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Nvidia Tegra armv7 (nvidia-tegra-armv7)

From postmarketOS Wiki

A generic port for Nvidia Tegra 2/3/4 devices.

Nvidia Tegra ARMv7
Manufacturer Nvidia
Name Tegra ARMv7
Codename nvidia-tegra-armv7
Released 2011
Type generic
Hardware
Chipset Nvidia Tegra 2/3/4
GPU ULP GeForce
Architecture armv7
Software
FOSS bootloader yes
postmarketOS
Category community
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
Device package device-nvidia-tegra-armv7
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-grate
Features
Flashing
Whether it is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Works
USB Networking
After connecting the device with USB to your PC, you can connect to it via telnet (initramfs) or SSH (booted system).
Works
Internal storage
eMMC, SD cards, UFS...
Works
SD card
Also includes other external storage cards.
Works
Battery
Whether charging and battery level reporting work.
Works
Screen
Whether the display works; ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Keyboard
Whether the built-in physical keyboard works.
Works
Touchpad
Whether the built-in touchpad works.
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Partial
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Works
Camera
Partial
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
GPS
Broken
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB-A
Whether the full-sized USB-A port works.
Works
HDMI/DP
Video and audio output with HDMI or DisplayPort.
Works
Sensors
Accelerometer
Handles automatic screen rotation in many interfaces.
Works
Magnetometer
Sensor to measure the Earth's magnetism
Works
Ambient Light
Measures the light level; used for automatic screen dimming in many interfaces.
Works
Hall Effect
Measures magnetic fields; usually used as a flip cover sensor
Works
Haptics
Works


Contributors

  • Clamor
  • Jenneron

Devices

Device Category Chipset primary secondary
Acer Iconia Tab A500 testing Nvidia Tegra 2 (T20) - -
Asus Eee Pad Transformer community Nvidia Tegra 2 (T20) Y Y
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30) Y Y
Asus Transformer Infinity community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T33) Y Y
Asus Transformer Pad community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30L) Y Y
Asus Transformer Pad 3G community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30L) Y Y
Google (ASUS) Nexus 7 (2012) community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30L) Y N
Google (ASUS) Nexus 7 (2012) GSM community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30L) Y N
LG Optimus 4X HD community Nvidia Tegra 3 (AP33H) Y P
LG Optimus Vu community Nvidia Tegra 3 (AP33) Y P
Microsoft Surface RT community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30) P P
Toradex Colibri T30 community Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30) - -
WEXLER Tab 7t downstream Nvidia Tegra 3 (T30L) Y N

Prerequisites

In order to install postmarketOS on your device, you must have one of compatible devices in the list above and ability to boot at least into recovery mode.

Unlocked bootloader is not necessary unless stated otherwise on the respective device's page.

  • U-Boot - bootloader.
  • fusee-tools - extract BCT, SBK and pre-load U-Boot into RAM; nvflash included.
  • re-crypt - re-partition TegraPT to make it usable with U-Boot and Linux overall.

Installation process

Bootloader replacement

Please refer to complete guides for vendor bootloader replacement here https://gitlab.com/clamor-s/user-documentation. At the moment ASUS Transformers T30, Google Nexus 7 (2012), LG Optimus 4X and Vu have guides but common principles are aplicable to any supported Tegra 2/3/4 device. Contributions into guides is welcome.

Install postmarketOS

For devices with microSD available the preferred method of installation is flashing to microSD. In case of eMMC-only devices installation can be performed using pmbootstrap install --disk /dev/sdX when exposing eMMC to the host with U-Boot.

There are also prebuilt images at https://images.postmarketos.org/bpo/edge/nvidia-tegra-armv7. Use xzcat xxxxxxxx-xxxx-postmarketOS-channel-ui-nvidia-tegra-armv7.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX status=progress. Where /dev/sdX is the block device exposed by U-Boot. You can also flash with GUI tools like gnome-disks.