分类: LINUX
2009-12-08 23:52:19
A: Well considering that most of these questions were asked on #Android@irc.freednode.net, I would say visitors to #android. However, it's really for anyone who has serious technical interest in the Android platform.
A: (Brian Gupta) initially wrote the FAQ, but many people have helped. Feel free to contact with any suggestions, and any questions that should be added.
A: There is a list of mailing lists here: http://source.android.com/discuss Also you can try IRC (#android@ircfreenode.net) Also the xda-developers mailing list has a lot of Android discussion.
A: #android and #android-dev (Both on irc.freenode.net). Also Jay Freeman (saurik) is hosting: #android@irc.saurik.com and last but not least is #android-downloads (our channel, kinda small and empty, but still there)
A: An IRC bot that collects a lot of "interesting", and occasionally (rarely) useful information. Be aware, infobot sits on many IRC channels... and logs: (Update: infobot has been banned from #android.)
A: Absolutely not. Check the following:
A: Yes, the "bugdroid" is licensed under the creative commons, although the font used in the Android logo is trademarked and off limits. (not the font on the G1, the futuristic font used to create the word "Android" on many of the logos. Here is a freely reusable sample image: http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/8117/greentranparentwm1.png (with transparent background)
A: Yes. You can find it here:
A:
A: To put it simply - the Linux kernel has wide hardware and industry support, and keeping GPL code in the kernel as much as possible makes a pretty clear line between GPLed stuff and unencumbered stuff, but vendors are somewhat scared of the GPL, so it is avoided as much as possible outside the kernel. It seems that currently bluez is about the only userspace code in android which is GPLed. Official reasons for why to use a Linux kernel from a Google IO preso:
For an unofficial explanation of why Google prefers the Apache2 license over the GPL license, please see this ArsTechnica article:
A: Apparently the author has ancestors from Dalvik, Iceland. (Or so the story goes).
A: First, enable then disable Airplane mode. As a last resort, reboot the phone.
A: See http://www.youtube.com/user/androiddevelopers
A:
A: Yes there is currently a number of books available. Here is a link to an Amazon list:
A: Yes.
A: Yes. Google announced (in June, 2009) the Android Scripting Environment. In the blog entry, python is stated as being supported, and they give sample code for an python application which can run on a phone.
Also, lets you run Python inside the JVM. is a port of Jython to run inside Android's Dalvik JVM, so in theory, you could write Android applications in Python that could interact with Android's APIs.
Damon Kohler also has patches for . It will, however, run as a native application (without access to Android's APIs), so most scripts written will have limited use. Most interesting things will also require a rooted phone.
A: Numpad 7 will do it. CTRL + F12 will also suffice.
A: The Android development team has provided developers with an NDK (native Development Kit) for those edge cases where Java apps do not make sense.
Prior to the NDK's release other methods were needed:
A: No, see the following for more details:
A: The keyboard backlight can be controlled via /sys/class/leds/keyboard-backlight/brightness It appears that it's a simple on-off control (echoing '0' turns it off, echoing '1' or higher turns it on). For some reason, the default system backlight control stuff seems to set this to "83", but I don't know why. I can't seem to see any difference between 83 and any other number. The file is readable by anyone, but only writable by root, so you'll need root access to the phone to manipulate it this way.
A: Yes! As of version 1.5 (Cupcake) there are now widget API's that are accessible to developers. Jeff Sharkey has written a few very nice introductory tutorials on writing widgets for the home screen here: Introducing home screen widgets and the AppWidget framework
He has also written a forecast application with the source code fully available. You can grab that here: Forecast widget for Android 1.5 (with source!)
A: Yes, but read-only. There are three sites:
None of the websites allow post ratings or comments that would be reflected in the Market.
A: Bug caching code needs cleanup. Android team is aware, and plans to fix.
A: According to this CNET article, developers will be able to charge for applicaitons starting "early in the first quarter 2009".
A: The developer selects the category upon upload.
A: Not at all.
A: Yes. There are a a number of options for either direct distribution or third party apps/websites. Please note for all these methods, the end user will have to enable installation of third party (non Android Market) applications.
A: Check out ircbeta.apk Source and downloads here:
A: ConnectBot rocks. It is available in the market. If you want to run a prerelease version or play with the source check here:
A: Long story. Short version is, we're trying.
