Note: these instructions are now out of date and refer to URLs which no longer exist. See the elinux.org wiki for more recent instructions.
These instructions are derived from Embinux.org’s Android Porting Guide to Beagle Board (the corresponding web page no longer exists), based on their work to port Android on the Beagle board. They correct multiple inaccuracies in this guide, and also add many useful details.
These instructions were tested on xubuntu 9.04. There shouldn’t be many differences if you use other recent Ubuntu or Debian versions.
Install needed software packages
At the time of this writing, note that Android requires Sun’s Java5 JDK, and doesn’t support the Java6 one.
apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade apt-get install git-core bison sun-java5-jdk flex g++ zlib1g-dev apt-get install libx11-dev libncurses5-dev gperf uboot-mkimage
Android also uses its own repo script as a git front-end:
mkdir -p ~/bin cd ~/bin curl https://dl-ssl.google.com/dl/googlesource/git-repo/repo > repo chmod +x repo
We are also going to need a 2007q3 toolchain from Code Sourcery
cd wget http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm/portal/package1787/public/arm-none-linux-gnueabi/arm-2007q3-51-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2 cd /opt sudo tar jxf arm-2007q3-51-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2
You could also get this toolchain from our website:
cd wget /pub/demos/beagleboard/android/arm-2007q3-51-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.lzma cd /opt sudo tar --lzma -xf ~/arm-2007q3-51-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.lzma
Download sources
Our instructions create a directory in your home directory, but of course, it can be placed anywhere!
mkdir ~/beagledroid cd ~/beagledroid repo init -u git://labs.embinux.org/repo/android/platform/beaglemanifest.git/ repo sync
Caution: this can take a lot of time, as this downloads and extracts 2.4 GB of data. On a fast workstation with a 500KB/s Internet connection, it took about 90 minutes.
Building Android
make
If your workstation has multiple CPUs, you could save a lot of time by running multiple jobs in parallel:
make -j 4
On our machine, this took about 4 hours!
Building the kernel
export CC_PATH=/opt/arm-2007q3/bin/arm-none-linux-gnueabi- cd ~/beagledroid/kernel ../vendor/embinux/support-tools/beagle_build_kernel.sh
Copying the Android root filesystem
Android’s root file system is generated in ~/beagledroid/out/target/product/generic
cd ~/beagledroid/out/target/product/generic mkdir ~/beagledroid/rootfs cp -a root/* ~/beagledroid/rootfs/ cp -a system/* ~/beagledroid/rootfs/system/ cd ~/beagledroid/rootfs sudo chown -R root.root . sudo chmod -R a+rwX data system
Formatting an MMC/SD card
First connect your card reader to your workstation, with the MMC/SD card inside. Type the dmesg command to see which device is used by your workstation. Let’s assume that this device is /dev/sdb
Type the mount command to check your currently mounted partitions. If MMC/SD partitions are mounted, unmount them.
In a terminal edit partitions with fdisk:
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
Delete any existing partition with the d command.
Now, create the boot partition:
Command (m for help): n
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-239, default 1): 1
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (1-239, default 239): +64M
Change its type to FAT32:
Command (m for help): t Selected partition 1 Hex code (type L to list codes): c Changed system type of partition 1 to c (W95 FAT32 (LBA))
Using the n command again, create a second partition filling up the rest of your card (just accept default values).
Now, format the partitions in your card:
sudo mkfs.vfat -n beagleboot -F 32 /dev/sdb1 sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb2
Remove and insert your card again. Your new partitions should be mounted automatically.
Copying data to the MMC/SD card
Start by copying the X-loader and U-boot on the first partition.
cd /media/beagleboot wget /pub/demos/beagleboard/android/MLO /pub/demos/beagleboard/android/u-boot.bin cp ~/beagledroid/kernel/arch/arm/boot/uImage .
Now copy the Android root filesystem to the second partition (assuming it is mounted on /media/disk:
sudo rsync -a ~/beagledroid/rootfs/ /media/disk/
Finish by unmounting your MMC/SD partitions:
sudo umount /media/beagleboot sudo umount /media/disk
Boot setup
The last thing left to do is to specify how the board boots Linux.
Plug the Beagle board on your computer, and also connect it to a DVI-D monitor. Start minicom (corresponding to Hyperterminal in Windows) on /dev/ttyS0, or on /dev/ttyUSB0 if you are using a serial to USB adapter. Power up the board.
First, stop Minicom from truncating long lines by typing [Ctrl] [a] followed by z and w.
