[DEV] LineageOS 19 (Android 12L) for Raspberry Pi 4 B

[themlruts]

I am running android 12 on my CM4 with a Waveshare carrier board https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspb ... base-c.htm . System boots up to the welcome screen but my usb ports are not working. I have tested this on raspberry pi os and the work just fine. So, I can't continue to set as I can't use a mouse or keyboard. Thoughts?
Also get this gray line looks like it almost locked up maybe.
Thanks
Mike

USB is configured to be in 'otg' mode on CM4. This is to support ADB, MTP, PTP, and USB tethering on the micro-USB port of the official I/O board (i.e. same as USB-C port on Pi 4). With the official I/O board if you have something connected on the micro-USB it will kill connectivity on whatever you have connected on the regular USB ports (mouse, keyboard, storage, etc).

I don't know how the USB ports are wired on that carrier board. You probably need to configure the USB driver to use 'host' mode instead. There's a section in /boot/config.txt that says:

Code: Select all

# USB
dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=peripheral
[cm4]
dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=otg
[all]

Change the line under cm4 to 'dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=host'.

The gray bar is probably just some random glitch related to how the tablet taskbar is hidden during the setup wizard. Not related to this in any case.

Thank you that did the trick. One last thing. Is there any way to get boot times down to 30sec? I am building a motorcycle computer and trying to get the fastest boot I can. Curremt boot times are 40 -45sec. Could you boot android form a NVMe to increase speed over the emmc ?
Thanks so much!!!
Mike

[Konsta]

Thank you that did the trick. One last thing. Is there any way to get boot times down to 30sec? I am building a motorcycle computer and trying to get the fastest boot I can. Curremt boot times are 40 -45sec. Could you boot android form a NVMe to increase speed over the emmc ?
Thanks so much!!!
Mike

Overclock the CPU. Use a faster storage device. Remove/disable some unneeded system components. In any case it's not realistic to make that big of a difference in boot time. You can maybe shave off a sec here and there but it just takes certain time to boot Android (see e.g. https://source.android.com/docs/core/perf/boot-times ).

My builds don't support booting from NVMe because I don't have any hardware to develop/test. Generally speaking it wouldn't be much different from the current sdcard/USB boot support. Both Android and TWRP recovery would need to support it and since practically no one has any hardware to use it, it's just not worth the effort.

Only some CM4 carrier boards have a M.2 slot. You could use USB adapter to boot from SSD but your board doesn't even have USB 3.0 port.

[schufti]

can someone suggest a rc_keymap.txt that gives decent operating experience with a "simple" TV-remote?
I couldn't figure what KEY_xxxx keyword are available for android specific operations.
I just figured out simple ones like
KEY_LEFT, KEY_RIGHT, KEY_UP, KEY_DOWN, KEY_BACK, KEY_HOME, KEY_ENTER, KEY_OK
but still I get stuck in "dead ends" eventually.
Is there any KEY_xxxx "codes" mapped to mouse events (like r/l click, up/down/left/right, scroll up/down == mouse emulation)?

best regards,
me

[Konsta]

can someone suggest a rc_keymap.txt that gives decent operating experience with a "simple" TV-remote?
I couldn't figure what KEY_xxxx keyword are available for android specific operations.
I just figured out simple ones like
KEY_LEFT, KEY_RIGHT, KEY_UP, KEY_DOWN, KEY_BACK, KEY_HOME, KEY_ENTER, KEY_OK
but still I get stuck in "dead ends" eventually.
Is there any KEY_xxxx "codes" mapped to mouse events (like r/l click, up/down/left/right, scroll up/down == mouse emulation)?

best regards,
me

Well, that's basically all you need for a simple remote.

These are just generic Linux key labels/codes. What ir-keytable supports is https://github.com/lineage-rpi/android_ ... h#L31-L637 which translate to what Android supports https://github.com/LineageOS/android_fr ... Generic.kl.

This is basically a keyboard so I don't think you can use IR remote to emulate mouse events.

