Porting Halium to Nexus 7 deb

doniks

I'm trying to get Halium running on the Nexus 7 2013 gsm variant "deb".

I've made a few steps already. Most notably: Plasma Mobile starts!

I'm keeping (and updating while I progress) the summary below, so that:

I don't forget what steps I took
Others can help to improve this
Others can use this as inspiration for their ports

Setup sources

Follow the Porting Guide for halium-7.1 here https://docs.halium.org
lineageos kernel sources: https://github.com/LineageOS/android_kernel_google_msm
my local_manifest: https://gist.github.com/doniks/7ee302c7792450761332d8f8712f29f6
binaries : https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/drivers MOB30X
my repo with all kernel changes: https://github.com/doniks/android_kernel_google_msm

Kernel image

config

source build/envsetup.sh 
add_lunch_combo lineage_deb-userdebug
lunch lineage_deb-userdebug

kernel config: kernel/google/msm/arch/arm/configs/lineageos_flo_defconfig
Primary source to check for wrong configs: https://github.com/lbt/mer-kernel-check
my kernel config: https://gist.github.com/doniks/7406a87e5f15e1eab5a64aa90ad8f633
other config checkers for reference:
- CONFIG=out/target/product/deb/obj/KERNEL_OBJ/.config lxc-checkconfig
- https://github.com/janimo/phablet-porting-scripts/blob/master/kernel/check-config

patches

https://gist.github.com/doniks/75d16dda43d241feb79b721bab6c4940
https://gist.github.com/doniks/44faf86a23f7467b80744f033fb08100
add cgroup_disable=memory to the HYBRIS_BOOTIMG_COMMANDLINE in halium/hybris-boot/Android.mk (this fixes some problem with systemd/cgroups, can't remember what exactly )

common porting errors

Halium Porting Error Knowledge Base
https://gist.github.com/doniks/2ac14a1bb6750165bf782f62139c8aab#file-gistfile1-txt-L61
Reference of older kernel versions http://elixir.free-electrons.com/linux/v2.6.39.4/source
[https://public.etherpad-mozilla.org/p/r.0aae797a3bd13b4cd923b82fe29a2f47](Sailfish HADK FAQ)

test and debug

Follow steps here http://docs.halium.org/en/latest/porting/debug-build/
if you want to force init into telnet, add kernel parameter bootmode=debug:

fastboot -c "$(abootimg -i hybris-boot.img | sed -ne '/cmdline/s/. cmdline . //p' ) bootmode=debug" boot hybris-boot.img

Android image

cd halium
mka systemimage
ls -l out/target/product/deb/system.img

Rootfs

Halium rootfs

get it

https://docs.halium.org/en/latest/porting/install-build/reference-rootfs.html

install it

to install the rootfs you need working adb. I use this twrp recovery: https://eu.dl.twrp.me/deb/twrp-3.0.2-0-deb.img.html (had some problems with 3.1.1-0)
boot into twrp recovery

git clone https://github.com/Halium/halium-scripts
./halium-scripts/halium-install halium-rootfs-20170630-151006.tar.gz halium/out/target/product/deb/system.img

The device should reboot and get to the point where it announces usb networking:

lsusb -vd 0fce: | grep -i serial
  iSerial                 3 GNU/Linux Device on usb0 10.15.19.82

reboot into twrp recovery to set the root password

adb shell
cd /data
mkdir mnt
mount rootfs.img mnt/
chroot mnt /bin/bash 
export PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:$PATH
passwd

connect to it

reboot the device and wait for usb networking to come up as above
configure usb network on your desktop in a similar way as above for telnet, but now for ssh

sudo ip address add 10.15.19.1 dev enp0s20f0u7 
sudo ip route add 10.15.19.82 dev enp0s20f0u7

login via ssh

ssh root@10.15.19.82

fix path variable

echo $PATH
/usr/bin:/bin
export PATH=/usr/sbin:/sbin:$PATH
echo 'export PATH=/usr/sbin:/sbin:$PATH' >> /root/.bashrc

what works

test_lights makes the led breathe
EGL_PLATFORM=hwcomposer test_hwcomposer shows rotating spiral! I need echo 200 > /sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness to turn up the display brightness, so I can actually see the spiral
wifi: http://docs.halium.org/en/latest/porting/debug-build/wifi.html

nmcli d # no wlan0
echo 1 > /dev/wcnss_wlan 
echo sta > /sys/module/wlan/parameters/fwpath 
nmcli d # shows wlan0
nmcli dev wifi # list wifis 
nmcli dev wifi connect <SOMEOPENWIFI>
# or
# sudo nmcli device wifi connect <SOMEENCRYPTEDWIFI> password <PASSWORD>
ping -c 2 8.8.8.8
ping -c 2 debian.org
# install some missing packages
apt update
apt install openssh-client bash-completion command-not-found binutils nano

buttons: evtest /dev/input/event5
touchscreen: evtest /dev/input/event0
adb:
- TWRP
- chroot into rootfs
- systemctl enable adb
test_egl_config : https://gist.github.com/doniks/4e9ea8a8f5aaf1968c2e42846b5a9158

what doesn't work

test_audio nothing to hear

ACDB init open file failed
[ACDB Init]->File is not found on the system
[ACDB Init]->ACDB init success!

