As a mobile devices enthusiast, I am here to ask Qualcomm to be a real community oriented company.
You are well aware of hardware accelerated UI in the Android 4.0 ICS, that relies heavily on GPU of device. Google, with its AOSP has decided not support Nexus One and related devices. As a user community, we have long stopped relying on HTC and Google to support the devices - this is now a community effort, that brings joy to millions, and is a true development pass time for many.
Since the ICS source outing, many community projects have been started to bring the new platform to older devices, but all of them (for devices based on this and similiar platforms) are missing the proprietary user space drivers, needed for the Hardware Acceleration to work.
I believe it would be a great move for a company like Qualcomm to support advanced users and entusiast in their efforts to port the ICS to Adreno 200 based devices.
I sincerely hope you will at least consider this request and decide to support the community - the same community that with their enthusiasm helped to make the smartphone market what it is today.
Take into account that we do not ask for much, it just a set of compiled binaries that you surelly have already, or are easy for you to make. We do not expect you to support the release, or do bugfixes. It would be even better if you could supply the source code - but lets not push it too far :)
Best Regards
As a fellow mobile device and open-source enthusiast, I would also like to see Qualcom become a community oriented company. I and many others would praise Qualcom for releasing a userspace driver implemenation for the Adreno 200 devices. Though this might not be possible, releasing ICS compatible binaries would greatly help devlopment move forward for those devices. If the source code was release, Qualcom could have the full backing of the community to improve performance of the driver if needed.
Having been a mobile developer since the first days of Android, I have watched a lot of devices come along that entice consumers to forget about upgrade dates and prior expenses just to have the newest technology. The first time that happens, though, they tend to hold on to that phone. It is their first big mobile hardware purchase and almost as valuable as a new car. It is the newest, best thing they own. That feeling used to last a couple years. With the way Android has moved faster and faster on the coding side, hardware can barely keep up. Phones release with versions that are already obsolete and it is hard to find that one phone with the newest version available.
What we, as developers, attempt to do is bridge that gap. We restore that feeling that the consumer is still going to get to use the newest toys without having to switch carriers and give up the hardware they need for the software they want. We can't do it alone, though. Samsung has already closed the door on us by locking Ice Cream Sandwich in a cage and waving the key at those of us who don't want their hardware because we chose yours. Help us take back that key and show Google that Qualcomm can make Android look even better. We won't give up on you, so please don't give up on us. Please provide the tools we need to make this happen. Thank you.
Can You at least dignify our question with an answer?
Ever since I got my HTC Desire about 1,5 years ago, I started using custom roms so I could always be up to date with the most recent software version. When HTC officially declined to support Ice Cream Sandwich for my device, I had to rely even more on the Android community. People started working on various abandoned devices, including popular devices like the HTC Desire and the Nexus S. Most of these roms (i.e. Cyanogenmod) have major advandages over the stock roms and ultimately promote Android by providing safer and more reliable Android devices. However with closed-source drivers or no drivers at all, those roms are hard or even impossible to build. So I'd like to make my voice heard as well by asking Qualcomm to either offer drivers that can be used or even releasing source code, adding to the open source idea of Android. I know there are trade secrets and patents involved but it would mean a great deal to every Android fan out there if Qualcomm could consider this proposal. In the meantime rom developers will probably start working on developing their own display drivers, however this could be a painfully long task which could be easily made much simpler by Qualcomm. So please think about this idea and let us what you think.
While an official response to a request like this won't be found in the community forums, I can acknowledge that we have seen your feedback. Thanks.
Thank you for an answer. You should alarm those who make the decisions that ICS and Hardware Accelaration on the "legacy" devices is going to happen - in fact it's happening as we speak for the HD2.
Qualcomm could - with the right timing (that is now) gather a lot positive press coverage, and be forever remembered as a company that supports the community of it users (and make them pick the chipset of their next devices based on their positive expirience).
If you decide to react to late, or worse not at all - all of this free, positive publicity will be forever lost.
Good luck with the decision making :)
As an end-user of custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod, I'd greatly appreciate the open sourcing of these drivers. I seriously think it would be great for many of us who have use the devices that employ this chip combo. We are pretty much screwed out of updates from our manufacturers and therefore rely on awesome developers and dev teams to deliver the latest softwares that we'd otherwise not have access to. These devices aren't as obsolete as everyone would like us to believe. I've had my Droid Incredible running Sense versions that were literally not designed for it just fine. I don't feel we should be out of the loop for Ice Cream Sandwich when the devices we have are more than capable of handling the software.