[schufti]

Hi,
I still can't figure what are the necessary mappings (KEY_xxx) for the navigation buttons "HOME" and "RECENT".
"BACK" is the only one I found - and that's not enough for a decent Android experience (waf wise)

btw there seems to be some extra long bootdelay with the IRsensor connected?

[Konsta]

Hi,
I still can't figure what are the necessary mappings (KEY_xxx) for the navigation buttons "HOME" and "RECENT".
"BACK" is the only one I found - and that's not enough for a decent Android experience (waf wise)

btw there seems to be some extra long bootdelay with the IRsensor connected?

KEY_HOMEPAGE & KEY_APPSELECT.

There shouldn't be any boot delay because of this. Are you saying that just toggling Settings -> System -> Raspberry Pi settings -> Infrared remote on/off has some effect on boot time?

[schufti]

Hi Konsta,
these (KEY_HOMEPAGE and KEY_APPSELECT) I was definitely missing.
So now I have to go through the "most used" apps and see my mileage there.
For now I allready see that I need a KEY_xxx for accesing the app_drawer from within an app - can't reach it via up/down keys.
One specific app has a "seetings" and "search" button in its header that I can't reach via up/down - so maybe it will accept sth. like KEY_SETTINGS and KEY_SEARCH ... but then I'd need a new RC with more buttons

BigBlueRC.jpg (37.15 KiB) Viewed 1890 times

so far I use

Code: Select all

# table raspi4B, type: RC5
0xC01	KEY_UP			# KEY_P+
0xC02	KEY_LEFT		# KEY_V-
0xC03	KEY_OK			# KEY_OK
0xC04	KEY_RIGHT		# KEY_V+
0xC05	KEY_DOWN		# KEY_P-
0xC06	KEY_PAGEDOWN		# KEY_TD
0xC07	KEY_PAGEUP		# KEY_TU
0xC08	KEY_INFO		# KEY_INFO
0xC09	KEY_MENU		# KEY_MENU
0xC0B	KEY_BACK		# KEY_RWD
0xC0C	KEY_HOMEPAGE		# KEY_PLAY
0xC0D	KEY_APPSELECT		# KEY_FWD
0xF0C	KEY_POWER		# KEY_PWR

the problem with long boot seems inconsistent. now that I wanted to document it doesn't show up.
When it ocurs, I see the activity led flash every now and then and if I disconnect the IRsensor the startup animation of lineage starts ...
maybe just a hickup in my setup - somehow I also managed to activate screen blanking and can't disable it any more ... no problem with mouse, but on RC only pwr-button helps to come out of it

thanks for one of the best Android implementations on SBCs so far !

[Konsta]

Hi Konsta,
these (KEY_HOMEPAGE and KEY_APPSELECT) I was definitely missing.
So now I have to go through the "most used" apps and see my mileage there.
For now I allready see that I need a KEY_xxx for accesing the app_drawer from within an app - can't reach it via up/down keys.
One specific app has a "seetings" and "search" button in its header that I can't reach via up/down - so maybe it will accept sth. like KEY_SETTINGS and KEY_SEARCH ... but then I'd need a new RC with more buttons
BigBlueRC.jpg
so far I use

Code: Select all

# table raspi4B, type: RC5
0xC01	KEY_UP			# KEY_P+
0xC02	KEY_LEFT		# KEY_V-
0xC03	KEY_OK			# KEY_OK
0xC04	KEY_RIGHT		# KEY_V+
0xC05	KEY_DOWN		# KEY_P-
0xC06	KEY_PAGEDOWN		# KEY_TD
0xC07	KEY_PAGEUP		# KEY_TU
0xC08	KEY_INFO		# KEY_INFO
0xC09	KEY_MENU		# KEY_MENU
0xC0B	KEY_BACK		# KEY_RWD
0xC0C	KEY_HOMEPAGE		# KEY_PLAY
0xC0D	KEY_APPSELECT		# KEY_FWD
0xF0C	KEY_POWER		# KEY_PWR

the problem with long boot seems inconsistent. now that I wanted to document it doesn't show up.
When it ocurs, I see the activity led flash every now and then and if I disconnect the IRsensor the startup animation of lineage starts ...
maybe just a hickup in my setup - somehow I also managed to activate screen blanking and can't disable it any more ... no problem with mouse, but on RC only pwr-button helps to come out of it

thanks for one of the best Android implementations on SBCs so far !

