We are glad to deliver the latest Android 13 release for Tungsten700 SMARC device.

For the impatient

You can download the Android 13 image from here:

• https://boundarydevices.com/eula/?file=20240110-boundary-tungsten700-t-aiot-V5.166.zip

Flashing instructions

The .zip archives include all the files to be flashed using SP Flash Tool that can downloaded here:

• https://boundarydevices.com/eula/?file=SP_Flash_Tool_V6.zip for Linux OS
• https://boundarydevices.com/eula/?file=SP_Flash_Tool_V6_Windows.zip for Windows OS

Then you can follow the instructions below:

1. Unpack both archive (SP Flash Tool & Android image)
2. Set the SW1 switch on Tungsten700 SMARC to the ON position
3. Insert the 5V power supply and connect a USB (TypeC) cable from your PC to the carrier
4. Start the SPFlashToolV6 binary (either on Linux or Windows)
5. Select the “Download-XML” file in the tool (in image folder under merged/download_agent/flash.xml)
6. Select “Format All + Download” in the drop-down menu below the download button
   
7. Click on “Download” and press the RESET button on the carrier board
8. You should see the progress bar updates, this process should take around 3 minutes
9. Once completed, set the SW1 switch on Tungsten700 SMARC back to the OFF position
   
10. Reset the device and Voilà!

What’s new?

Android 13 OS updates

Google provides a list of notable changes for developers:

• https://developer.android.com/about/versions/13

• Code based upon latest Android 13 including all the security patches up until December 2023!

SELinux

This release comes with SELinux in permissive mode for easy debugging / customization.

Note that this feature only works on userdebug builds, user builds are enforced at all time.

AVB2.0

The image also supports Android Verified Boot 2.0!

So I can’t make any modification now? No, there’s a way to disable verity for userdebug builds:

$ adb root
$ adb disable-verity
$ adb reboot

At this point you will be able to modify every partition. However, it goes without saying that this disablement isn’t possible on user builds.

Linux Kernel 5.15.x

This Android release is based on a 5.15.x kernel from Mediatek. For those familiar with the Yocto 5.15 kernel, know that the Android version is quite different as its architecture is meant to support Android Generic Kernel Image (GKI) images.

Boundary Devices additions

Just like our previous releases, this one includes unique features that only Boundary Devices provides:

• HDMI as primary display support
  • This release forces HDMI to be used as primary display for easy evaluation
  • Contact us for other display optoins
• USB Camera support with custom properties
  • As no CSI camera is currently supported, USB has been enabled
  • Also, since USB camera are declared as EXTERNAL in Android, we offer a way for them to appear as BACK/FRONT cameras:

=> setprop persist.vendor.cam.ext.facing 0

• Ethernet connectivity enablement
  • This release supports both our KSZ9031 and USB LAN78xx PHYs
• Custom Audio routing
  • Android uses HDMI audio output for MEDIA content
  • Added support for I2S / WM8962 support for all other contents
• Sona MT320 Wi-Fi 6 + BT 5.3 support

Source code access

The Android source code is not publicly available and requires to sign an NDA with Mediatek. Contact us if you want to know more.

As always, let us know your experiences (both good and bad) when you test out this image.

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