The libraries' closed-source nature is really the only thing holding devs back from creating proper ports of this wonderful software.
In all honesty, what would you have to lose by open-sourcing driver files for hardware that is obsolete anyway? ;)
Not a developer - just another user with an Adreno 200 GPU. Really hoping you can step up and support these community based efforts. As someone already said, it won't be forgotten. Having been an enthusiast in the smart phone world for a few years now, I can say that I have certainly formed brand allegances (and aversions) as devices have come and gone. I'd like to count your brand as a positive consideration when deciding on a new device.
Thanks!
Where are the drivers? I want to use Android 4 on my HTC Bravo, which it says to support OpenGL ES 2!
Release the drivers, please!
It's a stupid thing that i have to buy a new smartphone for using android 4 costs 5-600 € when i don't have a job! Make available the driver by this site, so developers can download them and make custom coocked ROM for people who want to use his own smartphone or tablet instead of buy a new one for new features!!!
Hello. A HTC Desire owner and end user of custom roms here. I would also like to request your support with this.
Thank You!
It is supported by me this request!
As a HTC Desire owner, I adhere to the concept of Community outreach, and support for older devices.
This will be greatly appreciated.
Whilst not a Dev, I thoroughly enjoy Alpha & Beta testing the latest builds on my Android device.
Showing that my £400 investment in a phone (that is only a year or so old) can still have the latest and greatest software is especially important in the current times of hardship/recession. Do consumers really want to effectively flush £200/year on a new phone? I know I don't.
Releasing drivers to the community ... even if they're unsupported ... would be appreciated by thousands of users worldwide, who have long given up awaiting on their carriers who have neither the inclination or the business model to develop for older devices.
Please let the community take over for where our carriers fail us ...
Please release the drivers, even in their current state, to help the developers and further the likelihood of someone like me buying a product using a qualicomm chipset again.
Please do support us the community by releasing the driver.
This is not only a huge support for the community but also a very valuable support for all Desire owners which are also Qualcomm's customers.
Releasing the driver will be also a very good example which shows the world that Qualcomm is a company which is more caring to the community and its customer than the other companies with similar products.
We will be more than grateful if Qualcomm can support us this time.
I agree. More open source is always good, and then I can get ICS on my beloved Incredible.
Good afternoon! As your company is leaders in manufacture of mobile processors, I think the public would be pleasantly surprised by support of out-of-date devices in the name of your company.
Yours faithfully, owner HTC Desire;)
Hello,
I'm supporting this by asking to give our beloved developers the drivers they need so they can increase the lifespan of my device.
Bu also to give an example to show companies similar to yours how to work together with private developers to make amazing things possible for hunderds or even thouasands of enthousiastic users.
Thank you in advance!
Essentially - me too! I'm in the process of learning about ARM-based devices and development for them (a Software Engineer by training) and I'm a big fan of Qualcomm-based devices such as my HTC Desire and Android in general. I think it would only further improve my opinions of these things if we could get some open source drivers too!
Basically - everything the OP said!
Thanks!
Hello,
Another fellow Adreno 200 user (HTC Desire) signing in and asking for those binaries to be sourced out. I'm just a regular end user that doesn't agree with the fragmentation that is happening in the android market. It's our right to be able to enjoy new software with devices that are barely 2 years old and have the needed hardware. If you share this with our community devs you will make a great name of yourselves and I for myself will only be buying Qualcom products for sure and also advising my friends to do so. You can do it, just like Samsung supports Cyanogen team and just like HTC rethought their decision on locked bootloaders and released update which made unlocking of the Sensation and EVO 3D possible.
Best Regards,
Dimitar
Hello,
i would like to support this request.
Best Regards
Martin Knapovsky
i would like to support this request.
Dear Qualcomm,
I'm asking you in name of me and many other users of your great Adreno 200 based devices to HELP community and us.
Thank you in advance.
JUST RELEASE THE SOURCE FOR US PLEASE
Hello, a happy desire user over here.
Would realy like to see the drivers so we also can use ics!
Desire owner here and always used custom roms. I and all of the communities would be so grateful!
