New 1.6 Firmware

 GW620  No Responses »
Jun 232010
 

This one is based off the Korean KH5200 V10T.

It’s an Android 1.6 image for the GW620. Apperently, the difference between the previous V10R and this V10T is mainly fixes around the keyboard and battery life. Personally, I didn’t have any problem with the battery life in the last image – it was a big improvement compared to 1.5 but others were having major issues.

Get the image here.

I’ve added the excellent ADW Launcher as well as the previous TagLauncher, and made a few other small refinements, but nothing major. Mainly small stuff.
e.g. Included Anycut to make it easy to set your APN back up…

Same features and issues as the last firmware.
e.g. Google Goggles is still broken, it’s still Korean (by default) and English, it still requires manual APN setup, SMS is still limited, and Call Display is still b0rked.

IMPORTANT!
If you are running a 1.5 based firmware YOU MUST FACTORY WIPE YOUR PHONE before installing. You should also record your APN settings if you don’t know them.

See the the previous firmware post for details.

For full installation instructions have a look at the Firmware Installation Docs. Give it a go and let me know how it works for you. :)

Android 2.2 Froyo Source Released

 Blog  No Responses »
Jun 232010
 

Yay! Google released the Android 2.2 source today! I’ll poke around at it over the next few days – maybe I’ll have better luck getting it to compile! :D

Update: I downgraded to gcc4.3 and Java SDK5, and Froyo is compiling fine.  I’m still unable to boot the result though.  :(   I’ll try again tomorrow.

Update2: The kernel is booting, but /system isn’t mounting, so ‘sh’ isn’t available, and logcat can’t run.  Putting sh on the initrd changes the error – but it just quits directly after launching.  Grrrr.  Not sure why /system isn’t mounting – the init.rc looks ok…  I may try getting it to mount by it’s device name instead of it’s mtd name.  I’m off to work – I’ll poke at this some more when I get home.

Update 3: LiBe (in the comments below) managed to get 2.2 booting using Routehero’s 2.0 boot.img.  I just played around a little on my lunch break and was able to duplicate his results.  Same issues as before – e.g. No sound, no radio, no wifi.  The boot.img was still using the old 2.6.27 kernel.  Replacing the 2.6.27 kernel with the 2.6.29 from V10T resulted in a non-booting boot.img, and as before logcat doesn’t work so I can’t even see why it’s not booting.  Grrrr.  :(
However – 2.2 did seem to run ok.  Once I turned off Animations it even ran fairly fast.  :)

Working on a new 1.6 image

 GW620  No Responses »
Jun 212010
 

Update: The image based on V10T is almost done.  Everything is working except Wifi won’t connect.  :(   Once I get it figured out I’ll upload the image.

I’ve installed the KH5200 V10T image on my phone, and will have a rooted + enhanced version ready for y’all soon.  

I don’t see any differences in the phone yet, so I think it’s just a bugfix release…

Still have to enter the APN, Call Display still doesn’t work right unless the caller is in your address book, and SMS is still limited to 90 chars.

Trying to Compile 2.1

 GW620  No Responses »
Jun 122010
 

Update 2: Murphy was an optomist.  OSX 10.6 is having some issues building Android.  Gah!

Update: None of the builds I made under Ubuntu 10.4 x64 would boot, which can’t be right.  I’ve rebooted in MacOS and am building again from here.  Hopefully this one will boot.

Ok, so here we go – I’m trying to compile 2.1 with the KH5200 kernel. I’m using Polytheus’ Tech Notes to guide me thru the req’d changes to RILD, etc. Hopefully I can get something booting today, though I’m not holding my breath. I’ll update this post as I progress. :)

KH5200 1.6 Source Code

 GW620  No Responses »
Jun 112010
 

LG has released the source code for the KH5200 (the Korean version of the GW620.)  The source has the 2.6.29 kernel sources included, so hopefully we can get a newer android of Android running soon!  We’re targetting 2.1 to start, but may try to get 2.2 going if 2.1 isn’t too tough.  

You can find the source code here.

Game Post #1

 Games  No Responses »
Jun 112010
 

Pixy and I have been talking about writing a game, and tonight we had our first “meeting” about it.  We now have the broad storyline figured out, as well as a few of the gameplay details.

I’m not going to give too much away, but I will say:

  • it’s going to be a metroidvania platformer
  • we’ll be using the most excellent Unity3d engine
  • it will be available on Mac/Windows/Android and maybe iPhone/Web
  • I’m not sure what spec Android device it will require, and probably won’t know till Unity3d 3.0 comes out, since that’s when Android support is introduced.

As we get a little further along I’ll create another section on the site here that will contain game notes, art work, and maybe even a web-player teaser level.  :)

Site Notes

 Blog  No Responses »
Jun 112010
 

Quick note: I made a few more changes to the site.

  • The mobile theme is MUCH better now.  Have a look at m.zacpod.com from your android.  Very simple and clean.  :)
  • Added a Docs section (see the menu up there ^^^) that will be a repository for all sorts of instructions.  Enjoy!

Drupal CMS

 Blog  No Responses »
Jun 042010
 

Update 3: Made a few more changes:

  • QR codes on the right for ease of Android access
  • Mobile site is now live, but the theme isn’t so hot.  Trying to find an AJAX theme that rocked as much as the wordpress mobile theme
  • Donate button is back, plus if you’re logged in when you donate the site will stop showing you the button and hide the ads, and shows a “Thank you” message instead.
  • Front page changed – now it shows the full text of the first story, teasers (with “more” links) for the next 10, and text links for the remainder
  • Killed the titles from the comments
  • Removed my Gravatar from all the posts, but left it on the comments

I think I’m now quite happy with the site!  Woohoo!  Now if only getting Eclair running was this easy!  ;)

Update2: Made a bunch of changes now that I’m live on Drupal:

  • Anonymous comments and Polls are now allowed. 
  • I’m still not happy with the fact that each comment’s subject is a full-on title.
  • All the old comments are flat and unsorted.  The threading was lost on the import.   (All new comments should be threaded nicely though.)
  • I’m still working on the mobile theme.  Should have m.zacpod.com available for mobile devices soon
  • Ads are back.

Update: The site is now live on Drupal. All the content should be in place – and you shouldn’t notice much difference for now. The move to Drupal will allow me to better maintain and organize the site in the future – the first things I’ll be setting up is some nice HowTos and some forum-type commenting. As always, let me know if you have any questions. :)

I’ve been messing around with the Drupal CMS all evening, and I’m seriously considering switching my site over to it.  It’s not as easy to use at WordPress is, but it’s far more flexible and WAY more powerful and easy to manage.  WordPress is/was great for a blog and a light site, but as I get more and more info on here I’m finding it harder to manage and therefore harder for y’all to find it.

I’m going to play with it for another day or so, and if I’m still liking it then I may switch over this weekend.  :)