CyanogenMod

CM9 Progress Update

Cyanogen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:29:45 +0000

We’ve been hard at work on CM9 since Google released Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) into the wild last month, and things are slowly starting to come together. Google did a great job with ICS and added some really awesome features which in some cases replace or deprecate functionality that we had in CM7, so we are reevaluating all of our customizations. A number of devices are already up and running with CM9, and the focus is currently on getting as many devices ready as we can. The first devices (besides the Nexus S, which you can already get from Koush’s section on ROM Manager) that we’ll have ready will mostly likely be devices based on OMAP4, MSM8660/7X30, and Exynos. We also have some Tegra2 tablets in the pipeline such as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Asus Transformer. Our goal is to provide continued support to all CM7 devices back to the QSD8250 series of devices such as the Nexus One. I don’t want to make any promises at this time, but that is the plan. And sorry Droid1 owners, we’re dropping support for you. Time to upgrade

There are a number of challenges that we are up against. Google has made some pretty major changes to the Android framework that break compatibility with older proprietary camera and graphics drivers in order to achieve some pretty insane performance, but I am confident that the team will be able to overcome these issues like we have in the past.

For those of you who like to build CM from source yourself, you probably know that the spin-up time when starting a CM7 build is absurdly long due to the high number of devices in our repository. Koush and Arcee have put together a solution to this problem that adds new devices on-demand to your local repository, saving on both bandwidth and the long startup time. Some other great enhancements are coming too, like a completely overhauled music app, a new file manager, and a new launcher based on stock 4.0.

If you have a Nexus S, you can check out the code and build for yourself today. More devices are on the way, and I’ll send out these status updates as we make more progress.

CyanogenMod will never have Carrier IQ

kmobs — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:45:10 +0000

I asked my friend Russell Holly to write a short blog post about how CM will never contain Carrier IQ. Enjoy.

Everybody with access to a web browser over the last week or so has undoubtedly seen the recent upheaval about Carrier IQ. The truth is, Carrier IQ has been around for quite some time. It is one of the nastier examples of bloatware installed by carriers, and it is more than likely something that will always be there in some form or fashion. That is, as long as your phone is running the OEM provided version of Android.

As this version of Android is based entirely on work from the Android Open Source Project, the CyanogenMod team would like to assure everyone that Carrier IQ has never, and will never be a part of our Operating System. There is no risk of this kind of software to ever be shipped as a part of CyanogenMod, period. Please, take it upon yourselves to educate anyone who is concerned about Carrier IQ, and offer them CyanogenMod as the only real opt-out they are likely to get any time soon.

I couldn’t agree more with his words. We at CyanogenMod would like everyone to know that if you are running our software, you are not running theirs.

The current and future state of CyanogenMod Nightlies

ChrisSoyars — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:46:17 +0000

CyanogenMod has had explosive growth over the past year. When we started doing nightly builds, we only had to build for a few targets every night. We now have over 50 targets to build for, and I get requests about once a week to bring up new devices on the BuildBot. Many people wonder what they can do to help with this process, or ask how we are going to handle the new recommended build-system specs for Ice Cream Sandwich.

Background

We are currently using BuildBot to automate our nightly build process. This entire process involves for each target:

Checking out the entire Android source tree, this is accelerated by using a tarball that is generated daily before the nightly builds run.
Compiling the target from a clean state.
Uploading the completed build to a staging server.
Syncing the completed build across the mirror network.
Adding the build to the get.cm index.

All of our nodes in the BuildBot cluster can accomplish this in under 18 minutes. However, the process usually takes a bit longer because the output of the build process is streamed to a central server and logged, which helps us identify build breaks. The current average automated build time is about 40 minutes per target. This can be greatly sped up by tweaking the process a bit, however it has not really been an issue thus far.

The ultra-nerdy, such as myself, will quickly realize that this works out to about 37 hours of wall time per day. We are able to complete the builds in less than 24 hours because we balance them across four servers, generously donated by EugeneKay, jeagoss and phaseburn.

The Future

Ice Cream Sandwich is coming, and the question of how we are going to handle nightly builds constantly comes up. Unfortunately source has not been released yet, so we can’t see how our existing hardware handles the considerably larger source tree. Fortunately JBQ has shed a bit of light on this, with a post on the android-building mailing list. JBQ is getting 25+ minute builds (wall time) on a pretty hefty dual-quad-core workstation with 24GB of RAM. This configuration is significantly more powerful than our current setup.

We won’t really know what we need until source is released, though some optimizations can likely significantly improve the chances of actually being able to complete all of our builds in one day.

How can you help?

