InkBox for Sony E-Readers Porting Attempt

NonaSuomy · 04-30-2022, 11:38 AM

Hi All,

We’re trying to port InkBox https://github.com/Kobo-InkBox/inkbox to other devices like the Sony E-Readers if you have any information on Sony’s hardware to get a Linux kernel up and running please contact me in this Discord Channel

https://discord.gg/SwGSrpYC

https://discord.com/channels/8092057...54812567130152

So far we got the Kernel compiling from Sony sources

https://oss.sony.net/Products/Linux/..._20140702.html

The PRS-T1 is similar to the Kobo Touch N905A/B (Not C) and Nook Simple.
Processor is an NXP MX508 which InkBox is already ported to.

The current issue is the watchdog timer resets the device during U-Boot and our uImage is too large.

If anyone knows how to prevent this let me know. The size issue stems from building busybox into the uImage (3.2MB) without busybox it’s normally 2.2MB.

I would like to thank @JPA for their UART information and SD image as this helped me get my corrupted eMMC out of the equation and things booting from the SDCard.

I’ve mind dumped everything so far that we have tried in the discord channel if anyone wants some haphazard fumbling reading material.

If you know things about U-Boot / watchdogs / i2c / mx508 / old kernels ( 2.6.35.3 please tell me what’s up!

There are a few other projects found that do similar things. I’ve tried to contact the creators but they seem lost to time.
https://gitlab.com/phreakuencies/prstux
This almost compiles. It is supposed to spit out a final flashing image called prstux.img instead just something called final_root.tar seems like it it’s missing the kernel compiling portion of the script.
http://fread.ink/
Got stuck in vagarent build issues.

NonaSuomy · 05-14-2022, 09:47 AM

We are currently loading from the SDCard slot (to avoid bad eMMC’s on these units) and have a compiled kernel from the Sony sources booting but getting some eMMC can’t read errors (running the stock kernel from SDCard the unit boots fine). It seems to need to read VCOM from some place on the eMMC in this custom compiled kernel. I’m not sure where yet and why my compile doesn’t know where that is.

If anyone has a Sony PRS-T2 or PRS-T3 that can run rupor’s recovery please extract this file for me /proc/config.gz

Thank you.

NonaSuomy · 05-15-2022, 10:07 AM

We successfully were able to accomplish kernel compiling with a busybox prompt. Next is to tackle that VCOM loading issue.

coolloser · 06-12-2022, 04:48 PM

Just got my PRS-T1 back and am looking forward to this possibly happening!

04-30-2022, 11:38 AM	#1
NonaSuomy Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2022 Device: None	InkBox for Sony E-Readers Porting Attempt Hi All, We’re trying to port InkBox https://github.com/Kobo-InkBox/inkbox to other devices like the Sony E-Readers if you have any information on Sony’s hardware to get a Linux kernel up and running please contact me in this Discord Channel https://discord.gg/SwGSrpYC https://discord.com/channels/8092057...54812567130152 So far we got the Kernel compiling from Sony sources https://oss.sony.net/Products/Linux/..._20140702.html The PRS-T1 is similar to the Kobo Touch N905A/B (Not C) and Nook Simple. Processor is an NXP MX508 which InkBox is already ported to. The current issue is the watchdog timer resets the device during U-Boot and our uImage is too large. If anyone knows how to prevent this let me know. The size issue stems from building busybox into the uImage (3.2MB) without busybox it’s normally 2.2MB. I would like to thank @JPA for their UART information and SD image as this helped me get my corrupted eMMC out of the equation and things booting from the SDCard. I’ve mind dumped everything so far that we have tried in the discord channel if anyone wants some haphazard fumbling reading material. If you know things about U-Boot / watchdogs / i2c / mx508 / old kernels ( 2.6.35.3 please tell me what’s up! There are a few other projects found that do similar things. I’ve tried to contact the creators but they seem lost to time. https://gitlab.com/phreakuencies/prstux This almost compiles. It is supposed to spit out a final flashing image called prstux.img instead just something called final_root.tar seems like it it’s missing the kernel compiling portion of the script. http://fread.ink/ Got stuck in vagarent build issues.

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05-14-2022, 09:47 AM	#2
NonaSuomy Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2022 Device: None	We are currently loading from the SDCard slot (to avoid bad eMMC’s on these units) and have a compiled kernel from the Sony sources booting but getting some eMMC can’t read errors (running the stock kernel from SDCard the unit boots fine). It seems to need to read VCOM from some place on the eMMC in this custom compiled kernel. I’m not sure where yet and why my compile doesn’t know where that is. If anyone has a Sony PRS-T2 or PRS-T3 that can run rupor’s recovery please extract this file for me /proc/config.gz Thank you.

05-15-2022, 10:07 AM	#3
NonaSuomy Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2022 Device: None	We successfully were able to accomplish kernel compiling with a busybox prompt. Next is to tackle that VCOM loading issue.

06-12-2022, 04:48 PM	#4
coolloser Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 451448 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: Sony Prs-600,T2, Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura, Kindle 3G/PW4/PW5/O3	Just got my PRS-T1 back and am looking forward to this possibly happening!