Now that LG has corrected its source code, I’ve built my overclocked Android kernel for the Virgin Mobile Optimus V, a phone that’s nearly identical to my Sprint Optimus S and that also runs on Sprint’s 3G CDMA network. If your V needs a speed boost or extra driver support, keep reading! more …
Sweet victory! LG took quick action and wrote me yesterday to tell me they’d released an updated version of the source code for the Optimus V that fixes the bugs I identified over the weekend.
So, all is well in this small corner of the open-source world. I’ve downloaded the new source code (labeled “LGVM670(Thunder) Android Froyo/kernel bugs were fixed” on LG’s download site), and verified that the fixes were made and that the new code builds cleanly.
In case you’re interested in the differences between the Optimus S and Optimus V (LS670 and VM670, respectively), here’s a diff of the kernel sources that I’ve made.
I’ve discovered some bugs in the Linux kernel source code released by LG for the Virgin Mobile Optimus V, or VM670, a close CDMA twin to my Sprint Optimus S. It seems clear from the differences between the S and V source releases that LG has attempted to scrub code comments from the V source, but in the process they’ve created at least two syntax errors that break the code and cause it not to build.
They’ve also left out 15 files that are part of the Linux kernel’s netfilter and needed to build the kernel as configured by LG.
Update: LG has fixed the bugs, so keep reading only if you’re interested in the details.
I’ll detail the problems and explain how to (possibly) fix them below. However, the real issue is that the LG archive is broken as-is, so there’s no way it was used to build the actual Optimus V kernel. While I’m no GPL expert, it seems to me that LG is obligated to provide actual, working source code upon request, not an incomplete, broken fork. Let’s hope this was just an oversight, and one that LG will rectify. more …
If you’re looking to give your Sprint Optimus S a speed boost, I’ve got a kernel for you, compiled from official LG source code, that adds overclocking and removes unneeded debugging features for a leaner, meaner kernel.
The basic idea behind this kernel build is “stable performance” — other devs are doing a great job backporting the latest features from the mainline Android kernel and writing experimental patches. My goal is a lot less ambitious, but also less bleeding-edge: Build a kernel from official source, one that “just works” for me the user, but boost performance to get the most from the hardware.
I’ve also included the Linux TUN/TAP driver as a module, so that (among other things) you can use OpenVPN with your Optimus, if you like. Need some other module? Ask! more …
This is old hat for serious Android hackers, but for me it took long enough to find (no help from Google or grep) that I’ll post it here. If you’re building your own Android kernel, the last step in the process is to pack the kernel binary and gzipped ramdisk together into a boot image with mkbootimg. Here’s where to find the base address to use for the “–base” parameter for your device. more …
Yesterday, Google revealed that it had used its “security of last resort” remote removal feature this week to wipe 58 malicious applications from user’s devices.
Google also removed the bad apps from the Android Market, contacted law enforcement, and is pushing a security update to protect devices’ identification codes. Needless to say, these are all good moves, and unlike some privacy advocates I’m not going to quibble with Google’s remote app removal power as long as it’s being used conservatively, in a security context, as in this case. Analogous to public health or combatting botnets, Google must be able to wipe malware from people’s phones to protect everyone, not just the infected.
What does bother me about this news is that these applications appeared in the Android Market at all, where they were available for some time before being reported to the Android security team. I’ve owned an Android phone for a couple of months now, so I thought I’d weigh in on one of the sad realities of the experience: I find myself increasingly worried about security, certainly more so than I have been about any personal computing device since the last time I ran a Windows PC 10 years ago. more …