We’ll refer to this as KompaktOS as Unofficial LineageOS 23.2 - Android 16 for Kompakt is a mouthful.
This ROM has been customized to work for E-ink devices and for this size/resolution in particular. This means that Settings and all default apps have been customized to be black and white.
It is a full ROM running it’s own LineageOS recovery which you’ll have to install first before installing the Rom. Our custom Kernel, Vendor and Recovery open up some features and fix some others. Most imprtantly makes updating this ROM seamless with ADB side-load, or even with OTA updates.
Video guide might come soon, but I’m very busy at the moment. If you’ve never done this, start just getting familiar with installing ADB and backing your device with mtkclient just for peace of mind.
Requirements/steps:
A computer with adb and fastboot: see Install ADB.
Please check the guide on the features and what works/what doesn’t. If you don’t find the answer there you can ask below, I’ll try to answer.
The project has been open sourced, and you can use the patches to make your own builds or try buiding new custom ROMS.
Some of you might not need this today, but you might need it in a few years when apps stop being supported for Android 12. Mudita has made it clear they have no intentions to upgrade the Android version.
Support
I spent hundreds of hours building this, and despite how generous the Kompakt community is, it is a small community and I won’t ever get compensated for the time. I just consider it community service.
However if you find this project useful you can help with the costs of running the linux dedicated server I had to rent to do the builds as I have no x86 machine to do so locally. You can support me here:
This is a game changer, can’t thank you enough for this! IMO this brings the kompakt ahead of every other e-ink android phone and brings a completely new contender to the field. No reason to buy a hibreak, minimal phone, boox Palma, viwoods reader, or Hisense when the kompakt can run the latest lineage optimized for e-ink.
Sincere question here: what is not working? In which case would you recommend keeping stock MuditaKOS with old Android? I cannot find one good reason not to switch.
My MK arrived just yesterday and my worries about security and usability have been lifted. I actually started updating from factory 1.0 this morning (it’s been hours and currently waiting to 1.5 to finish)… and with this being released just minutes ago, I’m opting out of Mudita’s painfully updates and going straight for community KompaktOS from now on. Now only to decide between vanilla and Gapps…
Thank you for the kind words and the super generous amount of coffee! You’re officially the biggest supporter
It was spoken here many times here “why don’t you buy a hibreak or this or that”. I think for a lot of us it’s just the form factor. I don’t enjoy phones that are so long like a tv remote, despite them being more powerful and having nicer displays.
As of yesterday the big feature that wasn’t working was WIFI calling which I know that is very important for some users that live or work in remote areas. This was fixed yesterday and it is working in the new 1.1 release.
I’ve made a list of what works. And on the sidebar you can see screenshots of Komapkt Specific features that had to be patched in the Kernel and vendor to work.
I would say it depends on Expectations, users can’t expect a super minimal settings like MuditaOS (to me they’re too minimal, they lack features that I would consider basic for privacy/security for example SIM pin change or Bluetooth name change).
One thing that a @jordan told me is that Google Cast / Cast to Tv doesn’t work. And tbh I haven’t even bothered into looking how to fix it since I don’t consider it an important feature for this device. Focus was to get all the important stuff working first.
P.s I just noticed that you sent even more coffee my way. Merci mon ami!
I don’t know about that. I’m just content the community will have a fallback to a newer android system in the future if their apps stop working on android 12. Android 17 has been released and it’s running in new devices right now.
Vanilla means no Google, no MicroG, Just pure Aosp/LineageOS. You have to install MicroG separately. I haven’t tested it myself, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work.
Yes the process of upgrading one by one is a bit annoying. You should hust have 1.6.1 after 1.5.0 so don’t quit.
That totally depends in your needs. If you have apps that require Google play services, go for it. Otherwise Vanilla runs good I’m told by the testers.
A couple of questions: How does google auto work? does it come with google maps or can I use my own map app? Do any apps that support android auto show up on the car dashboard?
Also is RCS on by default? I’ve had it off on my account and am happy with sms and don’t want to auto enroll on RCS. Related to messages do browser texting from a computer works? Have you heard reports of old mms group messages working?
Can I remove google apps if I install the gapps version for android auto and remove the store as well? or are those stuck on the device
I didn’t see a mention of GPS working, does it work well?
Finally, how is the general performance compared to stock mudita in typing and general use?
I’ve been waiting for Mudita OS2 to test again and always it ends up in the drawer because my group texts don’t work with ATT in the US but if this solves it and gives me android auto while staying e-ink it might just be my favorite device.
I’m not ready to try this just yet, I want to see how much I like the November update, and I admit I’m nervous to tinker to the point of voiding my warranty. But I am absolutely going to keep an eye on this project and consider trying it out in the future, because this is genuinely incredible.
I started by asking users to send me logs of what was happening in the background during wifi calls to see why it was rejecting wifi as a connection even when wifi calling was on. This didn’t help fully, I had to reinstall MuditaOs and see what IMS there was doing differently from LineageOs and the treble ims app.
The issue was the IMS APN, the setting that tells the phone how to reach the carrier’s calling service and which networks it may use for that. In LineageOS that list of networks was left blank. Android reads blank as “any network”, but the phone modem reads it as “none”, so it simply refused to place calls over Wi-Fi. MuditaOS fills the list in with every network, Wi-Fi included which is why it worked there.
The fix was a small change in Android’s telephony code: when the IMS APN has no list, it now sends the modem the full one. So it went from showing no radio, to actually calls working in wifi with airplane mode on. Tested myself in Telia and other users in Tmobile and At and T.
ve tried looking at your repo but there’s only 1 commit. Why don’t you share the whole history of the project
You don’t want to see the horror number of commits, the mistakes, the backtracks on failed attempts. Even for the 1.1 I ammended the commit because I was ashamed how many failed attempts were at solving something that I thought should work out of the box. ( had many false positives)
For example I had a bug related to airplane mode, that it would say that phone signal is off but it was still making calls with the modem when I thought wifi calls were working. They weren’t.
That is totally understandable. The amount of steps can be overwhelming if you have never installed a custom ROM before. You can always take it in small steps.
Look for mtkclient and how to backup your partitions. With this you can easily go back to exactly factory state. I can’t speak about breaking the warranty as installation is reversable.
0001 front camera alias:the Kompakt has one rear sensor. CameraService exposes it a second time as id “1”, facing front, while persist.kompakt.front_alias is on (the default) and the HAL reports exactly one camera “0”. The alias resolves to “0” in resolveCameraId(), so open, torch and characteristics all follow and the sensor is never opened twice. It must also appear in addListenerHelper()'s status list, because camera2’s getCameraIdList() is built from that list. Leave SENSOR_ORIENTATION as the sensor reports it: apps mirror a front camera, and using the complementary angle turned the picture upside down.
Would this mean that any app expecting a front-facing camera will automatically use the rear camera instead of failing/crashing?
That and microg would allow me to do banking on my Kompakt!
This is amazing, and it’s the only reason I’ll be getting a Kompakt again. It still boggles my mind that the Kompakt originally comes with an OS that is on Android 12, with Mudita unwilling to bump up the Android version, creating a privacy and security nightmare (I don’t buy their “the phone is still secure despite this" argument - it is not).
Thank you so much for all of your hard work. This phone is usable because of you.
so don’t quit.