Rom developers please listen!! - Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Guides, News, & Discus

So this is a post for just making people realise some of the things going on in the Samsung Galaxy Tab A development forum (specifically the custom Rom development). So let's get right into the thing. I believe custom Rom should be focusing on bringing newness to old devices. Of course and some features are not available in New devices, and custom Rom and debloated roms help fill the gap ( we all know how heavily modded Samsung firmware is).
However recently there is a trend for DEVELOPERS to make custom roms for recently released devices ( SM-T580, SM-T280) . While the old 2015 models and others have no roms yet. I did hear that someone was making a unified Rom for some of these models months ago. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any roms for new models . But there is an overcrowding in the market with custom roms for these devices and also with very little difference between these roms. Imagine this like there are a lot of products for one group of people and the rest get no products at all!
So this is my petition. Can just some of you show a bit love for these devices? If enough of you respond to this maybe there will be a positive change! That's all I want . I want everyone to pass this message around. Thanks for the help. And thank you Developers who make custom roms for any device because I know it's a hard job and you are doing this for free. :good:
Peace
P.S: This is my first post. I know I did some things wrong. So PLEASE don't be too critical about this.

Hint, Hint!! Devs make mods for devices they OWN. They aren't in it to support Samsung. They aren't in it to be charitable. They are in it because they enjoy doing what they do and want the "latest and greatest" for themselves. But they ARE NOT going to support old devices they no longer have.
edit: There is also the fact that "custom" ROMs, like RR, Extremely and Ultra, are all just modifications of the STOCK ROM from Samsung. So, if Samsung hasn't produced a new ROM for an older device, then there is nothing to modify. The exception to that are the ROMs based on the LineageOS. But, again, these are based on adaptions from other devices that use the same SoC. So, if the LineageOS devs haven't produced one for the SoCs in older devices, you won't see one for your older Tab A.

Then why do they provide support for their releases. I get the thing you said about how roms a modified. But I dont think they make it just for themselves. If that were the case the would not be any "community" and XDA IS a well-knit community. Developers like @ashyx and @JazzPresso provide and support people with their mods and stuff. So the "want the "latest and greatest" for themselves. But they ARE NOT going to support old devices they no longer have. " part I don't get.
Sent from my Samsung SM-T355 using XDA Labs

How are they supposed to debug problems when they no longer have a device to use for testing? What's not to get?

But once you have device tree (more or less in stone) it's easy to just keep up to date. (To a degree) but only the latest popular devices get anything. Look at the smt280 ... Absolutely f***ING nothing past root for it. One decent time (decent being used loosely) while the exact same one other than modems are activated (t285) gets quite a bit of love. They are the exact same device! I'm fairly sure the 280 even has the modems! Just deactivated. We have to work with the devs more flexibility do they can do build and have GOOD feedback, timely reports and sure knowledge of how to log. (I stuck at it all) that's how but there are thread after thread of similar devices that none ever gives these devs the info. Dumps, etc that is needed to help us. We inquire on root or rom then they ask for stuff and we disappear. Never to be heard from again. Lots of these devs are so selfless in their endeavor with goose eggs for return

remarkablecow913 said:
But once you have device tree (more or less in stone) it's easy to just keep up to date. (To a degree) but only the latest popular devices get anything. Look at the smt280 ... Absolutely f***ING nothing past root for it. One decent time (decent being used loosely) while the exact same one other than modems are activated (t285) gets quite a bit of love. They are the exact same device! I'm fairly sure the 280 even has the modems! Just deactivated. We have to work with the devs more flexibility do they can do build and have GOOD feedback, timely reports and sure knowledge of how to log. (I stuck at it all) that's how but there are thread after thread of similar devices that none ever gives these devs the info. Dumps, etc that is needed to help us. We inquire on root or rom then they ask for stuff and we disappear. Never to be heard from again. Lots of these devs are so selfless in their endeavor with goose eggs for return
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The last Samsung stock ROM for the 280 was 5.1. and there is no Linage version later than that to work from. But if you are so sure there is no difference between the 280 and 285, other than the modem, why don't you try flashing the 285 ROM on the 280? There is an Omni 6.0 ROM for the 285. I've successfully flashed 585 ROMs on a 580.
Anyway, complaining isn't going to change anything. No dev is going to put any effort into an outdated tablet.

