[George Mari]

I discovered the msm_media_case and msm_phone_case files in /usr/share/alsa/ucm/msm-audio directory. This is part of the new audio stack / infrastructure used in 2.2.4 - it's not there in the 2.1.2 version for the Veer.

I noticed that this file almost identical to the same file from the Pre3 doctor - the Veer's file even has a comment at the top that says "Use case for media on Mantaray" at the top, which I'm pretty sure is the code name for the Pre3.

Anyway, to make a long story short, some intriguing differences in the files between the Veer and Pre3 doctors, so of course I swapped them, but no difference - still no stereo. All other sound still worked.

So no luck so far, but I still have one or two more ideas I'll be investigating.

[amirkl]

Hi,

I would like to inquire regarding the stability of the webOS 2.2.4 Doctor.
I own a veer with OS ver - 2.2.4 installed per instructed in - herrie82 | HP Veer webOS 2.2.3/2.2.4 update
I love it since it gives Skype support which is a killer feature for me but this version brings serious stability issues (call drops, battery drains phone shuts down in the middle of a call and more).
How does this version stand in relation to the method above (is it the same?better?), it would be good if stability and known issues could be added to the sticky msg in the beginning of the post.

Thanks for all the great work,
Amir

[Herrie]

Hi,

I would like to inquire regarding the stability of the webOS 2.2.4 Doctor.
I own a veer with OS ver - 2.2.4 installed per instructed in - herrie82 | HP Veer webOS 2.2.3/2.2.4 update
I love it since it gives Skype support which is a killer feature for me but this version brings serious stability issues (call drops, battery drains phone shuts down in the middle of a call and more).
How does this version stand in relation to the method above (is it the same?better?), it would be good if stability and known issues could be added to the sticky msg in the beginning of the post.

Thanks for all the great work,
Amir

All these problems you mention seem to come from the modem firmware. It seems to be carrier specific though as well. I had it quite a lot on Vodafone NL, but less on T-Mobile NL, but still had it there too.

I'm now back to 2.1.2 after I needed to Doctor to see how I like it. It's OK, especially since I can run UberKernel on it using 2.1.2 Battery drain with UberKernel is higher compared to no UberKernel (could be I would need to test different profiles to see if I can reduce the drain), but the in-call reboots are gone at least, so I'm 99% sure that was the modem firmware and not the 2.2.4 software itself.

[amirkl]

All these problems you mention seem to come from the modem firmware. It seems to be carrier specific though as well. I had it quite a lot on Vodafone NL, but less on T-Mobile NL, but still had it there too.

I'm now back to 2.1.2 after I needed to Doctor to see how I like it. It's OK, especially since I can run UberKernel on it using 2.1.2 Battery drain with UberKernel is higher compared to no UberKernel (could be I would need to test different profiles to see if I can reduce the drain), but the in-call reboots are gone at least, so I'm 99% sure that was the modem firmware and not the 2.2.4 software itself.

Is the modem firmware in 2.2.4 different from the one in 2.1.2?

[Herrie]

Is the modem firmware in 2.2.4 different from the one in 2.1.2?

Yes, 2.1.2 has BU1.9.15(264), 2.2.x has BUx.x.xx(3500).

[andresigno]

Yes, 2.1.2 has BU1.9.15(264), 2.2.x has BUx.x.xx(3500).

Herrie, have you tried 2.2.4 without modem upgrade? Or 2.1.2 with jusr the modem upgrade?

[Herrie]

Herrie, have you tried 2.2.4 without modem upgrade? Or 2.1.2 with jusr the modem upgrade?

2.2.x with 2.1.x modem doesn't seem to work. Didn't try the other way around yet.

[amirkl]

2.2.x with 2.1.x modem doesn't seem to work. Didn't try the other way around yet.

This sounds reasonable ...if there has been an API change between the two modem firmware versions they will not be interchangeable versus the same host.

From what you know of the system, Is there an identifiable application\s that runs on the Linux side and is responsible for the activation of the modem? if there is such it will need to be aligned with the firmware version.

[George Mari]

Since my last post, I've been exploring pulseaudio and alsa configurations for the 2.2.4 ROM for the Veer. I've learned that the setup is very different from 2.1.2, and very closely resembles the TouchPad and Pre3. Many of the ALSA control names are the same between my Veer and my TouchPad, for example.

