[Q] Helping a dev with rom - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I've been using XDA for a while now, and with the help of many amazing devs I've managed to flash custom roms to all my older devices no problem! Recently I've been waiting for a dev to make changes to an existing kitkat rom, to fix a bug and I'm becoming a little impatient. I know everyone has their own lives to attend so I'm not complaining, rather I'd like to try and help this dev with the problem as I have quite a lot of experience with Android apps. I've read up on the CM wiki the sort of things that are involved in debugging roms etc. so I know that I'll only be able to help with the framework (as I know no C/C++).
So my question is, are there any ways I can help them, and will my help be appreciated considering the skills I have? I also have a decently fast computer too so I have a feeling I could help with building the rom.
Thanks.

Roarster31 said:
Hi,
I've been using XDA for a while now, and with the help of many amazing devs I've managed to flash custom roms to all my older devices no problem! Recently I've been waiting for a dev to make changes to an existing kitkat rom, to fix a bug and I'm becoming a little impatient. I know everyone has their own lives to attend so I'm not complaining, rather I'd like to try and help this dev with the problem as I have quite a lot of experience with Android apps. I've read up on the CM wiki the sort of things that are involved in debugging roms etc. so I know that I'll only be able to help with the framework (as I know no C/C++).
So my question is, are there any ways I can help them, and will my help be appreciated considering the skills I have? I also have a decently fast computer too so I have a feeling I could help with building the rom.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask them. Or ask their permission to use their ROM as a base, make some actually meaningful modifications, and release it. But as too your "skills" I didn't see you state what they were, and if you have to ask then probably not. Don't stop reading/learning though, you'll only get more knowledgeable.

thewadegeek said:
Ask them. Or ask their permission to use their ROM as a base, make some actually meaningful modifications, and release it. But as too your "skills" I didn't see you state what they were, and if you have to ask then probably not. Don't stop reading/learning though, you'll only get more knowledgeable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I was thinking along the lines of making modifications and then pushing them to a git repo. Maybe they don't have one, I'll go ahead and ask. As for my skills, I was saying in my last post that I have quiet a lot of experience developing Android apps. Do you know what % of rom editing is Java based vs C/C++?

Roarster31 said:
Ok, I was thinking along the lines of making modifications and then pushing them to a git repo. Maybe they don't have one, I'll go ahead and ask. As for my skills, I was saying in my last post that I have quiet a lot of experience developing Android apps. Do you know what % of rom editing is Java based vs C/C++?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no hard/fast guide on what "rom-editing" is. Are you wanting to contribute to kernel development? Better know a lot of C. Wanna roll a cool application for a ROMs special settings? Java is what you want. What I'm getting is you know more Java, so why don't you write and application that you think will solve a problem, then talk to a developer about including it in their ROM?

