After my previous review of the MTP8750, I gave this prototype a stellar evaluation. Since it’s a proper prototype, it’s only fitting to do something only a prototype can do, so I’ve decided to port the Armbian operating system to it.
Hardware Exploration
In my last review, I compared Qualcomm’s common engineering platforms (MTP, QRD) with mass-produced smartphones and briefly introduced the MTP8750’s hardware configuration. Here, I’ll reiterate those specifications from the previous article for your reference:
- An early sample (ES) version of the SM8750 CPU 1, 8 cores, ARM V9 instruction set;
- Adreno 830 GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 3.2;
- 16GB LPDDR5X memory;
- 512GB UFS 4.0, confirmed to be manufactured by Toshiba.
To obtain more hardware information, we need to start with the operating system. Fortunately, Android is, at its core, a Linux distribution, so many Linux methods for retrieving hardware data are equally applicable on Android. However, for Android, which typically lacks root access by default, obtaining hardware information via Linux methods can be quite an obstacle. The way to overcome these hurdles is to acquire root privileges. Luckily, the prototype’s AOSP system comes with ADB Root enabled by default, making debugging and log retrieval significantly easier than on production devices. All you need is a Type-C data cable to get started: First, open a terminal and install the android-tools package:
sudo pacman -S android-toolsThen, type adb root to restart adbd with root privileges. Once the user prompt changes to a hash symbol (#), you’ve successfully obtained root access! Now, let’s proceed with the rest of the work!
Obtaining Kernel Version
Just like with any Linux distribution, Android allows you to retrieve the kernel version using the common uname and cat /proc/version commands. This helps us understand the difference between the phone’s kernel version and the mainline kernel. Here’s the output from the SM8750 MTP:
sun:/ # cat /proc/version
Linux version 6.6.50-android15-8-maybe-dirty-4k (kleaf@build-host) (Android (11368308, +pgo, +bolt, +lto, +mlgo, based on r510928) clang version 18.0.0 (<https://android.googlesource.com/toolchain/llvm-project> 477610d4d0d988e69dbc3fae4fe86bff3f07f2b5), LLD 18.0.0) #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 UTC 1970The kernel is a modified 6.6.50 kernel based on a Long-Term Support (LTS) version, released in 2023. While Google’s GKI has somewhat narrowed the gap between Android downstream kernels and the mainline kernel in recent years, the issue remains severe. For a chip released in 2024, it’s still running an outdated 6.6 kernel… It’s worth noting that the kernel was compiled with 4K page size. Does this mean the SM8750 also has a kernel that supports 16K pages? Anyway, none of this is relevant to our main task.
Obtaining Memory Information
Memory information can be obtained using the cat /proc/meminfo command, which provides details such as memory capacity, usage, and available space. Here’s the output from the SM8750 MTP:
130|sun:/ # cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal: 15543532 kB
MemFree: 4895720 kB
MemAvailable: 11264748 kB
Buffers: 18684 kB
Cached: 5749708 kB
SwapCached: 8 kB
Active: 3812464 kB
Inactive: 3266116 kB
Active(anon): 1636304 kB
Inactive(anon): 8 kB
Active(file): 2176160 kB
Inactive(file): 3266108 kB
Unevictable: 303252 kB
Mlocked: 180348 kB
SwapTotal: 6291452 kB
SwapFree: 5168380 kB
Dirty: 72 kB
Writeback: 0 kB
AnonPages: 1609740 kB
Mapped: 1303112 kB
Shmem: 153116 kB
KReclaimable: 1242056 kB
Slab: 783164 kB
SReclaimable: 265852 kB
SUnreclaim: 517312 kB
KernelStack: 74688 kB
ShadowCallStack: 0 kB
PageTables: 162628 kB
SecPageTables: 0 kB
NFS_Unstable: 0 kB
Bounce: 0 kB
WritebackTmp: 0 kB
CommitLimit: 14063216 kB
Committed_AS: 307714316 kB
VmallocTotal: 257687552 kB
VmallocUsed: 226660 kB
VmallocChunk: 0 kB
Percpu: 23616 kB
AnonHugePages: 178176 kB
ShmemHugePages: 0 kB
ShmemPmdMapped: 0 kB
FileHugePages: 0 kB
FilePmdMapped: 0 kB
CmaTotal: 643072 kB
CmaFree: 590220 kBFor now, the only useful line here is the MemTotal field, which tells us this prototype has 16GB of RAM…
Obtaining Partition Information
Similarly, using the cat /proc/partitions command provides partition information, including the size, format, and mount points of each partition. Here’s the output from the SM8750 MTP:
major minor #blocks name
1 0 8192 ram0
1 1 8192 ram1
1 2 8192 ram2
1 3 8192 ram3
1 4 8192 ram4
1 5 8192 ram5
1 6 8192 ram6
1 7 8192 ram7
1 8 8192 ram8
1 9 8192 ram9
1 10 8192 ram10
1 11 8192 ram11
1 12 8192 ram12
1 13 8192 ram13
1 14 8192 ram14
1 15 8192 ram15
7 0 39744 loop0
7 8 836 loop1
7 16 93148 loop2
7 24 11252 loop3
7 32 6312 loop4
7 40 101248 loop5
7 48 268 loop6
7 56 336 loop7
7 64 29528 loop8
7 72 4860 loop9
7 80 3632 loop10
7 88 92200 loop11
7 96 808 loop12
7 104 111964 loop13
7 112 46412 loop14
7 120 11252 loop15
8 0 487096320 sda
8 1 8 sda1
8 2 32768 sda2
8 3 1024 sda3
8 4 512 sda4
8 5 512 sda5
8 6 6291456 sda6
8 7 64 sda7
8 8 64 sda8
8 9 65536 sda9
8 10 17301504 sda10
8 11 4194304 sda11
8 12 459208524 sda12
8 16 20480 sdb
8 17 3584 sdb1
8 18 344 sdb2
8 19 32 sdb3
8 20 32 sdb4
8 21 256 sdb5
8 48 32768 sdd
8 49 104 sdd1
8 50 128 sdd2
8 51 1024 sdd3
8 32 20480 sdc
8 33 3584 sdc1
8 34 344 sdc2
8 35 32 sdc3
8 36 32 sdc4
8 37 256 sdc5
8 64 32768 sde
8 65 104 sde1
8 66 4096 sde2
8 67 4096 sde3
8 68 4096 sde4
8 69 128 sde5
8 80 4194304 sdf
8 81 5120 sdf1
8 82 512 sdf2
8 83 512 sdf3
8 84 5120 sdf4
8 85 8192 sdf5
8 86 460800 sdf6
8 87 10240 sdf7
8 88 1024 sdf8
8 89 65536 sdf9
8 90 10240 sdf10
8 91 128 sdf11
8 92 98304 sdf12
8 93 128 sdf13
8 94 80 sdf14
8 95 64 sdf15
259 0 24576 sdf16
259 1 2048 sdf17
259 2 2048 sdf18
259 3 256 sdf19
259 4 174080 sdf20
259 5 550000 sdf21
259 6 1024 sdf22
259 7 128 sdf23
259 8 16384 sdf24
259 9 98304 sdf25
259 10 30720 sdf26
259 11 256 sdf27
259 12 102400 sdf28
259 13 2048 sdf29
259 14 8192 sdf30
259 15 64 sdf31
259 16 1024 sdf32
259 17 512 sdf33
259 18 24 sdf34
259 19 256 sdf35
259 20 128 sdf36
259 21 5120 sdf37
259 22 512 sdf38
259 23 512 sdf39
259 24 5120 sdf40
259 25 8192 sdf41
259 26 460800 sdf42
259 27 10240 sdf43
259 28 1024 sdf44
259 29 65536 sdf45
259 30 10240 sdf46
259 31 128 sdf47
259 32 98304 sdf48
259 33 128 sdf49
259 34 80 sdf50
259 35 64 sdf51
259 36 24576 sdf52
259 37 2048 sdf53
259 38 2048 sdf54
259 39 256 sdf55
259 40 550000 sdf56
259 41 1024 sdf57
259 42 128 sdf58
259 43 174080 sdf59
259 44 98304 sdf60
259 45 256 sdf61
259 46 102400 sdf62
259 47 2048 sdf63
259 48 8192 sdf64
259 49 64 sdf65
259 50 1024 sdf66
259 51 512 sdf67
259 52 24 sdf68
259 53 256 sdf69
259 54 128 sdf70
259 55 4 sdf71
259 56 1024 sdf72
259 57 8192 sdf73
259 58 40960 sdf74
259 59 524288 sdf75
259 60 128 sdf76
259 61 512 sdf77
259 62 28 sdf78
259 63 512 sdf79
259 64 235520 sdf80
259 65 1024 sdf81
259 66 20480 sdf82
259 67 128 sdf83
259 68 128 sdf84
259 69 32768 sdf85
259 70 64 sdf86
259 71 128 sdf87
259 72 8 sdf88
8 96 4194304 sdg
8 112 4194304 sdh
254 0 1692 dm-0
254 1 2589236 dm-1
254 2 11940 dm-2
254 3 804512 dm-3
254 4 1647464 dm-4
254 5 141248 dm-5
7 128 93148 loop16
7 136 836 loop17
7 144 23324 loop18
7 152 40892 loop19
7 160 268 loop20
7 168 41180 loop21
7 176 15832 loop22
7 184 39744 loop23
7 192 32064 loop24
7 200 23324 loop25
7 208 26196 loop26
7 216 40792 loop27
7 224 41420 loop28
7 232 1336 loop29
7 240 7088 loop30
7 248 7288 loop31
7 256 8152 loop32
7 264 19164 loop33
7 272 824 loop34
7 280 14116 loop35
7 288 10984 loop36
7 296 10752 loop37
7 304 1860 loop38
7 312 6132 loop39
7 320 1616 loop40
7 328 10076 loop41
7 336 268 loop42
7 344 26256 loop43
7 352 3104 loop44
7 360 6184 loop45
7 368 25136 loop46
7 376 4556 loop47
7 384 9624 loop48
254 6 24928 dm-6
254 7 6124 dm-7
254 8 26040 dm-8
254 9 256 dm-9
254 10 4508 dm-10
254 11 9536 dm-11
254 13 9984 dm-13
254 14 1588 dm-14
254 15 29284 dm-15
254 17 1832 dm-17
254 19 10656 dm-19
254 21 10884 dm-21
254 22 13992 dm-22
254 24 6072 dm-24
254 25 804 dm-25
254 28 19000 dm-28
254 29 8076 dm-29
254 31 7216 dm-31
254 38 7020 dm-38
254 43 324 dm-43
254 44 41084 dm-44
254 45 25980 dm-45
254 48 23128 dm-48
254 50 31800 dm-50
253 0 6291456 zram0
254 51 459208524 dm-51This only gives us the size of each partition, without any other details. To get the mapping of each device node, we need to execute ls -l /dev in the /dev directory to obtain the results:
sun:/dev/block/by-name # ls -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 ALIGN_TO_128K_1 -> /dev/block/sdd1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 ALIGN_TO_128K_2 -> /dev/block/sde1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 abl_a -> /dev/block/sdf8
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 abl_b -> /dev/block/sdf44
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 aop_a -> /dev/block/sdf2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 aop_b -> /dev/block/sdf38
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 aop_config_a -> /dev/block/sdf3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 aop_config_b -> /dev/block/sdf39
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 apdp -> /dev/block/sdb5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 apdpb -> /dev/block/sdc5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 bluetooth_a -> /dev/block/sdf7
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 bluetooth_b -> /dev/block/sdf43
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 boot_a -> /dev/block/sdf12
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 boot_b -> /dev/block/sdf48
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 cdt -> /dev/block/sdd2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 connsec -> /dev/block/sdf83
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 core_nhlos_a -> /dev/block/sdf20
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 core_nhlos_b -> /dev/block/sdf59
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 cpucp_a -> /dev/block/sdf22
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 cpucp_b -> /dev/block/sdf57
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 cpucp_dtb_a -> /dev/block/sdf31
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 cpucp_dtb_b -> /dev/block/sdf65
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 ddr -> /dev/block/sdd3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 devcfg_a -> /dev/block/sdf13
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 devcfg_b -> /dev/block/sdf49
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 devinfo -> /dev/block/sdf71
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 dpm -> /dev/block/sdf88
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 dsp_a -> /dev/block/sdf9
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 dsp_b -> /dev/block/sdf45
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 dtbo_a -> /dev/block/sdf16
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 dtbo_b -> /dev/block/sdf52
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 featenabler_a -> /dev/block/sdf23
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 featenabler_b -> /dev/block/sdf58
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 frp -> /dev/block/sda5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 fsc -> /dev/block/sde5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 fsg -> /dev/block/sde4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 hyp_a -> /dev/block/sdf5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 hyp_b -> /dev/block/sdf41
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 imagefv_a -> /dev/block/sdf18
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 imagefv_b -> /dev/block/sdf54
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 init_boot_a -> /dev/block/sdf30
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 init_boot_b -> /dev/block/sdf64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 keymaster_a -> /dev/block/sdf10
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 keymaster_b -> /dev/block/sdf46
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 keystore -> /dev/block/sda4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 logdump -> /dev/block/sdf75
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 logfs -> /dev/block/sdf73
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 mdcompress -> /dev/block/sdf82
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 metadata -> /dev/block/sda9
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 misc -> /dev/block/sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 modem_a -> /dev/block/sdf6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 modem_b -> /dev/block/sdf42
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 modemst1 -> /dev/block/sde2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 modemst2 -> /dev/block/sde3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 multiimgoem_a -> /dev/block/sdb4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 multiimgoem_b -> /dev/block/sdc4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 multiimgqti_a -> /dev/block/sdb3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 multiimgqti_b -> /dev/block/sdc3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 pdp_a -> /dev/block/sdf35
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 pdp_b -> /dev/block/sdf69
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 persist -> /dev/block/sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 pvmfw_a -> /dev/block/sdf32
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 pvmfw_b -> /dev/block/sdf66
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 qmcs -> /dev/block/sdf26
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 quantumcontentfv -> /dev/block/sdf81
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 quantumfv -> /dev/block/sdf79
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 quantumsdk -> /dev/block/sdf74
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 questdatafv -> /dev/block/sdf24
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 qupfw_a -> /dev/block/sdf14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 qupfw_b -> /dev/block/sdf50