Yesterday, I found a file in the /sys filesystem (I lost the name now) that when 'cat' -ed, displayed the current state of each ALSA control, in real-time - whether it was on or off. So I played a file with the Music Player on the Veer, and saved off the contents of this file. Then I repeated but this time with stereo headphones connected to the Veer. Each Mixer and other ALSA device was listed, along with whether the device was on or off. The ones for mono output with just the rear speaker were on when they should have been, and the ones with the headphones connected for stereo output were on as they should have been - at least I didn't see anything obviously wrong.

I also found reference in the kernel config file for the 2.2.4 image to the WM8994 audio chip used by the Veer. I found some schematics and reference material on-line that I'll study, as many of the ALSA controls seem to be named exactly as they appear in the reference material I found.

I thought I might be able to re-configure pulseaudio on the Veer to play sound over a network connection to my TouchPad, just to see if it played in stereo or not. But webOS does not include the Pulseaudio modules necessary to do this.

Anyway, I'm starting to think there is nothing wrong at the ALSA or Pulseaudio level, and that it is a problem that is deeper, like the audio driver. Problem seems to be that the audio driver is "compiled in" with the kernel - it's not a loadable module like you would find in a desktop version of Linux. So it's not as if we can easily swap audio drivers from the 2.1.2 image.

[ollopa]

Hello guys,

I found this thread today and saw the discussion about modifying the installer uImage file and repacking it so that the installer can update the touchpad and A6 firmware. It's not too tough to do -- the trick is that the two files within the main uImage are ALSO uImage files, so you must use mkimage to package the ramdisk after you modify it and then use mkimage again to combine the kernel uImage with the ramdisk uImage into the installer uImage.

I've written up some information and instructions covering how to extract the kernel and ramdisk images, unpack and mount the ramdisk, add a 1M file, and repack it all. I tested it out on my Veer and the repacked image booted fine via novacom boot mem://.

This should let us build a WebOS Doctor that does the complete upgrade to 2.2.4 in one step

Unpacking and repacking U-Boot uImage files

Enjoy

[Herrie]

Hello guys,

I found this thread today and saw the discussion about modifying the installer uImage file and repacking it so that the installer can update the touchpad and A6 firmware. It's not too tough to do -- the trick is that the two files within the main uImage are ALSO uImage files, so you must use mkimage to package the ramdisk after you modify it and then use mkimage again to combine the kernel uImage with the ramdisk uImage into the installer uImage.

I've written up some information and instructions covering how to extract the kernel and ramdisk images, unpack and mount the ramdisk, add a 1M file, and repack it all. I tested it out on my Veer and the repacked image booted fine via novacom boot mem://.

This should let us build a WebOS Doctor that does the complete upgrade to 2.2.4 in one step

Unpacking and repacking U-Boot uImage files

Enjoy

Great! I tried the same but couldn't get my Veer to boot the new uImage If you could upload the new uImage somewhere and contact John & me by PM or IM with the URL that would be great

[ollopa]

Sure, I'll do that tonight after work

[ollopa]

I wrote a python script to parse uImage headers and extract contents from multi-file U-Boot images. I'll post that up tomorrow after I add the ability to build images. Of course the task of mounting an ext2fs image is completely platform-specific, so it would be a real chore to automate the repacking of uImage files.

I had to add /usr/bin/PmTpWhich and replace /usr/bin/catnip to get the TP to update properly. Thankfully the A6 updated without any complaints.

Here's the list of replaced/added files:
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/a6-firmware.control
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/a6-firmware.md5sums
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/pma6updater.control
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/pma6updater.md5sums
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/pmtpupdater.control
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/pmtpupdater.md5sums
/usr/lib/ipkg/info/pmtpupdater.list

/lib/firmware/a6_firmware.txt (for A6, firmware file)
/lib/cy8ctma300e.fw (for TP, firmware file)
/lib/cy8ctma300e.ver (for TP, firmware file)

/usr/bin/PmTpUpdater (for TP, update tool)
/usr/bin/PmA6Updater (for A6, update tool)
/usr/bin/PmTpWhich (for TP, update tool)
/usr/bin/catnip (for TP, calibration and control)

I updated all the md5sums in /md5sums.gz except for PmTpWhich and catnip. I got lazy towards the end and besides that, I noticed that several of the sums in the 2.2.4 rootfs image were wrong so I doubt it will hurt anything.

