A1200 + EDGE

[blk-majik]

Hi All,

I understand that with all the other Moto Linux phones, to enable EDGE, you must edit the seem files and enable the right bit. However, no one has found a way to read/write the seems on the a1200. Therefore, we are all stuck with standard GPRS.

There are 2 ways to tackle this:
1) Get Moto to release a flash image and flash tools
2) Fix the current seem downloading solutions to be compatable with the a1200.

However, I dont know where to start. What guidance can the seasoned linmoto hackers provide?

Thanks!

[rpconnect]

what is known about the a1200 kernel and how the various memory devices are handled? i know that on the e680i/a780 the flexbits that control this type of functionality; if it is similar for the a1200 you might be able to use cyph's flashkit to copy the necessary mtd block from the phone that contains the a1200 flexbits, un-cramfs it on a PC and make the changes, then (again using the flashkit) write the modified cramfs image back to the appropriate mtd block.

the flashkit is something that runs on the phone with its own separate mini-root, so there should be no dependancy on the actual flash image.

[blk-majik]

From what I understand, the kernel in the a1200 and the way it handles memory is very similar to the e680i and a780. It may not be similar enough to use the tools without modification, but its a starting point.

I am new to the linux MTD subsystem. From what I understand, its a set of structures and functions made to simplify the access of Flash memory devices, such that driver development is simpler and more compatable. From what I gather, an 'MTD block' is a structure that the MTD subsystem uses to represent a block of data from a flash device that is analogious to a standard harddrive data block. Is this right?

If so, which block would I expect moto to store the flexbits in?

We have a cramfs image. Here is the /etc/flashmem.map file, if it helps:

rdl, 0xA0200000, 0xA024FFFF, rdl, 0
caddo, 0x00000000, 0x0001FFFF, N/A, 53
mbm, 0x00020000, 0x0005FFFF, mbm.bin, 31
cdtcsf, 0x00060000, 0x000607FF, cdtcsf, 33
kct, 0x00067000, 0x0007FFFF, kct.bin, 34
blobcsf, 0x00080000, 0x000807FF, blobcsf, 35
blob, 0x00080800, 0x0009FFFF, blob, 36
kernelcsf, 0x000A0000, 0x000A07FF, kernelcsf, 37
kernel, 0x000A0800, 0x0019FFFF, zImage, 38
resource, 0x001A0000, 0x00A9FFFF, resource.img, 46
userdb, 0x00AA0000, 0x0109FFFF, userfs_db.img, 47
usergeneral, 0x010A0000, 0x0189FFFF, userfs_general.img, 49
securesetupcsf, 0x018A0000, 0x018A0FFF, securesetupcsf, 41
securesetup, 0x018A1000, 0x018BFFFF, secure_setup.img, 51
tcmd, 0x018C0000, 0x018DFFFF, tcmd, 39
logocsf, 0x018E0000, 0x018E07FF, logocsf, 52
logo, 0x018E0800, 0x018FFFFF, logo.img, 40
fota, 0x01900000, 0x019BFFFF, fota.img, 48
paniclog, 0x019C0000, 0x019DFFFF, N/A, 50
language, 0x019E0000, 0x025DFFFF, language.img, 45
setup, 0x025E0000, 0x025FFFFF, setup.img, 42
rootcsf, 0x02600000, 0x02600FFF, rootcsf, 43
root, 0x02601000, 0x03FFFFFF, rootfs_cramfs.img, 44
cdt, 0x00060800, 0x00066FFF, cdt.bin, 32

Thanks again!

[blk-majik]

Ok, i asked too much, yet understood too little =) I've done some research, specifically looking into the MTD subsystem and cyph's flashkit. I understand all the issues related to the flashkit and why it works the way it does. Very clever!

However, one stumbling point is that Moto shipped the a1200 without the telnet binary. Also, linloader does not work on the a1200. Insead, I have to make one program that calls a shells script containing my commands. This sucks, as I have to the the phone out of the usb mode, edit the script, put in usb mode, and run for EVERY command!

Can someone please attach the telnet server binary from their phone? Or is there a cramfs from a 680 or 780 someone can point me to so I can extract it myself?

Thanks again!

[rpconnect]

here is the contents of /usr/sbin from an e680i and contains in.telnet, telnetd, smbd and tcpd. i can't garauntee that it will work w/ the a1200 but i do hope it helps....

[blk-majik]

Great thanks! I cant seem to get any of them to run. They dont return any errors, but dont sit in the backgorund either.

