Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A

From postmarketOS
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A running XFCE4
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A running XFCE4
Manufacturer Xiaomi
Name Redmi Note 5A Prime
Codename xiaomi-ugg
Released 2017
Category testing
Pre-built images no
Original software Android (MIUI)
Original version 7.1.2 (MIUI 11)
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 (MSM8940)
CPU 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU Adreno 505
Display 720x1280 IPS LCD
Storage 32G
Memory 3GB
Architecture AArch64
Features
USB Networking
Works
Flashing
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Display
Partial
WiFi
Works
FDE
Mainline
Battery
Works
3D Acceleration
Audio
Broken
Bluetooth
Camera
GPS
Mobile data
Internal storage
SMS
Calls
USB OTG
Sensors
Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Ambient Light
Proximity
Hall Effect
Barometer
Power Sensor
Misc
Built-in DVB
Camera Flash
Ir TX
Ir RX
Stylus
Memory Card
Haptics
Ethernet
FOSS bootloader
Broken


Contributors

  • Flafflar

Users owning this device

  • Bczeman
  • Filip2cz (Notes: Prime version - this just added fingerprint reader, better camera and littlebit better cpu)
  • Flafflar (Notes: Broken camera)


How to enter flash mode

While the phone is off, hold the Power + Volume Down buttons together for a few seconds.

How to enter EDL mode

EDL mode (Emergency Download Mode) is a special mode in Qualcomm devices that allows, among other things, flashing firmware even when the phone is completely bricked. This might come useful in case something goes extremely wrong and the device won't even boot to fastboot.

To boot into EDL, you must first disassemble the device in order to expose the motherboard points required. This phone is very easy to disassemble, you can search for videos on YouTube if necessary. Once you have removed the back case and disconnected the battery, find the points shown below on the motherboard:

EDL testpoints on Redmi Note 5A motherboard (highlighted in red)

These are the test points that enable EDL mode. With the battery disconnected, use a metal tweezer or a small wire to short these two points. While keeping them sorted, plug the phone to a computer. The device should show up as "Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008". You can now use this tool to download firmware to your device.

Installation

Display

Both the display and the touchscreen work normally, although the interface won't show up if you are using LightDM. This happens because for whatever reason logind does not recognize the user's session as graphical. To fix this, edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and add the line logind-check-graphical=false to force LightDM to start the graphical session. See this article for more info: Display_manager#CanGraphical_issue.

The display also has trouble waking up after being put to sleep. The backlight is enabled as expected, but the screen stays blank.

WiFi

The WiFi works, but only with the proprietary firmware distributed with the phone. Make sure to enable nonfree firmware if you need to use WiFi.

When the WCNSS driver gets enabled, it might complain with the following error:

[  140.798259] wcnss: no space available for smd frame

This is probably a false error. After the firmware is loaded, the interface appears and works correctly, so you can ignore it.

See also