Jump to content

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Value Edition (samsung-serranove)

From postmarketOS Wiki
(Redirected from Samsung-serranovelte)

Also known as the S4 Mini Plus, this device was available in Europe and has a similar housing to the earlier S4 Mini. The display and back enclosure from 2013 versions are incompatible. It also recieved no firmware updates since release, and a curse to run ARMv7 only. This is peak Samsung. Be aware of that.

Note This page is about the dedicated port of this device. There is also an optional generic port available for this device - see Generic MSM8909 (qcom-msm8909).
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Value Edition
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Value Edition
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Value Edition
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy S4 Mini Value Edition
Codename samsung-serranove
Model GT-I9192I, GT-I9195I
Released 2015
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916)
CPU 4x 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU 400 MHz Adreno 306
Display 4.3 inch 16:9, 540x960 AMOLED
Storage 8 GB EMMC 4.5
Memory 1.5 GB 533 MHz LPDDR3 single-channel
Architecture armv7
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 4.4.4
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android 4.4.4
Optional software Android (LineageOS) (Unofficial)
FOSS bootloader yes
postmarketOS
Category community
Pre-built images
Whether pre-built images are available here.
no
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
Mainline
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
886.7
Optional Generic Port Generic MSM8909 (qcom-msm8909)
Device package device-samsung-serranove
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-qcom-msm8916
Firmware package firmware-samsung-serranove
Features
Flashing
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
Charging and battery level reporting works
Works
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Partial
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Works
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Broken
IR TX
Broken
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
GPS
Works
NFC
Near Field Communication
Untested
Modem
Calls
Works
SMS
Works
Mobile data
Partial
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching
Works
Sensors
Accelerometer
Auto screen rotation works in desktops e.g. Phosh or Plasma Mobile
Works
Magnetometer
Sensor to measure magnetism
Works
Ambient Light
Broken
Proximity
Broken
Hall Effect
Also known as flip cover sensor
Works
Haptics
Works


Note Note: Even though MSM8916 is capable of aarch64, the firmware of this device was never updated with aarch64 support. Therefore, this device can only boot mainline on armv7 at the moment.

Contributors

Users owning this device

  • Bastindo (Notes: White GT-i9195I, works, good condition)
  • Jakko
  • Kreyren (Notes: Mint condition including the original box and flip case, projected to be used as a part of every day carry emergency kit and subject to NixOS contribution)
  • Madhaxbro (Notes: GT-I9195I, runs lk2nd + TouchWiz Android. Ready for testing. Weak battery. Limited UI choice for now, occasional mobile data issue. Classic design. Well supported.)
  • Minecrell (Notes: GT-I9195I)
  • TryzenAlpensky (Notes: GT-I9195)


Model variants

  • GT-I9192I (3G, Dual SIM)
  • GT-I9195I (4G, NFC)

Boot modes

Fastboot (lk2nd) - hold Volume Down during boot

Recovery (lk2nd) - hold Volume Up during boot

DFU (Odin) mode - hold Power + Volume Down + Home

Recovery (Samsung bootloader) - hold Power + Volume Up + Home

Installation

lk2nd is a secondary bootloader that provides a standard fastboot interface, which can be used to boot postmarketOS without Android boot flashed or pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel.

  1. Download lk2nd-msm8916.img from Releases page on Github.
  2. Boot your phone to bootloader (Odin/Download) mode by holding Volume Down and Home while powering up.
  3. Follow lk2nd instructions to install lk2nd. Basically flash it to the boot partition (heimdall flash --BOOT lk2nd-msm8916.img)
  4. Follow Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412_(MSM8916)#Installation to install postmarketOS.
Note Note: Enter lk2nd fastboot mode by pressing only Volume Down + Power (without Home). Pressing Home additionally will bring you to the Samsung Download mode.

Audio

Only PulseAudio is working, Pipewire lists no devices. Automatic device switching is unreliable.

Warning WARNING: The speakers are rather loud on 100% volume and may produce distorted sound that may damage your speakers after long use. Please make sure to use reasonable volumes - your ears and your speaker will thank you!

Touch keys

For configuration of the touch keys, see Tm2-touchkey.

Flash LED

Currently WIP. It can be controlled with SG Micro SGM3140 charge pump LED driver[1]. Seems to be abandoned as of 2025.

Hardware Acceleration in Firefox

As of 04.01.2024 it was observed on phosh that firefox-esr has a broken UI on launch, this has been linked to the hardware acceleration currently tracked on #2332!pmaports and including a hotfix and on https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/issues/10374.

Other notable issues

  • GNOME and Plasma are affected by the same glitches as Firefox. Phosh is completely usable, Plasma is glitchy but works, GNOME is currently unusable.
  • Mobile data drops randomly and requires a reboot, observed using Linux 6.12.1-msm8916. Needs investigation. Can become annoying when it happens twice in a row. Phosh does warn you after a minute.
  • Proximity/light sensor is not working.
  • FM Radio appears to be unsupported. More research is needed.
  • Can read, but cannot set the hardware clock. hwclock -w fails on this device.
  • NFC on I9195I remains untested, since neard is not packaged for armv7 at the moment. Everything seems to be in the right place. Needs a compatible battery from I9195 or I9195I to work.
  • Like other MSM8916 devices, the highest CPU clock speed is only 998MHz for now. Setting the governor to performance can improve usability. To make this permanent, add cpufreq.default_governor=performance to the cmdline in /etc/deviceinfo and regenerate the initramfs.

Official Support Checklist

  • Fix pmaports#2332 (To be decided, if it turns out to be a mesa bug then it would have to be fixed otherwise minor issue)
  • Phosh scaling preset is unnecessary at this point. It mostly gets in the way with the new scaling options.
  • Complete the missing flash LED driver.
  • Is the model of IR transmitter known? Should be added if missing. Needs investigation.
  • Investigate the modem issue mentioned above. Needs more testing.
  • Should we change the display name for this board to Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Plus (samsung-serranove)? This one would not extend outside the screen.
  • Other components cannot be fixed due to lack of firmware source code and signing keys from Samsung including the limitation to use armv7 instead of aarch64 architecture

Hardware details (hwtest) for GT-I9195I

Category Model Path Status Value
framebuffer msmdrmfb /sys/class/graphics/fb0 Working
drm /sys/class/drm/card0-DSI-1 Working 540x960
magnetometer yas537 /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device1 Working -0.18, -0.53, -0.34 gauss
accelerometer lsm6ds3_accel /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device3 Working -3.49, -7,78, 4.89 g
gyroscope lsm6ds3_gyro /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device2 Working -0.08, 0.1, -0.17 rad/s
temperature yas537 /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device1 Working 28.1 deg C
vibrator pm8xxx_vib_ffmemless /dev/input/event6 Working
input pm8941_pwrkey /dev/input/event0 Working
input pm8941_resin /dev/input/event1 Working
input GPIO Buttons /dev/input/event2 Working
input GPIO Hall Effect Sensor /dev/input/event3 Working
input Zinitix Capacitive TouchScreen /dev/input/event4 Working
input tm2-touchkey /dev/input/event5 Working
input msm8916 Headset Jack /dev/input/event7 Working


Browser ratings

Firefox

Rating: Glitches make it annoying to use, can be fixed.

  • Performs well enough in terms of speed.
  • Very uncomfortable settings page, even with mobile-config-firefox installed.
  • Still has the graphics issue.

Chromium

Rating: Not bad, somehow slick and clunky.

  • Best performance, runs great on old SoCs.
  • No phone UI, controls are tiny.
  • Actually has good touch navigation.
  • Needs the scaling set below 150%, or else!
  • Submenus will extend outside the screen. (Unless you like ant mode.)
  • Two windows at once may crash your entire desktop. Understandable.
  • Parts of the GTK UI can become transparent. It remains usable, menus can be difficult to read.

Epiphany (GNOME Web)

Rating: Someone please unf*** WebKit!

  • Full mobile UI, swipe navigation and proper scaling, clean and simple to use.
  • Best WebApp integration of any browser. (I mean any platform!)
  • As of v25.06, it has a horrible delay when scrolling. (Last year it was fast, even on stericsson!)
  • Crashes sometimes. (Persistent graphics/rendering issue? It also happens with the free NVIDIA driver on PC, possibly related to some OpenGL ES 3.0 feature. I have not looked into this, could it be the same Mesa bug?)
  • Experimental support for Firefox addons can be enabled in dconf settings.

Angelfish

Rating: It does work, if you are not epileptic.

  • Runs fast, no complaints there.
  • The UI is desiged for mobile and works well.
  • Plasma does not like to exist.

Useful software

See also

Similar devices

References