[HOWTO] build nexus 4 kernel

yduck · Nov 30, 2012

environment: ubuntu 10.04 LTS 64bit

get some package
sudo apt-get install gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential \
zip curl zlib1g-dev libc6-dev lib32ncurses5-dev ia32-libs \
x11proto-core-dev libx11-dev lib32readline5-dev lib32z-dev \
libgl1-mesa-dev g++-multilib mingw32 tofrodos python-markdown \
libxml2-utils xsltproc

install git
first install some packages that git depends on:
sudo apt-get install libcurl4-gnutls-dev libexpat1-dev gettext libz-dev libssl-dev

get the new git source code from http://code.google.com/p/git-core/downloads/list.
download git-1.8.0.tar.gz
tar -xvf git-1.8.0.tar.gz
cd git-1.8.0
./configure
make
sudo make install
this will install git to /usr/local/bin/

get the kernel source code:
mkdir -p ~/android/kernel
cd ~/android/kernel
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm

check which version of kernel to checkout
mkdir ~/work/android/nexus4-kernel
cd ~/work/android/nexus4-kernel
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/device/lge/mako-kernel
cd mako-kernel
git log kernel
get the commit rev, which is e039dcb (nov 25, 2012), this number seems to correspond to the latest commit revision in https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm/android-msm-mako-3.4-jb-mr1

check out the kernel
cd ~/android/kernel/kernel_msm
git checkout <commit version>
note: commit version is e039dcb, which is the result of the git log kernel command in the previous step

install google toolchain
mkdir ~/android/toolchain
cd ~/android/toolchain
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/prebuilts/gcc/linux-x86/arm/arm-linux-androideabi-4.6
add “export PATH=$PATH:~/android/toolchain/arm-linux-androideabi-4.6/bin” to ~/.profile and run source ~/.profile

setup environment variables and build
cd ~/android/kernel/kernel_msm
export ARCH=arm
export SUBARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-androideabi-
make mako_defconfig
make -j4

done

if you wanna thank me. go to google play and try out my app Wishlist :laugh:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wish.wishlist

evaradar · Nov 30, 2012

So with this I can make my own kernel for the Nexus 4? Hmm... will be nice to make one and get people to test it out for me lol.

I can edit the CPU, GPU, UV settings, etc? Is this only on Ubuntu or can it be done on Windows?

yduck · Nov 30, 2012

the kernel source is from google, but you can modify it as you wish. this is only for ubuntu. other linux environment will also work. but not windows.

matt73300 · Nov 30, 2012

You could change "make -j4" by "make -j$(grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo)" ...

yduck · Nov 30, 2012

matt73300 said:
You could change "make -j4" by "make -j$(grep -c ^processor /proc/cpuinfo)" ...

that's handy to use.
But should the general rule of N in make -jN be twice the number of cpu core? for example, on my computer, I have two cores, so I use -j4.

matt73300 · Nov 30, 2012

yduck said:
that's handy to use.
But should the general rule of N in make -jN be twice the number of cpu core? for example, on my computer, I have two cores, so I use -j4.

Not really nice for lambda users. I think it's better when it written as I said (no need to know how many cores you have), or j# (and say replace # by 2xnumber_of_cores).

I have 8 cores on my computer, so I use j16 and it's much faster than j4, some people should know it

yduck · Dec 3, 2012

for some reason, the kernel I built cannot be booted.
when I did:

fastboot boot zImage

the phone stuck at the google logo.

any idea? I have seen other people in the forum built the kernel and booted it. there must be something wrong with the way I compiled the kernel, or the config is incorrect, or do I need to sign the kernel?

dsana123 · Dec 3, 2012

yduck said:
for some reason, the kernel I built cannot be booted.
when I did:

fastboot boot zImage

the phone stuck at the google logo.

any idea? I have seen other people in the forum built the kernel and booted it. there must be something wrong with the way I compiled the kernel, or the config is incorrect, or do I need to sign the kernel?

Is the zImage file the one found in "arch/arm/boot/zImage"? If so, then you can't use this directly in fastboot. You need to create a boot.img file.

Edit 2: You could possibly try this: " fastboot flash:raw boot <kernel> <ramdisk> ". I personally have not done, this. I created the boot.img file and flashed it.

Edit 3: Note that Edit 2 does perform a flash instead of boot, so be very wary of this. I recommend you create a boot.img file and use "fastboot boot boot.img" for testing --- it's safer that way.

yduck · Dec 4, 2012

dsana123 said:
Is the zImage file the one found in "arch/arm/boot/zImage"? If so, then you can't use this directly in fastboot. You need to create a boot.img file.

Edit 2: You could possibly try this: " fastboot flash:raw boot <kernel> <ramdisk> ". I personally have not done, this. I created the boot.img file and flashed it.

Edit 3: Note that Edit 2 does perform a flash instead of boot, so be very wary of this. I recommend you create a boot.img file and use "fastboot boot boot.img" for testing --- it's safer that way.

great suggestion. I just figured this out yesterday. as you said, fastboot boot does not work with just the zImage. it needs a boot.img.
so I created a newboot.img by packing my zImage and the ramdisk extracted from google's stock boot.img, and the newboot.img boots!

the command "fastboot flash:raw <kernel> <ramdisk>" seems simple to use. does it have an equivalent "fastboot boot: raw <kernel> <ramdisk"? so I don't need to worry about breaking my phone.

dsana123 · Dec 4, 2012

yduck said:
the command "fastboot flash:raw <kernel> <ramdisk>" seems simple to use. does it have an equivalent "fastboot boot: raw <kernel> <ramdisk"? so I don't need to worry about breaking my phone.