PMs with the link to the uImage have been sent. If it works for John and Herrie, I don't see the harm in redistributing.

[ollopa]

Short update with the finished uImage.py script that can extract and build uImage files:

Unpacking and repacking U-Boot images part 2

[drthang2008]

when run python , erro uimage.py :
"file uimage.py" line 153
print : " file read erro"
syntaxerro:invalid syntax

[ollopa]

when run python , erro uimage.py :
"file uimage.py" line 153
print : " file read erro"
syntaxerro:invalid syntax

You must be using python 3, which is significantly different from python 2. Use python2 if you have it installed, or run the source through 2to3 that should have been installed with python3 (http://docs.python.org/library/2to3.html):

2to3 -w uImage.py

That will convert the python2 print syntax to the new python3 syntax.

[SlightlyAmiss]

With the utmost respect to Mr. John Steffes, I say this not knowing if he is a native English speaker, but I humbly suggest the first post of this thread be re-written for clarity. It is honestly difficult for me to decipher whatever sentence syntax you have chosen, sir.

Major thanks to everyone doing amazing work getting 2.2.4 on the Veer!

[John Steffes]

With the utmost respect to Mr. John Steffes, I say this not knowing if he is a native English speaker, but I humbly suggest the first post of this thread be re-written for clarity. It is honestly difficult for me to decipher whatever sentence syntax you have chosen, sir.

Major thanks to everyone doing amazing work getting 2.2.4 on the Veer!

PM me as which part you are having issues with? I have read and re-read millions of times but I also changed many parts bit by bit... I am always looking for assistance/proof reading...

FYI I did pull the entire first post into word, Grammar/Spell checked and replaced the first sentence, as it was a passive sentence (according to Word), but no other issue Word could find. However, I agree the flow of the first post could be better...

[ollopa]

I've created a sourceforge page for the uImage.py scrip:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/uimage/

I'll track bugs and issue future releases there.

There's additional information in my previous link, however, including how to create an installer uImage with the updated A6 and TP firmware.

Now for slightly off-topic questions:
Is there a hardware difference between the AT&T and WR phones or are they the same phone just with different carrier settings / being locked to AT&T?

I have seen reports of Veers randomly rebooting with 2.2.3/4. How widespread is this issue? Has it already been resolved?

[Herrie]

I've created a sourceforge page for the uImage.py scrip:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/uimage/

I'll track bugs and issue future releases there.

There's additional information in my previous link, however, including how to create an installer uImage with the updated A6 and TP firmware.

Now for slightly off-topic questions:
Is there a hardware difference between the AT&T and WR phones or are they the same phone just with different carrier settings / being locked to AT&T?

I have seen reports of Veers randomly rebooting with 2.2.3/4. How widespread is this issue? Has it already been resolved?

AT&T and WR phones are 100% identical. German ones might have QWERTZ instead of QWERTY layout, but that's the only difference that has been found so far.

Quite widespread, though it seems to be related to the modem firmware in 2.2.3/2.2.4. I tried to figure out what causes it exactly, but so far wasn't able to determine what causes it exactly. I have it on different phones both on NL Vodafone and NL T-Mobile networks.

What seems to happen is the following: At the moment you place a call, the phone rings once, then shuts down or reboots. This mainly seems to happen when the signal is very weak (1 bar), but I also had it happening with 3 bars, but less frequently. I mainly have it while at my current office (Vodafone) and at my previous job (T-Mobile).

I tried disabling WiFi, 3G etc, but no luck, still reboots.

Ideal would be to have 2.2.3/2.2.4 with 2.1.2 Modem Firmware but that doesn't seem to work well together (no data connection). My knowledge of the internal workings of *nix is too limited to sort this issue.

2.2.3/2.2.4 is superior to 2.1.1/2.1.2 in almost every aspect, messaging app is a lot snappier and responsive on 2.2.3/2.2.4 compared to 2.1.2, Skype support added and there are more benefits in the update.

Only downside is that we don't have Uberkernel for 2.2.3/2.2.4.

I'm currently back to 2.1.2 but there are a couple of things that really annoy me....