If only someone could port treble then the tablet would be sorted. But I doubt that's ever going to happen.

lewmur said:
The last Samsung stock ROM for the 280 was 5.1. and there is no Linage version later than that to work from. But if you are so sure there is no difference between the 280 and 285, other than the modem, why don't you try flashing the 285 ROM on the 280? There is an Omni 6.0 ROM for the 285. I've successfully flashed 585 ROMs on a 580.
Anyway, complaining isn't going to change anything. No dev is going to put any effort into an outdated tablet.
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Anytime I tried twrp error was just because of device name or something of that sort. Is there a way of kinda forcing the flash? I've never tried it through other way. Thanks for advice

Related

Development is going to be good!

Alot of Developers have bought this phone!! development for Xperia T / TX and V is going to be good! so far we have 2 elite developers 2 recog developers,, correct me if i am wrong
FXP have 4 members
Bin4ry, Defer, Kali, Jerpelea
Codeworkx!
Tilal6991 too for paranoid android
Gok for kernel is gonna be beast.
Lol @ 4. Good start but not exactly a lot. Yet.
...
Not to doubt or anything but, what is Sony support looking like? I know dev support often is limited by the manufacturer. This isn't exactly the most active section either. Will having devs draw people in? Or will lack of people pull devs away?
Strong chance I'm getting the att version (TL) but, I will admit to being worried about lack of support after a year and having a year left one contract with no official support and lack of dev support because something flashier came out.
Snow_fox said:
Not to doubt or anything but, what is Sony support looking like? I know dev support often is limited by the manufacturer. This isn't exactly the most active section either. Will having devs draw people in? Or will lack of people pull devs away?
Strong chance I'm getting the att version (TL) but, I will admit to being worried about lack of support after a year and having a year left one contract with no official support and lack of dev support because something flashier came out.
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well this is my first sony device, but looks promising, if sony stays open and doesn't screw up like samsung did, even if they are on updates, we'll have CM team for regural updates. actually, i hope this is first device i'll have for more than a year.
we'll see.
Sent from my Xperia T
Snow_fox said:
Not to doubt or anything but, what is Sony support looking like? I know dev support often is limited by the manufacturer. This isn't exactly the most active section either. Will having devs draw people in? Or will lack of people pull devs away?
Strong chance I'm getting the att version (TL) but, I will admit to being worried about lack of support after a year and having a year left one contract with no official support and lack of dev support because something flashier came out.
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Click to collapse
Support is looking good for devs to get started and this can be seen from the speed CM10 has become available and is progressing on this device. I don't see the lack of activity in this forum as a bad thing and for a dev it's a good thing because they're not hassled every 2 mins with the same repeated support questions or for ETA's (don't do it ). Devs don't choose devices because they're popular, they choose them because they're good to work on and because they personally like the device as remember this is a hobby after all. I for one, if I do get this phone will hope for it to remain as one of the quieter forums but once people start finishing their contracts I can see it attracting a number of people. I finish mine end of this month so that's when I'll be choosing but that choice is based on how easy it'll be to work with as I like to have a play with compiling myself but only for myself really.
I actually chose this device precisely hoping that it wouldn't become too popular. It becomes crazy when people start almost harassing you for a release.
With a less popular device its much more fun.
^aha your right
hello developer!
i think xperia t will get popular because it is the bond phone and the tx looks great in terms of design so it will get popular
Snow_fox said:
Not to doubt or anything but, what is Sony support looking like? I know dev support often is limited by the manufacturer. This isn't exactly the most active section either. Will having devs draw people in? Or will lack of people pull devs away?
Strong chance I'm getting the att version (TL) but, I will admit to being worried about lack of support after a year and having a year left one contract with no official support and lack of dev support because something flashier came out.
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TL developer support is going to highly depend on the bootloader locking situation.
As I understand it, AT&T has a bad habit of forcing bootloader locks. I refuse to support any device that has a locked bootloader which is not officially unlockable - even if the lock gets broken unofficially, it's the principle of the thing.