Related

[Q] Developing for SGH-i717

Hello, I currently own an SGH-i717 and would like to start rom developing for it and would like to know where to start. If I was a complete noob and compared to most of the people here I might be, how would I download 4.0.3 source code, use adb with my phone and etc etc. I find it all very interesting but I have no idea where to start.
I am asking for help with this specific device, then maybe onto porting for other devices but this model has a very sore lack of developers for it and since I own an ATT Note I would like to start the development for it regarding ICS and etc. Also why is there a lack of developers for this model's roms?
Thanks for any and all help regarding this issue and I am excited to get started developing for you guys!
I think you need something called android sdk
Sent from the only smartphone designed by Chuck Norris
So what do I win if I vote in the poll?
KangKilla said:
Hello, I currently own an SGH-i717 and would like to start rom developing for it and would like to know where to start. If I was a complete noob and compared to most of the people here I might be, how would I download 4.0.3 source code, use adb with my phone and etc etc. I find it all very interesting but I have no idea where to start.
I am asking for help with this specific device, then maybe onto porting for other devices but this model has a very sore lack of developers for it and since I own an ATT Note I would like to start the development for it regarding ICS and etc. Also why is there a lack of developers for this model's roms?
Thanks for any and all help regarding this issue and I am excited to get started developing for you guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
google search, ever heard of it before? and there is no lack of devs here unless you consider quantity over quality to be better
LOL
Underground_XI said:
google search, ever heard of it before? and there is no lack of devs here unless you consider quantity over quality to be better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that was the case, then why aren't there ice cream sandwich roms for att note?
and also, what do I search for? I'm very busy so I don't have time to mess with google all day. I need someone who is willing to work with me on educating a new developer, that maybe in turn had someone to learn from before them that appreciates a new (quality)developer.
To keep things simple here... Please refrain from jerky comments as I am trying to maintain progression in this area and again I am a very busy person so I would appreciate it if we kept this thread professional.
Thanks again for any help you care to give! I apologize for being a beginner, but everyone has to start somewhere... right?
kevinjgray88 said:
I think you need something called android sdk
Sent from the only smartphone designed by Chuck Norris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have the Android SDK, but I'm not sure how to use it for developing. I tried once and ended up frustrated with it. Are there easy to understand tutorials somewhere around here that might help a beginner?
I've managed to unbrick my captivate using ADB once but it was very foreign to me and I was kinda impressed I even pulled off sending it into download mode. Thanks for helping!
jpeg42 said:
So what do I win if I vote in the poll?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell em what he's won Johnny!!! - A BRAND NEEW ICE CREAM SANDWICH!!!!! - ::And teh crowd goes wild!::
It's good to see someone with a lot of drive to develop, but the biggest hurdle isn't building AOSP from source. You need to get a working kernel that is compatible with ICS and all the Notes hardware. You can't google search how to do that. In reality it's almost impossible to do if you don't have extensive experience with that sort of thing.
We need the source code from Samsung for the Note and as far as I know, there is no source code out yet for the Note (for any version of Android). The roms you are seeing right now (two that Im aware of) are basically rigged versions of the stock rom where things have been removed (bloatware) and a few things have been added that conveniently worked out of the box without messing with code.
The real work will come when we have some source code to work with.
Ok, what's next?
macked said:
It's good to see someone with a lot of drive to develop, but the biggest hurdle isn't building AOSP from source. You need to get a working kernel that is compatible with ICS and all the Notes hardware. You can't google search how to do that. In reality it's almost impossible to do if you don't have extensive experience with that sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay well that's a start... does anyone know where I can find a stock version of ICS to study it's code and experiment? I found source codes for SGH-i717 here
opensource(dot)samsung(dot)com
(I need more posts to make that a link, lol)
I searched for i717 and it came up with four source results on samsung's opensource search bar but I don't know what the four results are for and what the difference between them all are(unless it means it is for att or tmobile or etc, etc.), if you can tell me any info on these then I would be greatly appreciative.
Yeah, I have no clue how to do most things with coding for android but I do understand how to flash correctly, root and all that jazz. I just lack the programming skills and work flow it takes to make all this. I am downloading java for dummies and learning how to use XML files, but I am wondering if there is something else I should study too?
It sucks that I came here starting from scratch basically but I have learned a lot from here in a short amount of time, I appreciate all of the developers who have made the roms I love along the way, I am just growing impatient with the far and few between updates for your devices and I want to see updates for our devices come faster and the only way to do that is to do something about it. So I am very grateful for any help I get regarding this.
Where can I start with the kernel search? Is that what everyone is waiting on to start developing ICS for this phone? Does anyone know if one exists?
Another Question
What's the difference between a kernel and a rom? Basically.. what the heck is it in lamen's terms?
KangKilla said:
What's the difference between a kernel and a rom? Basically.. what the heck is it in lamen's terms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great place to start.
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
Thread closed
This is not the place to learn how to develop, go to Android Development and Hacking forums and start studying.

