building an image
 

Hi,

How is it possible to modify a firmware image please?

For example, how can I open or unpack or mount the image
"DFL61_HARMATTAN_40.2012.21-3_PR_LEGACY_001-OEM1-958_ARM.bin" ?

And then replace some files, and in the end rebuild a new image for flashing?

TIA for any hints, Peter

Re: building an image
 

no, please don't do it. everything you can do without flashing.

Re: building an image
 

Unpacking goes with old flasher 3.5 (N900), parameter -u or --unpack.
But getting it together not.

This might be possible with pali's open flasher 0xffff, but I am not sure now. Just go ahead.

--
BUT you know how to deal with AEGIS?

Re: building an image
 

You mean a cfw :eek:
coderus was on of the kingpins !

Re: building an image
 

Therein lies the main difference between Symbian/Android and Harmattan. You don't need to jump thru hoops to change some system files by unpacking firmware then flashing a cfw.

Re: building an image
 

No, it seems Aegis is something very complicated. It seems to be difficult to build a cfw for the n9, and I don't want to take the risk to brick it.
I just had a little hope, that there would be something as easy as "make" for building a cfw. (I'm used to OpenWrt.)

(When I bought the N9, I thought, that it would be possible to build a cfw from source ("make world"), just some files would be "binary blobs" from Nokia.)

Thanks for your help, Peter

Re: building an image
 

Once I had modified (not creating from scratch) harmattan firmware and built a new slightly modified kernel; and you can find the tools to unpack/re-pack firmware in this forum. However, as being said, it's usually better to not do it; unless you are required to.

But, building a firmware from source could have lots of issues that you should deal with yourself, as nobody has done it (at least, publicly!).

Re: building an image
 

Hi,

Probably the least risky way is flashing original firmware and then modifying individual files step by step. So I only need backups of modified files.

But it seems, that there are dozens of original firmwares and there is no more official download location? I have the firmware for product code 059J228. But can I use it for an N9 with another code?
Or should I buy only a model with same product code?

TIA for any hints, Peter

Re: building an image
 

Re: building an image
 

There seems to be problem: I still rely on downloads.maemo.nokia.com to get the developer-mode. What happens, when this site disappears?

Or am I missing something?

Here in detail how I would like to prepare a new N9 (even some years in the future, when there is no more nokia.com):
- flash device with original firmware (I have flasher and the firmware)
- enable developer-mode (here it seems, that nokia.com is needed)
- copy packages and other files from my backups to device with ssh

(Perhaps I really need to switch to uniboot, but I would like to keep it as basic as possible...)

Ok, I've one idea: simulating downloads.maemo.nokia.com on a local server. But other (probably better) ideas are very welcome!

TIA for your efforts, Peter

Re: building an image
 

Yes, of course, I was missing this option:

"Applications -> Installations -> Allow installations from non-Store sources"

Sorry about the noise, Peter

Re: building an image
 

Well legally speaking it would be nice to be able to make a pure floss image and make it available for hackers ....

Do you have the name of the file for 059J228 ? is this the code in SIM tray mine is 059K117 ...

Re: building an image
 

Oh yes...


Yes, on the SIM tray. I have 2 N9s (one for using, one for repairing...):
- 059J228 is DFL61_HARMATTAN_40.2012.21-3_PR_LEGACY_006-OEM1-958_ARM.bin
- 059M8W9 is DFL61_HARMATTAN_40.2012.21-3_PR_LEGACY_001-OEM1-958_ARM.bin

Greetings to Rennes, Peter

Re: building an image
 

Yes you cannot unpack, modify and repack firmware image as flasher checks that .bin is signed with nokia master key. (And that key is safely stored in some Nokia vault that nobody has access to).

So if you want to be able to update 'offline' or when official repository dies then procedure is to flash original firmware. Then enable developer mode, which can be a bit tricky if you dont have network or terminal access. But there are couple options:
- use serial cable to ttl serial pins that are located under sim to gain access to getty shell
- use mass-storage-mode to drop in couple debian packages for terminal, allow unknown sources, install terminal package. Use some dpkg exploit (like inception) to gain com.nokia.maemo privileges so you can install developer mode .deb and/or change repository url to your own custom one. And your ready to rock.

So don't worry if someday official repository dies, there are still multiple ways to flash and setup your favourity N9 device.

Re: building an image
 

I did not try it, but shouldn't it be possible to install the original developer-mode.deb (and other original packages) without any exploit?
This is what I understand from the N9-user-guide...


Ok, thanks. I'm just a bit worried, because there are so many dead links to nokia web-sites. I've already downloaded several GB to my hard-disk, just to be sure, to be able to set up a N9 in the future.

Peter

Re: building an image
 

Sorry, bust as I said earlier, you can.

Update: using the tool available here: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=82471

Re: building an image
 

With sparsify you can of course create fiasco's but when you flash the binaries, you will note that the device defaults to Open Mode. There's no easy way to fool the flasher to revert the device into Closed Mode without Nokia-signed binaries.


I'd go a bit farther even. I am fairly sure the original signing keys were destroyed with rest of the build infrastructure when the production line was decomissioned. A pity, though. It would not have harmed anyone now later, if some of the more closely guarded stuff would have leaked out...

Re: building an image
 

Yes, it goes into open mode. I just wanted to make it clear that it is possible to flash an unsigned firmware into phone. But you're right, it'll be in open mode.

Re: building an image
 

No, you are wrong, original developer-mode.deb needs to have active valid pgp signature on server side, so you cannot install it from commandline, or you can but if you install it with commandline, then its missing the developer-mode capabilities. Thats why system needs to be incepted before devel-mode can be installed from commandline.

Re: building an image
 

To have flashed an open-mode kernel in advance may also be helpful! ;)