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Google Pixel 3a (google-sargo): Difference between revisions

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=== Audio ===
=== Audio ===


You can get audio over Bluetooth, on the built-in speakers, and on the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The built-in speakers and headphone jack only support 16-bit audio.
You can get audio over Bluetooth, on the built-in speakers, and on the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The built-in speakers and headphone jack only support 16-bit audio. The built-in microphone does not work yet.


=== Thermals ===
=== Thermals ===

Revision as of 20:26, 17 November 2023

Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 3a
Google Pixel 3a
Manufacturer Google
Name Pixel 3a
Codename google-sargo
Released 2019
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 (SDM670)
CPU Octa-core (2x2.0 GHz 360 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver)
GPU Adreno 615
Display 1080x2220 OLED
Storage 64 GB
Memory 4 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software Android
Original version 9
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images no
Mainline yes
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score 4417.7
Features
Flashing
Works
USB Networking
Works
Internal storage
No data
SD card
No data
Battery
Partial
Screen
Partial
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Partial
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Works
Connectivity
WiFi
Partial
Bluetooth
Works
GPS
No data
NFC
Partial
Modem
Calls
Partial
SMS
Works
Mobile data
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Works
USB OTG
Broken
HDMI/DP
No data
Sensors
Accelerometer
Broken
Magnetometer
Broken
Ambient Light
Broken
Proximity
Broken
Hall Effect
No data
Haptics
Works
Barometer
Broken


Contributors

Maintainer(s)

Users owning this device


Entering Fastboot

Hold Volume Down and Power until device loads into Fastboot

Fastboot commands

Might be convenient for dual boot

  • fastboot getvar current-slot
  • fastboot set_active a and fastboot set_active b

Installation

You can follow a relatively typical installation using pmbootstrap as documented here (there are no pre-built images). There are a few things to keep in mind.

Flashing

If your device has Android 10 or later, you will get the following error when flashing the rootfs:

$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
Sending sparse 'system_b' 1/5 (261014 KB)          OKAY [  9.129s]
Writing 'system_b'                                 FAILED (remote: 'Partition should be flashed in fastbootd')
fastboot: error: Command failed

This error occurs because Android 10 introduced dynamic partitions. There are different ways to flash the rootfs (see Different options of installation). Flashing to dynamic partitions via fastbootd is supported.

DTBO

Thanks to a hack in the kernel fork, you do not need to erase the DTBO partition. Keeping the DTBO comes with a few side effects. Instead of seeing "Google Pixel 3a" as the machine name, you might see something like "Google Inc. MSM sdm670 S4 PVT v1.0". You may also see a dmesg error complaining about a ramoops reserved memory region.

If you don't like these side effects, erasing the DTBO is simple:

$ fastboot erase dtbo


Features

Battery

Support for charging was developed by the SDM845 mainlining community, with no thermals and only 1 A.

Display

The panel works. Note that some XL devices may have an unsupported panel, the Tianma NT37700F.

The full panel driver is loaded late in the boot process so that unl0kr and osk-sdl work. This makes pbsplash small and makes it disappear.

Fingerprint sensor

This device has the FPC1020 fingerprint sensor. A driver is being worked on here but doesn't seem to be ready yet.

Full-disk encryption

Full-disk encryption works without 3D acceleration.

NFC

NFC card detection works. Nothing else was tested. The embedded secure element seems to have no driver support.

WiFi

You don't get the same MAC address as on Android, even though it is possible to detect the MAC address that Android uses (somewhere in /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/chosen/cdt/cdb2/wlan_mac1). Instead, it is generated with the serial number.

WiFi hotspots are on the same interface as the one used to connect to WiFi, so a hotspot cannot be set up over a WiFi connection, unlike on Android.

WoWLAN does not seem to work.

Calls

It is possible to initiate calls and hear them on the 3.5 mm jack, but not on speakers.

The "Voice calls" use case should be selected in the settings to hear calls.

Warning: Call audio may be loud. Call audio goes directly from the modem to the ADSP via proprietary firmware, so volume cannot be applied in software. Volume can be controlled by hardware, but it is not hooked up to the normal volume controls. Please change the hardware volume if you wish to hear calls at a reasonable level:

$ amixer -c 0 cset name='Digital RX1 Digital Volume' 23%
$ amixer -c 0 cset name='Digital RX2 Digital Volume' 23%
# alsactl store # Make this configuration persist across reboots

Audio

You can get audio over Bluetooth, on the built-in speakers, and on the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The built-in speakers and headphone jack only support 16-bit audio. The built-in microphone does not work yet.

Thermals

Thermal limits and throttling are not known to be working.

Trusted Platform Module

The Pixel 3a's TPM, the Titan M, controls verified boot and is capable of performing cryptographic operations. It is currently not supported.

See also