# Kexec for Droid RAZR. Does that mean anything for us?



## miga (Jun 25, 2011)

I figured I might as well ask this, even though I doubt it'll mean anything for us.

I stumbled across these two things of interest:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23749808&postcount=101
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/1091-2232012-dev-phone-giveaway-poll/page__st__80__p__20177#entry20177

Kexec for the GSM and CDMA Droid RAZR's is apparently possible, with apparently everything working but the second core. I know that we tried kexec on our phones in the past (or so I was told), and the only thing working was wi-fi and a few other things. I know our phone is only single-core, so hopefully we wouldn't have any trouble with that.

Is it possible to use whatever method that they're using to get kexec working on the Droid RAZR to run custom kernels on our phones? This is really the only thing holding me back from buying a phone that at least allows for changing the Linux kernel, so I'm hoping something can come out of this for us.

All I'm asking is if it would be possible now to get kexec working with a custom kernel on our phone. If not, I'm thinking about jumping ship to a different phone, as I'm getting sick of having a locked down phone.

Looking forward to hearing some input on this.


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## x13thangelx (Jun 8, 2011)

Potentially it could. The problem before was getting radio's to init. If they had somehow found a way around that problem then it would be very possible to get kernels going.


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## ExodusC (Jun 27, 2011)

x13thangelx said:


> Potentially it could. The problem before was getting radio's to init. If they had somehow found a way around that problem then it would be very possible to get kernels going.


That's awesome.

Would being able to put a custom kernel on the D2G potentially solve at least a few of the issues with CM9?


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## Gasai Yuno (Jul 25, 2011)

ExodusC said:


> Would being able to put a custom kernel on the D2G potentially solve at least a few of the issues with CM9?


I doubt it; the problems we're experiencing are mostly related to proprietary drivers.


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## ExodusC (Jun 27, 2011)

Gasai Yuno said:


> I doubt it; the problems we're experiencing are mostly related to proprietary drivers.


Yes, I figured most things like camera were. I was just trying to be hopeful.

I had heard newer versions of the Android kernel (now merged with the actual Linux kernel, I think?) has some power management improvements, but I'm also not sure how accurate that is, or if it would apply to our older architecture.

Sent from my Droid 2 Global via Tapatalk.


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## Gasai Yuno (Jul 25, 2011)

Well, Android kernel is Linux kernel with a set of patches, and they can very well be in the main Linux kernel as well.

Power management is getting better with each release, but 99% of power consumption is not the kernel's fault. It's the framework.


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## miga (Jun 25, 2011)

x13thangelx said:


> I doubt it; the problems we're experiencing are mostly related to proprietary drivers.


Everything would be easier if everything was free/open source.


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## ExodusC (Jun 27, 2011)

miga said:


> Everything would be easier if everything was free/open source.


Honestly it seems odd to me that the Android standards allow for any binary blobs on phones at all.

Doesn't even the Galaxy Nexus have a radio binary with no source?

At this point I'm pretty done with the locked bootloader nonsense. Verizon (apparently) offered me an early upgrade, but since I'm okay-enough with my D2G as it is thanks to all the hard work from everyone working on the CM9 port, I will probably hold off until the Galaxy S3 launches (presumably on Verizon).


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## miga (Jun 25, 2011)

ExodusC said:


> Honestly it seems odd to me that the Android standards allow for any binary blobs on phones at all.
> 
> Doesn't even the Galaxy Nexus have a radio binary with no source?
> 
> At this point I'm pretty done with the locked bootloader nonsense. Verizon (apparently) offered me an early upgrade, but since I'm okay-enough with my D2G as it is thanks to all the hard work from everyone working on the CM9 port, I will probably hold off until the Galaxy S3 launches (presumably on Verizon).


Android isn't considered 'free' to begin with, really. I mean, almost all the versions of Android that are released with phones have the proprietary Google apps (market, etc) and stuff like that. Plus, most of the Android distributions on phones are proprietary, and are allowed to be, thanks to the license (Apache). This isn't that big of a deal, since you can use Android without the Gapps, but it does take away a lot of functionality. Plus, free versions of Android are possible, see CyanogenMod.

The only thing that's really considered 'free' when you get an Android smartphone is the kernel because it's GPL'd, which even then, as you said, contains binary blobs and proprietary drivers in order to have a functional device. So, if we wish to create an open source version of Android, we have no choice but to either {A} reverse engineer the binary blobs, drivers and radio firmware (something which few developers have experience with 'cuz it's difficult), or {B} use the proprietary binary blobs/drivers and firmware.

I'm fine with this at the moment, even though I keep my PC running a fully free version of Linux (Parabola GNU/Linux-Libre) without any proprietary drivers, blobs or applications, so it sometimes does bother me, but for the most part, it doesn't. I also keep the Google apps off of my CM9-powered D2G, so I'm as free/open source as I can get.