Desire owner here and always used custom roms. I and all of the communities would be so grateful!
Please help support " legacy devices", it will also help us help you keep the name of Qualcomm live, because one more device with your processor will still be running ICS!
Your asistance will be appreciated by millions more than you'd think.
please help community developers to support devices such as the popular htc desire by releasing legacy drivers as oen source. the open source community does not ask for support or warrenty and, or even your further contribution to said drivers, however simply releasing the code under a foss licence eg gpl v3 you would be helping the millions of users to recieve continued support for older devices from individules both unheard of, and as famous as the cyanogenmod team. sorry for bad formatting, the editor is hard to use on android.
Hello Community,
I wholeheartedly support the request for the neccessary code to help our Devs gain hardware accelleration in ICS.
I realise it may be a big ask but it will make a huge difference to a great phone.
Pretty please? ;-)
Adriano
By helping us you won't just be helping us but you will be helping yourselves even more. Please release the drivers needed, not just drivers for the QSD 8250 devices, but later newer drivers aswell. I know you will be doing yourself and the company a huge favour with benifits and praise all around :)
Hope fully you will release the drivers
Thankyou
+1
Old proccessor. There's no _real_ good reason not to release drivers to it.
Please release the so needed drivers.
Well I'm no developer. I'm no developer at all. But I am a proud HTC Desire owner. I love my Smarthphone and I love how much the community gives me the oppurtunity to use this device far beyond the imagination of HTC. Android 2.3.x wont work? Pah! Sense 3.x wont work either? Ridiculous! The devs did it all. I can use my phone with nearly the latest software brought to the Android Universe.
But now the devs need help. Your help. They need (we need!) the drivers for our devices to keep them up and running with the latest OS version. Please support us. Support the community. Support the devices with your hardware. Thank you!
I have also HTC Desire and I really love my phone. We all (owners of Bravo) know that it is able to support the Android 4.0 ICS, but requires well working drivers. Please, publish them to our community.
Hello,
i would like to support this request.
Best Regards,
Folkert
As an owner and developer I also would like to have the drivers
I agree with all the points made here. We need the drivers open source to be able to keep our devices up to date.
I'd like to support this request. Looking forward to your response!
I want also support this request.
Hello. A HTC Desire owner and end user of custom roms here. I would also like to request your support with this.
Thank You!
Hi
I would also appreciate having these sources
Thanks
The Desire isn't the only device that uses this hardware, a driver release would enable upwards of thousands of users of different devices the use of ICS, you'd be doing A LOT of people a favour, I'm sure it wouldn't take that long to make such a large corporation as yourself to do this..Think of the PR factor you'd be getting, and the future interests by big companies such as HTC and Samsung
+1
As mentioned in the original post, binary drivers compatible with Android 4.0 ICS would be extremely helpful.
However, we will probably be back here begging for more when Android 5.0 is released. Therefore, open-source drivers would be the best long-term solution. Qualcomm could make one code drop, and then terminate official support for the hardware whilst allowing enthusiasts to take the drivers forward without limit or assistance. And if Qualcomm wanted to keep contributing to the drivers then they certainly would be welcome to.
Hardware manufacturers such as Qualcomm would do well to consider starting their software drivers as open source projects from the very beginning. Samsung is already making headlines with its Exynos driver contributions to the Linux kernel, and nVidia has similar efforts with Tegra (although neither include 3D GPU support). Ask yourself: why shouldn't this be an open-source project?
Most of your intellectual property is already protected as unique arrangements of physical transistors. Don't make additional future work for yourself by maintaining unnnecessary legal protections over the software interfaces.
please help the Dev comunity.. :)
Hello. A HTC Desire owner and end user of custom roms here. I would also like to request your support with this.
Thank You!
Another HTC Desire owner here, please help the community get ICS onto the phones that have propelled both android, qualcomm and so many other partners to where they are today!
Regards
Hello.
Another HTC Desire and CyanogenMod user asks you to open the driver source code for Adreno and support the community.
Thanks!
Just wishing to add my name to this request. Surveys show that Android users while they do have loyalty to the OS they have little loyalty to hardware manufacturers , It is my belief that those manufactures who cooperate with the wider android community may increase loyalty
I'm joining in: Please help!
Please give us the Source for HTC Desire.
You can take this as Request or Petition. :)
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