[DEV] MeeGo for Nexus S (Also, Help Required)

Search This thread

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com
So, I have a barebones version of MeeGo (barely) running on the Nexus S. I can't really do much with it on my own, but I'm posting the info here so you can build it and try it for yourself.

What works:
• ADB root shell
• X11 & UI apps
• Super-AMOLED brightness control (fixed! still off-colour tho…)

What doesn't work currently:
• Touchscreen
• WiFi
• Anything else :p

If you've never built a MeeGo rootfs before, it's relatively straightforward, and all the binaries are precompiled for you (but it's definitely for developers only).

I have my boot.img (kernel + ramdisk) and a MeeGo kickstart file at http://blog.steventroughtonsmith.com/2011/01/nexus-s-meego.html ; you can use fastboot to boot the image, or flash it to the recovery partition to dual boot. The actual MeeGo rootfs is run from a rootfs.ext2 file you can drop onto the Nexus S using Mass Storage mode - no need for messy flashing or the like, you can thank me later).

There's not much else I can do on my own right now, so if you want to see anything become of this do get involved!

My kernel is stock git://android.git.kernel.org/kernel/samsung.git ; make herring_defconfig; the only change was modifying the .config to turn on CONFIG_VT (needed for X11).

Go nuts!
 

Attachments

  • DSC00578.jpg
    DSC00578.jpg
    95.5 KB · Views: 4,566
Last edited:

vitosans

Senior Member
May 23, 2010
64
2
Great stuff!

I have been waiting for someone to start something like this, I work as an embedded developer during the day so not much time at night but I will chip in were and if I can, I am pulling the source and looking at the build system / process.

Looks like you have done the heavy lifting of bootstraping the device now its just about porting drivers.

Cheers and great start!
 

ilfccd

Member
Mar 4, 2008
45
14
According to PowerVR rep on CES there should be an open source driver later this year (info from Phoronix, but they are lately not really reliable source of info).

Here is another question though. Have you tried using the omap tree of linaro for the kernel build?

I don't have Nexus S around currently and I'm doing all my work on TI OMAP (A8) based IGEP v2 board and TI OMAP 44xx Panda (A9) board. As they both have PowerVR 530/540 graphics I'll check tonight or tomorrow if the closed driver is compatible with linaro's kernel as I'm currently running that on the IGEP. As Samsung is part of linaro, there could be some patchests for the hummingbird in there. The current uname -r for the linaro is: 2.6.35-1008-linaro-omap so it could be compatible w/ MeeGo's kernel, there could be even newer version in the git tree.

Keep up the great work, I'm really interested in what you are doing with MeeGo. Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: stroughtonsmith

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com
According to PowerVR rep on CES there should be an open source driver later this year (info from Phoronix, but they are lately not really reliable source of info).

Here is another question though. Have you tried using the omap tree of linaro for the kernel build?

I don't have Nexus S around currently and I'm doing all my work on TI OMAP (A8) based IGEP v2 board and TI OMAP 44xx Panda (A9) board. As they both have PowerVR 530/540 graphics I'll check tonight or tomorrow if the closed driver is compatible with linaro's kernel as I'm currently running that on the IGEP. As Samsung is part of linaro, there could be some patchests for the hummingbird in there. The current uname -r for the linaro is: 2.6.35-1008-linaro-omap so it could be compatible w/ MeeGo's kernel, there could be even newer version in the git tree.

Keep up the great work, I'm really interested in what you are doing with MeeGo. Thanks!
I'm not sure how compatible the kernels will be, the Hummingbird is not an OMAP device (and it would be more akin to the OMAP3 than OMAP4); but if the kernel works, then it should work with MeeGo too. MeeGo is relatively versatile.

Graphics drivers would be nice!
 

ilfccd

Member
Mar 4, 2008
45
14
I actually use the linaro distro (ubuntu essential, which i hate) to build meego inside it, because of the work the linaro guys did on the gcc compiler (should be better versed for arm chips). according to the wiki here https://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/UserPlatforms/2010-09-13

the drivers for omap3 should be freely accessible (the 530 core). there is a mention of the 540 core in there also, but I haven't really used them as I don't run X on the boards. You could try the PVR 540 driver for the OMAP4, you might be lucky with the build, could be compatible with the one in the hummingbird. If it is, this could potentially be far better than the Nexus and HD2 MeeGo 'ports' :).
 