tips and pointers to start devin>>

i had always meant to do some developing but the drop in activity i realized when i moved from the sensation to the rezound really compelled me to start plus i have some work that i really have to do and really dont want to do so you know how it goes. Anyway to it
i started by googling how to build android roms which lead me to xda university giving me a nice expaination as to the various parts of android which i was already familliar
another search lead me to the offical how to build android from source page. i had a few concerns so i thaught i would ask here
i have knowlage building various web applications(php,js,ect) and not the let the fromework so this for me kinda apps i like thinking and innovating. i have a little experience with c++(i was at the stage of learning a gui when my old laptop crashed) so i think i have atleast good enough programming experience to catch on to java at a nice pace. Am currently reading and following googles nice little guid on developing android. Am in the process of setting up work envo (already got ubuntu 12.04 up). and thaught i would just leave a post here to see if anyone had any advice for me?
what i wanna do is be able to port for us,build original roms AOSP they call it for us, build and or port sense roms for us and eventually get to the point where i can get us sense5 or help neo(or any other dev) help us get sense 5. oh and i think i would like to build/modify kernels as well. oh oh and being able to invent exploits to get root or s-off for devices i might get in the future.
Question: while i was reading i was seeing where the buiding process was doing alot of synceing with google servers ect. i dont actually want to submit whatever garbage i might write to them while am testing so im still on the right track following the guid here correcto??
short version: I wanna build android custom roms ect not just edit files and put it out am i on the right tract following the guid here (i already know a lil programming)? http://source.android.com/source/initializing.html
any advice/resources/links welcomed
oki am on the page that says "building and running" i dont see anything for our device am guessing thats because development from aosp has stopped for us and thats where ppl like neo and cyanogen make thier magic. what is the next tut or read for me?
Try this. You could always pull Neo's CM 10.2 repos instead of the 10.1.
http://signatures.mobile-overload.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sig-cm-5.png

Quick question about Rom development.

Over the past couple weeks every waking moment of spare time I have had I have used reading any article, watching any movie, browsing any forum thread I have found on the topic of custom rom development and I think I'm getting close to where I can begin my first build. If any of the users here can point me to any helpful links to help me with this I would greatly appreciate it. Now, onto my question. This is probably considered pure sacrilege but I was just curious on the matter. I was wondering, lets say I was wanting to port the new ToudhWiz over to our device would this be possible. If it is possible how difficult is it going to be and is it a project a beginner developer could ever hope to accomplish?
Onto my second question. I have been waiting ever since I got the DNA to see an Ubuntu Touch port for it and have got to the point where I don't believe I'm ever going to see it happen. Is this due to it being harder to build then lets say a AOSP based Rom or is it because not many people in our community here seem to care if it happens or not? The reason I'm asking is because after I get a couple Roms compiled from the simple FAQs I have been able to find and have figured out kind of what I'm doing I think I would like to try to port it over. Once again, ANY and all help is greatly appreciated, whether it's just links to other sites that has helped the developers here get to where they are or even someone wanting to help me learn personally. I have the upmost respect to all of the developers on this site and want to be able to consider myself among this elite group very soon. If I have posted this in the wrong place let the mods move it and let me know of my mistake.
Sincerely,
DrewHamm974
As someone who is fairly new to android / Rom development. Its something that takes a bit of time. I started small by just learning how to compile from source to figuring out how to get it set up to work on a device that already has support to eventually bringing roms to this device when they weren't supported.
I'm no expert but also knowing a programming language like C, C++, and Java will help.
Xda-university.com has some stuff on Rom development.
As for porting TW probably won't happen. Ububtu touch good luck... You will need either someone to do kernel work or learn how to dev a kernel first...
Sent from my dlx using XDA Premium HD app
.torrented said:
As someone who is fairly new to android / Rom development. Its something that takes a bit of time. I started small by just learning how to compile from source to figuring out how to get it set up to work on a device that already has support to eventually bringing roms to this device when they weren't supported.
I'm no expert but also knowing a programming language like C, C++, and Java will help.
Xda-university.com has some stuff on Rom development.
As for porting TW probably won't happen. Ububtu touch good luck... You will need either someone to do kernel work or learn how to dev a kernel first...
Sent from my dlx using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off I would like to say thank you very much for answering my question. Honestly, I was hoping for an answer from you, Pio, Palmer, or amit_sen. I am currently running CyanFox and must say it is awesome. If I could be bold enough to ask, why would porting TouchWiz not work? Is it due to something about it being a proprietary rom or is it something in the source that won't compile for anything but a Galaxy phone. The reason I am asking is due to the fact if I'm not completely mistaken I saw a sense rom for either the S2 or S3 not long ago.
Now onto Ubuntu touch, I thought all you had to have to port it was a working CM 10.1 build to get it working. Also, is there anywhere besides XDA University you could send me to help learning Rom and/ or Kernel development. Once again I greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer my question I idolize any devs that are on here freely giving their time and hard work.
DrewHamm974
Bump
DREWHAMM974 said:
Bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend learning how to build CM 10.2. Once you have a working build, figure out how to build AOKP (or any other ROM without official support).
After that, you will probably have new questions.
Thanks will definately do.
Sent from my dlx using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Touchwiz would be easy to get booting but almost everything would be broken. And because you can't actually compile touchwiz it makes fixing anything a giant pain. Ubuntu touch on the other hand would be relatively easy because you can compile it.
Sent from my HTC Droid DNA using XDA Premium HD app
If I remember correctly, Ubuntu touch is typically based on the cm10.1 kernel, for whatever it's worth.
Sent from my Droid DNA using Tapatalk Pro

