boot commands, so to start the root file system to the SD card partition:

bootcmd=run ext3cmd
ext3_root=/dev/mmcblk1p3
cfg_ddr=mem=129M@0x40000000 mem=256M@0x50000000
ext3cmd=setenv bootargs root=$(ext3_root) noinitrd init=/init console=ttyS0,115200n8n SELINUX_INIT=no $(cfg_ddr) rw video=qfb: ip=none rootfstype=ext3 rootwait;bootm 40007fc0

The init.rc has been modified to mount the SD card partitions, in place of the NAND ones.

The vold.conf and vold.fstab content has been commented out as well, to remove the use of an external SD card (which is of course absent).

--------

GitHub repository of this project is found at:

https://github.com/ffxx68/Renesas-BootSD