Google Nexus 5X (lg-bullhead)

From postmarketOS
Google (LG) Nexus 5X
Nexus 5x
Nexus 5x
Manufacturer Google (LG)
Name Nexus 5X
Codename lg-bullhead
Released 2015
Category testing
Original software Android
Original version 6.0 (Linux 3.10)
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992)
CPU 4x1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & 2x1.8 GHz Cortex-A57
GPU Adreno 418
Display 1080x1920 IPS
Storage 16/32 GB
Memory 2 GB
Architecture AArch64
Type Handset
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score 1273.5
Features
USB Networking
Works
Flashing
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Display
Works
WiFi
FDE
Mainline
Partial
Battery
Works
3D Acceleration
Audio
Bluetooth
Camera
GPS
Mobile data
Internal storage
SMS
Calls
USB OTG
Works
NFC
Sensors
Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Ambient Light
Proximity
Hall Effect
Barometer
Power Sensor
Misc
Built-in DVB
Camera Flash
Keyboard
Touchpad
USB-A
HDMI/DP
Ir TX
Ir RX
Stylus
Memory Card
Haptics
Ethernet
FOSS bootloader



Contributors

Users owning this device


Unlocking

In android go to SettingsSystemAbout Phone and tap the build number 7 times. Then go to SettingsSystemDeveloper Options and enable OEM unlocking

Reboot to the bootloader and run "fastboot oem unlock" Now select Yes on the phone screen with the volume button and use the power button to accept.

No RPMB

If your device says SECURE BOOT: ENABLED (NO RPMB) in the fastboot screen that means that the mainboard in your Nexus 5X is missing an image required by secureboot to function properly. If this is missing then oem-unlocking won't work on the device. It will re-lock every reboot.

No fix is available yet, but there is way to at least install LineageOS to gain root for adb (phone reset persists, but it allows to read various proc/sysfs files which contain hardware info which are readable only for root - useful for mainlining).

NOTE: modified boot.img from XDA thread has been moved, also TWRP.

Modify boot.img

When trying to workaround the issue it's probably better to modify your boot.img yourself (source code for mount flags description).

Official images can be downloaded from https://developers.google.com/android/images#bullhead.

$ wget -c https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/bullhead-opm7.181205.001-factory-5f189d84.zip
$ unzip bullhead-opm7.181205.001-factory-5f189d84.zip && cd bullhead-opm7.181205.001/
$ unzip image-bullhead-opm7.181205.001.zip
$ abootimg -x boot.img
$ mkdir initrd && cd initrd
$ zcat ../initrd.img | cpio -idmv --no-absolute-filenames
$ vi fstab.bullhead

To disable dm-verity remove verify= parameter in /system and /vendor:

-/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/system  /system  ext4    ro,barrier=1,inode_readahead_blks=8    wait,verify=/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/metadata
-/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/vendor  /vendor  ext4    ro,barrier=1,inode_readahead_blks=8    wait,verify=/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/metadata
+/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/system  /system  ext4    ro,barrier=1,inode_readahead_blks=8    wait,
+/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/vendor  /vendor  ext4    ro,barrier=1,inode_readahead_blks=8    wait,

To disable forced encryption change forcefdeorfbe= to encryptable= (source):

-/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/userdata     /data           ext4    noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic,inode_readahead_blks=8 wait,check,forcefdeorfbe=/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/metadata
+/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/userdata     /data           ext4    noatime,nosuid,nodev,barrier=1,data=ordered,nomblk_io_submit,noauto_da_alloc,errors=panic,inode_readahead_blks=8 wait,check,encryptable=/dev/block/platform/soc.0/f9824900.sdhci/by-name/metadata

Repack boot.img (and continue according to the article):

$ find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > ../initrd.img # repack intird.img after edit
$ cd ..
$ abootimg --create boot.img -f bootimg.cfg -k zImage -r initrd.img # if "too big for the Boot Image" add: -c "bootsize=size-in-error-bootsize"

Special key combos

Boot to bootloader: hold Volume Down + Power until the screen turns on.

Launch recovery: first boot to the bootloader, press the Volume Down button twice and press the Power button to select

Install postmarketOS

Go to bootloader then connect the device to the PC then run this commands one by one.

$ pmbootstrap init
$ pmbootstrap install
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs --partition userdata
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel

Now select start from the menu in the bootloader screen. Reboot again if you don't see anything in the screen after postmarketOS logo

Get your hardware revision

Retrieve it from a running system by running:

$ xxd /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/qcom,board-id
# Output e.g.: 00000000: 0000 0b64 0000 0000                      ...d....

Compare the identifier with the ones listed in msm8992-bullhead-rev-X.dts and find which one matched your number to retrieve your hardware revision. The example output would match revision 1.01.

Note: the above information is ambiguous. On an unmodified device, try fastboot:

$ fastboot getvar version-hardware
#Output, e.g.: version-hardware: rev_1.0

Alternatively, in fastboot mode, just check the device console: hw version rev_1.0.

This device (final build number, OPM07) is apparently revision 1.0, but via adb shell the output matches that given above (note the different target file, as the sys entry above does not exist),

$ xxd /proc/device-tree/qcom,board-id
# Output e.g.: 00000000: 0000 0b64 0000 0000                      ...d....

Mainline Kernel Status

The current mainline Linux only supports Nexus 5X rev 1.01, but upcoming 5.18 will contain also rev 1.0cd4bd4704ec8 ("arm64: dts: qcom: msm8992-lg-bullhead: Add support for LG Bullhead rev 1.0").

Status Hardware Info
Y Power Management Uses Qualcomm's PM8994 controller, works since 4.11 (doc)
Touch Screen No driver in mainline tree.
DSI Panel Out-of-tree driver[1] generated using linux-mdss-dsi-panel-driver-generator. Untested
USB Gadget/OTG No DT binding.
Y SDHCI Mainline driver since 4.17, properly enabled since 5.9 – c83e0951bcad ("arm64: dts: qcom: msm8992: Fix SDHCI1")
Wi-Fi Qualcomm QCA6174. Driver exists in mainline.
Y GPIO keys No DT bindings.
Bluetooth Qualcomm QCA6174. Driver exists in mainline.
Sound Qualcomm WCD9330, no driver in mainline.
Light Sensor Rohm RPR0521. Driver exists in mainline.
Sixaxis Bosch BMI160. Driver exists in mainline.
Camera Sony IMX377. No driver in mainline.
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 418, needs DT bindings.
Modem Qualcomm WTR3925. No driver in mainline.
Fingerprint FPC1020, supported by this driver:https://github.com/SanniZ/fpc1020-driver. Needs DT bindings.

Firmware

Here is the official Google page to download GPS, Audio, Camera, Gestures, Graphics, DRM, Video, Sensors firware blob. /developers.google

Mainlining

The Linux mainline kernel has very basic support for this phone since November 2016 (one cpu and uart). In kernel 4.18 was added support for SDHCI1 and pstore-ramoops. Further fixes has been added later (in SDHC1, PSCI and cleanup in 5.9, overlay msm8994 as hardware is very similar and update regulator config in 5.12, overlay and PSCI broke booting, which got fixed in 5.14. Upcoming 5.18 will add rev 1.0 support (currently is supported only 1.01).

Currently it's possible to use mainline kernel via close to mainline kernel linux-postmarketos-qcom-msm8994 package (added in pmaports!2654) – alternative to downstream kernel (only basic hardware support).

For further hacking on mainline kernel compiling with envkernel.sh is recommended.

To see serial console output add kernel parameter console=ttyMSM0,115200,n8 PMOS_NO_OUTPUT_REDIRECT (the latter only if you use UART debugging cable).

Update the boot.img to include your local kernel

$ cp "/tmp/postmarketOS-export/boot.img-lg-bullhead" "$TEMP/boot.img"
$ cd .output/arch/arm64/boot/
$ cat Image.gz dts/qcom/msm8992-bullhead-rev-101.dtb > "$TEMP/zImage-dtb"
$ pmbootstrap chroot -- abootimg -u /tmp/mainline/boot.img  -k /tmp/mainline/zImage-dtb
$ pmbootstrap flasher list_devices

You can communicate with the device using screen (or other software, e.g. minicom), so in a separate terminal start it:

$ screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

Boot your mobile to the bootloader (power + vol down) and you should see some debug output on the screen.

Boot the kernel using fastboot

$ pmbootstrap chroot -- fastboot boot /tmp/mainline/boot.img

Hardware status / details (downstream kernel, SKU LGH790, rev_1.0)

Note that xfce4 ui on this device boots to black screen, but usb networking is available.

Output of sensors (lm-sensors package):

sensors output

bms-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +28.7 C  

battery-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +28.7 C  

tsens_tz_sensor0-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor1-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor2-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor3-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor4-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor5-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor7-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor9-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.1 C  

tsens_tz_sensor10-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.1 C  

tsens_tz_sensor11-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor12-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor13-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

tsens_tz_sensor14-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

pm8994_tz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +36.5 C  (crit = +145.0 C)

msm_therm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         -0.0 C  

emmc_therm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         -0.0 C  

pa_therm0-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_57-0-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_57-1-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_53-0-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_53-1-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_53-2-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C  

THRM_53-3-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:         +0.0 C

CPU tuning

The default deviceinfo defines boot_cpus=0-3 maxcpus=4, forcing the 2xA57 cores offline. A naive tuning attempt based on oneplus-oneplus2 seems to bring the A57 cores online - but unused. ubench still only recognizes "4 CPUs", and scores are unchanged (compare with much higher MSM8992 xiaomi-libra scores).

Monitor temperatures via sensors or sys-tool (lm-sensors package), (though most values may be null / disabled / 0); systool -v -c [hwmon|thermal] may be more complete. When mainline is available, try tmon (linux-tools-tmon).

Photos

Lg-bullhead mate.jpg Lg-bullhead plasma.jpg Coreapps2.jpg 3-Nexuses-5X.jpg

Links