tilal6991 said:
I actually chose this device precisely hoping that it wouldn't become too popular. It becomes crazy when people start almost harassing you for a release.
With a less popular device its much more fun.
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Yeah. The Infuse was a less popular device, and as a result, the developer community was highly cooperative for a while. Unfortunately, the device itself was a nightmare to work with so it was ditched by many. Although, interestingly enough, now that some of the worst aspects of this device development-wise have been identified, the Infuse is becoming kind of fun to work with again.
In the case of the T - all evidence seems to indicate that it's going to be a highly pleasant device to work with, AND if it's not a super-popular device, it may have a more pleasant development community than some of the more popular devices.
There's an existing well-established team of developers with Sony experience, AND there are also a number of Samsung Exynos refugees that have already made the jump or (in my case) are just waiting to see what their local version of the T has to offer.
That said - based on the developers I've seen hopping over, things are going to be heavily weighed in the AOSP-based firmware side of things. Sony's recent devices have become very attractive to developers of AOSP derivatives due to:
Sony's cooperation with the community in terms of technical information and source releases (see DASH)
Most Sony devices are based on Qualcomm chipsets, and over the past year, CodeAurora has emerged as a high quality reference codebase. (CAF has existed for a long time, but it's not really until this year that I saw people using it heavily.)
Sony's explicit AOSP support, both in terms of binary releases to support JBQ's Xperia S project, and frequent commits to AOSP. In fact, they have one developer working part-time on the AOSP Xperia S tree!
However, going back to Snow_fox's comments - if you want a device that is guaranteed not to be dropped early, purchase a Nexus. With any non-Nexus device, you are always taking risks.
Look at the Samsung Exynos situation - A year ago, Samsung devices were looking like your best bet for ongoing developer support. However, over the past year, a variety of things have changed:
Samsung constantly releases broken HALs that require all sorts of workarounds, and don't play nicely with backwards-compatibility solutions that work on other devices. ICS and JB bringup on Exynos4 devices has been an utter nightmare, leading to the entire team of CM on Exynos devices burning out or coming damn close to it
Samsung decided to use their phones as an outlet for gigantic batches of defective eMMC flash chips. They put workarounds in their firmware but didn't tell anyone. The end result is that you have to tread carefully with any 2011-model Samsung device. Their poor handling of the eMMC disaster has left a sour taste in many developers' mouths.
As a result, many developers are leaving, not necessarily for a device that is flashier, but one that is at least more developer-friendly. I think that in many cases, the Xperia TL will be a downgrade for me compared to my Galaxy Note... But dealing with the Exynos in the Note is driving me utterly insane.
AvRS said:
Support is looking good for devs to get started and this can be seen from the speed CM10 has become available and is progressing on this device. I don't see the lack of activity in this forum as a bad thing and for a dev it's a good thing because they're not hassled every 2 mins with the same repeated support questions or for ETA's (don't do it ). Devs don't choose devices because they're popular, they choose them because they're good to work on and because they personally like the device as remember this is a hobby after all. I for one, if I do get this phone will hope for it to remain as one of the quieter forums but once people start finishing their contracts I can see it attracting a number of people. I finish mine end of this month so that's when I'll be choosing but that choice is based on how easy it'll be to work with as I like to have a play with compiling myself but only for myself really.
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I will have to decide on December 1st what phone I'm going to myself.
I personally understand the appeal of a quieter forum where the same issues aren't asked every couple of minutes.. Once or twice, I've actually had trouble finding a solution wading through the, "How do I ________" and most of them had the response, "do a search" :silly:
tilal6991 said:
I actually chose this device precisely hoping that it wouldn't become too popular. It becomes crazy when people start almost harassing you for a release.
With a less popular device its much more fun.
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Click to collapse
Yeah.... there are a lot of ungrateful members. I find myself in an awkward position because, I'm not skilled enough to develop a ROM but, I'm know I'm reliant on whatever XDA puts out to stay up to date with the latest ROMs.
Entropy512 said:
TL developer support is going to highly depend on the bootloader locking situation.