A: Nope. It is unclear whether or not there ever will be a Flash player, but signs are promising: Demo:
A: Yes. Check out
There is also one produced by HTC for 1.5 (Cupcake) found here: PDFViewer (working) on JF 1.5 and other builds. This particular version is a bit more involved in the installation process and requires that you install files to the system. This can be accomplished with ADB for those without root access.
A: It's in setting, see settings -> data synchronization.
A: Using anycut you can make a link to the sync settings.
A: No. According to this offical Mobipocket forum thread, it seems there are no plans for one to be released. (Not sure it will help, but it can't hurt to add your support to the thread). Alternatively, the FBReader folks are working on an Android app called FBReaderJ, which at the moment does not support mobipocket, but they plan to have mobipocket support some time in Q12008. (No DRM support though)
A: No, but there is a paid app, which requires ROOT access.
Alternatively you can use Eclipse with the Android DDMS tools which contains a button to take a screen shot of the phone when it is plugged in and configured properly.
A: It has been said (by infobot) that devphones is a phone with magical powers and will make all your wildest dreams come true. You can read about them here: http://code.google.com/android/dev-devices.html - in order to buy one, you have to pay a $25 to be in the "developer club" and then you can get into the back room where they keep them behind a curtain of lava. very expensive to ship outside the US, or sporting this: , or ...
A: The differences are cosmetic, radio lock configuration, and bootloader. Cosmetic differences consist of the removal of T-Mobile branding and a new etched back design http://android.brightstarcorp.com/images/placeholders/dev3.jpg. In addition the firmware that comes standard on the ADP1 is missing some of the customization Google and T-Mobile added to the G1. See the following link for details: http://www.gotontheinter.net/content/android-developer-phone-1 (However, this isn't a major issue, as the ADP1 can be flashed with any firmware, including the official G1 firmware).
A: The ADP2 is a HTC Magic (PVT 32B) Qualcomm MSM7201a
A: Quoting from help page on ordering side: "For Orders shipping outside the US, shipping pricing includes cost of shipping service and the applicable customs, duties, import and country specific other fees."
A: It seems it cost about $200 (so says the "")
A: Apparently it comes with a very skimpy warranty (think saran wrap bikini skimpy) that warrants the device is free of defects and nothing else.
A: Nope, sorry. You can only order it online.
A: Yes, however, like the T-Mobile G1, it is not compatible with AT&T's 3G network. (You will be limited to EDGE speeds).
A: Excluding cosmetic differences, the two differences are the radio lock and the enhanced bootloader. The radio lock can be removed with a simple request to T-Mobile. That only leaves the bootloader as the major difference. There currently is a bootloader floating in the wild, that seems to be very similar to what is expected to be running on the ADP1 (Android Dev Phone 1). The catch is you can only install this boot loader if you are one of the lucky few that has a "rooted" G1. This means that you are out of luck if you are running a stock version of RC30+. See for details.
If your phone is not rooted but above RC30 it is still possible to root your phone by downgrading to the insecure version and then re-upgrading with a patched firmware update. See:
A: In short if you have the Engineering bootloader installed you can use the fastboot utility to update the boot image. See this link for detailed instructions: http://www.ryebrye.com/files/splashimage.sh
A: Android-DLs has created its own little (and maybe other Android devices once they surface). Find the items you need and help out the site. Also Disconnect (who has helped tremendously in the hacking side of G1 has an Amazon store of his own you should check out here)
A: Root could best be explained (to windows users) as the "administrator" account. For game nerds, think "God Mode", for all others, you already know what root is. ?
A:
A: Short answer: No. Long answer: The chipset supports OTG so it is theoretically possible, but I'm not sure if the G1 hardware would need to be modified. Also, we have no OTG support in the USB driver, and none of the higher level code in android supports host side USB.
A: Yes, it has a built in digital compass. You will need to install an application that calls compass's API in order to actually use it. Search the Market for "compass" to find these applications.
A: Short answer, it does cause short term issues with compass, long term is unknown. Better safe than sorry. See here for more details:
A: libhgl.so (Currently only used by apps using opengl at the moment (since the current version doesn't do multiple context support))
A: The Qualcomm MSM7201A RISC Chipset, which has a ARM1136EJ-S ARM Core: (There is also a ARM926 core included). Here is a link to a technical specs doc: http://andblogs.net/downloads/MSM-pdf.zip
A: Any USB power adapter should work.
