ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser (720p) (asus-z00l)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Note This page is about the dedicated port of this device. There is also an optional generic port available for this device - see Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916).
Asus ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL (720p)
ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser (720p)
ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser (720p)
Manufacturer Asus
Name ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL (720p)
Codename asus-z00l
Released 2015
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916)
CPU Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU Adreno 306
Display 5.5" 720x1280 IPS
Storage 16 GB
Memory 2 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software Android
Original version 5.0
Extended version 6.0.1
FOSS bootloader yes
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images no
Mainline yes
postmarketOS kernel Mainline
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score 1035.9
Optional Generic Port Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916)
Features
Flashing
Works
USB Networking
Works
Internal storage
Works
SD card
Works
Battery
Broken
Screen
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Works
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Broken
Connectivity
WiFi
Partial
Bluetooth
Partial
GPS
Modem
Calls
Works
SMS
Works
Mobile data
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Works
USB OTG
Sensors
Accelerometer
Works
Magnetometer
Broken
Proximity
Broken
Haptics
Broken
This device is based on the Snapdragon 410.
See the SoC page for common tips, guides and troubleshooting steps
Note This Wiki is only targeted for Asus Zenfone 2 Laser (720p) (ZE550KL). With any other model you should always do some research before using anything from here blindly. You have been warned. No one is responsible.

Contributors

  • antonyjr
  • RoDen (only wiki page)

Maintainer(s)

  • antonyjr

Users owning this device

  • Antonyjr (Notes: The only phone I own which is mainlined and aims to run Phosh as daily driver)
  • Fireman112 (Notes: Broken screen)
  • RoDen (Notes: Plasma Desktop & Mobile)


How to enter flash mode

Note The following steps are not necessary since lk2nd 0.13.0, as Volume Up key for this device is finally supported.

Press Volume Up + Power Key. At the time of writing lk2nd does not recognize volume down for this device so you can't enter into flashing mode with lk2nd when you flash your kernel to the boot partition.

The only workaround is to erase the boot partition completely by entering the stock fastboot. For this you have to turn your phone completely off(do not plug in anything since if it's charging then it boots). Now Use Volume Up + Power Key once you see the bootloader release the buttons. Now do the following, 


$ fastboot erase boot
$ fastboot flash boot lk2nd.img
$ fastboot reboot 
$ # Now you should be in lk2nd

Unlocking Bootloader

Before you do anything to the device you should unlock the bootloader (Make sure to enable Developer Mode and USB Debugging in Android first).

Note Asus has stopped the official maintenance of older devices. So, it's impossible to unlock the bootloader with the official app anymore. Described below is the unofficial method of unlocking taken from here.

Since the recovery partition of the device is not locked by default we would flash TWRP first. Download TWRP from here and flash it to recovery. 

$ # Boot into stock fastboot by pressing Vol Up + Power Key
$ fastboot flash recovery twrp.img


Now Press Volume Down + Power Key while still in fastboot, Once you see your phone reboot and show the ASUS logo release the buttons. Now You should see TWRP, do the required changes by TWRP. Now reboot again and verify if Android is still working and again get into Recovery.

Also Please Turn Off Screen locking in TWRP settings which causes some trouble. Disable Screen Locking and reduce the Screen brightness.

Now make a backup of your Phone with TWRP to a USB Flashdrive using OTG Cable this is important to recover if you do something wrong or want to go back to Android after writing postmarketOS to your internal memory. (Because the phone will not install any other Android OS unless you are in your Stock Android with latest Firmware again)

For Installing Lineage OS you should do a dirty flash with the latest firmware update.

Now you must install SuperSU or other android root software(TWRP -> Install -> SuperSU.zip transferred from Computer). SuperSU worked for me.

Wipe all caches and reboot into your device. Hopefully it should be rooted.

Now connect your device to your computer with USB debugging enabled. Download this zip file and extract it to some location of your computer.

Note For those unfortunate with Ubuntu, before executing the script below make sure:

1. You are in the plugdev group. Use id command to check. If you're not, add yourself with:

$ sudo usermod -aG plugdev $LOGNAME

You must log out for this change to take effect.

2. The system has the right udev rules. Check /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules for the following line to be present:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0b05", ATTR{idProduct}=="4daf", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="android%n"

Note and add it if necessary. Change "4daf" if it's different for your device. Use lsusb command to check. Reload the udev rules issuing the following command:

$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

3. fastboot command is finally working without sudo. Otherwise the script would fail. Don't forget to reconnect the device before this final check.

Now go to the extracted directory of the zip and execute the following command while your phone connected with USB Debugging and without the screen lock state, 

$ ./unlock_bootloader.sh

Make sure to allow permissions by SuperSU on your phone screen.


Now hopefully your device should be unlocked. To check this execute the following command. This will reboot your device into fastboot. 

$ adb reboot bootloader
$ fastboot oem device-info # It should say Bootloader: unlocked
$ fastboot reboot

Installation

Install the lk2nd bootloader, as it is required to handle some quirks with msm8916 devices on mainline kernels. Flash the lk2nd.img image to the boot partition with fastboot flash boot /path/to/lk2nd.img. lk2nd also provides a fastboot interface that allows for flashing kernels without overwriting lk2nd itself. As soon as you flash this to this device the default boot will always be lk2nd, when you flash a valid mainline kernel you can't see lk2nd again. Read the above sections for workaround.

Once you have booted into lk2nd, follow Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412_(MSM8916)#Installation.

Display

Adjusting brightness may require pressing the Power button. Also, it may be automated with xdotool key 122.

Battery

The charging is not controlled and there is no charging status reporting.

Note Charge the device using the TWRP recovery. In case you can’t boot in TWRP, try entering it after restarting the device from a pmOS GUI.
Note When the battery is almost fully discharged you may experience some weird issues like inverted display colors, SIM detection failure, failure to boot into GUI, etc.

WiFi

"Wifi will work but the signal range is very bad. So You have to be close to the AP. I highly suggest using mobile data instead of Wifi since wifi is not sustainable."

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is unstable. Maybe, it's the same problem of bad signal range as with WiFi.

