To upgrade the firmware (I flashed official 1.20) just copy the firmware file (named a320.hxf) to the root folder of the dingoo internal memory, disconnect it from your computer and switch it off, then press and hold “down” and switch on your dingoo again. After the firwmare has been updated the a320.hfx file can be deleted from the dingoo.

To check the LCD type (to choose the correct kernel and dual-boot bootloader for Dingux) just go to system setup – about, and press up-right-down, up-right-down. My LCD module is ILI9331.

To work with a variable sized VDI file, you have to dump it to a dd file first (COPYDD); this will create a fixed size dump that then can be opened on a loop device. The variable sized file does not allow mounting as the fs driver needs to see the expected disk size.

So we proceed as follows:

~/.VirtualBox/VDI$ vditool COPYDD win.vdi dump
vditool    Copyright (c) 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Then we look where the partition starts, in my case this was a WinXP fat32 formatted filesystem:

~/.VirtualBox/VDI$ hexdump -C -v dump |head -n 30000 |grep -i dos
00007e00  eb 58 90 4d 53 44 4f 53  35 2e 30 00 02 10 24 00  |.X.MSDOS5.0...$.|
00008a00  eb 58 90 4d 53 44 4f 53  35 2e 30 00 02 10 24 00  |.X.MSDOS5.0...$.|
~/.VirtualBox/VDI$

Then we mount it:

~/.VirtualBox/VDI$ sudo mount -o loop,offset=0x7e00,umask=000 -o ro dump /mnt/

1) Create a logical volume to install the guest

$ sudo lvcreate -v -n phq_mail -L 80G vg0 /dev/md1
    Setting logging type to disk
    Finding volume group \"vg0\"
    Creating directory \"/etc/lvm/archive\"
    Archiving volume group \"vg0\" metadata (seqno 6).
    Creating logical volume phq_mail
    Creating volume group backup \"/etc/lvm/backup/vg0\" (seqno 7).
    Found volume group \"vg0\"
    Creating vg0-phq_mail
    Loading vg0-phq_mail table
    Resuming vg0-phq_mail (254:5)
    Clearing start of logical volume \"phq_mail\"
    Creating volume group backup \"/etc/lvm/backup/vg0\" (seqno 7).
  Logical volume \"phq_mail\" created

Remember you can view all your logical volumes using lvdisplay

2) Creating a network segment to separate the servers from the rest of the network (the clients will use routing through the host to access the server).

$ vim ~/pofhq-servers.xml
	
<network>
  <name>default</name>
  <uuid>e81218cf-6d5a-4a6f-8af8-b2d5b77947be</uuid>
  <bridge name=\"virbr%d\" />
  <forward/>
  <ip address=\"192.168.25.1\" netmask=\"255.255.255.0\">
    <dhcp>
      <range start=\"192.168.25.2\" end=\"192.168.25.30\" />
    </dhcp>
  </ip>
</network>
	
$ virsh net-define pofhq-servers.xml
Network pofhq-servers defined from pofhq-servers.xml
	
$ virsh net-create pofhq-servers.xml
Network pofhq-servers created from pofhq-servers.xml
	
$ virsh net-autostart pofhq-servers
Network pofhq-servers marked as autostarted
	
$ rm ~/pofhq-servers.xml

This will create the file pofhq-servers.xml into /etc/libvirt/qemu/networks and link it to autostart folder.

Optionally, if you don’t want to use the ‘default’ network segment, you can delete it:

$ virsh net-undefine default
$ virsh net-destroy default

This will automatically delete de default-network.xml file (and autostart symlink if present) on /etc/libvirt/qemu/networks.

3) Installing the guest operating system using virtio for best virtual machine network and disk performance

We will start by letting virt-install create the default VM template for us:

$ sudo virt-install -n phq_mail -r 1024 -f /dev/vg0/phq_mail -c ubuntu-server.iso --accelerate --vnc --noautoconsole -v
Starting install...
Creating domain...                                                 0 B 00:00
Domain installation still in progress.  You can reconnect to
the console to complete the installation process.

