Nokia N900 (nokia-n900)

__TOC__
=== Contributors ===
* sicelo
* Danct12
* MartijnBraam
* craftyguy
* Pavel Machek
* drebrez
* FXKrait
* ollieparanoid
=== Users owning this device ===
== Additional info ==
Cameras are supported in the kernel, but have very complex media pipelines. Megapixels has preliminary support for at least the rear/main camera.
The GPU is a PowerVR SGX530 which does not have FOSS drivers, so 3D acceleration does not work with the mainline kernel. However, the blobs, patched mesa, and patched wlroots that permit it to work on mainline with postmarketOS are maintained in the pvrports project. It packages the work of the linux openpvrsgx dev group , which maintains a "near-mainline" kernel fork with the required kernel driver. 
Voice calls work, but need https://gitlab.com/libcmtspeechdata/libcmtspeechdata to route the speech data. Integrating this in pmOS is WIP.
There's bluetooth support at bluetooth-next, but that works on N950, not on N900. Bluetooth . The driver compiles fine and loads firmware correctly, then times out on the bluetooth 'read_BD_ADDR' HCI command.
The FM receiver, located inside the bluetooth chip, is enabled by a magic bluetooth packet, so it requires a working bluetooth stack to be available. Otherwise it is a regular i2c device and has simple routing to the codec. Its driver needed some work in the kernel and was eventually dropped. It should not be too difficult to get it working once chip is enabled.
OTG might work since the kernel has support. However, like Wileyfox_Swift_(wileyfox-crackling), there is a hardware limitation that prevents the N900 from automatically detecting that there's a connected device, and also detecting the USB version/speed it supports. With some work, it most likely should work with manual activation
== Installation ==
=== Boot from the SD card ===
# Follow the instructions on the installation page for installing postmarketOS to the SD card. Running from internal storage is not recommended and probably has no real benefit since it is quite slow.
# If you do not already have u-boot installed, boot Maemo Fremantle (the stock OS) and install u-boot from pali. If this does not work from Hildon Application Manager, you may run sudo apt-get install u-boot-flasher in maemo terminal (see and ). See Additional Info below for instructions on configuring pmos to boot by default.
# Place the sdcard into the n900 and boot it with the keyboard slide open
# Choose the u-boot shell
# enter run sdboot into the shell
=== Configuring U-boot (optional) ===
In order to configure pmos to boot by default on the N900, using U-boot, you will need to boot into Maemo and create a /etc/bootmenu.d/10-pmos.item file as the root user with these contents:
It can be set as the default boot option by creating a symlink:
root@Nokia-N900:~# ln -s /etc/bootmenu.d/10-pmos.item /etc/default/bootmenu.item
Finally, run u-boot-update-bootmenu:
root@Nokia-N900:~# u-boot-update-bootmenu 
Default bootmenu entry is '/etc/bootmenu.d/10-pmos.item'
Adding bootmenu entry for: 'Maemo 5 with attached kernel (Internal Nand)'
Configuration file: /etc/bootmenu.d/10-pmos.item
Adding bootmenu entry for: 'postmarketOS'
Configuring this bootmenu entry as default
Generating u-boot bootmenu script...
Note: This will set pmos as the default boot option. Maemo will still be accessible when booting the N900 with the keyboard slide out and selecting the relevant boot option in the u-boot boot menu.
== Features ==
=== Wifi ===
You can use NetworkManager's console UI to connect to your network. Please note that nmtui does not work properly when started from tmux.
$ nmtui
==== With iwd ====
From the 5.15.13 kernel package onward, you are also able to use iwd to manage wireless, if you so prefer.
==== Power saving / ping times ====
It should be possible to disable power saving for better ping times, see .
$ sudo apk add iw
$ sudo iw dev wlan0 set power_save off
=== Keyboard Backlight ===
There are 6 keyboard backlight LEDs that can be adjusted, they are found under /sys/class/leds/lp5523:kb{1-6}. To adjust brightness, write a value, $VAL between 0 and 255, to the brightness parameter as the root user:
for i in $(seq 1 6);
 do echo $VAL > /sys/class/leds/lp5523\:kb$i/brightness
done
=== Keyboard layout ===
The keyboard layout is asked during pmbootstrap init after you select the nokia-n900 device.
Available keymaps:
==== Console ====
:NOTE: during installation pmbootstrap will typically ask you for the desired keymap. The following is only for experimentation: normally all should just work fine after setting up the SD card from pmbootstrap. The following section may be dated and pmbootstrap has already done the job for you.
To obtain your desired language keymap file for the RX-51, such as this one:
* On the N900, install kbd-bkeymaps, either by using pmbootstrap install --add kbd-bkeymaps on the host system or by running apk add kbd-bkeymaps on the device itself.
* The keymap must be in binary format, bmap. This can be accomplished using the loadkeys tool:
$ apk add kbd kbd-bkeymaps
$ loadkeys -b rx51_us.map > rx51_us.bmap
$ gzip rx51_us.bmap
* Compress it and copy it to /usr/share/bkeymaps/us/ on the N900.
* Log into the N900, and run sudo setup-keymap, then select us and finally rx51_us.
