AndroidAthenaProject1.0

[size=+1]Introduction:[/size]

• I am proud to introduce "AndroidAthenaProject1.0" on behalf of the Athena Project Team! We have successfully ported Android to the Athena (More info about the Athena). This will be the official thread for optimizing and working out bugs related to Android on the Athena.
• YouTube Demo

[size=+1]News:[/size]

• 05/28/2008 - New update available: (Athena-Android "All-n-1" Release) (More Info and even more info). This update adds touch screen support and screen rotation applet. Video driver still needs a lot of work. Screen updates are slow. Coding decent video drivers will be my next priority and if anyone is willing to give a hand, please let me know. Thanks!

[size=+1]Athena/Android Resources:[/size]

• Download Android for the Athena (x7500/x7501/Ameo/etc...): Latest Release or Here (Click here for instructions)
  
• Git: https://github.com/mistadman/android-athena/. This should be easier for us to manage changes. Enjoy!!
  
• Diff and .Config (05282008): Download

[size=+1]Project Status:[/size]

1. Keyboard (not started) (A USB keyboard can be used for testing while we wait for drivers. See this post)
   
2. Touch screen (done):
   • More info
   • Testing/Bug fixes
3. Phone (not started)
4. Video(in progress):
   • Correctly implement pan_display() function (double buffering)
   • Speed improvements
5. Sound (in progress)
6. Wifi (not started)
7. Bluetooth (not started)
8. GPS (not started)
9. Camera (not started)
10. Sub-display (not started)
11. Accelerometer (not started)
    
12. Android Application Functionality(in progress):
    • RotateView Applet added: (More info)
      • This applet lets you rotate the screen. Unfortunately, due to incomplete video driver, video performance takes a serious hit during rotation.

[size=+1]Contribute:[/size]

• If you would like to test or can contribute to one of the outstanding issues above, please let us know. Also, marthynovak has posted quick and dirty guide to testing our releases. See this post for more information.

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Now we are talk'n! LOL!

- Graphics
- Sounds
- Drivers (highest priority of course)
- Apps
- Functionality (highest priority of course)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Just remember though, we do not want to duplicate Google's efforts... What I mean is that Google OS/Middleware (Android) will be in direct competition with the iPhone, Symbian, Window Mobile, etc. That means we can expect things like onscreen keyboards, SMS apps, Office Apps (probably complements of Google Docs/Google Gears), mapping/GPS software (Google Maps), a camera app, etc... (See: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-9239_7-6546759-1.html for more info) And that’s not to mention some of the great work already being done by Third-Party Vendors (Android Developer Challenge: see: http://phandroid.com/2008/05/10/adc-round-1-winners for more info). Heck, look at what was done on the iPhone... And it was/is "closed source"!

I believe the IMPORTANT thing is that we provide a stable kernel for Google's "Middleware". I envision that most of the kernel work will revolve around driver development (in order of priority): (Here is a pictorial representation of the software stack:http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20080521/android_stack_540x387.jpg, as you can see the kernel is the base to which all other software depends on.)

Keyboard
Touch screen
Phone
Video
Sound

And of course:
Wifi
Bluetooth
GPS
Camera

Long term objectives:
Sub-display
Accelerometer


Of course there will need to be work done on Android itself... Maybe we will need to develop applications custom to the Athena Hardware. At the very least, we will have to provide Android with a way to talk to hardware via kernel icotls (e.g. Camera Settings, Video Settings, etc…). So having some with inside knowledge of Android will help. Not sure though, because I haven’t hacked on Android (yet ;-) )...


Once the kernel/drivers are stable I believe Android will be a better fit for the Athena than WM6 could have ever be.

What do you guys think?


FYI: Looks like Google is already improving Android: http://www.talkandroid.com/99-adc-finalists-receive-android-sdk-snapshot-access/

Update...

Just to let you guys know, I have been working on the touch screen driver. I pretty much have it working perfectly, expect for the fact that the touch screen works in the horizontal position even though Android boots vertically. I am pretty sure I will not be much longer before I release an update.

Also, if anyone is working on any particular issue related to porting Android to the Athena, please let us know. The more the merrier!

The main thing is that we wouldn't want to duplicated efforts or if someone is working on an issue we could match you up with someone doing the same thing. This would speed development a great deal. Two heads or better than one! On the main page I will post updates as to where we are with each issue.

And thanks to everyone who is either showing interest or encouragement!

All in one executable...

Hello everyone,


I am trying something new... Even though there has been some progress with this project, I am re-releasing the original Android release as an All-in-one executable for testing. If all goes well, we will be releasing further updates in this fashion. If you are testing, please post feedback on this thread.

This will help make testing easier, because there will be less files to mess with, and anyone new to testing will not be easily confused. Also the "All-n-1" release will be dated, which should also minimize confusion.

If anyone has any suggestions, or any better ideas, let us know. Thanks!

Here is a the link to the "All-n-1" re-release: http://rapidshare.com/files/117520672/Android-Athena-05172008.exe.html

***NOTE*** There is nothing new with this release, other than the fact its all merged in to one file for easier testing.

New Update...

Hello everyone... I'm back with a new update! I finally got the touch screen working! Still have a lot of work left of course.


If you want to play with it, you can get it here: http://rapidshare.com/files/118229739/Android-Athena-05282008.exe.html. This is an "All-n-1 Release". Just copy the exe to your sd card and run. After clicking, it could take up to 20 seconds to boot. Be patent!


As always, this is work in progress... Thanks for testing!


Here is the patch and .config: