Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 (samsung-skomer)
![]() Xcover 2 | |
Manufacturer | Samsung |
---|---|
Name | Galaxy Xcover 2 |
Codename | samsung-skomer |
Released | 2013 |
Category | testing |
Original software | Android 4.1.2 |
Hardware | |
Chipset | ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 |
CPU | 2x 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 |
GPU | Mali-400 MP1 |
Display | 480x800 TFT |
Storage | 4 GB |
Memory | 1 GB |
Architecture | armv7 |
USB Networking |
Works |
---|---|
Flashing |
Works |
Touchscreen |
Works |
Display |
Works |
WiFi |
Works |
Xwayland |
Works |
FDE | |
Mainline |
Works |
Battery | |
3D Acceleration |
Works |
Accelerometer |
Works |
Audio |
Broken |
Bluetooth |
Partial |
Camera | |
GPS | |
Mobile data | |
SMS | |
Calls | |
USB OTG | |
Important! As noted later in the article, charging does currently not work with the mainline Linux kernel. In addition to this, if your battery's charge goes too low while using the phone, it may no longer be able to charge, even with the original firmware/recovery! Be careful!
Contributors
Users owning this device
Installation
The mainline kernel can only be booted through U-Boot, not directly with the Samsung bootloader. U-Boot is installed as intermediate bootloader on the boot partition, so it does not replace the Samsung bootloader entirely.
Boot into Download Mode using Power + Volume Down + Home and follow the instructions at ST-Ericsson_NovaThor_U8500#U-Boot to install U-Boot. For this device, Skomer, you should flash the .img U-Boot file, not the .raw file.
Finally, just follow the Installation guide.
Notes
Since battery charging is not yet working with the mainline kernel, it is helpful to have an external Samsung battery charger at hand for charging the battery. If you plan to work intensively on the device, it is also nice to have two batteries so that you can charge one while working with the other. If you don't have an external battery charger you need to reflash the original firmware just to charge the battery which is not going to be possible if you run the battery out, so catch-22. Also worth noting is that even if you were to magically get the original firmware/recovery back on the device, you may end up in a situation where you cannot charge regardless because the phone turns off before it's able to start charging, and loops like this. In some cases it can reach enough charge during this to be able to charge properly eventually, but this may not always be the case. An external battery charger is definitely recommended.
Mainline
Working:
- Display (no brightness control)
- GPU (Mali-400 MP using Lima)
- Touchscreen
- Broadcom WiFi
- Bluetooth (partial)
- Accelerometer
- Magnetometer/compass
- HALL sensor
- USB
Not working:
- Audio
- Camera
- ...
Bluetooth
Bluetooth does not have any Bluetooth device address (bdaddr or "MAC address") set after boot at the moment. To make Bluetooth work, you need to manually configure one:
# apk add bluez-btmgmt # btmgmt public-addr <bdaddr>
where <bdaddr>
is a MAC address like 53:33:6d:69:6e:69
.
The Bluetooth controller should then show up in bluetoothctl
:
# apk add bluez # rc-service bluetooth start $ bluetoothctl