test_camera

library "libcamera_compat_layer.so" not found
Segmentation fault

test_egl segfaults
test_glesv2 segfault
test_gps, honestly I don't know whether that output below constitutes success of failure ... since I can't recognise any coordinates, I think it failed. I've waited 5 minutes or so. There are more *** tracking lines but no coordinates

*** setup signal handler
*** get gps interface
*** device info
 id = gps
 name = loc_api GPS Module
 author = Qualcomm USA, Inc.
*** init gps interface
*** set capabilities
capability is 00000007
 ** Creating thread: 'Loc_hal_worker' (start=0xb69f23b5, arg=0x1d02080)
 ** After thread_create: 'Loc_hal_worker', error=0 (start=0xb69f23b5, arg=0x1d02080)
 **** Thread wrapper start (start=0xb69f23b5, arg=0x1d02080) ****
*** setting positioning mode
*** start gps track
*** gps tracking started
*** tracking....

test_input

library "libis_compat_layer.so" not found
Segmentation fault

test_media, get a video from http://bbb3d.renderfarming.net/download.html

wget http://download.blender.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_480p_surround-fix.avi
wget http://distribution.bbb3d.renderfarming.net/video/mp4/bbb_sunflower_1080p_60fps_normal.mp4
scp bbb_sunflower_1080p_60fps_normal.mp4 root@10.15.19.82:
ssh root@10.15.19.82
test_media bbb_sunflower_1080p_60fps_normal.mp4
library "libmedia_compat_layer.so" not found
Segmentation fault

test_nfc

Starting test_nfc.
Finding NFC hardware module.
test_nfc: test_nfc.c:156: testNfc: Assertion `hwModule != NULL' failed.
Aborted

test_recorder

Test application for video recording using the camera
Recording start with volume up button. And stops with volume down.
The result is stored to /root/test_video.avi

library "libcamera_compat_layer.so" not found
Segmentation fault

test_sensors

library "/system/lib/hw/sensors.oem.so" not found
libsensor_add_waiting_client adding cb 0
Hardware module ID: sensors
Hardware module Name: Qualcomm Sensors Module
Hardware module Author: Qualcomm Inc.
Hardware module API version: 0x1
Hardware HAL API version: 0x100
Poll device version: 0x1000001
API VERSION 0.1 (legacy): 0x1
API VERSION 0.1: 0x65537
API VERSION 1.0: 0x16777217
API VERSION 1.1: 0x16842753
API VERSION 1.2: 0x16908289
API VERSION 1.3: 0x16973825
API VERSION 1.4: 0x17039361
libsensor_add_waiting_client adding cb 1
Got 0 sensors

test_wifi 1 says :

Cannot load driver (err -1)

not supported

test_vibrator , segfaults, but anyway the N7 doesn't have a haptic motor to vibrate

Segmentation fault

UBports rootfs

Tried the rootfs from here: http://cdimage.ubports.com/rootfs/ but it doesn't do too much for me:

screen stays on the Google logo
no usb iSerial messages
no usb network interface seems to come up
last_kmsg shows that systemd does take over http://paste.ubuntu.com/25419054/ however,
it complains that "systemd[1]: Failed to start LXC Android Config and Container Initialization."
no adb interface comes up, even though in TWRP/chroot I see that android-tools-adbd.service is enabled

Plasma mobile rootfs

git clone https://github.com/bhush9/rootfs-builder bhush9-rootfs-builder
cd bhush9-rootfs-builder
# follow the instructions in README to patch lb_chroot_live-packages
sudo ./build.sh
# waaaaait
# install it

The reboot takes about a minute. Then you'll hear an audible greeting and afterwards you are greeted by the plasma mobile login screen. You can login and play around a bit. Not much to do though. No network connection and it's not possible to ssh in.

Reboot back into TWRP and chroot.

