this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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Linux Phones

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Community about running GNU/Linux on phones. Projects like Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS, Mobian etc. Either on former Android phones or hardware like the PinePhone.

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Follow-up Two: Mobian on the Pixel 3a / 3a XL (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 3 months ago by erebion@lemmy.sdf.org to c/linuxphones@lemmy.ml
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This is a follow-up to my earlier posts:

https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/12809764 https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/19600671

We're Getting Closer.

It's just small stuff left that needs a bit of piecing together, though I've now been daily driving my port for the past two weeks already.

This Works

  • booting
  • display
  • touch
  • modem <- You might have to switch to the other slot if it does not work: mmcli -m 0 --set-primary-sim-slot=1, options are 1 or 2. Note that the modem could also be a different number, maybe try -m 1 if it is not found as the command will reboot the modem and then it changes.
  • plymouth
  • battery/charging
  • mobile data
  • wifi
  • torch
  • suspend
  • call audio
  • vibration
  • Bluetooth™
  • full disk encryption
  • eSIM (I'm working on the packaging for the tool you need to provision it)
  • SMS
  • audio (ALSA config not packaged, but can be added manually)
  • camera (have taken a few photos, but the kernel driver is still work in progress and sometimes it just does not work)

This Has An Unknown Status

  • Fingerprint Sensor
  • NFC (should work, does so on pmOS)

This Does Not Work Yet (Soon™)

  • GPS
  • USB host mode (no Kernel support yet, but apparently this is being worked on)
  • Verified Boot (first need to do research whether this is actually feasible)

This Is Missing And Will Come Later

  • accelerometer
  • magnetometer
  • ambient light sensor
  • barometer

Project Status

To Do List

Done List

Misc Issues

  • ALSA config for the device has not been upstreamed yet
  • Issues with 5 GHz wifi
    • Can be worked around by forcing the phone to only use the 2.4 GHz band, for example using nmtui, the network settings of GNOME/Phosh are bit too simplistic for that
  • No idea how to get the call audio on Bluetooth, meaning you will have to hold the phone or use a cable, for now

(This is a non-exhaustive list)

Low Priority

Other than that... Everything should be there. It's definitely usable already.

Just a few smaller quirks to iron out and two packages to get into the repo.

The Sources (Use The Source, Luke)

Thanks For All The Fish

Huge thanks to be sdm670-linux project and flamingradian who runs the project (just one person!) to make sure the Kernel works on those devices! :)

I don’t know how Kernel development works, so I would have never started porting without this project.

Find that here: https://gitlab.com/sdm670-mainline/linux

Questions Accepted / Ask Me Anything About The Project

I will gladly answer all questions, I hope that more people will start porting if it becomes clear that this is not arcane magic. It’s mostly just arcane. And a community of friendly people that try to be helpful.#

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[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 3 months ago

Also, I keep some notes up to date over on my Forgejo instance: https://git.erebion.eu/forgejo/erebion/sargo-temp

[–] sunstoned@lemmus.org 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Amazing work! I'm very excited to see mobile Linux reach a usable state for every day processing. Thank your for your time and energy. It is valuable and going to good use.

Why the Pixel 3a? Is there anything special about it (or not special, which might mean my old 3XL is good for more than gathering dust?)

How can I get involved? I know my way around C and would love to pitch in.

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 3 months ago

Yup. It definitely is now ready for everyday use, though there are still a few smaller issues I've got to fix. But nothing that stops me from using it now.

The only thing special about the Pixel 3a is that I had it already. Maybe it is special in that it is now the smallest Linux phone that is supported by a mainline kernel AND which is actually usable as a phone (for some other phones audio does not work, for example). Some might call a headphone jack something special... or an eSIM, as there are not many Linux phones with an eSIM.

To get involved, I recommend joining the Moban Development Matrix room: #mobian-dev:matrix.debian.social

Pretty sure we can find something where skills in C would be helpful.

[–] Altomes@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I've been testing a handful of distros between my 6T and 3a as well, UBports, Droidian, Pmos, etc, lately I've been a little obsessed with wanting to try Sailfish OS, but it seems it's not worth trying in the USA without X, I'm unsure if it's even possible to purchase X here

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

No idea, but you could of course install Waydroid on Mobian. I hope Android Translation Layer (https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer) will at some point get to a state where it is usable as the superior Waydroid alternative for many people.

[–] Altomes@lemm.ee 7 points 3 months ago

Thanks for the tip, good looking out, the main need for X isn't android for me but instead VOLTE

[–] Blisterexe@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What males ATL better than waydroid?

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 months ago

It is to Android apps what WINE is to Windows programs, while Waydroid is to Android apps what something between Docker and a VM would be to server software.