There is no keyboard key to open app drawer. There are various third party "button mapper" applications that you can use to link key presses to various actions, though. KEY_INFO does nothing on Android at least so you could use that for some action.

Regular Android tablet UI builds are intended to be used with a touchscreen like you normally would on your phone/tablet. Mouse/keyboard support is there but it's somewhat lacking as it's not generally used. Same applies for third party applications as this is not generally even considered. Android TV on the other hand is intended to be used with a remote.

Short press on the power button will switch the display on/off like on any regular Android device (and long press to invoke power menu).

[hesham1216]

Hi Konsta,

I see that you reply to all questions on your thread, and this courage me to ask you some questions with many thanks and appreciations for your support and help...

My car is having a middle screen with built-in some custom made android system that has some apps for the car to work and they added an application called carbitlink which is used basically for mirroring a phone (Android or iPhone) to the car screen.

I wanted to use raspberry pi 4 to act as a phone and be mirrored to the car by installing the application carbitlink on raspberry pi 4 (usually the application needs to be installed on the phone for mirroring to the car).

I installed two of your Android builds (13 and lineage 12), but the car screen system does not detect raspberry pi 4 as it is not there at all.

Car detect any phone with application carbitlink installed just by connecting the USB from the car to the phone but not to raspberry pi.

I read a lot about OTG and I am not sure if this is the case?

USB C on the pi should work as otg right?

Car having USB A

I connected the car USB A to raspberry pi 4 USB C

It gives enough power to the pi to startup and run but carbitlink is not detected by the car...

Any ideas?

[Konsta]

Hi Konsta,

I see that you reply to all questions on your thread, and this courage me to ask you some questions with many thanks and appreciations for your support and help...

My car is having a middle screen with built-in some custom made android system that has some apps for the car to work and they added an application called carbitlink which is used basically for mirroring a phone (Android or iPhone) to the car screen.

I wanted to use raspberry pi 4 to act as a phone and be mirrored to the car by installing the application carbitlink on raspberry pi 4 (usually the application needs to be installed on the phone for mirroring to the car).

I installed two of your Android builds (13 and lineage 12), but the car screen system does not detect raspberry pi 4 as it is not there at all.

Car detect any phone with application carbitlink installed just by connecting the USB from the car to the phone but not to raspberry pi.

I read a lot about OTG and I am not sure if this is the case?

USB C on the pi should work as otg right?

Car having USB A

I connected the car USB A to raspberry pi 4 USB C

It gives enough power to the pi to startup and run but carbitlink is not detected by the car...

Any ideas?

Sorry, I have no idea how the screen mirroring is implemented on that app.

On my Android builds regular USB-A ports are on host mode and USB-C is configured to be on peripheral mode. On Android ADB, MTP, PTP, and RNDIS are supported on the USB-C. For regular gadgets you'd use the USB-A ports. If you have an USB-A to USB-A cable you could test that as well. If you want otg mode on the USB-C (i.e. host & peripheral dual role) you would need to adjust /boot/config.txt under 'USB' section and change 'dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=peripheral' -> 'dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=otg'.

0.5A you get from a regular USB port is certainly not enough to power the Pi 4 properly.

[hesham1216]

Hi Konsta,

I see that you reply to all questions on your thread, and this courage me to ask you some questions with many thanks and appreciations for your support and help...

My car is having a middle screen with built-in some custom made android system that has some apps for the car to work and they added an application called carbitlink which is used basically for mirroring a phone (Android or iPhone) to the car screen.

I wanted to use raspberry pi 4 to act as a phone and be mirrored to the car by installing the application carbitlink on raspberry pi 4 (usually the application needs to be installed on the phone for mirroring to the car).