As I understand it, AT&T has a bad habit of forcing bootloader locks. I refuse to support any device that has a locked bootloader which is not officially unlockable - even if the lock gets broken unofficially, it's the principle of the thing.
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If I were in a position to take that stance, I would myself.
[/QUOTE]
There's an existing well-established team of developers with Sony experience, AND there are also a number of Samsung Exynos refugees that have already made the jump or (in my case) are just waiting to see what their local version of the T has to offer.
That said - based on the developers I've seen hopping over, things are going to be heavily weighed in the AOSP-based firmware side of things. Sony's recent devices have become very attractive to developers of AOSP derivatives due to:
Sony's cooperation with the community in terms of technical information and source releases (see DASH)
Most Sony devices are based on Qualcomm chipsets, and over the past year, CodeAurora has emerged as a high quality reference codebase. (CAF has existed for a long time, but it's not really until this year that I saw people using it heavily.)
Sony's explicit AOSP support, both in terms of binary releases to support JBQ's Xperia S project, and frequent commits to AOSP. In fact, they have one developer working part-time on the AOSP Xperia S tree!
However, going back to Snow_fox's comments - if you want a device that is guaranteed not to be dropped early, purchase a Nexus. With any non-Nexus device, you are always taking risks.
[/Quote]
That unfortunately isn't really entirely an option for me. I'm on a family plan and have no capability of getting out of it at the moment. I don't have enough data to make 16 gigs with no SD card feasible.
I really got lucky when my Captivate had identical hardware to the Nexus S and Samsung was actually good about supporting the devs.
Look at the Samsung Exynos situation - A year ago, Samsung devices were looking like your best bet for ongoing developer support. However, over the past year, a variety of things have changed:
Samsung constantly releases broken HALs that require all sorts of workarounds, and don't play nicely with backwards-compatibility solutions that work on other devices. ICS and JB bringup on Exynos4 devices has been an utter nightmare, leading to the entire team of CM on Exynos devices burning out or coming damn close to it
Samsung decided to use their phones as an outlet for gigantic batches of defective eMMC flash chips. They put workarounds in their firmware but didn't tell anyone. The end result is that you have to tread carefully with any 2011-model Samsung device. Their poor handling of the eMMC disaster has left a sour taste in many developers' mouths.
As a result, many developers are leaving, not necessarily for a device that is flashier, but one that is at least more developer-friendly. I think that in many cases, the Xperia TL will be a downgrade for me compared to my Galaxy Note... But dealing with the Exynos in the Note is driving me utterly insane.
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Do you think that may have some weight on why Google decided to hop to LG for a Nexus device?
Either way, it sounds like I'll be on the Xperia TL or LG Optimus G this upgrade. The decision isn't exactly becoming easier to make though. At least I managed to scratch off the HOX+
i chose xperia phones becase developers say they are not hard to develop , i have an xperia ray and i have a buttload of roms to choose from... i cant decide so i need to fash every 2week!! (flashaholic :l)
also because sony provides solution for bootloader unlock
Here's what I know so far for the TL. Keep in mind none of this is official, and it is preliminary, so could change.
1) The bootloader will NOT be unlockable on any device that has an active SIMlock. e.g. any device sold on AT&T with a contract subsidy is not going to have an unlockable bootloader. This is almost 100% definite.
2) The bootloader should be unlockable for users who pay full price for the device from AT&T, e.g. anyone who can receive an immediate SIM unlock with AT&T's policies. That said, while AT&T says that any person with a full-price device should be able to immediately remove SIMlocks, often it's a major hassle, and I worry that the bootloader unlock "allowability" process will be even less integrated. Don't count on unlocking your bootloader if you purchase full-price directly from AT&T.
3) Sony may sell the device directly (again - they MAY do it, it's not guaranteed), direct-purchase devices will almost surely have an unlockable bootloader (Not guaranteed, but very likely).
Well,TX seems doesn't support for the rom made to T:crying:
niuzhd said:
Well,TX seems doesn't support for the rom made to T:crying:
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of course not. It's a different device
Coming from laggy XS, now holding TX,
Sony is doing it right this time, TX design and ICS are so smooth, fast and bug free( at least haven't encounter any yet), TBH I don't have any intention to flash Rom or wait for update (JB).
Sent from my LT29i using xda app-developers app
Waiting for my first room tanks all
Envoyé depuis mon LT30p avec Tapatalk

