Android is working!

My Dell Axim x51v was a precious device when I first bought it. But with the recent developments in the mobile devices, it became old fashioned. But it is still one of the best devices out there with VGA screen and 624 Mhz CPU. So for a few weeks I was trying to run Android on it. I chose the "cupcake" branch, which contains a software keyboard. Without it Android would be useless on my Dell Axim.

And finally, I was able to make it boot. The touschreen works! The keyboard works. I mapped some keys to act as the Menu and Back buttons. Also the D-Pad is fully functional. Of course the device is not yet fully functional, WiFi, power management etc... There are still problems. But I am happy with the progress so far.

Check out the video:

AxDroid - Android on Dell Axim x51v from Ertan D. on Vimeo.

Comments

  1. Wow! Details! More Details! I want it on mine!

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  2. I am glad that someone is interested.

    I will release an alpha image and instructions soon. Currently it's not installable as the primary ROM of the device. We can boot it from the SD card thanks to a tool called Haret.

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  3. I am trying to upload a better quality video. Let's see what happens...

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  4. this is great!! I have a old qtek that really needs to wake up, and android would definetly make me clean his dust again!!!

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  5. Looking forward to any updates! It would be great to breathe life back into a great piece of hardware.

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  6. This is great! I too have tried, but ran into many problems, so glad you were able to make this happen. Please, please post "how to" when able. Congratulatioins

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  7. WOW !!! impressive ! You should contact some people at forum.xda-developers.com
    By going there, i think some people on this forum would be very glad to help you on this fantastic project !

    Congratulations !

    PS : is it possible to run android on a QVGA screen (320x240) or is it only VGA compliant from now ?

    By the way, thanks to you to making this happen !

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  8. Excellent... I recently retired my X51v, but would love to get a build of this to play with. Good work!

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  9. Oh, now I'm going to have to troll craisglist for an Axim instead of saving up for an ADP1 I don't really want anyway.

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  10. This is so strange! About a month ago I wondered and 'googled' for just such a thing with no results. I am very interested in this since I just returned from Iraq and I am back to using my x51v nearly everyday. It may be old but it still does the job. I was able to install a modded Windows Mobile 6.1 but I feel that Android would be better suited for the job. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep up the work on this!!!!

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  11. Oh man, I shelved my old Axim x51v for an iPod touch after the WinMo 6.1 upgrade made the thing to sluggish for me to handle. I look forward to your progress, and hope for a release soon so I can start using it again!

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  12. I wonder if it would work on an earlier Axim model -- I have two, one of which precedes the 51. I never use it, but it's similar. Inherited it, so I never really explored the earlier model much except to consider whether I could change the built-in OS.

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  13. I almost fell off my chair when I found this blog! I have an x50V that I would like to bring out of retirement. Thank you so much for breaking ground in porting Android to this great hardware. Please share your progress with the rest of us. THANK YOU!

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  14. is there any reason that the x50v shouldn't work? i believe they are nearly identical aren't they?

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  15. Now this is what I'm talking about! Android should be ported to every existing piece of hardware that can run it. Especially smartphones. I am dying to run Android on my Samsung Blackjack.

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  16. Thank you, so much! The 'second' wifi is working I'm installing. Despite having been won over by the iphone, I still grab my axim x51v every now and then for a bit of nostalgia. Which is really a waste, because the hardware still stands up even though the software hasn't. Getting a chance to breathe new life into it 'and' play around with android on something other than an emulator sounds too good to be true. Huge thanks from myself, and I'm sure a ton of others.

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  17. Great job! I wonder if the support for the 2700g accelerated opengles is available; if so I would like to port and test amanithvg gle (openvg 1.1) on it asap. Crossing my fingers...

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  18. Nice work!!!! You've got me wondering if my old Toshibe e740 would be able to support Android now :).

    When you get the Wi-Fi up and running if you need a Market alternative feel free to put the AndAppStore client in your distro.

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  19. Yeah, really great ! A few months ago, I read somewhere that it would be almost impossible to have radio working with android in this device because there wasn't any open documentation on it, and of course no linux driver. What do you think of this ? Do you feel there is a way to have radio working ?
    Also, If I remember Lennish has already worked on this, perhaps, you could share your work with him.

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  20. Great job! I'm looking forward to future updates and trying this out myself.. it would a fossil into a device I would use everyday!
    Tom

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  21. Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. There are great advices from some of you. I'll look at them for sure.

    2700G is not yet supported, so no opengles. But I will take a shot of course. There's a driver in linux for that. I may be able to make it work.

    As for the WiFi, I don't know how far I can go with it yet. But there's some hope.

    And x50 should also work with minor modifications. But I don't have it to test.

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  22. Hi, I'm happy about someone could port Android to the Axim, I've been trying this the whole week without unsuccessfully. Could you please give more info about which patches did you apply to the kernel??? and do you use the system.img or did you build your own and how do you mount them???
    Finally, can you please upload the files that you use...
    Sorry for the bother and I'll be very thankful.
    Carlos

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  23. Oh man, i was dreaming about it from a long time! I hate everything in win mobile, excepts total commander ;)

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  24. I would be willing to send out my x50v if necessary for testing. Just let me know if that is something you would consider.

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. Very good! I'm looking to get a T-Mobile G1 in the next couple of months, but it's good to see G1 spreading!

    I caught this blog off of OSNews, and have book marked it. Will come back from time to time to see how you are progressing.

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  27. selam.işlemin yapım aşamaları hakkında bilgiye ihtiyacım var! hp ipaq514 için lütfen bana ulaşın .. teşekkürler..

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  28. i own ipaq 1917 ... any chance it will work on it?

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  29. Are you using HaRet to achieve this? Are the patches available?

