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Xiaomi Pad 5 (xiaomi-nabu)

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Xiaomi Pad 5
Xiaomi Pad 5 (nabu)
Xiaomi Pad 5 (nabu)
Manufacturer Xiaomi
Name Pad 5
Codename xiaomi-nabu
Released 2021
Type tablet
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 (SM8150-AC)
CPU Octa-core (1x2.96 GHz Kryo 485 Gold
3x2.42 GHz Kryo 485 Gold
4x1.78 GHz Kryo 485 Silver)
GPU Adreno 640
Display 1600 x 2560 IPS LCD
Storage 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1
Memory 6GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 10
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android 13 (MIUI 13)
postmarketOS
Category testing
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.
6.16.0
Device package device-xiaomi-nabu
Kernel package linux-xiaomi-nabu
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, ...
Partial
Battery
Charging and battery level reporting works
Partial
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Keyboard
Build in physical keyboard
Works
Stylus
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Partial
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Works
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Untested
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
Broken
Magnetometer
Sensor to measure magnetism
Works
Ambient Light
Untested
Hall Effect
Also known as flip cover sensor
Works

Contributors

  • Map220v
  • Vio :D
  • Pan Ortiz
  • Marc Serdeliuk

Users owning this device

  • AskorbinovayaKislota (Notes: 6/256, huaxing panel, tripleboot Crdroid (Android 13) + Windows 11 + PostmarketOS, plus i have precision pen 2 for it)
  • Fireman112 (Notes: Daily driver, locked bootloader)
  • FlashTeens (Notes: Treble boot Windows,Android and Linux)
  • Froosxhroos (Notes: notes)
  • Latenightdef (Notes: Running stock MIUI with unlocked bootloader for handwritten uni lectures)
  • Lepotototor (Notes: Use as secondary little laptop. Use with uefi and dualbooting pmos and Arch)
  • Russanandres (Notes: Some android 14 rom)
  • Serdeliuk (Notes: Triple boot: Android, Windows 11, PostmarketOS)
  • Vincele (Notes: MIUI, daily driver, unlocked)
  • ZBookCMD (Notes: Dualboot Windows 11 & Arch Linux ARM)


KNOWN ISSUES

Warning WARNING: Please read them all before installing.
  • Top left speaker not working
  • Microphone clipping at high volume
  • There are some issues with the ufs crashing for apparently not reason, this seems to be common on samsung ufs (if you have crashes, please check which ufs model you have with:
$ cat /sys/class/block/*/device/model
  • The top right speaker is not working
  • The sound quality is not great yet, so please do not use the speakers at full volume
  • Microphone works, but its sound is very loud

REQUIREMENTS

  • Unlocked bootloader
  • USB C cable
  • Minimum Knowledge of how a PC works

How to enter flash mode

Fastboot

  • Shutdown the device completely.
  • Hold the Volume Down and Power button simultaneously, until the "FASTBOOT" text appears.

Installation

With pmbootsrap

Warning WARNING: This will erase your existing data on the device.
Hint To install pmbootstrap, follow pmbootstrap Wiki
  • On pmboostrap init, choose xiaomi nabu, it is important to use v25.06
  • After selecting your UI and all your cute stuff, do:
$ pmbootstrap install
  • Connect the tablet in fastboot mode to your pc
  • Flash with:
$ pmbootstrap chroot
$ fastboot erase dtbo
$ exit
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel
$ pmbootstrap chroot fastboot reboot
  • And that's it :D, if you find any issues, please report them at pmaports issues

Premade images with fastboot

Warning WARNING: This will erase your existing data on the device.
Hint You can download Fastboot from Fastboot
Notice Since 17 of march of 2025, we have premade Xiaomi Nabu images :D you can download them on Premade Xiaomi Nabu images
  • Extract the files xz you downloaded, you can do it with peazip or with:
Note The file names change each week, so change the file name to the one you downloaded.
$ xz -d 20250317-0353-postmarketOS-edge-gnome-mobile-3-xiaomi-nabu-boot.img.xz
$ xz -d 20250317-0353-postmarketOS-edge-gnome-mobile-3-xiaomi-nabu.img.xz
Note The file names change each week, so change the file name to the one you extracted.
$ fastboot erase dtbo
$ fastboot flash boot 20250317-0353-postmarketOS-edge-gnome-mobile-3-xiaomi-nabu-boot.img
$ fastboot flash userdata 20250317-0353-postmarketOS-edge-gnome-mobile-3-xiaomi-nabu
$ fastboot reboot
  • And that's it :D, if you find any issues, please report them at pmaports issues

Hardware Notes

Charging

Normal charging works fine with the built in pm8150b charger thanks to the qcom_smbx driver. This allows for 5v@2amp charging.

Depending on hardware revision, one of these two fast chargers might be available:

1. ln8000

A working driver is shipped in our mainline fork, but it's disabled in the dt beacuse of its quirks. Fast charging works when the battery is already charged at >30% and only after negotiating 9v with a PPS enabled charger.

2. bq2597x

Less common chip, no driver availabe for mainline linux yet.

Stylus pen charger

A barebone out-of-tree driver exists and allows to wirelessly charge the Xiaomi stylus pen. Work needs to be done to clean it up and add relevant features, such as state of charge reporting, alarms and power management before moving it in tree.

Microphone

The microphone works, but high volumes make it clip really bad. Try playing with aslamixer in the audio capture settings for xiaomi-nabu card.

Speakers

The speakers can sound a bit distorted at higher volumes.

The last speaker present in the list inside the speaker-dai-link->codec->sound-dai and audio-routing dt entry doesn't work. Swapping speakers order always makes the last speaker in the sequqnce not work. All the codecs and resets look like they get configured correctly.


After hours of debugging we were unable to figure out the root cause of this issue and attempts to circumvent the problem by adding dummy speakers didn't end up working.

Gallery

See also