Every time someone mentions a lack of resources in our build cluster, we get tons of offers to use idle hardware to do builds. This is great, and we’ve tried this before. Unfortunately this did not work very well for many reasons. The biggest reason was the hardware was not located in a datacenter, and there was no guarantee that it would be online and ready to start processing build requests. Next, when an update to the software powering these automated builds had to go out, it was very difficult to coordinate with the hardware owners to make these updates (most of them did not want to hand over root access, as they were running on their desktops).

Keeping the above in mind, we are still willing to take hardware donations, though the requirements are pretty strict:

Minimum of 16GB of RAM.
Minimum of 8 physical cores (hyper-threading preferred).
Fast disks, SSDs are preferred, though SAS drives will do just fine.
Server must be located in a datacenter, not your home (some exceptions are made).
Minimum of 100Mbit Internet connection.
Full root access required.

The server(s) should ideally be dedicated to building CyanogenMod, however it is fine if they are not. If you feel you meet the requirements above and would like to donate some servers, fire an email over to buildbot [at] ctso.me. If you have hardware, but no home for it, feel free to reach out as well. I’m sure we can work something out.

CM7.1 Alpha for the HP Touchpad released

kmobs — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:41:57 +0000

The CM Touchpad team has decided that they feel an Alpha is in order. The following is what one of the members, dalingrin, sent me to post here on the main site. I hope you enjoy this build that countless hours have gone into. However, please realize this is not a final product nor does it indicate the performance of upcoming stable build.

The full source will be released when the 8×60 tree is merged in the upcoming weeks. In the mean time, enjoy this developer preview.

After many near-sleepless nights, we have an early sneak peak at the CyanogenMod 7.1 port for the HP TouchPad. This initial alpha release is, as they say, rough around the edges. There are still plenty of bugs and a few non-working features, but overall it should be in a state that you can at least play around with Android on your TouchPad.

Initial installation will be done with a custom installer called the Alpha CyanogenMod Experimental Installer, or “ACMEInstaller”. The installer will resize the WebOS media volume to make room for Android. It will then create three new volumes: cm-system, cm-cache, and cm-data. The /sdcard storage found in typical Android handsets will actually be the WebOS media volume. This way, you can easily share your media between WebOS and Android. ACMEInstaller will be used to install ClockworkMod Recovery, CyanogenMod 7, and the Moboot bootloader.

To easily boot between different operating systems, a new bootloader, called Moboot, featuring a boot menu was developed by jcsullins with help from tmzt. They have done a fantastic job in a very short period of time to get a functional and well-made boot menu solution.

This first alpha has plenty of bugs, but many things are working at least partially, such as but not limited to:
-GPU acceleration
-1080p video playback
-Wifi(with caveats)
-Bluetooth(no headset profile)
-Touchstone dock support
-Audio

Known issues include, but are not limited to, the following:
-higher than normal battery drain, ~2%/hr while suspended
-only partially-working camera
-need to change the wifi sleep policy to “never sleep” in wifi settings
-some app compatibility issues
-too many issues to list here

Kernel source is available now at http://github.com/cyanogenmod, and we welcome developers to submit patches for review at http://review.cyanogenmod.com. The rest of the device source will be released as soon as some changes to support the MSM8660 architecture can be merged into mainline CyanogenMod 7. This is expected to happen in fairly short order.

For more information, visit: http://kan.gd/17fw

Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy this early look at CyanogenMod 7.1 support for the TouchPad!

CyanogenMod-7.1 Released!

Cyanogen — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:41:08 +0000

It’s been far too long since our last official release, but I’m happy to present CyanogenMod-7.1! I apologize for the long delay, and I hope to speed up our release process in the future. We originally planned to release this last weekend at the Big Android BBQ but some issues with our automated build system held it back.

You’ll find many new features (read the CHANGELOG) and support for building on 68 devices! Upgrading from any previous CM-7 release or nightly build should be smooth and no wipe should be required.

New devices since 7.0 included in today’s release are:

HTC Desire S
HTC Incredible S
HTC Incredible 2
LG Optimus 2X and T-Mobile G2x
Motorola Backflip (Motus)
Motorola Cliq / Cliq XT
Motorola Defy
Motorola Droid 2
Motorola Droid X
Samsung Captivate
Samsung Fascinate
Samsung Mesmerize
Samsung Showcase
Samsung Vibrant
Samsung Galaxy S
Samsung Galaxy S2 (multiple carriers)
Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini
Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro
Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
ZTE V9

There are many devices still in beta status (Pyramid, Doubleshot, Shooter, HP Touchpad, Optimus 3D, several more) that we will be promoting to release or release-candidates in the next few weeks when the code is merged to our main branch.

The preferred method of installation is via ROM Manager, but you can directly download the latest release from our mirror network. Head over to our forums to discuss the release or get help. Installation instructions and other information can be found on our wiki.