Requesting S8 Rom

To all the amazing developers out here, we have so many stock based roms for our OP3, but it would be really interesting to try out a different OEM Rom altogether. Can anyone please port the Samsung S8 or lets say LG g6 Rom for the OP3? I know many people will be interested in this. Thank you.
TouchWiz and LG UX are closed source ROMs, so in order to port them you should be REALLY good in reverse engineering, and port all the apps, the libs and the kernel components that as I said, are not open source. So the answer is no, I don't think anybody could port them.
Just buy one of these phones ??
even if it could be done, most developers may not want to
It'd be a major undertaking to port a Samsung rom to any device that isn't a Samsung. It's not impossible, but it'd require a great deal of work by a very capable developer. All in all, it just isn't worth it for the few that have the skill to pull it off.
I mentioned the same thing in the Q&A section. You'd be better off using a substratum theme.
If you want a samsung bloatware OS just buy a samsung.
whyyy???? why someone would like put lagwiz in a OP3?
That would be a bad idea !
Lol
this is not the first time someone requesting this. i simply cannot imagine someone wanting/needing this. it just doesnt make any sense. and i also cannot imagine people not knowing that this task isnt even possible.
Maybe try miui. If you're into that perverted type of version of Android
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using XDA Labs
I would rather encourage an individual of this forum in case he came in with a request. When people can port chinese roms, why not s8. Rather than discouraging and commenting on whether he should buy s8 or lg g6 people should focus their efforts on trying to make this happen.
max9979 said:
I would rather encourage an individual of this forum in case he came in with a request. When people can port chinese roms, why not s8. Rather than discouraging and commenting on whether he should buy s8 or lg g6 people should focus their efforts on trying to make this happen.
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The problem isn't located at "When people can port Chinese ROMs", the problem is a technical one. Neither Samsung nor LG wants their stock ROM to be easily ported to other phones, that'll mean a huge loss for either of them, this would mean that their software can be easily replicated under a specific variations of hardware.
Additionally, there are also the facts that their stock ROMs is very difficult to port. MIUI, Lewa, and those "Chinese ROMs" you mentioned earlier has less "inner-working" changes compared to say, Samsung, who has added KNOX for example.
This does not stop there either, their stock ROMs can be optimised for a specific set of hardware and since OnePlus 3(T)'s hardware differs a lot compared to either Samsung or LG, it is hard to port the stock ROM without having the source code for them.
But I definitely agree with your last point; If we know we can't port it, why not tell that we can't instead of "Oh just buy an S8 / LG G6, bruh" or "why port these two crappy ROMs here?"
max9979 said:
I would rather encourage an individual of this forum in case he came in with a request. When people can port chinese roms, why not s8. Rather than discouraging and commenting on whether he should buy s8 or lg g6 people should focus their efforts on trying to make this happen.
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Do you know how Chinese ROMs are ported? If you're talking about MIUI, Xiaomi releases something called a patchrom, which is essentially part of the source code. This is why a lot of devices have unofficial MIUI ROMs.
Samsung's crappy version of Android is waaaay off from AOSP. They're partitions and bootloaders are extremely different from that of other normal devices. Most of the "TouchWiz" ports have only made it to other Samsung devices, and not for devices made by other OEMs. The only example I've seen of a functional TouchWiz port is with the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, which got a port of TouchWiz LP, after being abandoned at Kitkat by Sammy.
So yes, it is an impossible and ridiculous request. There are few people in the world who can dream of achieving this, and unfortunately, they're not stupid enough to want a laggy, bloated OS on their smartphone.
"people should focus their efforts on trying to make this happen."
I'd love to see you work on this. It's easy to ask others to work when all you have to do is ask.
Moderator Warning.
Thread cleaned, flaming users on XDA is not acceptable. It stops now.

is anyone aware of any developers who are on their way to getting this phone