In the U-boot prompt, make the board boot automatically on the MMC/SD card:
setenv bootcmd 'mmc init;fatload mmc 0 80000000 uImage;bootm 80000000' saveenv
Now set the kernel command line arguments:
setenv bootargs console=ttyS2,115200n8 noinitrd root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 video=omapfb.mode=dvi:1280x720MR-24@50 init=/init rootfstype=ext3 rw rootdelay=1 nohz=off androidboot.console=ttyS2
You may need to adapt the video settings to the capabilities of your DVI display. You should now see Android boot!
Hi Sanjeev,
Are you using Windows to extract these archives? In this case, we can’t help you?
If you use GNU/Linux, you will find examples about how to use wget to download these files and how to extract the .tar.lzma archives. That’s what we recommend.
Good luck,
Cheers,
Michael.
Hi Sany,
Try to run the following command:
mkimage -l ~/beagledroid/kernel/arch/arm/boot/uImage
… and give us the output (if you use Debian or Ubuntu, you may need the
uboot-mkimagepackage). This way, we will be able to check whether the image looks correct or not.Here’s what we got:
Image Name: Linux-2.6.29-omap1-07174-g7fbc41
Created: Mon Jun 1 17:37:32 2009
Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 1913608 Bytes = 1868.76 kB = 1.82 MB
Load Address: 0x80008000
Entry Point: 0x80008000
Cheers,
Michael.
My output was ,
mkimage: Bad Magic Number: “uImage” is no valid image
Thank you for this guide. I was able to build Android for Beagle Board painlessly just following your instructions. I spent a day wrestling with the original Embinux guide to no avail.
I have followed all the steps, i have created SD card with u-boot,MLO,uImage and copied file system in the second partition.
but when i insert it into beagle board xM Rev.b, No result on Hyperterminal. no LED on the Memory Card also not glown.
But when i insert Memory Card which is provided by Beagle Board supplies its working( This is just for confirming that Memory card slot and other parts are working on beagle board)
Please help on this
The archive can be extracted with “tar –lzma -xvf beagledroid-git-20090603.tar.lzma”.
When i say “uncompress”,i refer to “tar –lzma -xvf beagledroid-git-20090603.tar.lzma”.
it still give me the following errors:
EOF in archive
tar: Unexpected EOF in archive
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
any idea to solve this problem? Btw, I can extract the file “arm-2007q3-51-arm-none-linux-gnueabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.lzma” with no problem..
Hi all,
I am trying to create filesystem of android but when i run make command
it gives following error..
please help me out.
Thanks in advance.
Copying out/target/common/obj/JAVA_LIBRARIES/core-tests_intermediates/classes-full-debug.jar
target Jar: core-tests (out/target/common/obj/JAVA_LIBRARIES/core-tests_intermediates/javalib.jar)
java.util.zip.ZipException: duplicate entry: hyts_Foo.c
at java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream.putNextEntry(ZipOutputStream.java:192)
at java.util.jar.JarOutputStream.putNextEntry(JarOutputStream.java:109)
at sun.tools.jar.Main.addFile(Main.java:731)
at sun.tools.jar.Main.update(Main.java:585)
at sun.tools.jar.Main.run(Main.java:220)
at sun.tools.jar.Main.main(Main.java:1167)
make: *** [out/target/common/obj/JAVA_LIBRARIES/core-tests_intermediates/javalib.jar] Error 1
make: *** Deleting file `out/target/common/obj/JAVA_LIBRARIES/core-tests_intermediates/javalib.jar’
I am getting the same error as Siddharth.
Same error here. Downloaded tools from codesourcery, but the tgz of the source from this site.
Try step 1 from the following link and see if you can fix the issue.
Configure and Build Android on Beagle Board
Hello Everyone,
I got the tools installed …..compiled the code. my problem is in the directory ~/beagledroid/kernel/arch/arm/boot/ i only find files zImage and Image. I do not see any file named uImage.
I would appreciate if people can explain this problem.
Thanks a lot,
chris
Thanks for this article, great.
Having trouble. In particular, the error I get is during the boot process:
Failed to execute /init. Attempting defaults…
Kernel panic – not syncing: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.
Has anyone gotten past this error?
Hi,
Try adding this option “init=init” in the bootargs and ensure init is executable in in your rootfs or at a symbolic link in /sbin/init linking to /link.
I manage to complete the above from free-electrons files. I am now able to boot Android in my beagleboard.
