The Android kernel is derived from the Linux kernel. It relies on the core services of Linux, such as security, memory, network and process management. To make amendments to the Android core and include or unlock certain abilities, you must edit and compile your own Android kernel. The Ubuntu operating system is one of the best platforms to edit and compile Android kernels on, and it’s easy to install everything you need.
Instructions
- 1
Select “Accessories” from the main menu and click on “Terminal” to open the application. The Terminal is similar to the Windows Command Prompt.
- 2
Type the following in the Terminal and press “Enter” to install Java:
sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk
Use the password you use to log in to Ubuntu when you are asked for a password. This gives the application root privileges.
- 3
Run the following commands in the Terminal to install the rest of the tools required to edit Android kernels:
sudo apt-get install git-core gnupg flex bison gperf libsdl-dev libesd0-dev libwxgtk2.6-dev build-essential zip curl libncurses5-dev zlib1g-dev valgrind
- 4
Create the required folder structure, get a copy of the Android repository script, and give full read and write access to the script by running these commands in the Terminal:
cd /home/*your-user-name
mkdir myandroid
mkdir bin
curl http://android.git.kernel.org/repo > ~/bin/repo
chmod a+x ~/bin/repo - 5
Go to the “myandroid” folder and download the Google tools and Android source, using the repository script you’ve downloaded earlier. Do this by running these commands in the Terminal:
cd ~/myandroid
~/bin/repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git
~/bin/repo sync - 6
Copy and paste the following command in the Terminal and press “Enter” to run it:
echo “—–BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux)mQGiBEnnWD4RBACt9/h4v9xnnGDou13y3dvOx6/t43LPPIxeJ8eX9WB+8LLuROSV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=Wi5D
—–END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–”> /tmp/android.gpg - 7
Run the following commands in the Terminal to copy the key from the temporary file to the keyring and delete the temporary file:
gpg –import < /tmp/android.gpg
rm -rf /tmp/android.gpg - 8
Open the Web browser and navigate to HTCDev’s Kernel Source Code page (see Resources). Click on the “Download” button next to the “HTC EVO Shift 4G (Sprint WWE) – MVNOCRC – 2.6.32 kernel source code” entry. Save the file on your desktop.
- 9
Run this command in the Terminal to create a new directory:
mkdir ~/.EVO_Kernel_sources
- 10
Open Nautilus. Nautilus is similar to Windows Explorer. The Home Folder is displayed. Press “Ctrl” and “H” at the same time to see hidden folders. Click on the “EVO_Kernel_sources” folder you created earlier to open it.
- 11
Double-click on the source file you downloaded earlier to open the TAR archive. It contains a single folder; drag this folder from the archive to the “EVO_Kernel_sources” folder to extract it there.
- 12
Run these commands in the Terminal to create the folder structure for the Android build and create a link to the kernel source you just extracted:
cd ~
mkdir android
cd android
mkdir sources
cd sources
ln -s /home/*your_user_name*/.EVO_Kernel_sources/*Extracted_folder_name kernelReplace “your_user_name” with your real Ubuntu username and “Extracted_folder_name” with the name of the folder you extracted from the EVO Android source archive.
- 13
Connect the Android phone to your Ubuntu machine in data transfer mode using the USB cable. Run these commands in the Terminal to copy the Android main configuration file from the phone to the “/android/sources/kernel” folder:
adb pull /proc/config.gz ~/android/sources/kernel/
cd ~/android/sources/kernel/
gunzip config.gz - 14
Run these commands to edit the makefile of the Android Kernel and specify the tool-chain and compiler:
cd ~/android/sources
make clean
export ARCH=arm
export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-eabi-
export PATH=$PATH:~/myandroid/prebuilt/linux-x86/toolchain/arm-eabi-4.4.0/bin - 15
Run this command to start configuring the kernel options:
make menuconfig
Scroll to the bottom of the resulting window, select the “Load an Alternative Configuration File” option and press “Enter.” Enter this path to the config file in the box that pops up:
/home/*your-user-name*/android/sources/kernel/config
Press “Enter” again.
- 16
Select the make options from the menu to edit the Android kernel. It’s best to select only the “msm7k,” “ondemand” and “performance” as processor governors in the CPU Frequency scaling section. Check the “Kernel debugging” option in the Kernel Hacking section if your build is a test build. Enable the “Support for Host-side USB” and “USB Gadget Support” if you want to use USB devices. You can also add support for various network functions, such as IP tunneling and network privacy options, in the Networking Support section.
- 17
Close the configuration window and select “Yes” when prompted to save it. This action creates the hidden “.config” file inside the kernel directory.
- 18
Run these commands in the Terminal to insert the Wi-Fi module, and make and compile your custom Android kernel:
make
export KERNEL_DIR=~/android/sources/kernel
cd ~/myandroid/system/wlan/ti/sta_dk_4_0_4_32/
make clean
make