I only ask the above because we have one unofficial ROM and zero modified stock ROMs and nothing to flash in case of emergencies, it's off putting for me to modify anything as I've nothing on my memory to flash should I need it.
Not being needy, just concerned that this flagship isn't getting the treatment it deserves
Well there's reasons for that. Phone just came out not long ago, not released in the US, and in a strange move Huawei have said in two months bootloader unlocking won't officially be supported basically killing development for this phone unfortunately. I wouldn't expect any major developers moving their ROM's to us.
Giraff3 said:
Well there's reasons for that. Phone just came out not long ago, not released in the US, and in a strange move Huawei have said in two months bootloader unlocking won't officially be supported basically killing development for this phone unfortunately. I wouldn't expect any major developers moving their ROM's to us.
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Still find it odd, firstly with every flagship I've had and as you can see from my signature ( if you're viewing this on a pc ) I've had quite a few.
I have never once seen, after over a months release only one non official ROM available for a phone, the Sony z1 and the note 4 being the worst amongst every device I've had, the OnePlus and the HTC sensation being the best with the most.
Secondly there is a huge chance that Huawei will overturn their decision to allow bootloader unlocking, not only that but id have imagined that with today's developers whether or not Huawei allows unlocking, we would still have a hack around it S-Off for HTC devices springs to mind.
The US not being involved is a loss but at the same time, some of the best developers I've had the chance to communicate with here on XDA have been from all over the world, not too many from the US iirc so I'm not buying that.
I'm not bashing here but just a little concerned that not a single ROM had been released, I think it's a terribly sign for such a device to have nothing.
I've even been looking into making my own ROM myself, will know over the next few weeks if I can make that a reality or not, but as it stands I don't even have a starting base and the difference between devices unless debranded is quite stark and would probably end up bricking devices.
Such a shame, I sincerely hope it changes but I'm holding less and less hope as time goes on.
PS: I'm not sure but wasn't treble meant to be able to be used on this device too??
There are plenty of treble based ROMs and most of them should work fine.: https://forum.xda-developers.com/project-treble
Just flash them via TWRP. Otherwise Huawei phones have traditionally never had much independent ROM development.
mrabcx said:
There are plenty of treble based ROMs and most of them should work fine.: https://forum.xda-developers.com/project-treble
Just flash them via TWRP. Otherwise Huawei phones have traditionally never had much independent ROM development.
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Oh mate??? You might have just become my hero, I know literally nothing about project treble other than the fact that it may help with ROM flashing, but again have never done it..
Coming from the OnePlus 5 I never needed it.
Have you flashed any treble ROMs on this device ?
If you don't mind can I just ask.
If I flash something, how can I get back to my normal ROM if it becomes unbootable?
Update: @mrabcx
I tried to install a treble ROM, made a nand back up first and it failed to boot, restored nand and it's now back up and running.
I think we need a treble compatible twrp, does it even exist for the p20 pro??
I don't have P20 myself so can't answer that, but the phone is very similar to other Huawei phones such as Mate 10 and should in theory be able to boot Treble ROMs. I guess there could be some issues with clearing cache/wiping data etc. If you can post the details in the Treble ROM sections then I'm sure someone there will be able to help you out.
mrabcx said:
I don't have P20 myself so can't answer that, but the phone is very similar to other Huawei phones such as Mate 10 and should in theory be able to boot Treble ROMs. I guess there could be some issues with clearing cache/wiping data etc. If you can post the details in the Treble ROM sections then I'm sure someone there will be able to help you out.
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Yep I was under that impression myself, then I tried every single ROM there is in the treble section, not a single one booted.
Not only that but everyone there is trying to get it working on their phones so no one really cares for anyone else.
Not good.
Tried via fastboot as our twrp doesn't work.
Tried via twrp and the sand issue.