I tried copying them to /usr/sbin, but it doesnt seem to want to let me write there. Again, no errors, but also no files. I also tried touching /usr/sbin/test.... nothing. This is odd!

I then tried using some of the trick from Cyph's flashkit. First i tried to load his rwflash.o driver to see if i could unlock some memory and to test kernel compatability. However, it didnt load according ot lsmod. Also didnt give any errors... Odd.

Anyway, I am at a bit of a loss. To get started, I included some quick info about the a1200. Oddly enough, uname -a returned nothing.... Anyway, Here it is. Any ideas?

lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
modem_relay             3600   0 (unused)
modem_ppp_async         7892   0 (unused)
modem_ppp_generic      16772   0 [modem_ppp_async]
gprsv                   7604   0
modem_bridge            2360   0 [modem_relay modem_ppp_generic gprsv]
slhc                    4968   0 [modem_ppp_generic]
mux_cli                30356  10
paniclogger            13432   0 (unused)

cat /proc/roflash_info
ROFLASH Driver status: Ready

ROFLASH area name is rootfs
ROFLASH area size = 27258880 bytes
ROFLASH area offset = 6295552 bytes
ROFLASH area l_x_b(10)
ROFLASH area name is language
ROFLASH area size = 12582912 bytes
ROFLASH area offset = 27131904 bytes
ROFLASH area l_x_b(1000)
ROFLASH area name is data_resource
ROFLASH area size = 9437184 bytes
ROFLASH area offset = 1703936 bytes
ROFLASH area l_x_b(1000)
ROFLASH area name is setup
ROFLASH area size = 131072 bytes
ROFLASH area offset = 6160384 bytes
ROFLASH area l_x_b(10)
ROFLASH area name is secure_setup
ROFLASH area size = 126976 bytes
ROFLASH area offset = 25825280 bytes
ROFLASH area l_x_b(1000)

cat /proc/mtd
dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00008000 00008000 "CADDO_SECOND"
mtd1: 00008000 00008000 "ITUNES"
mtd2: 00008000 00008000 "CADDO_PRIMARY"
mtd3: 00008000 00008000 "FOTA_REV"
mtd4: 00040000 00020000 "MBM"
mtd5: 00020000 00020000 "CONFIG"
mtd6: 00020000 00020000 "BLOB"
mtd7: 00100000 00020000 "KERNEL"
mtd8: 00600000 00020000 "USERFS_DB"
mtd9: 007e0000 00020000 "USERFS_GENERAL"
mtd10: 00020000 00020000 "TEST_CMD"
mtd11: 00020000 00020000 "LOGO"
mtd12: 000c0000 00020000 "FOTA"
mtd13: 00020000 00020000 "RESERVE"

[/code:1:c68d72b96d]

[blk-majik]

And some more info:

# insmod -f rwflash.o
Running insmod
Warning: kernel-module version mismatch
	/mmc/mmca1/rwflash.o was compiled for kernel version 2.4.20_mvlcee30-mainstone
	while this kernel is version 2.4.20_mvlcee31-mainstone_pxa27

# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
modem_relay             3600   0 (unused)
modem_ppp_async         7892   0 (unused)
modem_ppp_generic      16772   0 [modem_ppp_async]
gprsv                   7604   0
modem_bridge            2360   0 [modem_relay modem_ppp_generic gprsv]
slhc                    4968   0 [modem_ppp_generic]
mux_cli                30356  10
paniclogger            13432   0 (unused)

# cat /ram/proc/sys/kernel/version
#1 Jan 1,2003

# cat /ram/proc/sys/kernel/osrelease
2.4.20_mvlcee31-mainstone_pxa27x
End

[rpconnect]

hmm, from the kernel version it looks like you'll first need the a1200 kernel then you will probably have to rebuild the rwflash module to get it to work.

for the a1200 kernel check out openezx.org, they are doing a lot to get the GPL'd kernel that Mot is using for the e680/a780 and my guess is they are going through similar channels with Mot. to get the a1200 kernel.

it may be as easy as using the e680/a780 kernel and making the right config settings, but i haven't played with this stuff yet and dont know for sure.

[DDAIGLE]

I suppose this has died eh? Too bad, would be nice to have EDGE on the A1200 ...

[desipenguin]

I always thought that EDGE support is something that hardware has to provide. I assume that A780 HW supports EDGE and A1200 HW doesn't.
Now I read the discussion about enabling it via software.

One always learn something new every day.