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  30. Interesting stuff. I think a lot of old PDAs will be given a new lease of life with this!

    -- www.smartphonedaily.co.uk

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  31. Wow! Where can I get the image?

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  32. awesome! I look forward to your progress...wifi...power management! :)

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  33. awesome! i appreciate your afford and look forward to Axdroid!! :)

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  34. I want the image of your new Android. Can I work on X50 and When will you launch it . Plz

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  35. REALLY looking forward to Android on my X51v! Amazing work! I'm hoping you get wifi working, and less importantly, 2700G support. My Axim has been unused on the shelf for a long time because of the crappy OS on it, but perhaps this means I could start using it again... Any chance for a rom anywhere soon? :)

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  36. This really is a worthwhile project. I'd love to put Android on my x51v too!

    Keep this blog going - 1 post is not enough...

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  37. Nice job men.
    I was thinking on something like that, but i didn´t think it was compatible. As a user of VGA devices like HP hx4700 and the FujitsuSiemens Loox 720, I was searching for ages some WM 6 rom to update them. I´ve managed on Hp, but FS Loox 720 is stuck with the WM 2003 SE.
    Even Alpha version of Android will work better that my WM 2003, 5, or PreOS.
    Keep up the work, and us updated.

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  38. If you post a binary I'd be glad to test it on my X50v. They have nearly identical hardware so I'd think it would run fine. I've tried running some Linux versions on mine using HaRET but they would never mount the SD card properly (probably a formatting thing).

    If the image is already available, where did you get it?

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  39. I have a eeepc and a axim v51x, and they won't synch. I figured that the only way for this to happen is probably to install a linux application in my dell. Ideas?would android be able to do it?

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  40. Wonder if this would work with the Linux Familiar bootloader on an iPAQ?

    http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.8.2/install/bootldr-activesync.html

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  41. I got a Genio 550e. Could it be possible tu run Android?

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  42. Great Dennis! X51v is still alive! I await the end of your work impatiently.

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  43. I cannot wait for an install for this, I would more than love to participate in the QA process. Right now im running around with an Asus aspire netbook for my super portable computing, but it would be amazing to replace it with an android based handheld.

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  44. Congratulation ! I wish you continue on this and make it available. My X51v is waiting for this ;-) Good luck !

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  45. I've got a x51v and would love to help test.

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  46. I'm yet another X51v fanatic who would love to put Android on it. Please keep going, and thanks for the great work!

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  47. Pleeeease!
    Share ROM!!!

    Ertan D. said...
    ...................
    I will release an alpha image and instructions SOON.
    ............................
    March 5, 2009 12:07 AM
    Now May 2, 2009

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  48. I've been in contact with Ertan via email. He has become very busy with work commitments, but will try to post an experimental ROM with rough instructions and source code within the next few days.

    Hopefully we as a community will be able to use this fantastic base to get wifi and other important aspects up and running, finally providing us with a much better OS for our Axims. I think it's safe to say we'll all be very happy when the day comes that we finally have a decent OS on our Axims.

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  49. Is he using the HaRET bootloader to do this?

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  50. cool, can someone hellp me set on android dell axim x51v

    please revolt2@wp.pl

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  51. We're still waiting for the working image. Or perhaps just kernel patches.

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  52. This is AWESOME! I can't wait.

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  53. Fantastic idea! Looking forward to it. Would be glad to beta test.

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  54. Any updates from Ertan himself yet?

    I'm really keen to get my hands on this too - sounds awesome!

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  55. Wow, you're a genius!! Thank you so much for making this happen and for sharing it with us!! I've had my eye on android for a while, now, but I'm too emotionally attached to my x51v to let it go! Now, you gave me the chance of trying android without having to let it go :)

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  56. This is so awesome. I'm so waiting for more info to get Android working on my PDA. Don't have a X51V, only X50V but they should be similar. Thank for all the work!

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  57. Can you explain why the "mirror mode" is required? I am trying to get this running on an X30 (with the same 624Mhz ARM proc), but obviously my unit does not have a mirror mode and so I get a nice shiny black screen after the kernel boots from Haret.

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  58. Fantastic! I've got a hx4700 that would love to be able to run Android... it told me so. How can I help make this available to everyone? Willing to beta test, willing to give concise reports, willing to help financially?

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  59. I've also got a hx4700 and wanna've android on it!

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  60. I would love a copy of this, looks great and would make my old X51v happy.

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  61. I have a Dell Axim 51 that I would love to reserect and get working with the Android OS. I have been reserching this for a long time. Where can I go to get the image for this and the instructions on how to install and get it running?
    V/R
    braddakine@hotmail.com

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  62. I have an Axim X30, after its boots it crash,
    Could you compile one for Dell Axim X30 too?

    Regards,
    Dooitze

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  63. I am looking for ways to resurrect my Axim X51v too.

    Will appreciate someone can show me the steps in installing andriot on it. I believe its the only way ahead to bring the baby back to life

    clementngsk@gmail.com

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  64. i really want to put android on my axim v51 but i have tried for weeks and i havent made it work does someone have a link of the files?

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  65. No luck on getting rom download? been 2 years! this would have rocked...email me asonpar86@yahoo.com if u have download and instructions

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  66. Apparently most stuff has moved here:

    http://axdroid.co.cc/

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  67. Any hope of this being developed for an hx4700? :)

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  68. bonjour
    j'aurai voulu savoir si tu a réussi a modifie ton x51v car je cherche où je pourrai le faire merci encore , si dessous tu trouvera mon mail
    lsylvano@hotmail.fr

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  69. Thank you, Johan, for the link. Not sure how rapidly the project is moving, but it does appear to be moving at least as of Sept. 2010. Wireless is not yet working but seems to be the emphasis of current work. You may download the latest versions and run from a flash card.

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