Photos

  • Unixbench

    Unixbench

Plasma Desktop & Mobile Configuration

Note My primary goal is the same OS and software on my desktop & handheld PCs, i.e. KDE Plasma Desktop X11, as Wayland lacks a lot of features right now.
  • Preparation:
  1. Choose plasma-mobile in pmbootstrap init if you don't want to change Plasma Desktop settings to Mobile manually.
  2. Add some useful extra packages, like mc and neofetch (optional).
  3. Add full disk encryption: pmbootstrap install --fde --add=unl0kr - as it's much better protection than a simple screensaver.
  4. Flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs --partition userdata(there's not enough space on Android's system partition), then reboot into Plasma Mobile with [sudo] fastboot reboot
  5. Add a new line containing NoDisplay=true in /usr/share/applications/org.​kde.mobile.​plasma​settings.​desktop(or delete the file or move it to a safe location) and never use Plasma Mobile Settings because it pmaports#2415 makes amendments without user interaction] and may potentially break everything.
  6. Comment export GDK_BACKEND=wayland in /etc/profile.d/gtk-app-wayland.sh (or delete the file or move it to a safe location as it has nothing useful except this line), otherwise GTK apps would crash in X11.
  7. Change LockOnStart=true to false in /etc/xdg/kscreenlockerrc (or delete the file or move it to a safe location as it has nothing useful except this line) so you don't have to enter one more password immediately after start (optional).
  8. Add a new line containing uhid in /etc/modules to utilize Bluetooth mouse (optional, but using Plasma Desktop with a mouse is highly recommended).
  • Installation:
  1. Install Plasma Desktop with sudo apk add postmarketos-ui-plasma-desktop
  2. Uninstall Plasma Phone with sudo apk del plasma-dialer as pmaports#2397 it is not supported in X11 and it seems there's no way to blacklist it in Application Menu for X11 only. Install Phosh's app calls with sudo apk add calls instead.
  3. Install onboard (the best virtual keyboard ): sudo apk add onboard - if you forgot to add it to extra packages during Preparation.
  4. Install other useful programs, like dolphin and kate, if you forgot to add them to extra packages during Preparation (optional).
  • Configuration:
  1. Remove sddm from default services with sudo rc-update del sddm as Plasma Mobile has its own display manager - tinydm.
  2. Delete (or move to a safe location) settings-​hardware-​powermanagement.​desktop from /usr/share/systemsettings/categories and never use Plasma Desktop Power Management as it would change the Power Button behavior and maybe mess up some other power management settings, too.
  3. Delete (or move to a safe location) org.kde.xwaylandvideobridge.​desktop from /etc/xdg/autostart otherwise pmaports#2400 Wayland to X11 Video bridge would start multiplying and also cause pmaports#2399 white square in top left corner after compositing is disabled on Plasma Desktop X11.
  4. Change tinydm session to Plasma Desktop X11: sudo tinydm-set-session -f -s /usr/share/xsessions/plasmax11.desktop and reboot.
  • Recommended settings for Plasma Desktop X11:
  1. (VERY IMPORTANT! To avoid the 'drag-and-NEVER-drop' issue of the touch panel) Input Devices -> Mouse -> Advanced, change Drag start distance' to 20 pixels (maximum). You may also try changing Drag start time if the 'drag-and-NEVER-drop' issue persist.
  2. Appearance -> Global Theme, select Breeze Dark
  3. Appearance -> Plasma Style, select Breeze Dark (or Breeze - ???)
  4. Appearance -> Window Decorations -> Theme, click the icon in the bottom right corner -> General -> Button size, select Large
  5. Appearance -> Window Decorations -> Titlebar Buttons, uncheck Show titlebar button tooltips
  6. Workspace Behavior -> General Behavior, uncheck Display informational tooltips on mouse hover
  7. Workspace Behavior -> General Behavior, switch Clicking files or folders to Selects them
  8. Workspace Behavior -> Screen Locking, change Lock screen automatically After to 1 minute
  9. Workspace Behavior -> Screen Locking, uncheck After waking from sleep
  10. Workspace Behavior -> Screen Locking, change Allow unlocking without password for to 10 seconds
  11. Startup and Shutdown -> Autostart, + Add -> + Add Application... -> Utilities -> Onboard
  12. Startup and Shutdown -> Background Services, uncheck Print Manager, SMART (not supported for eMMC, you may check eMMC life time with cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0:0001/life_time and cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0:0001/pre_eol_info), Thunderbolt Device Monitor, Touchpad
  13. Connections -> Wi-Fi -> General configuration, check All users may connect to this network (to enable auto-connection to Wi-Fi)
  14. (if needed) Input Devices -> Keyboard -> Layouts, check Configure layouts, + Add, choose an additional layout
  15. Display and Monitor -> Display Configuration, set Orientation to Portrait (actually, Landscape, as Build-In Screen is 720x1280)
  16. Display and Monitor -> Display Configuration, set Global Scale to 175%
  17. Display and Monitor -> Compositor -> Compositing, uncheck Enable on startup to disable 3D effects
  • Recommended Onboard settings:
  1. General, check Start Onboard hidden
  2. General, uncheck Show tooltips
  3. Window, check Dock to screen edge
  4. Layout, choose Small
  • Recommended Firefox settings (in about:config):
  1. browser.toolbars.bookmarks.visibility, enter never
  2. layout.css.devPixelsPerPx, enter 0.75
  3. layout.scrollbar.side, enter 3
  4. widget.gtk.overlay-scrollbars.enabled, switch to false
  5. widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.size.override, enter 50
  • Recommended Firefox add-ons/extensions:
  1. Dark Reader
  2. ScrollAnywhere
  3. Tap to Tab
  4. uBlock Origin
  • Current Issues:
  1. pmaports#2398 Error enabling firewall (firewalld / ufw) in Plasma Desktop settings.
  2. pmaports#2332 Flickering in Mozilla Firefox may be fixed by disabling hardware WebRenderer setting layers.acceleration.disabled or gfx.webrender.software to true in the browser's about:config.
  3. In X11 Power Button doesn't work as it should function on a mobile phone. Use xset dpms force off instead or switch to Wayland.
  4. In X11 Double Tap to Wake is not implemented and any touch would turn the panel on. The only solution right now is to switch to Wayland.

[ToDo]

  1. Compare stand-by battery life with all wireless interfaces off under X11 and Wayland.

[TBC]

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