Towards the UberROM!

Hello!
Now, who am I, I am a dude who got sick of his android phone and decided to take the initiative!
Well, you see, many many Android users get sick of their phones, of the bloatware by the manufacturers and their user interface, we got tired of not getting the updates and falling back!
So what do we do, we root and probably install a Custom ROM, pretty good eh, android is about choice after all!
So, what happened..I tried doing the same, didn't get satisfaction from the ROMs available for my phone, and now I am stuck
As they say, if you want something done, do it yourself, which is why I decided to take upon myself the responsibility of making a Custom ROM for the user, I want to leave the source code out there, for everyone and anyone to tinker with it and port it to his phone, and I wanted to create the ROM the Android master race deserves...created by a user for users
You might think "This is all wonderful, but where do I come in?"
You, sir, are the user, you are the one this project is created for, and I need your help
I need you guys to help me create this ROM, I need you to tell me what you want to see in that ROM (Marshmallow), I want you to tell me what features are needed and what features are desired, what do you guys think Android M lacks and what shouldn't be touched, what should I improve and what should be left alone, I need your help to make something you would want to use.
HEY, ANDROID IS ALL ABOUT CHOICE AFTER ALL, AND I WANT YOU TO MAKE THE CHOICE!
P.S.:If you could name your phone, what UI or CustomROM you're running (or any CustomROMs you have used before) and tell me what features were implemented there and I should recreate or improve, the pros and cons of your ROM
P.S.S: I know I am asking for too much here, but as you might have thought, this looks like lots of work.
If you are interested in helping or being part of the UberROM project (name subject to change), tell me here, if you're a dev with experience on porting ROMs and tinkering with the AOSP, let me know, I could use all the help I could get!
Thank you!