When I try to download the source, it gets aborted at this stage
Getting manifest …
from http:// labs.embinux.org/embinux-android-build/android-omap3/repo/android/platform/manifest.git
fatal: http:// labs.embinux.org/embinux-android-build/android-omap3/repo/android/platform/manifest.git/info/refs not found: did you run git update-server-info on the server?
fatal: cannot obtain manifest http:// labs.embinux.org/embinux-android-build/android-omap3/repo/android/platform/manifest.git
(Note: the above links are now broken… we added a space in them so that they are not turned into real, broken, links)
It would be great if you make actual this post… I’m sure than exist more options to Sun’s Java5 JDK, It can’t be found at ubuntu 10.10 repos… wich alternative jdk can we use? Thank you.
Until Froyo (2.2), you need Sun’s java5 JDK. You can find it here
With gingerbread (2.3) and newer, the openjdk distributed with ubuntu works fine. We use it every day here.
ERROR the labs.embinux server seems to be down…
* [new tag] v1.7.4.2 -> v1.7.4.2
* [new tag] v1.7.4.3 -> v1.7.4.3
Getting manifest …
from git://labs.embinux.org/repo/android/platform/beaglemanifest.git
labs.embinux.org[0: 59.160.172.206]: errno=Connection timed out
fatal: unable to connect a socket (Connection timed out)
fatal: cannot obtain manifest git://labs.embinux.org/repo/android/platform/beaglemanifest.git
alejandro@wil:~/bb1/bin$
This was the most interesting post about Android on BeagleBoard… idk where i have to go now :S
You can take a look at rowboat instead, which is an android distribution for TI’s SoC-based boards. They have some pages on their wiki explaining how to build a system from the source for the Beagle.
hye. thanx 4 this cool article. i’hve try it and faced some problems..
i have downloaded the sources but can’t run this command:
tar –lzma -xvf beagledroid-git-20090603.tar.lzma
the output:
tar: beagledroid/system/core/.git/description: Cannot create symlink to `../../../.repo/projects/system/core.git/description’: Operation not permitted
……….
tar: beagledroid/.repo/projects/external/bsdiff.git/hooks: Directory renamed before its status could be extracted
…………..
tar: beagledroid/development: Directory renamed before its status could be extracted
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors
can anyone guide me..? thanx 🙂
Hi,
I am trying to build this image to run android on a beagleboard xm
I get to the 7th line and this it can’t find the server
sudo wget http:// android.git.kernel.org/repo
–2011-09-10 16:21:56– http:// android.git.kernel.org/repo
Resolving android.git.kernel.org… failed: Name or service not known.
wget: unable to resolve host address `android.git.kernel.org’
How do I fix this?
Thanks
(Webmaster note: the repo URL has changed. We added a space in its http address so that WordPress doesn’t turn it into a real, broken link)
Hi,
This happens because the kernel.org servers are down for maintenance, because an intruder broke in.
To run Android on the BeagleBoard XM, have a look at Linaro:
http://www.linaro.org/downloads/ (look for “Beagle” on that page)
Cheers,
Michael.
beagleboard does not recognize a USB Hub. needs the self-powered USB Hub?
sorry for bad english.
Hi everybdY,
I compiled the android (kernel, sgx, rowboat, using eclair config), after android install I get the pretty android screen. But, android hangs up !!! I don’t know if there is a pb with sgx because I get some patch in uboot to get the 24bit color.
10x
Hi,
This is a very nice article. Thanks. I am facing a problem, where by with given uboot, my USB port is not working. So that I cann’t use mouse or keyboard. I am usning C4 beagleboard. Please help.
Rgds,
Ashwin.
Hi,
Thank you for source and your inputs.
I would like to clarify that these steps and source code can i use it for Beagle Rev B series boards. ?
or where can i get the exact source for Beagle Rev B boards.
regards
Kaykay
hi, i want to ported android O.S. on beagleboard Rev C4 3530 i got uImage.bin ,Oxkernel-beagle.bin,android-beagle.ubi i kept these in first partition of sd card Fat32
then to boot and run android on beagle board what i need more. please guide me
thanks,
Hi, I have a problem with rootfs. All the main folders under out/target/product/generic/root are empty although the compilation finished with no problems. Did any of you faced this problem already.
thanks
i hav openJDK java6 installed on my system and i dont want to install any other version of java like Sun jdk5 because it may create problem to me in future as lot of applications are using this .. i need to change the PATH variable n all ..
Is there any other way so that i can work with my current JDK6 versoin .. pls reply .. thnx in advance…
[Build Android for the BeagleBoard] : compiler stuck
someone can help me ?
***setup***
Linux ngaza-k 3.8.0-31-generic #46~precise1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 11 18:21:16 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ gcc -v
Utilisation des specs internes.
