Typical Android system implementing fastboot (this includes FirefoxOS devices) uses so called boot.img images to run the kernel. It consist of the kernel itself and a ramdisk that it used to populate root (/) filesystem. Because it’s often useful to edit this filesystem (especially to modify /default.prop file), let’s look how we can manipulate this image. I already briefly described how this can be done as part of my older post but now I’m going to describe more advanced and standalone (you don’t need Android sources for it) tool. more ...

ClockworkMod Recovery is a replacement recovery system for Android devices developed as part of famous CyanogenMod project. Because under the hood FirefoxOS reuses most low-level components from Android, we can use this recovery to easily backup and restore for example Alcatel One Touch Fire devices (but the steps shown here should be similar for other devices). This guide shows how to port and build ClockworkMod to AOTF devices by yourself. more ...

Alcatel One Touch Fire is one of first two production phones running Firefox OS. Unlike ZTE Open, I haven’t seen too much information on how to make it hacker friendly. This is why I created this short guide.

First thing you want to do with your phone when doing some Firefox OS development is to flash your custom firmware built. Currently the phone is running the only stable release of the system which is 1.0.1. Because of the way Mozilla does its development, it feels like it’s ancient and the first thing you want to do with the phone when you get it is to upgrade the software. After recently fixed bug, at least version 1.1 should be working OK. Let’s see how can safely try it. more ...

My first Firefox OS application was accepted to the Firefox OS Marketplace. It’s called ICM Meteo and it’s ...

I’ve got my hands on Alcatel One Touch Fire couple days ago so I decided to write couple of words about its drawbacks. Don’t get me wrong, even though I will only complain in this post, I’m quite impressed by this device as a whole. You can buy it for 404 PLN (it seems that T-mobile salesmen have a sense of humor) which is about 130 USD, without any simlock protection or a contract - that’s quite low price for Polish standards. It’s a very early version of the software (1.0.1) but it seems to be stable and usable - you can make phone calls, receive/send text messages, use Internet browser, listen to the music, or even watch Youtube. And don’t laugh, that’s not so obvious for me - couple years ago I bought OpenMoko FreeRunner for much, much bigger price and it never got that far (It was a great project, with very different goals, though). System generally runs quite smooth, you have GPS, accelerometer, camera, touchscreen and quite a lot of storage space - not bad for that price. There are, however, some imperfections and It’s not that easy to find informations about them on the Internet so let’s get started. more ...