Right after this, we will stop the VM and edit it’s configuration manually:

$ virsh shutdown phq_mail
$ virsh dumpxml phq_mail > phq_mail.xml
$ virsh undefine phq_mail
$ virsh destroy phq_mail
$ vim phq_mail.xml

Make the following modifications:

• Boot from CD:

  <os>
    <type>hvm</type>
    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
  </os>
	
    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
      <source file='/home/pau/ubuntu-8.10-server-i386.iso'/>
      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
      <readonly/>
    </disk>

• Use virtio for the hard disk:

    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
      <source dev='/dev/vg0/phq_mail'/>
      <target dev='vda' bus='virtio'/>
    </disk>

• Use virtio for the network:

    <interface type='network'>
      <mac address='00:16:36:7a:7b:7c'/>
      <source network='pofhq-servers'/>
      <model type='virtio'/>
    </interface>

Save the file, and create again the virtual machine with the new config:

$ virsh define phq_mail.xml
Connecting to uri: qemu:///system
Domain phq_mail defined from phq_mail.xml
	
$ virsh create phq_mail.xml
Connecting to uri: qemu:///system
Domain phq_mail created from phq_mail.xml
	
$ virsh autostart phq_mail
Connecting to uri: qemu:///system
Domain phq_mail marked as autostarted

Install normally, and then change the boot option to ‘hd’ to boot from normal hard disk again when installation has been finished (if needed, use shutdown/undefine/destroy and define/create/autostart again after finishing the installation).

4) If the guest VM you have installed is Ubuntu, remember to install acpid, for the VM to shutdown cleanly.

5) Useful documentation:

• http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Virtio
• http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Tips
• https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/serverguide/C/libvirt.html
• http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1026006

=== nbimg v1.1
=== Convert NB <--> BMP splash screens
=== (c)2008 Pau Oliva - pof @ xda-developers
	
Usage: nbimg -F file.[nb|bmp]
	
Mandatory arguments:
   -F <filename>    Filename to convert.
                    If the extension is BMP it will be converted to NB.
                    If the extension is NB it will be converted to BMP.
	
Optional arguments:
   -w <width>       Image width in pixels. If not specified will be autodetected.
   -h <height>      Image height in pixels. If not specified will be autodetected.
   -t <pattern>     Manually specify the padding pattern (usually 0 or 255).
   -p <size>        Manually specify the padding size.
   -n               Do not add HTC splash signature to NB file.
   -s               Output smartphone format.
	
NBH arguments:      (only when converting from BMP to NBH)
   -D <model_id>    Generate NBH with specified Model ID (mandatory)
   -S <chunksize>   NBH SignMaxChunkSize (64 or 1024)
   -T <type>        NBH header type, this is typically 0x600 or 0x601

Example to convert a NB to BMP:

$ ./nbimg.exe -F diamond137.nb
=== nbimg v1.1
=== Convert NB <--> BMP splash screens
=== (c)2008 Pau Oliva - pof @ xda-developers
	
[] File: diamond137.nb
[] Image dimensions: 480x640
[] Encoding: diamond137.nb.bmp
[] Done!

Example to convert a BMP to NB:

$ ./nbimg.exe -F diamond137.bmp
=== nbimg v1.1
=== Convert NB <--> BMP splash screens
=== (c)2008 Pau Oliva - pof @ xda-developers
	
[] File: diamond137.bmp
[] Encoding: diamond137.bmp.nb
[] Image dimensions: 480x640
[] Done!

Download

version 1.1

• Linux version (source code): nbimg-1.1.tar.gz
• Windows version: nbimg-1.1win32.zip

version 1.0

• Linux version (source code): nbimg-1.0.tar.gz
• Windows version: nbimg-1.0win32.zip

First, for those who still don’t know what UNR is, a picture is worth 1000 words:

Here are the instructions:

1) Go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources. Click on Third Party software. Click Add…, and add the following:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/netbook-remix-team/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/netbook-remix-team/ubuntu hardy main

Then Click Close and Click Reload.

Advanced users can just add the above lines to their /etc/apt/sources.list (and run sudo apt-get update afterwards).

2) Install all netbook remix packages:

$ sudo apt-get install go-home-applet window-picker-applet maximus human-netbook-theme ume-launcher

3) Once installed, you’ll need to add maximus to autostart for your session. You’ll also need to setup the gnome-panel to look like the screenshots, basically:

• Delete bottom panel
• Setup top panel like: GoHomeApplet|WindowPickerApplet|NotificationArea|MixerApplet|Clock

UPDATE: This has been fixed in current ume-launcher version.

