Jump to content

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE (sony-castor)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
Manufacturer Sony
Name Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE
Codename sony-castor
Released 2014
Type tablet
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AB)
CPU Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400
GPU Adreno 330
Display 1200x1920 TFT
Storage 16/32 GB
Memory 3 GB
Architecture armv7
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 4.4.2 on Linux 3.4
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android
postmarketOS
Category testing
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
Device package device-sony-castor
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-qcom-msm8974
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
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.
Broken
Camera
Broken
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
Modem
Calls
Untested
SMS
Untested
Mobile data
Untested
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Untested
Sensors
Accelerometer
Auto screen rotation works in desktops e.g. Phosh or Plasma Mobile
Untested

Contributors

  • bjorn andersson (ported device to 4.3)
  • robclark (freedreno support)
  • opendata26
  • plata

Users owning this device

See also Sony_Xperia_Z2_Tablet_(sony-castor-windy), which has no modem but uses the same device package.

Warning

On sony-castor-windy, trying write to an SD card seems to always end up having it corrupted. And even worse: Also the internal memory seems to get corrupted. I have not tested if already reading an SD card can cause memory corruption. The situation is unknown on sony-castor.

What does not work

  • GUI (tested with plasma, phosh on sony-castor)

Installation

Prerequisites

Unlock Bootloader (tested on sony-castor)

This might not work if the device is in factory settings, so setup Android once.

  • open dialer and type *#*#7378423#*#*
  • Service info → Configuration → Rooting Status
  • check that bootloader unlock says "Yes" (otherwise, you cannot unlock)
  • use the IMEI to retrieve the unlock code from the Sony website
  • turn off device and disconnect USB (if connected)
  • hold volume up and connect USB to computer to enter fastboot (LED should switch from red to blue)
  • with the unlock code from the Sony website as KEY:
$ fastboot oem unlock 0xKEY

Install pmbootstrap

Install postmarketOS

  • turn off device and disconnect USB (if connected)
  • hold volume up and connect USB to computer to enter fastboot (LED should switch from red to blue)

Then follow the general installation instructions in Installation_guide, i.e.

$ pmbootstrap init
  • select sony and castor
$ pmbootstrap install
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel

However, the system partition is rather small, so one might want to install to the userdata partition instead via

$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs --partition userdata

Plasma Mobile

Set scaling to 3x:

$ kscreen-doctor output.1.scale.3

Setting the date

Since the rtc driver is read only you need to use ntp to set the date

# Install openntpd
$ sudo apk add openntpd

# Write the current system time to the hardware clock
$ sudo ntp -s

PostmarketOS kernel

qcom-msm8974

Graphics

Graphics in the current version of the above kernel is very unstable, the screen usually freezes after a few minutes of running X. Maybe the same as pmaports#424? The most recent kernel where it is more stable is qcom-msm8974-5.12.13, which is in commit 2ebc93b43e92b4eada0cefba70561642508b191d in pmaports. However, that version does not include a patch which makes the external power supply work.

So, if you want have both mostly stable graphics and a functioning charger, change to pmaports commit

2ebc93b43e92b4eada0cefba70561642508b191d,

apply the patch

c7bfa860092c00e9c02d3907dbc545e5e41083bc

from linux-postmarketos and build linux-postmarketos-qcom-msm8974 manually.

Useful key combinations

  • fastboot: volume up and connect USB
  • hard shutdown: press and hold volume up and power

Links