As we continue to grow and improve CM, we are starting to see support from the industry grow- something that was unheard of previously. Recently, Sony Ericsson assisted our developers by providing over 20 devices, technical assistance, and compatible hardware drivers. CM-7.1 now has support for all recent SEMC devices thanks to this effort. Various other vendors have reached out to us, but we understand that it is still somewhat of a difficult situation. We will soon be providing a porting guide and some information on how vendors can get involved with the project and how/why it will benefit them.

Thanks again for the support, and for making CyanogenMod the #1 community Android distribution. We’ll be following up with a few minor releases and soon it will be time to start work on CM9!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Support

defer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:25:45 +0000

The CyanogenMod and FreeXperia team is happy to announce CyanogenMod support for multiple Xperia™ devices.

Users of Sony Ericsson devices have been left out of the CyanogenMod experience for a while now. We are happy to announce that users will be able to enjoy a full-fledged CyanogenMod with nearly full hardware support (we are still working on FM radio) starting in our next release. You can also expect nightly builds and more instructions soon.

The following devices will be supported:

2011 lineup:

Older lineup:

Andreas Makris (Bin4ry), Diogo Ferreira (defer) and Alin Jerpelea (jerpelea) will be maintaining these devices from now on.

We would like to stress that work on the 2011 lineup would not have been possible without the strong involvement of Sony Ericsson with the developer community. In addition to providing unlockable bootloaders to all new devices, they provided us both with devices and technical expertise that proved invaluable in making all this happen.

Refreshed the ‘About’ Page

SatanR1 — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:54:57 +0000

I came across an awesome review on CM7 by Zayed Rehman over at Addictive Tips.

With his compliments, I have published the new page based from his review with some of our customisations.

Our new page can be found here: About CyanogenMod

The original review of CyanogenMod 7 can be found here: Review by Zayed Rehman

What do you think? Comments / suggestions / feedback please mention them below.

Thanks!

@SatanR1

The State of CyanogenMod

kmobs — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:31:40 +0000

I’ve been reading rumors that CyanogenMod’s core philosophy is changing, that we’ve been sold, or that we’ve given up and I want to go on record saying none of this is true at all. As you may know, there are only a handful of people that can approve changes for CM but a lot of developers for it. You may have noticed that we are operating at a slightly slower pace than normal, but that’s simply because we’ve been busy and real life responsibilities come before this project. No one is getting paid to work on the product.

You have most likely become aware that Cyanogen has been hired by Samsung, as that news is traveling through the Android community like wildfire. He is not leaving the project. Samsung is aware of his involvement in CM and there are no qualms from that end. He hasn’t been active recently because he is in the process of relocating to a new city for his new job, that’s all. ChrisSoyars has been hired by Grooveshark and is currently working on projects with them. Koush is working on his DeskSMS application as well as ClockworkMod recovery. And finally, my semester is starting as are my medical school interviews.

As they have before, our insane schedules will calm eventually and we can devote more time to the project. But just because we aren’t around to approve changes doesn’t mean development has stopped or even slowed for CM. There are 40+ talented developers programming behind the scenes night and day to give you the Android distribution that you have come to know and love. On top of all of the above, we are currently in a soft feature-freeze for another 7.1 RC. (You can call it a feature slushie if you like) Because of this, we are reluctant to approve new features that may prove problematic for certain devices for the sake of the stability of the entire tree.

All I ask is that you bear with us during this hectic time.

CyanogenMod-7.1.0-RC1

Cyanogen — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:01:37 +0000

The first release candidate of CyanogenMod-7.1 is ready for testing!

This version is an update to Android 2.3.4, includes many new features, and brings support to several new devices. We are now supporting various Samsung devices (Galaxy S, Captivate, and Vibrant), the LG Optimus 2X (p990) /T-Mobile G2x (p999), HTC Incredible S (vivo), and Motorola CLIQ/CLIQ XT. A full list of features and changes can be found in the CHANGELOG.

This release candidate should be fairly stable for daily use, but always do a backup first in case something goes wrong. You can help out by giving us feedback on the forums and reporting bugs at the issue tracker.

The best way to install CM7.1-RC1 is to use ROM Manager, or you can manually download it from our mirror network.

Many thanks to EVERYONE (we have over 400K CM7 users!) for your continued support, and everyone who has contributed their time to making CM the best Android distribution available!

New devices added to forum!

SatanR1 — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:10:57 +0000

As new devices come on board the official CM train, more sub forums have been created in our forum.

New ones added are;

Google Nexus S 4G
Advent Vega
Samsung Galaxy S i9000
Samsung Galaxy S Captivate
Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant

…… enjoy!

@SatanR1