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 qweslicstore_a -> /dev/block/sdf27
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 qweslicstore_b -> /dev/block/sdf61
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 rawdump -> /dev/block/sda10
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 recovery_a -> /dev/block/sdf28
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 recovery_b -> /dev/block/sdf62
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sda -> /dev/block/sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdb -> /dev/block/sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdc -> /dev/block/sdc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdd -> /dev/block/sdd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sde -> /dev/block/sde
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdf -> /dev/block/sdf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdg -> /dev/block/sdg
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 1970-01-07 17:43 sdh -> /dev/block/sdh
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 secdata -> /dev/block/sdf78
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 shrm_a -> /dev/block/sdf19
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 shrm_b -> /dev/block/sdf55
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 soccp_dcd_a -> /dev/block/sdf34
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 soccp_dcd_b -> /dev/block/sdf68
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 soccp_debug_a -> /dev/block/sdf33
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 soccp_debug_b -> /dev/block/sdf67
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 spunvm -> /dev/block/sdf85
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 spuservice_a -> /dev/block/sdf11
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 spuservice_b -> /dev/block/sdf47
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 ssd -> /dev/block/sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 storsec -> /dev/block/sdf76
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 super -> /dev/block/sda6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 testparti -> /dev/block/sda11
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 toolsfv -> /dev/block/sdf72
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 tz_a -> /dev/block/sdf4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 tz_b -> /dev/block/sdf40
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 tzsc -> /dev/block/sdf84
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 uefi_a -> /dev/block/sdf1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 uefi_b -> /dev/block/sdf37
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 uefisecapp_a -> /dev/block/sdf17
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 uefisecapp_b -> /dev/block/sdf53
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 uefivarstore -> /dev/block/sdf77
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 userdata -> /dev/block/sda12
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vbmeta_a -> /dev/block/sdf15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vbmeta_b -> /dev/block/sdf51
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 vbmeta_system_a -> /dev/block/sda7
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 vbmeta_system_b -> /dev/block/sda8
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vendor_boot_a -> /dev/block/sdf25
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vendor_boot_b -> /dev/block/sdf60
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vm-bootsys_a -> /dev/block/sdf21
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vm-bootsys_b -> /dev/block/sdf56
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 vm-persist -> /dev/block/sdf80
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_a -> /dev/block/sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_b -> /dev/block/sdc1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_config_a -> /dev/block/sdb2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_config_b -> /dev/block/sdc2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_ramdump_a -> /dev/block/sdf29
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_ramdump_b -> /dev/block/sdf63
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_sc_logs -> /dev/block/sdf87
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-01-07 17:43 xbl_sc_test_mode -> /dev/block/sdf86Now, the information for each partition is crystal clear. It’s worth noting that on this new platform, Qualcomm has placed the UEFI firmware in a separate UEFI partition, and the original XBL partition is merely a shell (though not entirely empty, of course).