A: Google for: "3 in 1 USB 11 pin Adapter for HTC TOUCH MOGUL PPC6800"
A: See
A: Yes it will fall back to EDGE if 3G is not available? The current implementation seems a bit buggy, however.
A: Yes. If you are running a G1 with rc29 or lower, you can use an exploit. See: . If you are running RC30 (US) or above see and if you are on RC8 (UK) or above see
A: Same as for anyone else. You may want to investigate the Android Developer Phone 1 instead.
A: Originally not, and many thought it probably never officially would. From an interview with the CEO of T-Mobile: "When I talked to Cole Brodman, the CTO of T-Mobile, after the event about what would stop something like Skype from designing a program that could run on the phone, negating the need for a massive voice plan, he said he had "worked with Google" to make sure Android couldn't run VOIP." http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/09/three-years-and.html . But more recently Andy Rubin, Google's Vice President of Mobile Platforms made this blog post discounting a newspaper's claim that Android does not support VOIP, writing "the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services.".
There are currently the following Android applications offering [true] VOIP:
A: You want to take a look at installing dropbear. See the following links for details. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=442754 - Dropbear
A: or call T-Mobile
A: Yes. Please see the following thread for details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=436767&highlight=activation
A: Yes, search the following site:
A: Please not the base battery that the G1 ships with is a 1150mAH battery. Quite a selection of extended batteries are available now from (barely extended) 1200mAH to the mammoth 2600mAH (no, that is not a typo).
A: Yes and no. What can be achieved is in the works by ryebrye and lucashutch. As soon as something viable (and useable) is out, it will be posted here. They are currently working on adding what they have already created to maps/browser.
A: Sadly the official G1 manual only states: "While receiving incoming call, press either (+) or (-) to silence the ringer." As best as I can tell, the default behavior for the volume keys is to change the ringer volume. Apparently, this can by overriden by the currently running application. e.g. - While on a call, the volume keys change the call volume. While listening to Music, the volume keys change the playback volume. While running connectbot the volume keys change the font size.
A: Yes, check this wiki page: http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=G1_keyboard_and_button_shortcuts
A: Bluetooth/USB/WiFi are supported, but WiFi currently is only in Adhoc mode.
A: The following codecs are supported:
A: In the settings, accessible by pressing menu on the home screen
A: As of 1.5 this is now a part of the Camera application and produces 3gpp video which can be directly uploaded to YouTube from the phone.
A: dream, "DREA"
A: The HTC Magic Is HTC's second Android device. It looks like it will be
A: The HTC Magic is basically a smaller sleeker and slimmer G1, without a physical keyboard. (Uses a virtual keyboard like the iPhone) It also has twice the ROM and a higher capacity battery.
A: See: and
A: G1 and G2 are trademarks of T-Mobile, and they sell the HTC Dream under the name T-Mobile G1 in various countries. In other countries where T-Mobile does not operate, it is sold as the HTC Dream by other operators - Dream is both the HTC codename for the device, and the name under which is is being sold.
The Magic has been announced (as mentioned) as a Vodafone exclusive, but it is not clear if the exclusivity is time- or territory-limited. As of mid-March, 2009, there has been no announcement from T-Mobile about a G2, although there is a wide expectation that the Magic will be released as the G2 sooner or later. There have been shots of a T-Mobile branded Magic device being used in a demonstration at a conference, but there was no sign of actual G2 branding on the device.
A: sapphire, "SAPP"
A: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=559806
A: Not currently.
A: Check out their website:
A: List in progress. See the following projects for status:
A: See the
See also the android-porting mailing list:
A: Yes, but it hasn't been published yet. As a note, the Asus Eee has been mentioned as a target for the x86 port. Here is latest status:
A: Yes:
A: Cupcake is a readonly clone of Google's private development branch. Google plans to merge cupcake into mainline. See link for more details. http://source.android.com/roadmap/cupcake Update: Cupcake has been released for all shipping Android devices as Android 1.5 Platform. Work has moved on to Donut
A: Donut is the Android development branch following cupcake. It adds the following features:
A: Need confirmation: Currently there are a number of closed source drivers that are not included. Someone with access to the source to these drivers will have to compile them with the 2.6.27 kernel that cupcake includes. Chances are that until there is an official OTA release for the G1 that is based on the changes in cupcake it will be very difficult to get it running on the G1/ADP1. These drivers include: The Qualcomm camera driver, frontend HW accel codec, h264, libhgl.