  • Like
Reactions: stroughtonsmith

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com
I actually use the linaro distro (ubuntu essential, which i hate) to build meego inside it, because of the work the linaro guys did on the gcc compiler (should be better versed for arm chips). according to the wiki here https://wiki.linaro.org/Platform/UserPlatforms/2010-09-13

the drivers for omap3 should be freely accessible (the 530 core). there is a mention of the 540 core in there also, but I haven't really used them as I don't run X on the boards. You could try the PVR 540 driver for the OMAP4, you might be lucky with the build, could be compatible with the one in the hummingbird. If it is, this could potentially be far better than the Nexus and HD2 MeeGo 'ports' :).
I'd try the OMAP4 driver if it was easy to get! I can only find instructions for the PandaBoard, and no repo or download links.
 

ilfccd

Member
Mar 4, 2008
45
14
I will try too, if I can't locate them myself will ask someone there. First of all I have some urgent IPoIB business to attend to, though. Probably later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Edit:

I forgot to ask, did you build MeeGo from scratch or only the kernel and used the daily userland from the arm tree?
 

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com
I will try too, if I can't locate them myself will ask someone there. First of all I have some urgent IPoIB business to attend to, though. Probably later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Edit:

I forgot to ask, did you build MeeGo from scratch or only the kernel and used the daily userland from the arm tree?
Prebuilt userland, no compiling required. I always use the daily RPMs (when the repo is working…)
 

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com

tomislavp4

Member
Apr 4, 2008
30
4
Södertälje
Whoever gets this done gets a beer from me :) I am really excited about meego but I wont be able to buy the n9 because im on contract untill march next year. If you can get this to run on the nexus s than it should run on the sgs too, that way I can use meego wothout buying a new phone;) Keep it up
 

stroughtonsmith

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2010
53
224
Dublin
www.steventroughtonsmith.com
Whoever gets this done gets a beer from me :) I am really excited about meego but I wont be able to buy the n9 because im on contract untill march next year. If you can get this to run on the nexus s than it should run on the sgs too, that way I can use meego wothout buying a new phone;) Keep it up
Am hoping to have it up and running on the HD2 first, and then hopefully some of the work we do for that will port over to the Nexus S. Can't wait for the N9…
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 13
    So, I have a barebones version of MeeGo (barely) running on the Nexus S. I can't really do much with it on my own, but I'm posting the info here so you can build it and try it for yourself.

    What works:
    • ADB root shell
    • X11 & UI apps
    • Super-AMOLED brightness control (fixed! still off-colour tho…)

    What doesn't work currently:
    • Touchscreen
    • WiFi
    • Anything else :p

    If you've never built a MeeGo rootfs before, it's relatively straightforward, and all the binaries are precompiled for you (but it's definitely for developers only).

    I have my boot.img (kernel + ramdisk) and a MeeGo kickstart file at http://blog.steventroughtonsmith.com/2011/01/nexus-s-meego.html ; you can use fastboot to boot the image, or flash it to the recovery partition to dual boot. The actual MeeGo rootfs is run from a rootfs.ext2 file you can drop onto the Nexus S using Mass Storage mode - no need for messy flashing or the like, you can thank me later).

    There's not much else I can do on my own right now, so if you want to see anything become of this do get involved!

    My kernel is stock git://android.git.kernel.org/kernel/samsung.git ; make herring_defconfig; the only change was modifying the .config to turn on CONFIG_VT (needed for X11).

    Go nuts!
    2
    Update - backlight working; color is still fscked, might be gamma:
    1
    Well done on the port so far. This is way beyond my area of expertise, but I do hope that some people can help build off of what you've done so far. Always nice to see what kind of fun stuff we can run on these devices...
    1
    What driver are you using for the X11 and is it accelerated?
    It's using unaccelerated graphics; although, with luck, SGX 540 graphics drivers are available for other devices (like the OMAP4) so in theory you may be able to patch those to run.
    1
    According to PowerVR rep on CES there should be an open source driver later this year (info from Phoronix, but they are lately not really reliable source of info).

    Here is another question though. Have you tried using the omap tree of linaro for the kernel build?

    I don't have Nexus S around currently and I'm doing all my work on TI OMAP (A8) based IGEP v2 board and TI OMAP 44xx Panda (A9) board. As they both have PowerVR 530/540 graphics I'll check tonight or tomorrow if the closed driver is compatible with linaro's kernel as I'm currently running that on the IGEP. As Samsung is part of linaro, there could be some patchests for the hummingbird in there. The current uname -r for the linaro is: 2.6.35-1008-linaro-omap so it could be compatible w/ MeeGo's kernel, there could be even newer version in the git tree.

    Keep up the great work, I'm really interested in what you are doing with MeeGo. Thanks!