To be able to use the ssh server, you need to generate ssh server keys: dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server
Preferably enable password less login :

adb shell mkdir /home/phablet/.ssh
adb push ~/.ssh/id.pub /home/phablet/.ssh/authorized_keys
// todo : some chmod/chown needed?

reboot, setup usbnet and then reboot and login as ssh phablet@10.15.19.82
Alternatively, you can set the passwords, but I don't do this because it seems to actually break the graphical login:

passwd 
passwd: Authentication token manipulation error
passwd: password unchanged
# fix passwd
apt remove libnss-extrausers
pam-auth-update 
# select everything but extrausers
passwd # set root password 
passwd phablet # set user password

Debian

Haven't tried yet.
https://archive.org/download/halium-debian-rootfs/
https://github.com/JBBgameich/rootfs-builder/tree/debian

Arch

https://github.com/Halium/rootfs-builder/tree/archlinux
https://github.com/mickybart/rootfs-builder/tree/archlinux
Haven't tried yet. I'm not very familiar with arch.

What's next?

Get ubports to run
Get PM to run on halium-boot
Check out LuneOS
Check out SailfishOS
Build a .zip file, only makes sense if some OS is remotely usable, PM is close but still not there
get lxc-attach to work
patch out the noise dmesg logging of the battery

Any tips or feedback appreciated!

doniks

update: got hwcomposer working with some help from bshah, updating first post

Tonoxis

Hey Doniks, nice to see you still working on Ubuntu Touch (It's ShadowEO from XDA). The Nexus 7 does actually have NFC, but you are correct, it does not have a haptic motor for vibration.

Sad to see the Flo isn't supported, but you can bet I'll be trying your deb port on my flo the moment you have a working test release

doniks

@Tonoxis Well, hallo there! Pleasure to meet again

I was actually thinking the other day to ping you on xda whether you would be interested to help

As for "releasing", I hadn't actually intended to upload the kernel image itself anywhere ... you know it's not in any way in a consumer ready state. The screen is black you can talk to it with commandline stuff over a usb cable. It is exciting but only for a certain audience. People should be able to build it with the instructions above and then have all the sources and infrastructure such that they can also actually improve upon the current state. Or do you think it would make sense to upload the images?

As for supporting flo - Well, it might "just work", right?! Similar with how we did it back in the day the other way around where your TonoKrnl "just worked" on my deb.

PS: updated first post for NFC & vibration. thx!

Tonoxis

Unfortunately, I haven't had time for much of anything lately, if that were different I'd be happy to help with the project. For release, I'd recommend images and source tree, so anyone who wishes to contribute/debug can download your image as it currently is without needing to completely rebuild from source.

And I hadn't thought of that, you're right, it's possible the Deb version may just work on the Flo. I think the only hardware difference is the cellular modem afaik.

doniks

Small update in the OP. Tried plasma mobile rootfs, but can't make it work. Ubports rootfs for Halium doesn't seem to exist.

doniks

Behold! Plasma Mobile on the N7!

Courtesy of Mr @bshah, aka Da Man, who fixed some black magic code, so all I had to do was repo sync and reinstall

bshah

Great that you got it working, now we need to get UBports working here

doniks

Tried the rootfs from here: http://cdimage.ubports.com/rootfs/ but it doesn't do too much for me:

OP:

screen stays on the Google logo

no usb iSerial messages

no usb network interface seems to come up

last_kmsg shows that systemd does take over http://paste.ubuntu.com/25419054/ however,

it complains that "systemd[1]: Failed to start LXC Android Config and Container Initialization."

no adb interface comes up, even though in TWRP/chroot I see that android-tools-adbd.service is enabled

bshah

@doniks said in Porting Halium to Nexus 7 deb:

Alternatively, you can set the passwords, but I don't do this because it seems to actually break the graphical login:

I actually figured this out... it seemed strange, but I gave wrong instructions it seems,

pam-auth-update 
# select everything but extrausers

Here is the catch, last option of pam-auth-update is ... None of the above ... so it would disable standard login as well, instructions should've been select everything but extrausers and none of the above.

Anyway, I will be publishing newer images with this things fixed soon, so you won't also need to do "hacks" for ssh..

flohack

@doniks Well AFAIK there is currently no ubports image booting with Halium correctly. Plus even if the xenial image would boot, it is far from usable. Lots of permission problems, no apps start etc. Its Pre-Alpha

BR

demokrit

@doniks you could try the rootfs @ http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch/xenial/daily-preinstalled/current/ (I think xenial-preinstalled-touch-armhf.tar.gz or the -arm64.tar.gz if the nexus 7 is 64-bit should be the correct rootfs) and if this works our devs from ubports might reproduce their work step-by-step? I would be very interested whether this works if you could try

Tonoxis

@demokrit said in Porting Halium to Nexus 7 deb:

@doniks you could try the rootfs @ http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch/xenial/daily-preinstalled/current/ (I think xenial-preinstalled-touch-armhf.tar.gz or the -arm64.tar.gz if the nexus 7 is 64-bit should be the correct rootfs) and if this works our devs from ubports might reproduce their work step-by-step? I would be very interested whether this works if you could try

Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 is not ARM64, it's normal ARM. So the ARM64 rootfs wouldn't work here. Glad to see progress being made and would love to test it out at some point

demokrit

@Tonoxis Ah, I did not make myself clear xD i meant there are rootfs'ses for both armhf and amr64 but good to know it's armhf, thx

Tonoxis

@doniks I've finally had a chance to play around with the steps you've produced, and I found the issue with the Ubuntu rootfs-builder is that it needs to run under sudo for chroot to run. Your OP was very informative and it definitely helped me get over a couple of places I was stuck building while reading the Halium documentation.

I attempted to boot my kernel but the MSM watchdog keeps rebooting the device after a little bit, however I can see in /proc/last_kmsg that it seems to want a rootfs, so I'm waiting until everything is done building to fully test. Gonna see if I can't get GNOME Wayland to run on Halium/Hybris.

Edit: After waiting a little bit, my Ubuntu 16.04 boot appears to fail with a problem setting up LXC Networking, it then hangs. No USB connection, it doesn't seem to respond to Ubuntu's requests for device setup. So I'm going to try the rootfs you linked.

doniks

@demokrit said in Porting Halium to Nexus 7 deb:

@doniks you could try the rootfs @ http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch/xenial/daily-preinstalled/current/ (I think xenial-preinstalled-touch-armhf.tar.gz

Canonicals "touch" root filesystems look somewhat different. Everything is in a "/system/" subfolder. If that would be the only difference, then well, one could hack around that, but I'm not sure whether there are other things as well (upstart/systemd?). I didn't feel like investing the time, since I expected the ubports core team to release a halium rootfs any day now But hey listening to the last community Q&A, it should really be any day now ...

doniks

@Tonoxis
Nice!

I have done a repo sync and try to get back to where I was before. I'm using the halium rootfs and it does bring up the 10.15.19.82 network and I can ssh in, but after a few seconds it seems to tear that usb network down. I think I had that before, but I can't remember how I got past that. Something with the android lxc containers in the rootfs

Any luck with the rootfs yet?

Tonoxis

@doniks I managed to figure out a workaround, I had to pull the jessie version of libssl1.0.0 so I could force ADBd to run instead, for whatever reason, my debian rootfs never gets USB tethering up unless it's the debug bootmode option. I am actually working with a running debian root now, however I screwed up while building my system image and didn't have any vendor blobs for libhybris to work with I'm rebuilding my system image now and then I'm going to reinstall the halium rootfs with the new system image.

Before-posting Edit: Looks like I'm running into an issue where the build system isn't picking up my vendor tree even after popping MOB30X's binaries down in there as laid out in the LineageOS guides for setting this folder up, every system image I build continues to not contain the proprietary blobs... I can't tell if I'm doing something wrong, or if it's something else that I'm not doing first.

EDIT EDIT: WOO! Had to do some linking around libhybris-egl, but I was able to finally get test_hwcomposer to show the spiral! Working on getting wayland to start up (working on getting some VTs up so I can launch weston as a test)

EDIT: Weston starts as long as I specify fbdev-backend and use msm_fb_refresher to get it up and running, but it runs and it's snappy. I just can't get anything else wayland to work (gnome-shell --display-server, kwin_wayland, etc)

JBBgameich

Which debian rootfs are you using?
I just wanted to inform you that my work on the debian buster rootfs is now nearly finished and it boots to ssh, the lxc container starts and libhybris also works.
I have some pre-built one around here: https://archive.org/download/halium-debian-rootfs/halium-debian-rootfs_20171024.tar.gz and the source for the rootfs-builder has moved here: https://github.com/debian-pm/rootfs-builder.

doniks

@doniks said in Porting Halium to Nexus 7 deb:

patches

https://gist.github.com/doniks/75d16dda43d241feb79b721bab6c4940

FWIW, it might be conceivable to fix this thing about pidns_operations in a better way. I was poking around in the upstream kernel

git clone  --depth 1 --branch v4.13.11  https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git
grep --color=always  -nr -C 3 -Ee'CONFIG_PID_NS|pidns_operations' |less -R

and I see some stuff that is not present in the kernel I use. But, well, that's for another day. Afterall, I don't even know whether it's an actual problem right now