Open webOS on the Galaxy S3?

[HondaPixi]

would that even be possible?

[drewksparks]

Honestly, this is what I'm hoping for. I already have my S3 working with my old touchstone, and to have webOS as a dual-boot option would be simply incredible.

[Derek Kessler]

Technically, it's possible to unlock the boatloader and load an operating system of your choice.

The problem is that that there are not open source drivers for Samsung's processors, graphics chips, radios, etc. Without those, Open webOS on the S3 isn't going to happen. This is why WebOS Ports has been focusing their efforts on open source-compatible devices like the Nexus line of smartphones and tablets.

[Vistaus]

@Derek: Maybe you should've researched before you posted because Samsung released the S3 drivers under the GPL:
Samsung Galaxy S III Kernel Source Released – xda-developers
[REF] Kernel source code repository for Galaxy S III - xda-developers

[Derek Kessler]

Kernel source ≠ everything needed to make Open webOS on the S3 a reality.

[Vistaus]

I didn't say that it would be everything to make OWO run, I only commented on what you said about no drivers/radio available to show you they are available.

[johncc]

Originally Posted by Vistaus

I didn't say that it would be everything to make OWO run, I only commented on what you said about no drivers/radio available to show you they are available.

To rephrase Derek's point. Kernel ≠ drivers/radio

[Rnp]

So; until where my microbrain understand, the S3's Kernel can be open source, but the drivers don't...


... in other words:

(Hummm... maybe... in the xda - that "have no problems with open-or-not-source drivers" - there is some chance to... well... is only an idea... )


Best Regards...

[T-Pad]

Originally Posted by Rnp

So; until where my microbrain understand, the S3's Kernel can be open source, but the drivers don't...

It's like webOS up to 3.x - the kernel is open source, but the drivers are not.

[Vistaus]

Originally Posted by T-Pad

It's like webOS up to 3.x - the kernel is open source, but the drivers are not.

The Pre 3 CPU driver is available thanks to Sony (which also uses that CPU in one of their Xperia phones).

[Vistaus]

Originally Posted by johncc

To rephrase Derek's point. Kernel ≠ drivers/radio

But again: the drivers ARE available.

Samsung Exynos 4412 (Origen 4 Quad Board) Open Source Development Schedule

AND I QUOTE:
"Samsung already released the source code for Samsung Galaxy S3 in June, but this should add more recent drivers and support for more peripherals."

Just go and take a look over here to see the source code for the drivers:
Insignal git repositories

Man, why is it so hard to convince people.

[Garfonso]

Then just go ahead and try a port. :-p

There is quite a lot missing in open webos that will be needed on all devices... maybe we should try to focus efforts on that (like the memo, browser, settings, preware 2 apps that webos-ports is currently doing).

[T-Pad]

Originally Posted by Vistaus

The Pre 3 CPU driver is available thanks to Sony (which also uses that CPU in one of their Xperia phones).

CPU is not the only driver you'll need. What about all the sensors, network, radio and GPU? These are the problems which make porting Open webOS to existing devices difficult. Or Android to HP/Palm devices.

[Vistaus]

Still, the drivers for the S3 are open source so it IS possible. And that is what I wanted to point out. They already have a lot to do at webos-ports and I don't have or want an S3, but it *could* be done given the open source drivers.

[daexpression]

With all the talk about porting to Nexus or S3...why not have the OpenOS ports send Samsung Mobility department for some 'R&D' support - for drivers and such? For Samsung they'd not really lose out much time helping an opensource project, while at the same time, they're interested in selling hardware phones with Samsung written all over it, and it'd help the openOS ports with additional sourcecode to optimize the OS for samsung phones?..

Yes I know this is farfetched...but if we never shoot the mail over, we'd never know.

[chalx]

Originally Posted by daexpression

Yes I know this is farfetched...but if we never shoot the mail over, we'd never know.

Same email coud be sent also to Sony.

[trwrt]

Even for official AOSP Nexus phones, look at all the drivers that are only available in binary-only form. If we can't get the source code for these things for a Galaxy Nexus then what hope is there for the S3? Vistaus, where in that repository are the graphics acceleration and GSM drivers? That's what people are asking for.

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/drivers

[Vistaus]

Graphics drivers are part of the CPU drivers since they share functionaltiy (like onboard graphics in a laptop).

And GSM drivers is not a problem at all. Why do you think we have telephonyd which is already used by for example MeeGo, OpenWebOS on the Galaxy Nexus and Kubuntu Mobile?

[webOSnomad]

It's possible to port webOS to pretty much any modern smartphone.... in theory. In practise, it takes a lot of work so everyone goes for the Nexus because it's well documented and supported for porting.

Phones like the Samsung S3 tend to be locked down pretty tight for various reasons, not least licensing agreements and copyrights (remember, drivers may do the same job in general, but they may do it in a different way). You won't get access to these drivers because they are proprietary, even if you ask nicely.

So, whilst it's still theoretically possible, it's too much of a pain in the *** to be practical any time soon.

[webOSnomad]

Originally Posted by Vistaus

Graphics drivers are part of the CPU drivers since they share functionaltiy (like onboard graphics in a laptop).

Umm, they're part of the same chipset, not part of the CPU iirc. So the drivers would be separate