Rom development stranger way

can someone tell me why the developers have 2.3.4 rom in development, with bugs and little support ??? when it is better to devote time to a single good and seriously attended !!!!
Sent from my Redmi 3S using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Same question. There are a few devs who would work on one build then abandon the project completely, and make another build of a different ROM.
Because most of that So called Development is just copy paste job. those guys don't actually develop anything by themselves. otherwise they could have fixed it, instead they wait for actual developers to fix it and just copy from them. :silly:
kraatus90 said:
Because most of that So called Development is just copy paste job. those guys don't actually develop anything by themselves. otherwise they could have fixed it, instead they wait for actual developers to fix it and just copy from them. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed
[email protected] said:
can someone tell me why the developers have 2.3.4 rom in development, with bugs and little support ??? when it is better to devote time to a single good and seriously attended !!!!
Sent from my Redmi 3S using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kraatus90 said:
Because most of that So called Development is just copy paste job. those guys don't actually develop anything by themselves. otherwise they could have fixed it, instead they wait for actual developers to fix it and just copy from them. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You will know then answer when you try to compile one ROM (Not developing).
2. Compiling a ROM is not just a Copy & Paste work. If it's so... Do yourself.... (its just copy & paste nah..?)
So here is a answer. I'm also started Android Development just 2 weeks ago. And i compiled 4 different ROMs : Lineage, Candy, Slim, Glaze. I'm not doing it for you. But for me. I wanted to learn, no one can start from "Coding Everything from Scratch" especially legacy softwares like kernel and other things. So we start from compiling.... When we successfully compiled a ROM by facing and fixing many Errors. We move on to a new ROM, Coz New ROM will give new errors and we can learn to fix them. You may ask "Why you cant learn from Improving a rom...?" and my answer is "NO ONE IS GONNA TEACH ME HOW TO IMPROVE A ROM". Self learning needs lots of trial and error. So we building many ROMs. If you don't like that or you are a cry baby who cries for "XXXXX is not working" or "Poor XXXX". Just stick with STOCK ROM. XDA is for Learning and Not Only for SERVING YOU A BUG FREE, FULLY OPTIMIZED, FULLY FEATURED CUSTOM ROM for FREE.
Sorry.... if anything hurts anyone... I mean it.
dineshthangavel47 said:
1. You will know then answer when you try to compile one ROM (Not developing).
2. Compiling a ROM is not just a Copy & Paste work. If it's so... Do yourself.... (its just copy & paste nah..?)
So here is a answer. I'm also started Android Development just 2 weeks ago. And i compiled 4 different ROMs : Lineage, Candy, Slim, Glaze. I'm not doing it for you. But for me. I wanted to learn, no one can start from "Coding Everything from Scratch" especially legacy softwares like kernel and other things. So we start from compiling.... When we successfully compiled a ROM by facing and fixing many Errors. We move on to a new ROM, Coz New ROM will give new errors and we can learn to fix them. You may ask "Why you cant learn from Improving a rom...?" and my answer is "NO ONE IS GONNA TEACH ME HOW TO IMPROVE A ROM". Self learning needs lots of trial and error. So we building many ROMs. If you don't like that or you are a cry baby who cries for "XXXXX is not working" or "Poor XXXX". Just stick with STOCK ROM. XDA is for Learning and Not Only for SERVING YOU A BUG FREE, FULLY OPTIMIZED, FULLY FEATURED CUSTOM ROM for FREE.
Sorry.... if anything hurts anyone... I mean it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you took it personally lol? it was just an observation. yes there are people who want to learn and they have to start somewhere. nothing wrong in that. but when you see same people doing exactly same thing for a long time and not improving upon that. it becomes clear what they are doing.
and i never ask for fix this fix that, cuz i know who are actually developing and who are just waiting for fix to be developed by someone else. so no point asking. you sound like someone who wants to learn. but that doesn't mean everyone else is like you. there are people who as i said haven't learn anything but just copy paste cherry-pick for donation money. i rarely see anyone with their own piece of code. happens even more with kernel btw.
and yes i have compiled cm13 2 year ago that's the reason why i know this, and currently using my own (copy-paste haha) kernel for both MG5/nexus 5x. although i haven't released it. nor i'll. (source is on my git if you don't believe).
Anyway, best of luck for your learning, i hope you will learn a lot and will be able to fix problems by yourself instead of waiting for others. it's a long road ahead :good:
First of all, people always mistake ROM/Kernel etc development (not talking about app and other development which are indeed) as profession of devs, they do it in their FREE time because they like it, for example you play basketball because you like it.
Secondly, when there is shortage of ROMs, you yourself would complain about it, please correct me if I'm wrong. Different ROMs have different flavours, and everyone of us likes tasting different flavours. If you're worried about why a thread owner isn't updating it, you can migrate to other one instead of complaining about it.
Some guys have enough skills to compile ROMs, but not the ability to work on source code. So they wait for fixes by those who work on source, and update their ROMs as soon as bug is fixed. Also, compiling can be the start of learning development for guys.
Although I agree with @kraatus90 on some points, there are some things that I don't. First of all, there's no point of redoing the whole kernel, vendor, tree source stuff when you can use the available code with some modifications, obviously the one who uses it have to give proper credits to the bringup dev and other contributors. Also it should be moral duty of the forker to improve the forked code, be it in small or big ways. Simply forking, compiling and PUBLISHING is certainly disheartening and condemnable.

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