Non EMUI Rom for Mate 20 PRO

(I have no permissions for ROMs sections so posting this here)
So it looks things are slowly moving , and we are able to unlock bootloader and root our devices.
User @auras76 was kind enough to bring as the first ROM available, but I guess I am not the only one looking forward to get rid of EMUI and its poor customisation layer
I hope once firm .173 hits general release we start getting more dev interest, but the goal of this thread is to find out if any dev could be potentially interested (or already planning) to work on a non-EMUI ROM
I can imagine a bounty could be organised for users to support financially this action.
What are everyone's thoughts on this?
Doubt you will see much development of any major Rom's if there is not a free way to unlock your bootloader as there just won't be that many unlocked devices
I am fully aware of that, however let´s hope that changes if/when .171 FW is generally available and allows bootloader unlock.
I just wanted to check if there would be a way to attract some devs here, even by supporting their work (purchasing a device? 10$ per person???)
If you like custom ROMs so much buy a One Plus phone. Lots of custom ROMs and every custom ROM has bugs. There is no build of any custom ROM that doesn't have bugs and sometimes the bugs on "stable" versions of custom ROMs are so serious they impact the basic functionality of the phone.
If you think I'm exaggerating pick a custom ROM for the OP5, 5T, OP6 or 6T and look at the last several pages of user posts.
They will be users reporting bugs-often very serious ones.
If you pick an OP5 or 5T ROM many will no longer be in development. The last several pages before the ROM was abandoned will be users still reporting bugs that will never get fixed.
And that is on phones that are supposedly very development friendly.
The days of custom ROMs that improve a phone's functionality, speed and stability over the stock ROM died with Nexus phones but if you want to run a custom ROM anyway buying this phone makes pretty much no sense because Huawei is not developer friendly. They don't want owners of Huawei phones to unlock their bootloaders or run custom ROMs on Huawei devices. The same is true for Xiaomi and Samsung phones.
For that matter Google, the company behind Nexus phones which were the most developed friendly phones anyone could buy no longer wants people to use custom ROMs which is why they came up with the ROM certification program and safety net.
Apps that help phone owners bypass safety net are automatically banned from the Play Store. Whatever method Magisk uses to bypass Safety Net gets plugged by Google forcing the developer to come up with a new method that will stop working when it also gets plugged by Google.
The developer behind SuperSu said the writing was on the wall for original Android development several years ago and he knew what he was talking about.
Well, I thought XDA was exactly the place where people "like custom ROMS" and tinker with their phones.
I am coming exactly from OP phone so I know how scene works there.
OP phones are dev-friendly but not many people try different ROMs as Oxygen is probably the smoothest implementation layer of all manufacturers, so there is no need other to change other than fun.
But we are not talking about OP but Huawei here, which is the opposite case. Lousy software implementation, from battery management (see the Powergenie issues threads), to Huawei bloatware, notification handling, little customisation allowed.... So Huawei is not like OP but more like Xiaomi, heavily (not for good) customised Android version. And there might be not many OP ROMS, but check in Xiaomi land... many super stable versions that improve almost any Xiaomi device with AOSP or LOS versions.
As I said, maybe all it takes is to support a dev with a device for ROM release... I know I wouldn't be the only one looking forward to this.
Alright let's clear up what XDA is about.
It's a hub for developers. It's not a hub for people coming in with no knowledge demanding/posting hundreds of threads asking for ROMs for a device which is bootloader locked in most cases. Attitude like this steers developers away from devices because of noob communities. Look at the Samsung community on XDA.
Huwaei is still an infant when it comes to Android so they are learning the ins and outs of what works and what doesn't. Give em a break. They produce amazing devices with amazing technology. Just because it's locked doesn't mean you have to get your nickers in a twist because no one wants to develop for a new company on the Android scene. Give it some time. Maybe someone will come along and get the ball rolling for everyone and find a nice little backdoor in the bootloader and make it possible for everyone. Till then don't hold your breath and stamp your feet. Do your research before you flog out a grand on a device that might not have unofficial development for.
I really hope we can open this device up for more development, what could we do with unbridled access to the NPU, 3 rear cameras and the front 3d point cloud camera array
jhs39 said:
If you like custom ROMs so much buy a One Plus phone. Lots of custom ROMs and every custom ROM has bugs. There is no build of any custom ROM that doesn't have bugs and sometimes the bugs on "stable" versions of custom ROMs are so serious they impact the basic functionality of the phone. .
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Had to pop in here to tell you you're completely wrong on that one.
Off the top of my head. No limits xXx for the OnePlus 5, not a single bug.
From Oreo 8.1 anyway.
A lot for devices have ROMs which surpass stock in more ways than one and have zero bugs
Further to my point and @ the OP.
The p20 pro has only seen ROMs because of the last few users / developers who have committed to Huawei/Honor devices and the fact that Honor view 10 ROMs work on the pro, in light of the changes made by Huawei IE: bootloader lock down, you will not see a lot of ROMs at all for your device in fact anyone who wants to root / flash / unlock their phones should not touch Huawei or Honor ever again, maybe (and that's a big maybe) the greedy pair of OEMs will see sense. But I doubt it.
Advice in short, dont buy their phones, I certainly won't ever again. They don't deserve it after what they've done.