I installed two of your Android builds (13 and lineage 12), but the car screen system does not detect raspberry pi 4 as it is not there at all.

Car detect any phone with application carbitlink installed just by connecting the USB from the car to the phone but not to raspberry pi.

I read a lot about OTG and I am not sure if this is the case?

USB C on the pi should work as otg right?

Car having USB A

I connected the car USB A to raspberry pi 4 USB C

It gives enough power to the pi to startup and run but carbitlink is not detected by the car...

Any ideas?

Sorry, I have no idea how the screen mirroring is implemented on that app.

On my Android builds regular USB-A ports are on host mode and USB-C is configured to be on peripheral mode. On Android ADB, MTP, PTP, and RNDIS are supported on the USB-C. For regular gadgets you'd use the USB-A ports. If you have an USB-A to USB-A cable you could test that as well. If you want otg mode on the USB-C (i.e. host & peripheral dual role) you would need to adjust /boot/config.txt under 'USB' section and change 'dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=peripheral' -> 'dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=otg'.

0.5A you get from a regular USB port is certainly not enough to power the Pi 4 properly.

I really thank you for your response.

I ordered an odroid board from hard kernel, it will reach me in couple of days.

It has a micro USB otg port along with 4 USB 3 port.

I will try it and let you know the result...

I may ask for your help as you are an experienced android programmer

[Stritch]

I guess i have a problem with EDID since some monitors work and others dont, is there a way to force a resolution for HDMI?
or could a EDID Emulator make it work with monitors that previously didn´t work?
im trying to connect the Pi to a touch monitor but the pi wont boot unless a compatible display is read.

[Konsta]

I guess i have a problem with EDID since some monitors work and others dont, is there a way to force a resolution for HDMI?
or could a EDID Emulator make it work with monitors that previously didn´t work?
im trying to connect the Pi to a touch monitor but the pi wont boot unless a compatible display is read.

Yes, please read the FAQ.

[Konsta]

Final Android 12 builds. H.265 hardware video decoding, H.264 hardware video decoding and encoding! HDMI audio fixes.

https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS19/
https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS19-ATV/

• H.265 hardware video decoding, H.264 hardware video decoding and encoding
  • FFmpeg 5.1.2 (thanks to John Cox for Raspberry Pi hw codecs support and Android-x86 for AOSP build patches)
  • implement codec2 plugin to integrate FFmpeg into Android multimedia framework (thanks to Michael Goffioul)
  • FFmpeg hevc_v4l2request hwaccel H.265 hw decoding (default), h264_v4l2m2m H.264 hw decoding (optional)
  • v4l2_codec2 H.264 hardware video decoding and encoding (default)
  • FFmpeg software decoders support
• HDMI audio improvements
  • implement audio HAL that uses alsa directly to get rid off using alsa loopback for HDMI audio (thanks to nename0)
  • update alsa-lib and alsa-utils to v1.2.8
• update to TWRP 3.7.0_11-0-KonstaKANG
• update to Linux 5.10.169 kernel and patch known vulnerabilities (CVE-xxxx-xxxx, and more)
• Android security patch level: 5 February 2023 (merged)

[Konsta]

Some good sources for test clips to try H.264/H.265/VP8/VP9 hardware/software video decoding.
https://test-videos.co.uk/bigbuckbunny/mp4-h264
https://test-videos.co.uk/bigbuckbunny/mp4-h265
https://test-videos.co.uk/bigbuckbunny/webm-vp8
https://test-videos.co.uk/bigbuckbunny/webm-vp9
http://www.larmoire.info/jellyfish/

[hiforever]

TWRP reported "Error 1" when I tried to update my RP4 LineageOS 19 (built 20220114) to the latest LOS 19.1 through TWRP using the latest OTA zip package "lineage-19.1-20230313-UNOFFICIAL-KonstaKANG-rpi4-ota.zip" .

I believed I follow all the steps with an external USB drive and have no clue as to what happen.

