Note: This page is about motorola-potter. For Motorola Moto G5S Plus, see motorola-sanders.

Contributors

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

Motorola Moto G5 Plus
	; Moto G5 Plus
Manufacturer	Motorola
Name	Moto G5 Plus
Codename	motorola-potter
Released	2017
Type	handset
Hardware
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953)
CPU	Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 506
Display	1080 x 1920 IPS LCD
Storage	32/64 GB
Memory	2/4 GB
Architecture	aarch64
Software
Original software	Android
Original version	7.0
postmarketOS
Category	testing
Pre-built images	no
Mainline	yes
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score	3690.3

chin123
uknown
Kreastr

Maintainer(s)

uknown

Bootloader Unlocking

Motorola provides online tool and instructions on how to get bootloader unlock key: https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone/bootloader/unlock-your-device-c Make sure you use your real e-mail as you will get your unlock key there.

The tool sometimes fails for unknown reason even when it should provide the key. You can check the list of eligible CIDs and extra information on the process in this forum https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/MOTOROLA-Android-Developer-Community/Bootloader-Unlock-Problems/m-p/3222809?page=1 If you should be eligible but the tool reports otherwise post a message in that thread to get support. Alternatively you can just wait for 12-72 hours and try again. The tool might work at differen moment of time. Also if many people have posted about failure to unlock recently the chances are high that it is the tool's backend.

How to enter flash mode

Power + Volume Down buttons

Installation

But first, review mainline notes and warnings below.

Build and install lk2nd.
Boot into the lk2nd Fastboot mode.
Flash the root fs and boot into the kernel:

$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
$ pmbootstrap flasher boot

Photos

Device status with the mainline-ish kernel

Only tested on XT1686, the Indian variant, with board_id = <0x46, 0x83a0>. It should work on other devices, but may not.

WARNING: Some variants have a slightly different USB config, that isn't set up on mainline. Using mainline on those devices is dangerous, please don't use it unless you know what you're doing.

variant mainline USB compatibility (INCOMPLETE!)

SKU (XT)	region	safe mainline USB config?	How to verify pre-install?
1684	EMEA?	?	?
1685	APAC?	apparently?	?
1686	India	yes	board_id?
1687	NA	?	?

SKU/region is guessed from fastboot oem hw radio entries (1687) or other information on this page (1686). See also USB below. How to verify USB config on-device? Fast vs slow charging? Charging current? Charging power? fastboot oem off-mode-charge?

On XT1685 with Tianma panel, using the edge version of pmOS circa Oct 2021 display does not work out of the box. The backlight flickers and display is filled with blue color.

The device needs lk2nd to boot the mainline kernel. lk2nd for msm8953 is packaged in pmaports, and it is possible to compile and install it manually. See https://github.com/msm8953-mainline/lk2nd

On XT1685 with Boe panel it is possible to build and flash postmarketos, BUT the device starts up with the lowest light level (barely visible) and the touch screen does NOT work. So, it is impossible to login to the device.

Display

There are two panel supliers: Boe and Tianma. The panel will be selected at boot via lk2nd, based on the cmdline from the bootloader.

Boe

The Boe panel works as expected, with colours and backlight controls

Tianma

The Tianma panel also works as expected

Storage

Internal Storage

Works as expected.

SD Card

Works, but card detection is broken.

GPU

Works, but preemption is broken. See msm8953 status.

Touchscreen

Synaptics 3203B. Works as expected.

USB

ssh and telnet work. Low power mode does not work (broken on downstream too). Until low power mode was disabled, ssh and telnet were unusable, failing to send data properly.

Battery

Reporting is done via the qcom-fg driver. There is a WIP charger driver that supports OTG and other basic charging.

NFC

NXP PN548. It is very similar to the already mainlined PN544, it just needs 2 extra clocks. However, enabling those clocks causes a hang.

LEDs

The front charging LED doesn't work, as the temporary driver was dropped. It has 4 states: off, blink slow, blink fast, on. Its a Qualcomm ATC LED, so adding support for it should be easy.

WiFi

Works as expected, can connect to 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n networks.

Bluetooth

Works, uses the same WiFi controller. Userspace may need additional tools installed to see the device. Also, the device doesn't power on by default, it must be manually powered on via bluetoothctl

Modem

The modem needs special firmware from /persist that is unique to each device, along with a patched tqftpserv. Follow the instructions User:TravMurav/Dual-Sim_QMI_draft to get the modem fully "ready". Experimental patches for IPA v2 on mainline exist, using those allows the modem to make/receive calls and send/receive SMS. Without IPA, the modem will crash and complain about missing IPA. Also, neither stock ofono nor ModemManager support QRTR based modems. An MR has been made for ModemManager, for ofono look at the MSM8953 status page on this wiki.

Modem boot process

The modem needs some data to be written to SMEM, lk2nd currently handles this. Following that, the modem is booted up by the kernel. Then the modem connects via QRTR to rmtfs and tqftpserv. It downloads the modem firmware from rmtfs. It makes TFTP requests for other files, which are handled via tqftpserv. The tqftserv files are where it derives the IMEI and other important data from. Following this, the modem application ID must be set (as it is a dual sim phone). Once that is done, the modem attempts to communicate with the IPA driver via QMI. After communicating with the IPA service, the modem is then "ready". It can be used with ofono or ModemManager.

Audio

Uses ADSP + speaker. Works as expected with ucm from the msm8916 alsa-ucm fork. There is however a mild hiss on headphones when no audio is playing.

Anything that isn't listed above can be assumed to not work.

Hardware / sensors detail

For reference, sensor information from sensors sandbox (f-droid) on SKU xt1687; note: approximately 20 software-based / derived sensors omitted.

sensor details (sensorssandbox)

name	vendor	version	type
3-axis Accelerometer	Bosch	1	1
3-axis Gyroscope	Bosch	1	4
Ambient Light	TAOS	1	5
Proximity	TAOS	1	8
3-axis Magnetic field	Asahi Kasei	1	2
Orientation	Asahi Kasei	1	3