Actually, Waydroid is not too dissimilar from running, for example, an Ubuntu Desktop system in a Docker container on a Debian desktop system, just so you can use snap packages... Instead of installing snapd on Debian. (Not that I want snapd.)

Waydroid is more like an Android container appliance that runs a full Android system, while ATL, as the name Android Translation Layer suggests, translates functions and API calls, used by Android apps, into the appropriate methods of doing things on a regular GNU/Linux system (in contrast to an Android Runtime/Linux system), thereby being much more efficient, more comfortable to use and having the potential of integrating into the system really well.

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 3 months ago

No idea, but you could of course install Waydroid on Mobian. I hope Android Translation Layer (https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer) will at some point get to a state where it is usable as the superior Waydroid alternative for many people.

[–] thejevans@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Awesome! I'll give it another shot this week.

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago

Let me know how it goes! You might notice an issue I have missed and can then fix. :)

[–] furycd001@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Seeing posts like this inspires me to consider getting an older device and diving into projects like this myself. It’s amazing to think about all the possibilities and what could be created!! Thanks for sharing this post ^~^° ....

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 3 months ago

Definitely do! It's a lot of fun and it feels great to have Mobian on the phone instead of having old Android on it or even a phone in the trash and no phone.

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If I‘m not completely mistaken, the chip is the same as on my oneplus6. I run postmarketOS/phosh but camera is dead for now. I dont have enough insight to grasp if its just a legal issue or more. I feel like the two projects are quite similar but the differences are hard to grasp really. Whats your background and do you have experience with postmarketos? How do you experience mobians installation and documentation?

Have a good one.

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)
  • That one uses an SDM845, while the Pixel 3a uses an SDM670. But there's a Mobian port to that one anyway. Not sure in what state, anyway. You could flash it and find out.
  • Camera is probably dead because not all the code has been written yet.
  • My background is just playing with Linux since before I was a teen, but I did not know anything about porting to phones until early this year.
  • I have some experience with postmarketOS, but more with Mobian as I am more of a Mobian person. I have more exprience with their docs and community than with postmarketOS itself. Many mobile Linux projects depend on the postmarketOS wiki, as they have the best source of information.
  • Mobian installation is easy, just flash the images.
  • Mobian documentation is somewhat lacking, but I want to improve on that once I'm less busy porting. Can't do everything at once, of course.
[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thank you very much for reaponding! Awesome to read about your efforts and mobian as an OS. How would you describe the daily driveability (on its own and compared to postmarketos)?

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's okay. I like that I can do whatever I want. There are some smaller issues still, but I'm fine with those, considering all the freedom I get.

I mean, I have to set the right SIM card slot and run a command to make Bluetooth work, after every boot, until that is solved. It's not too bad. Takes me ~25 seconds.

Only annoying issue that is next on my to do list: Have the phone wake up when using an alarm clock. For now I just leave an Android phone next to my bed for that. Soon that will be solved as well. Apparently I just have to get some Systemd configuration right, but have not yet had a closer look.

Overall I am pretty happy with it. Yet I would not give it to my parents and expect them to use it like any other phone.

If you are a nerd who does need an alarm clock or a camera in their phone, or can at least work around that for now, it's already a usable phone and messaging device.

No idea how that compares to postmarketOS. I have not tried daily driving it, as instead I intend to find issues on Mobian and solve those.

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Awesome report! Thanks. For me on postmarketos its the following:

  • bluetooth, mobile data, wifi, usb ethernet all work
  • browsing, incl youtube and plex
  • music, podcasts
  • password manager

What doesnt work at all:

  • cameras (is in the works but not functional rn)

What needs work:

  • headset (mic works, headphones dont but that may be my phone) bluetooth headset works
[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Headphones work for me and should as well on Mobian. Calls via Bluetooth do not work yet, not sure how to route the audio to the headsets. But I know there's some stuff going on and people are working on improving the audio configs, should all be much better very soon.

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 1 points 3 months ago

What I really ask myself sometimes is why libraries and such things are not shared between the mobile OS community since they work on similar platforms. PostmarketOS has now implemented systemd afaik so I think a LOT of things will be similar.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Lovely work!

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago

Thank you. :)

Have a nice day!

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's a great list of working stuff. Brilliant. I hope that one day that'll be on a device that isn't impossible to find here.

[–] erebion@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 months ago

I'm sure you can find another device that can run Linux. :)

[–] silmathoron@floss.social 1 points 3 months ago

@erebion
This sounds fantastic, thanks for all that work!
It's great to see all these developments on pmOS and mobian!