(TODO: Need to pull 'official' vconsole keymaps from Maemo5 if they exist..)
==== X11 ====
:NOTE: during installation pmbootstrap will typically ask you for the desired X11 xkb keymap. The following is only for experimentation: normally all should just work fine after setting up the SD card from pmbootstrap. The following section may be dated and pmbootstrap has already done the job for you.
In X11 you can use setxkbmap to configure the desired layout.
Right now it's configured to use the nokiarx51/us layout by default (see 40-xkb.conf) then the pmbootstrap script will patch this file to set the Option "XkbLayout" to "nn" where "nn" is your country code.
==== Console switching ====
You can use the 30px blue arrow key in combination with the Volume Up/Down to switch to a different virtual terminal.
If you installed postmarketOS with a UI, you first have to enable again the other VT by editing the /etc/inittab file and uncomment the following lines:
...
# Set up a couple of getty's
tty1::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1
tty2::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2
tty3::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3
tty4::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
tty5::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
tty6::respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6
...
=== Display ===
With DRM enabled (), the display can be managed at this location: /sys/devices/platform/omapdrm.0/graphics/fb0/
For example, the display can be turned off by:
# echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/omapdrm.0/graphics/fb0/blank
To adjust brightness:
# # Replace $VAL with a value from 0 to 255:
# echo $VAL > /sys/class/backlight/acx565akm/brightness
=== GUI ===
==== i3wm ====
I3wm is the recommended UI. It is lightweight and fast, and we have a custom N900 configuration that optimizes for its keyboard (photos). The most important keybindings are described below, for details see i3wm.conf. This file gets installed to ~/.config/i3/config and of course you can customize it. If you have good additions, please make a merge request so everybody benefits from an improved default config.
===== default mode =====
* shift + space: switch to "command mode"
===== command mode =====
* t: open terminal
* k: kill current program
* w: workspace mode
* r: restart i3wm (use after modifying the config)
* q: go back to "default mode"
===== workspace mode =====
* a/s/d/f/g: switch to workspace 1/2/3/4/5
* q: go back to "command mode"
===== Other =====
====== Display brightness ======
With the current configuration, you can adjust the display brightness using the volume keys while holding the Shift key
==== Xfce4 ====
Xfce4 also works very well on the N900
==== Sxmo (dwm or sway) ====
Sxmo also supports the Nokia N900, and also includes a fully-featured deviceprofile. However, note that sxmo has very high CPU usage on the N900, evidently due to the daemons that keep the environment working. It is recommended to disable as many of its daemons as possible, e.g. conky.
==== Others ====
There are also Mate, etc.
==== Misc: Middle click and right click ====
Obviously, you can't middle click with a touchscreen, but this can be annoying when it's one of the few ways to paste in the terminal.
This script simulates a middle click:
xdotool mousedown --clearmodifiers 2
xdotool mouseup 2
xdotool keyup alt
xdotool keyup ctrl
xdotool keyup shift
For simulating right click button you can use this command:
xdotool click 3
You can bind it to any key you wish. XF86WebCam is a good choice since it's fairly easy to reach and isn't used for anything.
=== Battery ===
==== Charging ====
Battery charging is fully supported by the kernel and does not need any special configuration. 
Normally, the N900 will auto-detect the connected charger type, and pull an appropriate current from it. However, in the event that this does not work, you can adjust it manually as follows:
~$ echo 'host' | sudo tee /sys/class/power_supply/bq24150a-0/mode # sets current limit to 500mA
~$ echo 'dedicated' | sudo tee /sys/class/power_supply/bq24150a-0/mode # sets current limit to 1800mA
You can also directly set the current limit by writing one of:
 100
 500
 800
1800
 to /sys/class/power_supply/bq24150a-0/current_limit. Any other value written will be rounded to the next higher number from this list.
Be sure that the charger/port can supply the amount of current safely
Hint: To disable the LED charging indication, do:
echo 0 > /sys/class/power_supply/bq24150a-0/stat_pin_enable.
Datasheet for the bq24150 charging chip
==== Battery Capacity Reporting ====
To calibrate the battery and get a more accurate capacity report:
# Charge it up fully, using a wall power adapter.
# Unplug the device, then allow the battery to run all the way down. This may take quite a while to happen (>24hrs, but can be made shorter by running a CPU intensive workload). Do not let it charge at all during this time. This means you may not use USB for example, as this automatically causes the device to start charging, albeit slowly.
# When the voltage reaches 3248mV (the EDV1 threshold burned into the fuel gauge's EEPROM), the battery charge gauge chip will be calibrated. You may charge it up again to use the device. Note it may require a number of learning cycles to more accurately learn the battery capacity.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to calibrate an N900 that has a non-functional USB port (which is rather common). In this case, all battery utilities will permanently report a 0% capacity. The battery status will still be monitored by the kernel/udev, and when it gets low, the system will automatically be shutdown gracefully.
Datasheet for the bq27200 charge gauge chip
==== Temperature ====
There's battery temperature sensor.