[Konsta]

TWRP reported "Error 1" when I tried to update my RP4 LineageOS 19 (built 20220114) to the latest LOS 19.1 through TWRP using the latest OTA zip package "lineage-19.1-20230313-UNOFFICIAL-KonstaKANG-rpi4-ota.zip" .

I believed I follow all the steps with an external USB drive and have no clue as to what happen.

Me neither, actually. 20220114 is the first build that supports flashing OTAs so this should work (it's still very old, though).

Are you sure that you're trying to flash the OTA package and not the image? Have you checked the file integrity (checksum) that the package has not got corrupted during download or copying?

TWRP stores logs in /tmp/recovery.log for the last installation that would tell exactly what went wrong. You can use TWRP's built-in terminal to access it ('cat /tmp/recovery.log') or IIRC there's also some copy logs option.

You could also consider starting with a clean installation. Or if you want to keep your apps/settings the previous instruction still also apply (https://github.com/KonstaT/KonstaT.gith ... dL171-L183).

[hiforever]

TWRP reported "Error 1" when I tried to update my RP4 LineageOS 19 (built 20220114) to the latest LOS 19.1 through TWRP using the latest OTA zip package "lineage-19.1-20230313-UNOFFICIAL-KonstaKANG-rpi4-ota.zip" .

I believed I follow all the steps with an external USB drive and have no clue as to what happen.

Me neither, actually. 20220114 is the first build that supports flashing OTAs so this should work (it's still very old, though).

Are you sure that you're trying to flash the OTA package and not the image? Have you checked the file integrity (checksum) that the package has not got corrupted during download or copying?

TWRP stores logs in /tmp/recovery.log for the last installation that would tell exactly what went wrong. You can use TWRP's built-in terminal to access it ('cat /tmp/recovery.log') or IIRC there's also some copy logs option.

You could also consider starting with a clean installation. Or if you want to keep your apps/settings the previous instruction still also apply (https://github.com/KonstaT/KonstaT.gith ... dL171-L183).

OTA works fine if I install LOS without PINN lite which cause the problem. Thank you very much for your help.

[Konsta]

OTA works fine if I install LOS without PINN lite which cause the problem. Thank you very much for your help.

Ok, that explains it. I'm not supporting any multi-boot solution (and in that case it's better that installing OTA fails than writes something to completely wrong partitions).

[ChipChop]

I am running android 12 on my CM4 with a Waveshare carrier board https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspb ... base-c.htm . System boots up to the welcome screen but my usb ports are not working. I have tested this on raspberry pi os and the work just fine. So, I can't continue to set as I can't use a mouse or keyboard. Thoughts?
Also get this gray line looks like it almost locked up maybe.
Thanks
Mike

I am booting LineageOS 18 off of the same carrier board on an NVME drive and have compiled the kernels for both LOS 18 and 19 to do that. I'm glad to share the compiled kernel so you can try it out. Is LOS 19 behaving properly for you on the CM4? I was having some pretty serious issues getting it to work when it first came out and gave up. There were issues with permissions that made the browser non-functional. It was a trace_marker issue that I tried to repair permissions on, but was unable to. That was in Dec '21 and I switched to 18, so maybe it has been fixed in newer versions.

I've just ordered the Waveshare LTE board (I'd prefer the pcie slot for NVME and the LTE over usb). I will let you know how that works when it arrives, since it sounds like we are going for a somewhat similar setup.

[Konsta]

I am booting LineageOS 18 off of the same carrier board on an NVME drive and have compiled the kernels for both LOS 18 and 19 to do that. I'm glad to share the compiled kernel so you can try it out. Is LOS 19 behaving properly for you on the CM4? I was having some pretty serious issues getting it to work when it first came out and gave up. There were issues with permissions that made the browser non-functional. It was a trace_marker issue that I tried to repair permissions on, but was unable to. That was in Dec '21 and I switched to 18, so maybe it has been fixed in newer versions.

I've just ordered the Waveshare LTE board (I'd prefer the pcie slot for NVME and the LTE over usb). I will let you know how that works when it arrives, since it sounds like we are going for a somewhat similar setup.

There shouldn't be any CM4 specific problems after I got one myself and fixed the remaining issues. Issue with browser on CM4 among other things were fixed in May 2022 according to the changelog so nearly a year ago.

My builds are configured as wifi only tablet so they don't even have Android telephony framework or drivers to support any modem hardware. I have builds (of older Android versions) that have support for Sixfab modem HAT and Quectel EC25. LTE data and SMS works fine. It's also possible to make/receive calls but in-call audio is not working. It's not something that I plan to include in public releases as practically no one has the hardware. You can look into Raspberry Vanilla AOSP source code (https://github.com/raspberry-vanilla) I've released since adding support for something like this is not possible without compiling a custom build with the added support for the specific hardware.

[ChipChop]

My builds are configured as wifi only tablet so they don't even have Android telephony framework or drivers to support any modem hardware. I have builds (of older Android versions) that have support for Sixfab modem HAT and Quectel EC25. LTE data and SMS works fine. It's also possible to make/receive calls but in-call audio is not working. It's not something that I plan to include in public releases as practically no one has the hardware. You can look into Raspberry Vanilla AOSP source code (https://github.com/raspberry-vanilla) I've released since adding support for something like this is not possible without compiling a custom build with the added support for the specific hardware.

Thanks for the reply, I'm glad to hear that the issues with CM4 are fixed. I haven't had time to use my Pi much lately, but glad to hear you have the CM4 and are supporting it now.

I had planned to recompile the kernel again with any drivers necessary. Do you have a Github or even just a link to the kernel you used for the Sixfab so I can look into what entries were updated? I had planned to figure it out for myself but it may help to get a general direction. I realize this will be for a much older version of Lineage, but would still be useful to look through regardless. If I can't get the SIM7600 to work, I may look into switching over to the Quectel

EDIT: I found the datasheet for this card and what kernel updates to make, and assume I can probably do the same easily for the Quectel if needed later, so I should be all set assuming the kernel changes are the only alteration needed.

[Konsta]

Thanks for the reply, I'm glad to hear that the issues with CM4 are fixed. I haven't had time to use my Pi much lately, but glad to hear you have the CM4 and are supporting it now.

I had planned to recompile the kernel again with any drivers necessary. Do you have a Github or even just a link to the kernel you used for the Sixfab so I can look into what entries were updated? I had planned to figure it out for myself but it may help to get a general direction. I realize this will be for a much older version of Lineage, but would still be useful to look through regardless. If I can't get the SIM7600 to work, I may look into switching over to the Quectel

EDIT: I found the datasheet for this card and what kernel updates to make, and assume I can probably do the same easily for the Quectel if needed later, so I should be all set assuming the kernel changes are the only alteration needed.

Waveshare provides Android RIL drivers for SIM7600 up to Android 11.
https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/SIM7600E ... ccordion26

Configuring/patching the kernel is fairly trivial and the least of the problems here as you need to compile AOSP to add the Android telephony framework and implement the RIL driver support for the specific hardware.

[easterly_gales]

I really don't get this Android thing at all.
I got it working on a (spare) CM4, which is a bit of a miracle.
TBQH I don't see the point.
Am I missing something?

It seems neither fish nor fowl.
More ideally suited to a smartphone clearly, dragging menus around the screen with the mouse...

firstly it can't read banal mp4 files, and actually getting data transferred onto the device entails running rpiboot time and again, then uploading the files to e-MMC, because SSH and FTP implementations are such a mess.
VLC is a real crap shoot. I wasn't expecting that.

Amongst the host of bugs like half the menu off the screen, or an inability to keep a STD smartphone connected for any length of time over bluetooth, it becomes a real mess actually connecting it to a TV screen over HDMI.

Anything ANDROID tries to do is 10x better on bullseye..
..to me it works about as well as my 64bit ARM version of windows 10, which actually does network shares quite well. (once you go back from SMB2 to the earlier version).

What is android on CM4/rpi supposed to be?
A feasibility study or just for fun?