COLLECT_GCC=gcc
COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.6/lto-wrapper
Target: x86_64-linux-gnu
Configuré avec: ../src/configure -v –with-pkgversion=’Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5′ –with-bugurl=file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-4.6/README.Bugs –enable-languages=c,c++,fortran,objc,obj-c++ –prefix=/usr –program-suffix=-4.6 –enable-shared –enable-linker-build-id –with-system-zlib –libexecdir=/usr/lib –without-included-gettext –enable-threads=posix –with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.6 –libdir=/usr/lib –enable-nls –with-sysroot=/ –enable-clocale=gnu –enable-libstdcxx-debug –enable-libstdcxx-time=yes –enable-gnu-unique-object –enable-plugin –enable-objc-gc –disable-werror –with-arch-32=i686 –with-tune=generic –enable-checking=release –build=x86_64-linux-gnu –host=x86_64-linux-gnu –target=x86_64-linux-gnu
Modèle de thread: posix
gcc version 4.6.3 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5)
***
Utilisation des specs internes.
COLLECT_GCC=g++
COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.6/lto-wrapper
Target: x86_64-linux-gnu
Configuré avec: ../src/configure -v –with-pkgversion=’Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5′ –with-bugurl=file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-4.6/README.Bugs –enable-languages=c,c++,fortran,objc,obj-c++ –prefix=/usr –program-suffix=-4.6 –enable-shared –enable-linker-build-id –with-system-zlib –libexecdir=/usr/lib –without-included-gettext –enable-threads=posix –with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.6 –libdir=/usr/lib –enable-nls –with-sysroot=/ –enable-clocale=gnu –enable-libstdcxx-debug –enable-libstdcxx-time=yes –enable-gnu-unique-object –enable-plugin –enable-objc-gc –disable-werror –with-arch-32=i686 –with-tune=generic –enable-checking=release –build=x86_64-linux-gnu –host=x86_64-linux-gnu –target=x86_64-linux-gnu
Modèle de thread: posix
gcc version 4.6.3 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5)
[error]
external/jpeg/jdmainct.c: In function ‘jinit_d_main_controller’:
external/jpeg/jdmainct.c:480:15: warning: ‘main’ is usually a function [-Wmain]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdmarker.c
external/jpeg/jdmarker.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdmaster.c
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdmerge.c
external/jpeg/jdmaster.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
external/jpeg/jdmerge.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c: In function 'fkLookupParent':
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c:47952:5: warning: assuming signed overflow does not occur when assuming that (X – c) <= X is always true [-Wstrict-overflow]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdphuff.c
external/jpeg/jdphuff.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdpostct.c
external/jpeg/jdpostct.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdsample.c
external/jpeg/jdsample.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jdtrans.c
external/jpeg/jdtrans.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jerror.c
external/jpeg/jdtrans.c: In function 'jpeg_build_huffman_index_progressive':
external/jpeg/jdtrans.c:171:23: warning: comparison between signed and unsigned integer expressions [-Wsign-compare]
external/jpeg/jerror.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jfdctflt.c
external/jpeg/jfdctflt.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jfdctfst.c
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jfdctint.c
external/jpeg/jfdctint.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
external/jpeg/jfdctfst.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jidctflt.c
external/jpeg/jidctflt.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jidctfst.c
external/jpeg/jidctfst.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jidctint.c
external/jpeg/jidctint.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jidctred.c
external/jpeg/jidctred.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jquant1.c
external/jpeg/jquant1.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jquant2.c
external/jpeg/jfdctfst.c: In function 'jpeg_fdct_ifast':
external/jpeg/jfdctfst.c:222:1: internal compiler error: in gen_thumb_movhi_clobber, at config/arm/arm.md:6155
Please submit a full bug report,
with preprocessed source if appropriate.
See for instructions.
external/jpeg/jquant2.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
make: *** [out/target/product/generic/obj/SHARED_LIBRARIES/libjpeg_intermediates/jfdctfst.o] Erreur 1
make: *** Attente des tâches non terminées….
target thumb C: libjpeg <= external/jpeg/jutils.c
external/jpeg/jutils.c:1:0: warning: -fprefetch-loop-arrays not supported for this target (try -march switches) [enabled by default]
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c: In function 'sqlite3VdbeExec':
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c:58248:14: warning: 'pc' may be used uninitialized in this function [-Wuninitialized]
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c: In function 'sqlite3Fts3UpdateMethod':
external/sqlite/dist/sqlite3.c:106140:9: warning: 'isEmpty' may be used uninitialized in this function [-Wuninitialized]
ngaza@ngaza-k:~/felabs/android/linaro/scr$
Your question is slightly out of topic for this post. Our post is now obsolete. Lots of things changed in Android since then.