Active developers for the Razer Phone 2?

Hey I just got this phone a couple of weeks back and while its been awhile I used to be a recognized developer on XDA years ago and was wondering if there are any active developers (still) for this device as I notice the list of active development is basically 0. I am planning on building for the device but would like to know who if anyone is developing currently and what the goals are as it seems without anything outside of stock deodexed and (really the biggest one being the kernel with twrp) we have nothing for this phone even now. This makes it seem like either the proprietary information is extremely difficult (although I see the tree is working for the most part) or we just lack developers. Which is it? Thank you and I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I'd like to see what is the current state of things and see if any developers want to work together on this and at least get a clean aosp build or lineage os build. Stepping stones. Certainly with the Note being as similar as it is this shouldn't be lacking to the state it is today.
Hello jcole20
That would be awesome if some devs started doing something with the RP2! If I had the knowledge, I would!! I've had the RP2 since June of this year. I had some issues with it at first but they have been worked out. I really like the phone and it would be cool to see some devs show the RP2 some love lol. Hopefully you can get something started! Take care!
Dennis
jcole20 said:
Hey I just got this phone a couple of weeks back and while its been awhile I used to be a recognized developer on XDA years ago and was wondering if there are any active developers (still) for this device as I notice the list of active development is basically 0. I am planning on building for the device but would like to know who if anyone is developing currently and what the goals are as it seems without anything outside of stock deodexed and (really the biggest one being the kernel with twrp) we have nothing for this phone even now. This makes it seem like either the proprietary information is extremely difficult (although I see the tree is working for the most part) or we just lack developers. Which is it? Thank you and I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I'd like to see what is the current state of things and see if any developers want to work together on this and at least get a clean aosp build or lineage os build. Stepping stones. Certainly with the Note being as similar as it is this shouldn't be lacking to the state it is today.
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I am sure people would love to see some device specific development. I have read that since the release of project treble most people just flash the system image from other roms. I specifically would love to see a stockish rom so I don't loose chroma but still get updated security patches.
I ordered this phone from amazon to try out. I am checking out the community and stuff in the 10 day trial period they give you. I really like the phone... i just hate the software side of things. I feel like its super premium hardware with outdated software... that probably isnt even going to get security patches. Anyway... off to see whats available.
Krazy_Calvin said:
I ordered this phone from amazon to try out. I am checking out the community and stuff in the 10 day trial period they give you. I really like the phone... i just hate the software side of things. I feel like its super premium hardware with outdated software... that probably isnt even going to get security patches. Anyway... off to see whats available.
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Most functionalities work on Pie GSIs out-of-box (you need to manually install ims.apk in order to receive SMS while on LTE, see relevant threads here, or look for it on some GSI threads such as Havoc 2.9). exFAT also works on supported GSI (with arter97's kernel), while it's not supported on stock. The only problems I have so far are bluetooth-related, and also the inability to set SELinux to permissive (not sure which might be the real cause as arter97 stated the SELinux could be permissive).
Bluetooth media audio doesn't work at all on GSI, partly due to the crippling overlays (which prevents aptX from working, and probably some other limitations). Phone calls work with a bluetooth headset, but for some reasons I couldn't properly route phone calls to my Huawei Watch 2 (which means I always have to take the call from my phone directly).
Given the mostly positive result with numerous GSIs (and that some users are happy with stock ROM, or stock-based ROM modifications), active ROM developments for the device itself doesn't seem to be at a high priority (as some might be able to contribute patches for this device to their favorite GSI instead)...
I'm currently working on my own build of LOS. I haven't seen to much active development either I'm new to rom building but looks like we could use all the help we can get!
I think the only active dev we have for this phone is Arter97's kernel and people tinkering with GSIs to get them working as they should. I wish there was more being done with the stock ROM because I like a lot of it's features, but am having a hard time dealing with it's overall instability. I'd be happy to help develop or test in whatever way I can, though.
jcole20 said:
Hey I just got this phone a couple of weeks back and while its been awhile I used to be a recognized developer on XDA years ago and was wondering if there are any active developers (still) for this device as I notice the list of active development is basically 0. I am planning on building for the device but would like to know who if anyone is developing currently and what the goals are as it seems without anything outside of stock deodexed and (really the biggest one being the kernel with twrp) we have nothing for this phone even now. This makes it seem like either the proprietary information is extremely difficult (although I see the tree is working for the most part) or we just lack developers. Which is it? Thank you and I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I'd like to see what is the current state of things and see if any developers want to work together on this and at least get a clean aosp build or lineage os build. Stepping stones. Certainly with the Note being as similar as it is this shouldn't be lacking to the state it is today.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, it’s definitely just total lack of interest from other devs. We even have a guy with a prototype Razer Phone 2 with an intact DRM partition and unlocked bootloader (Allowing Netflix HD and Vudu HDX) but we couldn’t even pay anyone to try to port it.
I think if we had a fully working AOSP tree that it would possibly bring other devs into the scene. Who knows though, it has never been a popular device despite how great it is.
LSS4181 said:
Most functionalities work on Pie GSIs out-of-box.
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Noob question:
Do we have to wait for a stock Android 10 for the device to be able to flash Android 10 GSIs?
EMJI79 said:
Noob question:
Do we have to wait for a stock Android 10 for the device to be able to flash Android 10 GSIs?
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A stock Android 10 (which means a stock vendor image for Android 10) is not necessarily required to have a usable Android 10 ROM (though it may speed up the development to some extent, if it does have one), but for GSI, having a stock Android 10 vendor image can be better (currently it's a hit-or-miss on existing Android 10 GSIs).
Another device that I have, Google Pixel C, never had stock Android 9 (so never had stock vendor images for Android 9, only for up to Android 8.1), but custom Android 9 ROMs are already available (thanks to followmsi's efforts) and are working well. For Android 9 ROMs, the build system builds new vendor images along with system image.
It's just whether we're going to see our device's trees being made possible, so we can start from there to develop our own custom ROMs. The existing materials might be a good starting point in making trees.
- Working with proprietary blobs (from Lineage)
- arter97's kernel (can be useful for making a kernel tree, though one can also consider using stock kernel source as a base)
- Razer factory images and kernel sources (for studying stock ROM/kernel details, and extracting necessary system and vendor blobs)
If you can port LineageOS to this device, great!
I don't understand why people aren't flocking to this device. I came from the LG G6 that probably will be stuck on Oreo forever that is way more popular. The RP2 is cheap, has killer specs + a micro SD card slot + a newer version of Android. Should be a developers dream, you would think. *shrug*
Not sure if anyone's active on this device at present. With RP2's 9.0 MR2 available on the official factory images page the latest proprietary blobs (as well as stock kernel source) are now publicly accessible.
Actually arter97 once mentioned that his RP2 kernel is almost inline with his OP6 kernel (which is also sdm845 and shares some similarities), so it's possible that OP6 (enchilada) trees may be a good starting point, but I'm not sure if any configurations are needed to keep 120Hz working as high refresh rate is relatively uncommon.
My time is very limited so I won't be able to dedicate too much time to experiment on this. At present most functionalities work fine with GSI (including Bluetooth, although tricky and aptX still not working).
IDK how relevant this is anymore but as a new razor phone 2 user to be soon I have been keeping up and it seems that @f(x)THaxxorX could be a possible candidate of what you're looking for I've been keeping up with development on the phone seems like he is doing pretty well even if we get patched gsi which properly work is better than nothing.

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