The fasboot.c source file at

https://android.googlesource.com/pl...8d27c72a03d56c1a36068a57f/fastboot/fastboot.c

indicates that there is no equivalent, although if you want to start modifying the fastboot.c code, it is probably easy enough to do so. Below is the relevant flash:raw code in fastboot.c:

} else if(!strcmp(*argv, "flash:raw")) {
char *pname = argv[1];
char *kname = argv[2];
char *rname = 0;
require(3);
if(argc > 3) {
rname = argv[3];
skip(4);
} else {
skip(3);
}
data = load_bootable_image(page_size, kname, rname, &sz, cmdline);
if (data == 0) die("cannot load bootable image");
fb_queue_flash(pname, data, sz);

From your post it sounds like you're using mkbootimg to create the boot image so you have what you need anyway (as long as you call mkbootimg with all the parameters corresponding to the boot header info from the boot image you extracted --- base offset, kernel offset, ramdisk offset, page offset, kernel command line , etc).

KidCarter93 · Dec 4, 2012

I've just added this guide to the Nexus 4 Complete Index

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

yduck · Dec 5, 2012

KidCarter93 said:
I've just added this guide to the Nexus 4 Complete Index

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

awesome! my post got into the index. I am so excited.:cyclops:

snowman77 · Dec 5, 2012

Thanks- although cdesai already made one

cdesai's thread here

yduck · Dec 6, 2012

yduck said:
great suggestion. I just figured this out yesterday. as you said, fastboot boot does not work with just the zImage. it needs a boot.img.
so I created a newboot.img by packing my zImage and the ramdisk extracted from google's stock boot.img, and the newboot.img boots!

the command "fastboot flash:raw <kernel> <ramdisk>" seems simple to use. does it have an equivalent "fastboot boot: raw <kernel> <ramdisk"? so I don't need to worry about breaking my phone.

I wonder if this is the correct way of making boot.img. I heard kernel image and ramdisk are related, if you modify and recompile the kernel and pack it with an old ramdisk, it may not boot. Is it true? what's the standard way of making boot.img? Is there a method to make our own ramdisk, instead of extracting it from google's stock boot.img?

jhwilliams · Jan 18, 2013

yduck said:
setup environment variables and build
cd ~/android/kernel/kernel_msm
export ARCH=arm
export SUBARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-androideabi-
make mako_defconfig
make -j4

Based in part on this documentation, I have created a HOWTO on building the system.img and boot.img files (for fastboot) with a single "make" call. Checkout: http://nosemaj.org/howto-build-android-nexus-4 .

XDA_Bam · Feb 27, 2013

Hi, I have two strange problems when trying to compile the mako kernel source. My setup:

Ubuntu 10.04, 64-bit (succesfully compiled a GB kernel for another device with this setup, using Google gcc 4.4.3 and Linaro gcc 4.6.2)
Kernel source from https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm, HEAD @ 7ce11cd - this is the android-msm-mako-3.4-jb-mr1.1 branch, wich should be identical to the kernel shipped with 4.2.2
Google gcc 4.6.x from https://android.googlesource.com/platform/prebuilts/gcc/linux-x86/arm/arm-linux-androideabi-4.6, also jb-mr1.1-release
No changes to the source, yet

There are two problems when compiling. First, there is this error

Code:

error: the frame size of XXXX bytes is larger than 1024 bytes

which is caused by 'CONFIG_FRAME_WARN=1024'. This value is not set in mako_defconfig, but seems to be the default for gcc 4.6 and is written to the .config when running make mako_defconfig. I am able to bypass this by setting 'CONFIG_FRAME_WARN=2048', but question is: Why do I need to? The stock kernel on my device running 4.2.2 has been compiled with 'CONFIG_FRAME_WARN=1024'.

The second problem are warnings of the type

Code:

warning: unwinding may not work because EXIDX input section XX of arch/arm/.../YYY.o is not in EXIDX output section

These can be suppressed by setting '# CONFIG_ARM_UNWIND is not set' and adding 'CONFIG_FRAME_POINTER=y'. But again, the stock kernel is compiled with 'CONFIG_ARM_UNWIND=y' and obviously, the Google guys didn't have this problem. What's wrong with my setup?

atomilluminati · Feb 28, 2013

add “export PATH=$PATH:~/android/toolchain/arm-linux-androideabi-4.6/bin” to ~/.profile and run source ~/.profile

I can't figure out why but I keep getting a no command 'add' found

Sent From My Paranoid Nexus

XDA_Bam · Mar 1, 2013

atomilluminati said:
add “export PATH=$PATH:~/android/toolchain/arm-linux-androideabi-4.6/bin” to ~/.profile and run source ~/.profile

I can't figure out why but I keep getting a no command 'add' found

Sent From My Paranoid Nexus

Thanks for the response. The path to the compiler is defined in my kernel build script. Do I have to change it in my .profile, too?

atomilluminati · Mar 1, 2013

XDA_Bam said:
Thanks for the response. The path to the compiler is defined in my kernel build script. Do I have to change it in my .profile, too?

Actually this was supposed to be a question...my bad... I keep getting to that line in the OP's instructions and can't get past it

Sent From My Paranoid Nexus

XDA_Bam · Mar 1, 2013

atomilluminati said:
Actually this was supposed to be a question...my bad... I keep getting to that line in the OP's instructions and can't get past it

Sent From My Paranoid Nexus

Hehe

Okay, the answer is that you have to open the ~/.profile and manually add in a text editor the line given in the OP. The file should be in your profile folder (/home/your_user_name/). After this, save, close and run

Code:

source ~/.profile

in the terminal. That should do it, as far as I understood.

[HOWTO] build nexus 4 kernel

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Forum Moderator

Member

snowman77

Guest

Member

Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Senior Member

Inactive Recognized Developer

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts