Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 (samsung-skomer)

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Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 GT-S7710
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 GT-S7710
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 GT-S7710
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy Xcover 2 GT-S7710
Codename samsung-skomer
Released 2013
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500
CPU 2x 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9
GPU Mali-400 MP1
Display 480x800 TFT
Storage 4 GB
Memory 1 GB
Architecture armv7
Software
Original software Android
Original version 4.1.2
FOSS bootloader yes
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images no
Mainline yes
Features
Flashing
Works
USB Networking
Works
Internal storage
SD card
Battery
Works
Screen
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Broken
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Works
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Partial
GPS
Broken
Modem
Calls
Broken
SMS
Broken
Mobile data
Broken
Miscellaneous
FDE
Broken
USB OTG
Sensors
Accelerometer
Works
Magnetometer
Works
Proximity
Works
Haptics
Works
U-Boot
Primary Bootloader
Broken
Secondary Bootloader
Works
Mainline
Works
Internal Storage
Works
SD card
USB Host
Works
USB Peripheral
Works
Display
Works
Buttons
Works
This device is based on the ST-Ericsson U8500.
See the SoC page for common tips, guides and troubleshooting steps

Contributors

Users owning this device

  • Bastindo (Notes: Works)
  • Chaosleo07 (Notes: oh god oh fuck i can't find my charger)
  • GeraltvonNVIDIA (Notes: Kernel 6.1.0 on Plasma-Mobile)
  • Linusw
  • Newbyte (Notes: I don't know how many I have, I wouldn't strictly mind giving away one if you want to work on improving it)
  • Zekiu (Notes: deleted a bunch of partitions 'cause i didn't know you can install on a microSD :P)


Installation

The mainline kernel can only be booted through U-Boot, not directly with the Samsung bootloader. U-Boot is installed as intermediate bootloader on the boot partition, so it does not replace the Samsung bootloader entirely.

Boot into Download Mode using Power + Volume Down + Home and follow the the NovaThor U8500 U-Boot installation instructions to install U-Boot.

Finally, just follow the Installation guide. It should be recommended that you use an external SD-Card to install the rootfs to, because the internal storage is pretty small on this device.

Notes

While charging now works with the mainline kernel as of linux-postmarketos-stericsson 5.17-rc1 in postmarketOS, it is good to note that if you somehow end up depleting the battery entirely, you risk bricking your device as it cannot charge if it cannot boot to the kernel, and it cannot boot to the kernel if the battery level is too low as it shuts down before it gets there. This is also the case in Android. If you end up in this situation, you can either get an external charger or a new battery. You can also boot into download mode by holding down Volume Down + Home when connecting the USB cable as it allows the battery to be charged.

Mainline kernel v5.18

Working:

  • Display
  • GPU (Mali-400 MP using Lima)
  • Touchscreen
  • Broadcom WiFi
  • Bluetooth (partial; needs to be set up manually)
  • Accelerometer
  • Magnetometer
  • Proximity sensor
  • USB
  • Battery charging

Not working:

  • Audio
  • Camera
  • GPS
  • FDE (keyboard appears and is GPU accelerated with working vibrator, but device hangs a few seconds after unlocking)
  • ...

Bluetooth

Currently there is some problem with Bluetooth from the command line: 

 # btmgmt public-addr 53:33:6d:69:6e:69
 Set Public Address for hci0 failed with status 0x11 (Invalid Index)

This needs further investigation.

Bluetooth does not have any Bluetooth device address (bdaddr or "MAC address") set after boot at the moment. To make Bluetooth work, you need to manually configure one: 

# apk add bluez-btmgmt
# btmgmt public-addr <bdaddr>

where <bdaddr> is a MAC address like 53:33:6d:69:6e:69.

The Bluetooth controller should then show up in bluetoothctl: 

# apk add bluez
# rc-service bluetooth start
$ bluetoothctl

You can e.g scan for devices: 

[bluetooth]# show
[bluetooth]# power on
[bluetooth]# advertise on
[bluetooth]# system-alias golden
[bluetooth]# scan on

Sensors

  • The Skomer has a Sharp gp2ap002s00f proximity sensor which only detects proximity and cannot provide ambient light measurement
  • The magnetometer is an Alps hscdtd008a
  • The accelerometer is a Bosch BMA254

GPS

This device has a CSR CSRG05TA03-ICJE-R SirfStarV 5t GPS chip. It has been added to the device tree but no userspace tests have been successful.

DSI Scaling Error in Phosh

If you are running phosh, and the scaling is wrong so that you cannot type in the password to unlock the initial login screen, this can be fixed by changing this file /usr/share/phosh/phoc.ini like this: 

 [output:DSI-1]
 scale = 1

See also


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