You’ll notice that the icons are very small by default, this is because UNR doesn’t support resolutions below 1024×600. I have done a patch to ume-launcher which increases the icon size, available in launchpad bug #237373.

So, if you prefer bigger icons, just download my patched ume-launcher_0.3ubuntu3_i386.deb, and install it.

HTCFlasher -formerly known as HERMflasher- is an open source tool which allows you to flash ROMs on most current HTC devices. It has some extra features that the original HTC RUU doesn’t have, like for example it can present a serial prompt to the bootloader (replacing mtty), or it can dump NBH file contents (.nb ROM parts).

Currently most new HTC devices are supported, and the basic set of functions to work with every HTC bootloader has been implemented, so adding support for new bootloader versions or new devices should be quite easy to do, if not working out of the box.

For an incomplete list, see SupportedDevices.

Supported Operating Systems

• GNU/Linux x86 and x86_64
• Win32/Cygwin (except Vista)
• Mac OS X (intel based)

Features

• Flash NBH files: replaces the Windows Rom Upgrade Utility (RUU)
• Extract NBH files: replaces windows tools like nbhextract
• Serial prompt: replaces mtty / minicom
• Easy to use Gtk GUI

Screenshots

Main Window

Flash NBH file

For more information:

• HTCFlasher Project Page
• HTCFlasher WIKI
• Download

Typical usage is to start it as daemon (-d option) when you start your X session, and map each button to the desired function. For example, you can go into Gnome menu System -> Settings -> Sessions. There you find a tab named ‘Startup Programs’, and add the following:

    shiftbuttons -d -c \"gksudo /usr/bin/hsect2\" -r htcshift-rotate

This will launch hsect2 when you press the CommManager button, and will rotate the screen when you press the switch resolution button.

System wide configuration can be changed at /etc/xdg/autostart/shiftbuttons.desktop.

htcshift-rotate is also included in the tarball and the debian package.

Download

Source code: shiftbuttons-1.0.tar.gz
Ubuntu / Debian package: shiftbuttons_1.0-1_i386.deb

Download

gsensor-joy-1.1.tar.gz

Install Instructions

Download the tarball, extract it to some temporary directory, compile and install it:

   # make
   # make install

Load the needed modules:

   #modprobe i2c_i801
   #modprobe i2c_dev
   #modprobe gsensor-joy
   #modprobe joydev

If you want that automatically loaded every boot, you can also add them to /etc/modules.

For X.org configuration see the README file included in the tarball.

Here’s a demo video playing TuxRacer…

Demo Video

Actually there’s a Linux kernel module for the HP Mobile Data Protection System 3D (mdps) by Yan Burman, which is the same accelerometer used in some HP laptops, however those laptops have the accelerometer connected through an SPI interface instead of i2c, so the driver is not suitable for the HTC Shift as it is, but maybe in the future…

As a proof of concept, here’s an small userland tool that will show the output of X,Y,Z axis when moving the HTC Shift, just as if it was the Wii Remote To use it you need to modprobe i2c_i801 and i2c_dev modules first.

Download: i2c-gsensor.tar.gz.

Update (05/06/2008): gsensor-joy: HTC Shift G-Sensor Joystick Linux kernel module

Features:

• Turn on and off WLAN
• Turn on and off Bluetooth
• Enter and exit CE (ARM) Bootloader mode (SPL)
• Enter Radio Bootloader / OEMSBL*
• Reboot Windows CE
• Switch To CE / SnapVUE
• Change the LEDs*

* features only available via command line

This means you don’t need to boot Vista anymore to enable Wifi or Bluetooth after removing the battery, now you can do it on Linux or WinXP

Download binary package

Ubuntu / debian package: hsect_2.1-1_i386.deb
Windows cygwin executable (no GTK support): hsect-2.1win32.zip

Download source

hsect-2.1.tar.gz
hsect-2.0.tar.gz
hsect-1.0.tar.gz

Many thanks to Esteve Espuña who helped me with Syser, the Vista kernel debugger we used to understand how the EC Controller driver (ecdrv.sys) works, and to cmonex who told me the DeviceIoControl she uses in her windows program to enter and leave bootloader mode and reboot CE, which translate directly to the EC commands used in this tool.