Installing Android on the Geeksphone Keon

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Here’s a clean, clear and to the point english post on how to install Android on your Geeksphone Keon developer device:-

Android on Keon

STEPS:-

  1. If you don’t already have adb and fastboot installed on your system:-
    1. Get the packages from here.
    2. Extract the contents of the zip file and navigate to the adbfastbootmac directory [Note: This package works on macs, if you are using Linux or any other operating system, a simple online search should help you figure out how to get adb and fastboot]
  2. On your Keon go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Device Information’ -> ‘More Information’ -> ‘Developer’. From the list of checkboxes, enable the ‘Remote debugging’ checkbox.
  3. Connect your device to your computer using the USB cable.
  4. Back on your computer’s terminal do the following:-
    1. If you are using the package mentioned above, run ‘./adb devices’
    2. You should see a device named ‘full_keon’ as a part of the output. If you don’t see it listed out there, try reconnecting your device or check whether the Remote Debugging option is enabled.
  5. Now let’s get down to the magic:-
    1. Download and store the following zip packages to you device’s SD-Card:-
      1. TWRP recovery
      2. Android ICS ROM for Keon
      3. Google Apps
      4. Additional Ring Tones
    2. Start the Keon in the fastboot mode :
      # ./adb reboot-bootloader
    3. Install the new recovery :
      # ./fastboot flash recovery TWRP-GK.img
    4. Boot the recovery :
      #./fastboot boot TWRP-GK.img
    5. On the device’s screen now tap on ‘Backup’ to create a backup of Firefox OS.
    6. Once done, tap on ‘Wipe’ → ‘Swipe to Factory Reset’.
    7. ‘Install’ (select the ROM) → ‘Add More Zips’ (select the Google Apps and Additional Ringtones zip files) → ‘Swipe to Confirm Flash’.
    8. ‘Wipe Dalvik and Cache’.
    9. Tap on ‘Reboot System’.
  6. Voila! You’ve now successfully installed Android on your Geeksphone Keon device.

NOTES:-

  1. Make sure that the device has at least 50% battery power before commencing with the process.
  2. Since the Keon has only one soft touch button on it, it is mapped to the back functionality. If you want to use all three default Android soft-buttons, the easiest way to do that would be to install the “SoftKey Enabler” app from the Android Play Store.

SWITCHING BACK TO FIREFOX OS

If you now want to switch back to Firefox OS, all you need to do now is as follows:-

  1. Turn off your device.
  2. Press the power and the volume up buttons of the Keon at the same time to boot into the Team Win Recovery image.
  3. Tap ‘Restore’ and select the backup file created earlier during the Android setup, and confirm.
  4. Once the process completes, you should be able to use Firefox OS again! 🙂

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the steps I’ve mentioned here are what I followed to try out Android on a couple of my Keons. These steps involve flashing the device, hence involve a very real risk of ending up with a bricked [dead] phone. As such, go about the process at your own risk. I’m in no way liable for any unforeseen results coming out of this process.

References:

  1. http://sys.nodo21.org/geeksphone-keon-rom
  2. http://forum.geeksphone.com/index.php?topic=5672.msg60983#msg60983

 

25 thoughts on “Installing Android on the Geeksphone Keon”

  2. uwanja

    How long should it take between steps 2 and 3 under section 5 above. My comp tells me waiting for device when I execute “fastboot flash recovery TWRP-GK.img”

    Reply
    1. Sayak Sarkar

      Ideally not more than a minute. However, if it says waiting for device, that usually means that it cannot detect your device. Check if you have enabled remote debugging in your device and try again.

      Reply
  3. David

    Great guide. My Keon now runs Android. The thing that surprised me though, was that Android seems to already know all the wifi passwords I stored in Firefox OS. Isn’t that strange?

    Reply
  5. Bobby Harrell

    Hey, Great write up, My Keon, after adb reboot-bootloader gets stuck on the geeksphone boot logo screen, I am using Windows 8, what am I doing wrong here? If I pull the battery I can get FOS to boot back up

    Reply
  7. bobbydharrell

    I am stuck on #2 it reboots from the adv command but gets stuck at the Geeksphone boot logo and just sits there

    Ideas?

    Reply
  11. tct

    SoftKey Enabler is proprietary software and for me it didn’t even work (so do other users complain).

    Better is to add just a line to the end of /system/build.prop and you will have soft keys: http://www.androidlegend.com/enable-soft-keys-navigation-bar-android-phone-4-0/ (the system image provided here is already rooted)

    I didn’t use a file manager, instead I used the Android built-in shell:

    $ adb shell #
    # mount # to see the partitions
    # mount -wo remount ext4 /system # remount as writable partition
    # vi /system/build.prop # don’t use echo and redirects (>> will overwrite the file)
    […]
    qemu.hw.mainkeys=0
    # reboot

    That’s it 🙂

    Reply
  14. Samir

    The above links for download do not work — does not succeed to resolve sys.nodo21.org. Is there an alternative download site? Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  19. Javier

    I need you, the links
    TWRP recovery
    Android ICS ROM for Keon
    Google Apps
    Additional Ring Tones

    The Links are Broken, please helpme

    Reply
  20. Dipayan Banerjee

    Dear Sir,

    The mentioned link does not exists to download. I will be grateful to you if you upload the below mentioned things once again.

    TWRP recovery
    Android ICS ROM for Keon
    Google Apps
    Additional Ring Tones

    Thanks
    Dipayan

    Reply

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