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Samsung Galaxy S9 (samsung-starqltechn)

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Samsung Galaxy S9 (SM-G9600
DS)
SM-G9600 with SXMO running Firefox (WIP kernel from dsankouski repository)
SM-G9600 with SXMO running Firefox (WIP kernel from dsankouski repository)
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy S9 (SM-G9600
DS)
Codename samsung-starqltechn
Released 2018
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (SDM845)
CPU Octa-core (4x 2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold
4x 1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver)
GPU Adreno 630
Display 5.8 inch 18.5:9, 2960 x 1440 pixel 568 PPI, capacitive touchscreen, 10 multi-touch points, Super AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass 5, glossy: yes
Storage 64 GB
Memory 4 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 8
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android 10
postmarketOS
Category community
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
Device package device-samsung-starqltechn
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-qcom-sdm845
Features
Flashing
It is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Broken
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
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Untested
Camera
Untested
Connectivity
WiFi
Broken
Bluetooth
Broken
GPS
Untested
Modem
Calls
Broken
SMS
Works
Mobile data
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching
Untested
Sensors
Accelerometer
Auto screen rotation works in desktops e.g. Phosh or Plasma Mobile
Untested
Haptics
Works
U-Boot
Primary Bootloader
It is possible to replace stock bootloader with U-Boot.
Broken
Secondary Bootloader
It is possible to chainload U-Boot from stock bootloader.
Works
Mainline
Latest versions of U-Boot are not broken and it is possible to use them.
Broken
Buttons
It is possible to navigate in boot menu or grub with volume and power buttons.
Works

Contributors

  • dsankouski

Maintainer(s)

Users owning this device


How to enter flash mode

Hold Power + Volume Down + Bixby until screen shows vendor logo. Use Odin or Heimdall to flash.

Installation

Prerequisites

Upgrade

Before installing postmarketOS, it's recommended that you upgrade your device to the latest release of Android. This is not a requirement but is heavily recommended.

Unlock the bootloader

Before installing postmarketOS you have to unlock your bootloader. Remember, it will irrevocably trip knox flag, hence making Samsung pay no longer usable.

1. Open setting, go to "About phone", then "Software information" and tap on the "Build number" box ~10 times until the "You are now a developer" toast message appears.

2. Go back to the main settings page, go to "Developer options". Toggle the switch to "OEM unlocking"


Manual build

The vendor is Samsung, the codename is "starqltechn".

Follow the pmbootstrap article, until you have done the install action (note that --fde stands for full-disk-encryption - this can also be left out).

pmbootstrap install --fde

Reboot back into flash mode as explained above.

By default the rootfs will be flashed to system, this doesn't leave much free space for your applications / data, if you don't mind factory resetting the device you can instead flash to userdata by specifying the partition like below.

pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs --partition userdata --method heimdall-bootimg --no-reboot
pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel --method heimdall-bootimg --resume

The phone should reboot into PostmarketOS now.

Post install

pd-mapper

Kernel CONFIG_QCOM_PD_MAPPER option was disabled in 6.13 due to 'some weird race conditions', and we stick with userspace pd-mapper. Since starqltechn relies on `msm-firmware-loader` package to link phone's firmware (as opposed to dedicated firmware package in majority sdm845 devices), starqltechn has non standard firmware location, and pd-mapper should be built with firmware class parameter path support.

Build instructions:

  • clone dsankouski pd-mapper repo
  • checkout support_msm_firmware_loader branch
  • make
  • copy pd-mapper to phone at /usr/bin/pd-mapper

See also

pmaports!2835

move_device_to_community!6493

u-boot

u-boot qcom devices docs

SDM845 mainline kernel

Internal pages