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Pris System
Last edited by Lux Ferre
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GerdaOS FAQ

GerdaOS Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some questions that weren't answered on the main project website.

Which hardware does GerdaOS work on?

As of now, primary development target is Nokia 8110 4G. GerdaOS is proven to work on the following Nokia 8110 4G variations:

  • TA-1048 - Europe Dual SIM (first-class support);
  • TA-1059 - Asia Dual SIM;
  • TA-1071 - Europe Single SIM.

How to switch to a true single-SIM mode after installing GerdaOS onto TA-1071?

Since current GerdaOS builds are based on the firmware for TA-1048, additional steps may be necessary to switch it to a true single-SIM mode:

  1. Enable developer mode with ADB in the Settings menu (or type *#*#33284#*#* secret code).
  2. Connect the phone to a PC with ADB installed and run:
adb shell setprop persist.radio.multisim.config none
adb reboot

After reboot, the OS will be completely switched to the single-SIM mode.

What kind of applications does GerdaOS support?

GerdaOS supports all B2G (Boot2Gecko) applications that can be run on KaiOS and packaged into GerdaPkg (former OmniSD) format (see below), installable by built-in GerdaPkg installer.

In the nearest future, GerdaOS will also support its own GAB application format (see below).

What is GerdaPkg application format?

GerdaPkg accepts app packages in the .zip archives. An archive must contain application.zip file (with the actual WebIDE-compatible KaiOS/FFOS app), update.webapp file (can be empty but must be present) and metadata.json file in the following format: {"version": 1, "manifestURL": "app://[your_app_id]/manifest.webapp"}, where [your_app_id] has to be replaced with the actual ID (origin) of your app registered in the manifest, and manifest.webapp has to be renamed if it's called differently in the application.zip archive. Other than that, the application structure in application.zip must match the general KaiOS and Firefox OS app structure (see here for more details).

What is GAB application format?

GAB (Gerda Application Bundle) is a GerdaOS-exclusive application container format and a runtime engine that allows us to write apps in languages different from JS and run them in a secure fashion. For more information, see here.

Is there any ability to install applications from the official KaiStore?

GerdaOS provides no stock ability to do this. It is possible to reinstall KaiStore from the stock firmware dump, but it's not recommended since it was found guilty of sending your sensitive data to KaiOS servers. But you can always sideload apps dumped from the rooted stock KaiOS phones to GerdaOS after wrapping them to GerdaPkg format.

Are there any FOTA updates?

No, and there are no plans to implement them. We don't want to introduce more tracking after such an effort to reduce it.

Are there any incremental patches?

None as of now. Once GerdaOS passes the beta stage and reaches the stable status, the versions will be able to be updated with incremental (update.zip-like) patches.

Where's the source for your PicoLisp and Lua runtime ports?

It's in the separate repositories:

The thing is that both source code and toolchains require a lot of preparation to compile them correctly (moreover, PicoLisp and Lua require different toolchain versions!), so they can't just be easily integrated in the overall system build process. Hence, already compiled and stripped versions are included into the system repository as binaries.