AOSParadox, a New ROM for the OnePlus One With a Fresh Perspective

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AOSParadox is the first ROM for the OnePlus One that isn’t based on the CM device tree. Instead, it’s directly based off CAF AOSP (CodeAurora Forums; CAF AOSP is basically stock AOSP with additional optimizations for Qualcomm devices) repos, making it as close to AOSP as you can get on a non-Nexus.

Why is the device tree important? If you’re not familiar with ROM development, it’s a crucial part of any ROM you use and describes your hardware so that it can be used by the system. Without using a device tree, developers can’t build a ROM. AOSParadox builds upon the CAF Qualcomm device trees but leaves it almost untouched. Instead, a new tree definition is used as an overlay, with only the necessary modifications to the original tree made by Qualcomm in order to boot the device.

The goal is to create an optimized AOSP ROM that is easily accessible by other developers, by making updates and development easier

This results in all Qualcomm features being available, such as Factory Reset Protection (FRP) which requires a password before a factory reset can be performed, making it harder for thieves to make use of stolen devices. The philosophy behind the ROM is to have everything made in mind for the OnePlus One alone, without having common definitions. The goal is to create an optimized AOSP ROM that is easily accessible by other developers, by making updates and development easier since it makes it unnecessary to test on multiple devices, and this results in cleaner code.

Different branches are used for each chipset (currently, the msm8974 and msm8226, respectively used for the OnePlus One and the Moto G/Moto G 2014, which are also supported), and each chipset has “optional” branches to organize them further for specific devices. The AOSParadox device tree also uses a different, chipset-specific ramdisk for the same goals as highlighted above. Because of some other incompatibilities, you should be aware this means it won’t be compatible with current custom OnePlus One kernels (or more specifically, the boot.img). It’s worth noting that the kernel used by the AOSParadox team is based on XDA Recognized Developer Sultanxda‘s works with minor modifications.

If you’re a developer interested in checking out the device tree, or a user looking for the closest experience to AOSP you can get, head over to the AOSParadox forum thread to get started!