See
See also android/hardware/ril/include/telephony/ril.h for more details of RIL functions which needs to be implemented. Also you can get a reference implementation in android/hardware/ril/reference-ril/. That's probably the closest you will find to "documentation".
A: No. Currently, the kernel is fully opensourced. However there are still some some proprietary userspace bits, which include:
(this is glue between the telephony layer in android and the AT/QMI
control channels provided via GPL kernel drivers)
A: SEND-MENU-END
A: A reflash protocol for android devices, or source code at , or cheat sheet at To get a fastboot binary that you can run on your Mac or Linux PC, follow the directions for building Android here: (It will take you a long time to download the source and build the Android tree). Please note the binary will be installed to ./mydroid/out/host/darwin-x86/bin/fastboot
A: Linux, OS X, and Windows are all supported by fastboot.
A: The file format for splash screens. You probably want to create a 320x480 image. It is unsupported by any other image software, so the only way to create one is to start with a raw rgb888 file (8-bit raw, the default format in gimp or photoshop when saving as "raw image") and run it through . Alternatively, you can save as a png and then run this script by RyeBrye on it (assumes you have working ImageMagick as well as a compiled version of rgb2565 in your path.) If you run rgb2565 with no flags, it will create an uncompressed rgb565 file which should be exactly 307200 bytes. This file can be used for replacing the initial screen you see when you start up the phone, which is done by flashing it via fastboot (details here). If, instead, you specify the -rle flag, rgb2565 will compress the image using a simple RLE algorithm. This file can be placed in the root of your boot image and named initlogo.rle, and it will show up after the initial boot screen but before the animated android screen (details here). Do not attempt to use rle compressed files to flash the initial boot screen. See to look at source.
A: ,
A: Hardware acceleration is available for h264 at certain bitrates. (link needed with specs)
A: Nope. You have to tell it to load it manually (see )
A:
A: See instructions here: http://source.android.com/documentation/building-for-dream (You will still need these instructions as well: (Update: See this link for a complete overview: )
A: http://zeaster.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-decompile-dex-file-on-android_28.html
A: (With compiling instructions to boot!)
To browse the GIT repositories go to:
A: Gerritt is an open source issue tracker, and repo is a wrapper around Git. See the following link for more details. http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2008/11/gerrit-and-repo-android-source.html
A: Here:
A:
A: Git notes:
A:
A: run "adb logcat".
A: Yes. Check out logcat.apk
A: Pull down the notification bar using a top to bottom finger swipe (like a windows shade), then hit the clear notifications soft button.
A: It's a browser based on the open source Webkit engine, which is the same engine used by the Google Chrome browser.
A:
A: Download it, the only place you can save downloads is the SD Card.
A: No
A: Yes. See:
A: It seems that it does. Check the following link for details. http://www.adamrocker.com/blog/236/simeji_android_japanese_input.html
A: Secondary Program Loader, typically, a second stage bootloader. Not a term actually used by Qualcomm for msm7k has a more complex boot path involving both CPUs. Initial/secondary program loader is usually in reference to nand/onenand boot setups where you have a very small initial bootloader (1k to 16k typical), that is just enough to load a much larger secondary bootloader. Often there is something that runs first, in-rom, on-die (this is true of omap and msm chips for example) that is responsible for getting the IPL loaded.
A: Yes, Hitachi has come of with a set of extensions to Android that incorporate SELinux enhancements. See by Yuichi Nakamura, and the youtube video Android Security Upgrade "Android SELinux" : DigInfo
A: Not likely due to security concerns.
A: Android Market application Wifiscan will scan for access points and tag them with the built in gps. Information is saved to a kml file for later use.
A: wpa_supplicant is listening on UDP port 9000. wpa_supplicant provides authentication services for wireless networks (WEP, WPA, etc.)
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A: If you press menu on the home screen there is a Notifications button that will pull down the drawer for you.
A: Yes. See the following link for details. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=452316