What I'm not fine with is this whole locked bootloader thing. We're allowed to modify the system, but we can't modify the kernel. We can replace the proprietary version of Android on our phones, but we can't replace the GPL, but signed kernel. It's ironic as hell, and most companies at least offer a way to unlock the bootloader. Motorola not only locks their phones down, but also doesn't give us any way to unlock *our* devices, and it makes me regret ever buying this phone. I could've had a nice HTC Thunderbolt that would be running CM9 with a custom kernel that improves the performance of our device and works with CM9 the way it's supposed to. But, no. I chose the D2G because it had a physical keyboard and I was dumb enough to think that Motorola would actually follow through on their promise. Hell, I'd be happier with an HTC Merge if they were selling it at the time, the most obscure HTC smartphone out there with maybe 2 or 3 ROMs, not even a working version of CyanogenMod. But, you know what? HTC still offers a bootloader unlock, even if like 5 people in the world bought it.

Motorola doesn't get the point of Linux, which is to be a free operating system kernel. They could care less about whether or not Linux is GPL'd, they refuse to let us replace the kernel that our phones use, which can be such a huge problem. I've already made the promise to myself to never buy or even think of buying a Motorola smartphone again, even if they say that they will 'eventually unlock the bootloader for it'. They lost my trust with this phone.

Phew, that was a bit of typing. Anyway, you get my point. I'm sick of Motorola too, and I will probably get a new phone immediately when I can, even if it involves having to pay a lot for one (no 2-year contract discount since I'm already in a 2-year contract). HTC or Samsung, no Motorola. My frustrations with Motorola are over with.

Anyway, I hope that kexec will help with custom kernels for our phones, so it can at least last me until I get a phone that is more worthy of my time and money.


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## Gasai Yuno (Jul 25, 2011)

Your mistake in that rant is that Motorola isn't selling Linux. They're selling Android devices, and really, they don't violate any licenses there. Sure, you can be angry and frustrated because you made a bad and rushed decision, but it was your decision, and yours alone. Most Motorola users are quite happy with their stock-running devices, alas, so this brand won't be going down any time soon.


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## miga (Jun 25, 2011)

Gasai Yuno said:


> Your mistake in that rant is that Motorola isn't selling Linux. They're selling Android devices, and really, they don't violate any licenses there. Sure, you can be angry and frustrated because you made a bad and rushed decision, but it was your decision, and yours alone. Most Motorola users are quite happy with their stock-running devices, alas, so this brand won't be going down any time soon.


I didn't state that they are in violation of the GPL, or that they're selling Linux. I meant free as in freedom, not price (the term 'free' can be really confusing since there's more than one meaning, thank English for that I guess). It's just annoying how they can get away with doing what they're currently doing with all their devices, forcing our devices to run only a version of a GPL'd kernel that they approve of, with no ability to change it out for any reason with an unsigned kernel.

I completely agree that I made a rushed decision that I greatly regretted later. There were a few factors at the time, one of them being my old HTC Touch Pro had finally bit the dust, and that I wasn't about ready to even think about moving to touchscreen keyboard territory. Of course, I'll be careful the next time around, especially since I've decided that I don't care for physical keyboards anymore (you can thank my D2G's keyboard problems for that, the U and M keys barely work).

I also agree that most Motorola users are indeed happy with their devices running stock, but then again, those aren't the type of people who are into the whole 'open source' aspect of Android anyway, and could really care less, as they just want to waste hours on stupid games like Angry Birds. [sub]no offense to anybody who likes Angry Birds, of course, I just find it really stupid...[/sub] However, users like you, me and probably everybody else on this forum want to get the full potential out of our devices, and Motorola doesn't care for that very small amount of people. Of course, choosing an HTC phone won't kill Motorola, since the money I'd be spending on a Motorola device is ridiculously tiny compared to how much they make a day.

[sup]man, I must be in the mood for typing a lot today.[/sup]


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## PhantomGamers (Sep 27, 2011)

ExodusC said:


> I will probably hold off until the Galaxy S3 launches (presumably on Verizon).


^this so much.
any idea if it WILL launch on verizon? i'm in between.
s2 wasn't on verizon, but galaxy nexus was... but galaxy nexus is also a nexus phone... s3 isn't.... i hope it is







that's really the phone I'm looking forward too.
apparently the s3 will have Samsung's own SOC 4-core, I hope battery life is OK. maybe they will have a ninja core like the tegra 3.

(sorry for off-topicness







, it is relevant to the phone-locked-down argument though... odds are if the s3 IS on verizon it won't have a locked bootloader or anything of the sorts.)


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