[Q] Older phone hardware and the FirefoxOS

gmaslin · Jul 2, 2014

With FirefoxOS being the only real open source platform, there is an undeniable attraction to test it on many older devices. I would like to compile a sticky thread of older phone hardware that lists attempts on these phones. A good start would be the cutoff of the following hardware:
Single CPU 400MHz
256MB RAM
4GB storage
WiFi
Does anyone know if there would be any other attributes that would exclude devices further?

Saijin_Naib · Jul 2, 2014

Gmaslin, from what I understand, the "gonk" layer will require Android drivers from Android v4.x if I'm not mistaken.

I found the list of compatible Android driver versions at some point on the MDN documentation, but I've not stumbled across it again. If I find it, I'll link it here.

gmaslin · Jul 2, 2014

Saijin_Naib
Hmmm. Does that mean the FirefoxOS makes specific calls to objects in the "gonk" layer that cannot be replaced/renamed? If so, that restriction might severely limit the list of candidates. I've found the biggest headaches with cooking ROMs are getting the drivers sorted out and playing nicely with each other. Any kind of hardware abstraction layer should help organize this process in theory but problems arise when the device in question has a fuzzy relationship to the layer calling it. That list from MDN will be a good starting point but it won't be comprehensive if this thread has anything to do with it.
:highfive:

Saijin_Naib · Jul 2, 2014

gmaslin said:
Saijin_Naib
Hmmm. Does that mean the FirefoxOS makes specific calls to objects in the "gonk" layer that cannot be replaced/renamed? If so, that restriction might severely limit the list of candidates. I've found the biggest headaches with cooking ROMs are getting the drivers sorted out and playing nicely with each other. Any kind of hardware abstraction layer should help organize this process in theory but problems arise when the device in question has a fuzzy relationship to the layer calling it. That list from MDN will be a good starting point but it won't be comprehensive if this thread has anything to do with it.
:highfive:

GMASLIN, sorry, I'm a complete and utter noob. My knowledge with FFXOS extends only so far as git/build/flash, and that all only happened in the past two weeks or so, haha.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Firefox_OS_build_prerequisites
"Important: Only devices running at least Android 4 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) are supported. If your device is listed above but running an older version of Android, please update it before doing anything."

I've also heard rumblings that not having the up to date drivers can cause issues on newer versions of gecko/gaia, like what happens on the ZTE Open/Inari with current builds. Things like GPS, home button light, and hwcomposer break because the gonk bits are out of date, and ZTE has to provide them.

crobjam · Jul 17, 2014

Saijin_Naib said:
GMASLIN, sorry, I'm a complete and utter noob. My knowledge with FFXOS extends only so far as git/build/flash, and that all only happened in the past two weeks or so, haha.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Firefox_OS_build_prerequisites
"Important: Only devices running at least Android 4 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) are supported. If your device is listed above but running an older version of Android, please update it before doing anything."

I've also heard rumblings that not having the up to date drivers can cause issues on newer versions of gecko/gaia, like what happens on the ZTE Open/Inari with current builds. Things like GPS, home button light, and hwcomposer break because the gonk bits are out of date, and ZTE has to provide them.

Anything running Jellybean will run this?

Isn't this separate from Android?

djphrost1 · Jul 18, 2014

crobjam said:
Anything running Jellybean will run this?

Isn't this separate from Android?

I believe that it's seperate from Android OS, however JB identifies a hardware benchmark. Is it possible that a phone capable of running JB should be capable of running Firefox OS?

Saijin_Naib · Jul 30, 2014

djphrost1 said:
I believe that it's seperate from Android OS, however JB identifies a hardware benchmark. Is it possible that a phone capable of running JB should be capable of running Firefox OS?

FFXOS uses the Android hardware drivers and runs its own userspace stuff (if I read everything correctly).

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[Q] Older phone hardware and the FirefoxOS

gmaslin

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gmaslin

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Saijin_Naib

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crobjam

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djphrost1

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