$ cat /sys/devices/platform/68000000.ocp/48072000.i2c/i2c-2/2-0055/power_supply/bq27200-0/temp ; \
 cat /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp
324
32400
=== Clock ===
==== Setting the hardware clock ====
If your hardware clock doesn't have the time set you can set it with:
$ date -s "2017-08-14 16:34:50"
# Write the current system time to the hardware clock
$ hwclock -w
==== Setting the hardware alarm clock ====
Realtime clock at /dev/rtc0 is on the twl4030 (PMU), and allows setting an alarm to wake the device from sleep, poweroff states. 
Control trough rtcwake (Manual Page).
# Suspends the device to memory for 10 seconds
rtcwake --verbose --seconds 10 --mode mem
# Power off the device and power it on after $TIME, where $TIME is the number of seconds since epoch (1970-01-01)
rtcwake --verbose --time_t $TIME --mode no
/sbin/poweroff
Manual control from sysfs:
# To set the wakealarm directly, set $TIME to number of seconds since epoch (1970-01-01). Then poweroff or suspend:
echo $TIME > /sys/class/rtc/rtc0/wakealarm
 	
# To set new wakealarm time, first reset time to 0!
echo 0 > /sys/class/rtc/rtc0/wakealarm
=== SMS ===
You can use ofono test scripts
sudo apk add ofono-scripts; cd /usr/lib/ofono/test
Here's an example using the test scripts to enable the modem and send an SMS:
# ./enable-modem
# ./online-modem
# ./send-sms 5033784582 "I like pizza." 0 
=== USB Gadget ===
==== Mass Storage ====
The Mass Storage class exposes a block device as a flash drive on your host machine. 
For example, to use the "MyDocs" partition as Mass Storage Device, make sure you unmount the partition first (if mounted), then execute:
echo /dev/mmcblk1p1 > /sys/devices/platform/68000000.ocp/480ab000.usb_otg_hs/musb-hdrc.0.auto/gadget/lun0/file
 
If you only need read permissions on the partition, you can set the read-only flag before exporting it:
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/68000000.ocp/480ab000.usb_otg_hs/musb-hdrc.0.auto/gadget/lun0/ro
=== GPRS ===
GPRS can be managed by NetworkManager.
Stop ofono in order to set APN:
$ sudo rc-service ofono stop
Edit APN, where <IMSI> should be replaced in the following commands with the IMSI from your SIM card. Replace <APN> with the relevant APN for your cellular carrier (e.g. fast.t-mobile.com).
This file should be created when ofono starts, so you should only need to add the APN.
Start ofono and power on modem.
$ sudo rc-service ofono start
$ sudo rc-service networkmanager stop
$ sudo rc-service networkmanager start
$ ip addr show gprs0
10: gprs0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1400 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN qlen 10
 link/[821] 
 inet 33.238.141.172/32 brd 33.238.141.172 scope global gprs0
 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
=== GPS ===
Install the package gps-nokia-n900, then run as follows:
sudo GPS_PTY_LINK=/tmp/n900-gps gps-nokia-n900 -d
The NMEA stream will be available at /tmp/n900-gps.
=== FM Transmitter ===
The N900 contains an Si4713 FM transmitter, it's controlled by video4linux. To start transmitting:
$ v4l2-ctl -d /dev/radio0 --set-ctrl=mute=0 --set-freq=95.21
Now there should be silence on 95.21Mhz instead of noise when tuning in with a radio
$ aplay -vv some-very-good-music.wav
=== Torch ===
The device has an ADP1653 flash controller, mainly for use with the camera. It drives two white power LEDs connected in series, and has an additional red indicator led (referred to as a privacy indicator). The ADP1653 has a driver in mainline kernel, and it probes fine. However, some DTS changes are needed to make it work, since the driver requires it to be tied to a camera.
In the meantime, the LEDs can be used as a torch manually using i2cset. 
However, BE WARNED: setting wrong values via i2c runs the risk of over-driving the LEDs and causing permanent hardware damage.
Install the prerequisites
$ sudo apk add i2c-tools
Unload the driver in case it is already loaded. We will use i2c manually
$ sudo modprobe -r adp1653
Enable the chip
$ echo 88 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/export
$ echo "out" | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio88/direction
$ echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio88/value
Turn the torch on, using the lowest torch current - DO NOT use other values here or you risk burning the LED
Values between 1 and 7 enable the red privacy/recording led, with different intensity
0x8 is the lowest torch intensity, and we do not recommend going above it
$ sudo i2cset -y 2 0x30 0x0 0x8
Turn the torch off
$ sudo i2cset -y 2 0x30 0x0 0x0
Disable the chip
$ echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio88/value
$ echo 88 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/unexport
== Resources ==
* 
* 
* Kernel source
* Images and Flashers for Maemo
* issue about Wi-Fi Setup and Keyboard layout
* ollieparanoid's efforts to use the N900 as music player
* N900 rescueOS
* Mobile phone battery emulator describes how to create a mock battery for Nokia phones of the n900 type so the phone can be run from a PSU
== Helpful Links for Porting ==
* Device schematic
* Very detailed schematic
* Arch Linux ARM - N900 hardware components list
* N900 sensor access in Maemo
* Hardware component specs / list
* Kernel status