BQ Aquaris X5 (bq-paella)

Features
Flashing	Works
USB Networking	Works
Internal storage
SD card
Battery	Works
Screen	Works
Touchscreen	Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration	Works
Audio	Works
Camera
Camera Flash
Connectivity
WiFi	Works
Bluetooth	Works
GPS	Works
Modem
Calls	Works
SMS	Works
Mobile data	Works
Miscellaneous
FDE	Works
USB OTG	Works
HDMI/DP
Sensors
Accelerometer	Works
Magnetometer
Ambient Light
Proximity
Hall Effect
Haptics
Barometer

BQ Aquaris X5
	; BQ Aquaris X5 running Plasma Mobile on postmarketOS mainline
Manufacturer	BQ
Name	Aquaris X5
Codename	bq-paella
Released	2015
Type	handset
Hardware
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 412 (MSM8916v2)
CPU	Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 306
Display	720 x 1280 (IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors)
Storage	16GB / 32GB
Memory	2GB / 3GB
Architecture	aarch64
Software
Original software	Android (CyanogenOS)
Original version	5.1 (CyanogenOS 12.1)
postmarketOS
Category	community
Pre-built images	yes
postmarketOS kernel	Mainline
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score	913.7
Optional Generic Port	Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916)

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).

Contributors

Lazzardo

Maintainer(s)

Lazzardo

Users owning this device

Aleksander (Notes: WWAN stack tinkering)
DancesWithCycles (Notes: Posh on pmOS with touch not working)
Delta503 (Notes: testing on edge against being daily driver)
Jakko
Lazzardo (Notes: CyanogenMod Edition)
Linmob (Notes: broken volume button)
Marissachan (Notes: 32GB/2GB PMOS edge Phosh)
Minecrell (Notes: BQ version)
Mxkrsv (Notes: CyanogenMod Edition)
PanzerSajt
Pojntfx
Rapto
Voj343

How to enter flash mode

The device is available in two variants: The normal edition from BQ and a special Cyanogen Edition that runs CyanogenOS. The hardware seems to be identical, but the firmware is different. How to enter Fastboot/Recovery mode depends on the firmware that is currently installed.

BQ bootloader

Recovery: Power on the device with both Power and Volume Up buttons.
Fastboot: Power on the device with both Power and Volume Down buttons.

Cyanogen bootloader

Recovery: Power on the device with both Power and Volume Down buttons.
Stock fastboot: Power on the device with both Power and Volume Up buttons.
lk2nd Fastboot: Power on the device. After it vibrates, hold Volume Down.

Installation

pojntfx made a video tutorial which follows the steps below:

Unlock bootloader

To unlock your bootloader boot into Android, enable Developer Options from the settings and enable "Allow OEM unlock". Then boot into Fastboot and use fastboot oem unlock. You might need to use fastboot oem unlock-go. (Note: All your data will be erased!)

Firmware

It is recommended to flash to latest firmware from BQ before using postmarketOS. You can download it here: 5.2.0_20180228-1305-picmt-user-637-Fastboot-FW.zip ~~5.2.0_20180228-1305-picmt-user-637-Fastboot-FW.zip~~.

First flash the early boot firmware:

$ fastboot flash sbl1 sbl1.mbn
$ fastboot flash sbl1bak sbl1.mbn
$ fastboot flash tz tz.mbn
$ fastboot flash tzbak tz.mbn
$ fastboot flash hyp hyp.mbn
$ fastboot flash hypbak hyp.mbn
$ fastboot flash rpm rpm.mbn
$ fastboot flash rpmbak rpm.mbn
$ fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin

As a next step you also need to flash a Linux/Android bootloader (aboot). There are two different versions available:

BQ bootloader: Can only boot downstream kernel
Cyanogen bootloader: Can boot both downstream and mainline kernel

Therefore, you should flash the Cyanogen bootloader for postmarketOS. You can download it here: cm-13.1.4-ZNH2KAS5FE-paella-signed-fastboot-a6851b4fbe.zip ~~cm-13.1.4-ZNH2KAS5FE-paella-signed-fastboot-a6851b4fbe.zip~~

$ fastboot flash aboot emmc_appsboot.mbn
$ fastboot flash splash splash.img

The bootloader has a splash screen with black background.

Note: After flashing a new bootloader you should reboot the device to make sure the new bootloader is running.

postmarketOS

The mainline kernel depends on an alternative bootloader (lk2nd). It does not replace the stock bootloader, but provides its own Fastboot interface. When using the mainline kernel you should always use lk2nd for flashing, not the stock Fastboot mode.

Install lk2nd. (Just needed the first time).
- Warning: lk2nd is installed to the boot partition, not the aboot partition you flashed earlier!

When you have lk2nd installed and running, follow Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412_(MSM8916)#Installation.

Downstream

There is an alternative device port using the downstream kernel, bq-paella-downstream. It can be selected by entering the name in pmbootstrap init.

WARNING: The downstream kernel is entirely unmaintained and only intended for testing features for the mainline kernel. DO NOT USE IT UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

Using as a daily driver

Audio routing seems to work properly now, so you can make a call without switching anything in settings. You need to watch battery drain as this soc, has no working CPU suspend mode.

Make sure you have checked bq-paella issues and fully read Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412_(MSM8916), as it contains information about important bugs related generally to this SoC (they are not mentioned directly here).

Cellular networking requires the package msm-modem-uim-selection and setting /etc/conf.d/msm-modem-uim-selection to sim_wait_time=30, this will automatically detect a sim card in one of the slots and activate it.