[How-To] Build / Port ROMs using source code (Various Devices)

First of all, let me just say a huge thanks to DDX and pcarenza for walking me through all these steps and also another huge thanks to pcarenza for letting me use his repos for this. Also a HUGE thanks to dhacker and hashcode0f for doing pretty much all the hard work on this stuff, for everyone else to enjoy!

So as you all know, I have been working with pcarenza to get some more knowledge on how to port ROMs. While I'm doing this for the Galaxy S4, it can easily be done with other devices.

My learning is still a work in progress but I wanted to share what I have so far.

This guide will assume that you are already running Ubuntu, or already have a Virtual Machine setup. This is NOT a guide for how to do that.

First thing we want to do is to get you a build environment going. For that, you're going to open a terminal in Ubuntu and enter the following lines, pressing "Enter" after each command:

First, you're going to get rid of OpenJava, it will not build Android.

Code:

sudo apt-get purge openjdk-\* icedtea-\* icedtea6-\*
sudo aptitude remove '~Pjava-runtime' '~Pjava-compiler'

Now you're going to install SunJava6

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy main multiverse"
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-updates main multiverse"
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ lucid partner"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk

That will get you Java6 installed, Java6 is needed to build for Gingerbread and higher. Next we're going to install the required packages.

In Terminal again, enter this line, then press the "Enter" key:

Code:

sudo apt-get install git gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential \
  zip curl libc6-dev libncurses5-dev:i386 x11proto-core-dev \
  libx11-dev:i386 libreadline6-dev:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 \
  libgl1-mesa-dev g++-multilib mingw32 tofrodos \
  python-markdown libxml2-utils xsltproc zlib1g-dev:i386

Now this line:

Code:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so.1 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libGL.so

Ok so here we are! You've gotten Java installed, you got your build environment all setup, now it's time to setup your directories and get to downloading source! First thing you're going to want to do is setup your working directory. For this we are going to enter these lines in Terminal:

Code:

mkdir ~/bin
PATH=~/bin:$PATH

Now we're going to download the repo tool and make sure it's executable:

Code:

curl https://dl-ssl.google.com/dl/googlesource/git-repo/repo > ~/bin/repo
chmod a+x ~/bin/repo

Next, in order to port most of the ROMs, your device needs to have a stable CM-10.1 or CM-10.2 build.

Once that part is done, head over to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Now you're going to need to poke around the CM source on github and find the necessary device, vendor and kernel repos for your device. This can easily be done by searching their github for repos with your device codename in them. (Example the VZW Galaxy S4's codename is jfltevzw)

Remember this guide is following with porting ROMs to the Galaxy S4. Knowing this, the following repos are the ones I would need to take note of:

Code:

android_device_samsung_qcom-common
android_device_samsung_msm8960-common
android_device_samsung_jf-common
android_kernel_samsung_jf
android_hardware_samsung

Now, please do not ask me what repos are for your device, I do not know and that would be something for you to figure out. An easy way to find them, if your device is officially or unofficially supported by CM is to build CM for it. After you do that, just go into your build folder, then navigate to /device/OEMhere/MODELhere/ (Example, mine would be /device/samsung/jfltevzw/) and find the "cm.dependencies" file. This will list all the repos needed to build any CM based ROM for your device.

After noting all the repos you need, now it's time to sync some source! First thing you need to do is go to the github page of the ROM you want to build/port. Look for a repo they have which is usually named "platform_maniest." Some of them are named differently and can be "android," "android_build," or even just "build."

What you're looking for is a "README" file. This file will give you the proper "repo init" code to sync their source.

In the next chapter, we will pick up on syncing source and making manifest edits.