Pixel Phones as Development Platforms

The Automotive partner teams who develop front-end software need a Google-supported hardware platform on which to develop apps and user experiences.

Caveats

These limitations apply when using a Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 as development platforms:

The Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 are verified and supported. To learn more about the Pixel, visit the Google Store.
The following devices are supported but not actively tested. Be sure to download the correct binaries and then follow the steps below:
- Pixel 3a
- Pixel 3aXL
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4XL
- Pixel 4a
- Pixel 6 and 6 Pro (experimental)
You must use Android 12, build SP1A.210812.016.A1.
Support is not provided for All Bluetooth profiles.

Prerequisites

Before you continue, confirm you have the following items:

OEM unlocking is required. Use either an unlocked Pixel 4a (5G) or Pixel 5
Linux desktop capable of building Android code. For more information, see Establishing a Build Environment.

Code sync and build

To sync Android build SP1A.210812.016.A1:

mkdir aaos_on_phone
cd aaos_on_phone
repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b android-12.0.0_r3 --use-superproject --partial-clone --partial-clone-exclude=platform/frameworks/base --clone-filter=blob:limit=10M
repo sync -j8 -c -q

Download the proprietary binaries and patches.

Pixel 4a (5G). Download the 4a (5G) binaries, such as the vendor image and Qualcomm drivers for Android 12, build SP1A.210812.016.A1:

curl --output - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/google_devices-bramble-sp1a.210812.016.a1-a60d24d5.tgz  | tar -xzvf -
tail -n +315 extract-google_devices-bramble.sh | tar -zxvf -

curl --output - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/qcom-bramble-sp1a.210812.016.a1-3fa45eab.tgz | tar -xzvf -
tail -n +315 extract-qcom-bramble.sh | tar -xzvf -

Pixel 5. Download the Pixel 5 binaries, such as the vendor image and Qualcomm drivers for Android 12, build SP1A.210812.016.A1:

curl --output - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/google_devices-redfin-sp1a.210812.016.a1-8813b219.tgz  | tar -xzvf -
tail -n +315 extract-google_devices-redfin.sh | tar -zxvf -

curl --output - https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/qcom-redfin-sp1a.210812.016.a1-8d32b5b1.tgz | tar -xzvf -
tail -n +315 extract-qcom-redfin.sh | tar -xzvf -

Run the build. Be sure to replace <target> in the following example with either aosp_bramble_car or aosp_redfin_car:
```
. build/envsetup.sh
lunch <target>
m
```

Build the Automotive-related packages:

m android.hardware.automotive.audiocontrol@1.0-service android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0-service

Set up the device to flash the build

If you haven't already done so, enable Developer options. Go to Settings > System > About Phone and then tap Build Number seven times.

When you've enabled Developer options:

Go to Settings > System > Developer options and enable USB debugging and OEM unlocking:

Flash the build

To place the device into fastboot mode and then unlock it:
```
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flashing unlock
```
On the device, select Unlock the Bootloader. Doing so erases all data on the device!
To flash the build:
```
fastboot -w flashall
```

After the build boots and the Home screen is displayed:

To enable adb remount:

adb root && sleep 5 && adb disable-verity && sleep 1 && adb reboot && adb wait-for-device && sleep 5 && adb root && sleep 5 &&  adb remount

To push the required Automotive-specific files to the device:
```
adb sync vendor
adb reboot
```
Wait for the device to start:

Experimental

Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are supported on an experimental basis. We're working to bring these devices out of the experimental stage.

Make sure you have satisfied each prerequisite listed above:

Code sync and build

Sync android-12.0.0_r4 (SD1A.210817.015.A4)
Download the correct binaries for Oriole (P6) and Raven(P6 Pro) for SD1A.210817.015.A4 from https://developers.google.com/android/drivers
Cherrypick the Android 12 patches.
Build aosp_oriole_car (Pixel 6) or aosp_raven_car (Pixel 6 Pro).
The AAOS build artifacts.

m android.hardware.automotive.audiocontrol@1.0-service android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0-service

Flash device and enable adb remount as described in above in Step 4 remount
Push AAOS artifacts to the device

FILES="bin/hw/android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0-service bin/hw/android.hardware.automotive.audiocontrol@1.0-service lib64/android.automotive.watchdog-V2-ndk_platform.so lib64/android.hardware.automotive.audiocontrol@1.0.so lib64/android.automotive.watchdog-V2-ndk_platform.so lib64/android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0.so etc/vintf/manifest/android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0-service.xml etc/vintf/manifest/audiocontrol_manifest.xml etc/init/android.hardware.automotive.audiocontrol@1.0-service.rc etc/init/android.hardware.automotive.vehicle@2.0-service.rc"; for F in $FILES ; do echo writing $F; adb push $OUT/vendor/$F vendor/$F ; done
adb reboot

Optional to fix display density use following command

adb shell wm density 240
adb reboot