Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 (samsung-a5y17lte)

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Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
Samsung Galaxy A5
Samsung Galaxy A5
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy A5 (2017)
Codename samsung-a5y17lte
Released 2017
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Samsung Exynos 7880
CPU 8x 1.9 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU Mali-T830 MP3
Display 1080x1920 Super AMOLED
Storage 32 GB
Memory 3 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software Android
Original version 6.0.1
Extended version 8.0
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images no
Mainline no
postmarketOS kernel 3.18.14
Unixbench Whet/Dhry score 1691.5
Features
Flashing
Broken
USB Networking
Works
Internal storage
SD card
Battery
Works
Screen
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Audio
Camera
Camera Flash
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
GPS
NFC
Modem
Calls
SMS
Mobile data
Miscellaneous
FDE
USB OTG
Works
HDMI/DP
Sensors
Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Ambient Light
Proximity
Hall Effect
Haptics
Barometer


Contributors

  • dsankouski

Maintainer(s)

Users owning this device


How to enter flash mode

When the device is fully powered off, hold Power, Volume Down and Home for a few seconds.

A (turquoise) download mode warning screen should appear, press Volume Up to confirm.

Installation

It is recommended to sideload an android recovery zip through TWRP for the easiest process, since heimdall freaks out about the subpartitions in SYSTEM and won't move past ~7%. You can use pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel and then use netcat or similar to flash SYSTEM, but this is a longer and more redundant method. 

$ pmbootstrap install --android-recovery-zip
$ pmbootstrap flasher --method=adb sideload

Notes

USB

Device is equipped with usb type-c receptacle. No UART JIG mode cable schematic available as of 04.01.2020. However, it is possible to use chainloaded u-boot to get uart on usb. See u-boot port readme for instructions


Available MUIC info:

  • The receptacle is managed by s2mu004 kernel module. Module is capable to manage non type-c receptacles (see CONFIG_MUIC_S2MU004_NON_USB_C_TYPE option)
  • Receptacle has non standard pinout: B12 (considering, A row facing top, B row facing bottom side of the phone) pin is not connected to the ground.
  • Device can detect water in usb receptacle, by measuring resistance between B12 pin and ground.
  • Device can detect plug attach, with ALL pins unconnected, including GND and VBUS pins. How?
  • Attaching 619K resistor to B12 pin results in ADC_JIG_UART_ON value in ADC register, during water detection sequence.
  • Enter UART mode by attaching resistors should be possible in NON type-c mode. (file s2mu004-muic.c ,lines 2835,2797)
  • Device has no USB type-c debug accessory mode(tried both with rd/rd and rp/rp resistors)
  • UART mode detection most likely is implemented in muic firmware, if exists, or chip logic.

Open questions:

  • How device can detect plug attach, when ALL plug pins are unconnected.
  • How device detects UART debug cable attach?

Muic driver sysfs attributes are in /sys/devices/virtual/sec/switch folder

Wlan

wifi module gets initialized after 180 seconds. This is due to missing firmware files, and 60 secs timeout.

To connect, use wpa_supplicant:

Create wpa supplicant config

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

Add wlan access point authentication

wpa_passphrase <access point>  <password> >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Launch wpa supplicant

sudo wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
sudo dhclient wlan0

UART cable

Attention: Author is not responsible for any damage to your devices. Signal level is 1.8V. You may fry your board, using standard 3.3V - 5V UART.

It is possible to connect to UART port(/dev/ttySAC2) on the mainboard. It is located on pins 1(RX), 2(TX) of the test port, and used by bootloader to log loading process.

Bill of materials

  • Adhesive tape
  • Precise soldering equipment
  • USB - UART converter (you need also level shifter, if converter does not support 1.8V signals. I used schematic on two transistors)
  • Breadboard
  • Wires
  • Thermal glue


  • Assembly photos
  • Wires, soldered to UART port.

    Wires, soldered to UART port.

  • a5y17lte, connected to USB - UART converter via level shifter.

    a5y17lte, connected to USB - UART converter via level shifter.

Enabling console output

Downstream kernel
  • Build kernel with options:
    • CONFIG_CMDLINE="earlycon=exynos,0x13820000,115200n8 console=ttySAC2,115200"
    • CONFIG_CMDLINE_EXTEND=y
  • Optional (enable login console on ttySAC2)[1]:

UART USB-debug cable schematic

Currently there's no automatic way to switch MUIC on debug uart. It may be done with u-boot custom port.

Phone--------------------------------------PC

USB type-c---------------------------------UART adapter

A6 (D+, Rx)--------------------------------Tx

A7 (D-, Tx)--------------------------------Rx

A1 and / or (B1) --------------------------GND

A4 and / or (A9, B4, B9)-------------------5V charging

Main board

  • Test port pin numbering

    Test port pin numbering

Mainlining

Exynos calibration table driver (ect_parser.c)

Exynos calibration table driver - simple driver, that reads and parses predefined cpu address range. It has voltage, cpu, gpu frequency tables, and more.

Legacy driver uses __raw_read macro to access data. Calibration table resides in volatile cpu address region (probably loaded there by bootloader into RAM?). One can write to ect cpu address region


U-boot

Has support in main tree. See also u-boot docs

Hardware

Component Model Notes
Flash Samsung BJTD4R 32GB
Charging Samsung s2mu004
Touchscreen Zinitix BT532
Touchkeys Abov FT1804
Gyroscope/Accelerometer STMicroelectronics K6DS3TR
Light/Proximity sensor ams TMD3725
Magnetometer AKM (Asahi Kasei Microdevices) AK09916C
Barometer STMicroelectronics LPS25H
FM Radio Silicon Labs si47xx
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Qualcomm Atheros ar6k Exact model unknown, could be one from this table
Fingerprint EgisTec ET5XX Connected via SPI
Rear camera Samsung S5K3P8 Phone reports "s5k3p8sx" as front camera
Lens actuator (Samsung?) AK7372

See also

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