Hello project followers, Just a quick update on where the FreeCalypso project stands. I am still reconstructing the full-source form of TI's Calypso reference firmware, the one which we currently have only in semi-src form, running on TI's Leonardo board and on the GTA02 modem. How can one reconstruct a full source from a semi-src (half src, half objects) in which half of the original source is missing? By finding matching source pieces in other TI source leaks (the "Peek" LoCosto one mostly) and reintegrating them one by one onto the reconstructed FreeCalypso firmware skeleton.
There are a few binary objects in the Leonardo semi-src for which no matching source could be found in any of the available leaks. I am currently working on one of these hard pieces: the OS Adaptation Layer part of the GPF, the thin layer that sits between the Nucleus RTOS microkernel and the higher sublayers of GPF. GPF stands for Generic Protocol stack Framework, and it is the foundation on which Condat's GSM/GPRS radio protocol stack is built. Back in the days when TI actively maintained their firmware for Calypso, LoCosto and other offerings in this family, the GPF code was already so stable and independent of the rest of the firmware that it was distributed and used mostly as binary libraries even inside TI, it seems. Take the LoCosto source for example: all of L1, L2 and L3 code is compiled from source, but GPF comes from *.lib files that are pulled into the build as blobs. But fortunately we've been able to find the real C source for most of GPF. The Leonardo semi-src includes a few pieces of GPF C source despite not actually using them in the build (which uses *.lib blobs instead); the LoCosto find includes the source for some *other* parts of GPF - once again, not actually used in the build which uses *.lib blobs. By putting together the GPF source bits from the Leonardo and LoCosto finds, we now have the original C source for *most* of GPF - and this source has already been integrated into the gcc-built FreeCalypso GSM firmware tree. The thin OS Adaptation Layer between Nucleus and the rest of GPF, and the equally thin OSX layer between GPF and L1, are the only two parts of GPF for which the original C source could not be found. The first out of these two (OSL) is needed in order build a test fw image with GPF included, hence it is the part I'm working on now; the other (OSX) should not be needed until it is time to integrate L1, so I plan on tackling it at that time. I am reconstructing the missing/lost source for the OSL part of GPF from the binary object form, by a process of disassembly followed by decompilation. The disassembly step is automated with a special tool I wrote for this purpose. See the leo-obj subtree in this Hg tree: https://bitbucket.org/falconian/freecalypso-reveng Anyone who wonders just how much info can be extracted from these COFF binary objects is invited to see for herself: hg clone https://bitbucket.org/falconian/freecalypso-reveng cd freecalypso-reveng/leo-obj make Look at the *.disasm and *.ctypes files that will be produced, and revel at all of the juicy C-level symbolic info contained therein. All that stuff has been extracted out of the object blobs; the only inputs to the tiobjd tool are the *.obj artifacts and some really minimal hints in the *.hints files (see for yourselves how minimal they are). Who was it who said (some 2.5 y ago on this list) that the ware in question is nothing more than useless blobs? The next step is decompilation, and it's being done in the gsm-fw/gpf subtree of the other Hg tree: https://bitbucket.org/falconian/freecalypso-sw The gsm-fw/gpf/osl directory contains the C modules which I am reconstructing from the above *.disasm through manual decompilation; the other subdirectories of gsm-fw/gpf contain the rest of GPF, the source for which has been found in the Leonardo and/or LoCosto semi-src. The inc subdirectory contains all of the original GPF header files, used by both the original sources and the ones I am reconstructing. Peruse the two source repositories above to see where the project stands; look at the commit history to judge the pace at which it is going. Viva la Revolucion, SF _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community