Obtaining Other Hardware Information (Touchscreen, Wi-Fi Card, Audio Codec, etc.)
By fetching dmesg, we can obtain a wealth of information about the device. Among the kernel boot parameters, one particular section stands out:
[ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttynull stack_depot_disable=on cgroup_disable=pressure kasan.stacktrace=off kvm-arm.mode=protected bootconfig ioremap_guard log_buf_len=512K loglevel=6 cpufreq.default_governor=performance sysctl.kernel.sched_pelt_multiplier=4 no-steal-acc kpti=0 swiotlb=0 loop.max_part=7 irqaffinity=0-1 pcie_ports=compat printk.console_no_auto_verbose=1 kasan=off rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 rcu_nocbs=0-7 kernel.panic_on_rcu_stall=1 disable_dma32=on cgroup_disable=pressure fw_devlink.strict=1 can.stats_timer=0 pci-msm-drv.pcie_sm_regs=0x1D07000,0x1040,0x1048,0x3000,0x1 ftrace_dump_on_oops slub_debug=- video=vfb:640x400,bpp=32,memsize=3072000 nosoftlockup console=ttynull qcom_geni_serial.con_enabled=0 bootconfig msm_drm.dsi_display0=qcom,mdss_dsi_nt37801_wqhd_plus_cmd: rootwait ro init=/init silent_boot.mode=nonsilentThe msm_drm.dsi_display0=qcom,mdss_dsi_nt37801_wqhd_plus_cmd parameter provides information about the display: it’s a panel manufactured by Novatek, model NT37801, with a resolution of 1440x3220, AMOLED, a refresh rate of 120Hz, DSI interface, and WQHD+ output format. I then scoured the internet for schematics and datasheets for this panel but came up empty. So, I turned to lwn.net to search for related merge requests or commits for this panel, and lo and behold, I found it:
Its commit log explicitly states: ‘Added driver support for Novatek NT37801 (also known as Novetek NT37801 AMOLED DSI display panel), used on the Qualcomm SM8750 MTP board’. This is exactly what I was looking for. Although I didn’t find a datasheet, knowing the panel model and connection method is sufficient.
To obtain PCIe device information, we need to use the lspci command:
lspci -e
01:00.0 : (rev 01)
00:00.0 : However, this didn’t yield any useful information, so I appended the -nn parameter:
sun:/ $ lspci -nn
01:00.0 : [17cb:110e] (rev 01)
00:00.0 : [17cb:011c]This gave us the Vendor and Device IDs of the PCIe device. Next, we can query the PCI ID Repository database. Visit the website, select ‘PCI Devices’, choose ‘All’ in the ‘Vendor’ column, then use your browser’s search function to type 17cb, followed by 110e. Unfortunately, the PCI ID Repository doesn’t list this device. What now? We’ll have to rely on Termux. First, install pciutils, which is available in Termux’s root repo. Then, simply run lspci:
Still no change. However, according to the published specifications, the PCIe device should be Qualcomm’s own X80 5G NR modem.
The audio codec uses the WSA 883X chip. There are already audio definitions in the mainline device tree, and ALSA has corresponding configuration files.
The camera still uses I²C, with a total of 5 lenses, front and back combined: the front uses Samsung’s s5kjn1, and the rear features two Sony imx766 imx858 sensors, one OmniVision ov32c4c, and another Samsung s5k33dxx. It’s worth noting that the camera also comes with two EEPROMs, which suggests that mainline kernel camera support will likely be quite challenging…
Conclusion
It seems that porting mainline Linux to the SM8750 is going to be a tough nut to crack… Nevertheless, now that we have this hardware information, we can prepare for the mainline Linux port.
Footnotes
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Unlike the official version’s 4.32GHz clock speed, this ES version has a base frequency of only 3.63GHz. ↩