Sony Xperia E Dual (sony-nanhu)

From postmarketOS
(Redirected from Xperia-E-Dual)
Sony Xperia E Dual
Sony Xperia E Dual
Sony Xperia E Dual
Manufacturer Sony
Name Xperia E Dual
Codename sony-nanhu
Released 2013
Category testing
Original software Android
Original version 4.0.4 (Linux 3.0.1)
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 (MSM7227A)
CPU 1.0 GHz Cortex-A5
GPU Adreno 200
Display 320x480 IPS
Storage 4 GB
Memory 512 MB
Architecture ARMv7
This device is marked as not booting.
Features
USB Networking
Flashing
Touchscreen
Display
WiFi
FDE
Mainline
Battery
3D Acceleration
Audio
Bluetooth
Camera
GPS
Mobile data
Internal storage
SMS
Calls
USB OTG
NFC
Sensors
Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Ambient Light
Proximity
Hall Effect
Barometer
Power Sensor
Misc
Built-in DVB
Camera Flash
Keyboard
Touchpad
USB-A
HDMI/DP
Ir TX
Ir RX
Stylus
Memory Card
Haptics
Ethernet
FOSS bootloader

Contributors

  • Nicknack

What works

  • Compiling the kernel

What does not work

  • Flashing, there are problems with Sony's boot image format

The built kernel boots with a black screen and no further sign of acitivity. Fastboot flashes without errors but flash offsets are probably wrong. Only known working kernels have a different ELF file format.

Boot image format

There is one tool avaiable for unpacking Sony's ELF boot format into the normal ANDROID format:
libbootimg

Sadly, even unpacking and repacking a working prebuilt kernel doesn't seem to work.

I had more luck with mkelf.py script from Sony. You can loosely follow the tutorial here. This time unpacking a working kernel elf image and repacking it with mkefl.py worked. Needed to change only a few bits with vbindiff. Now we only need to find a working set of offsets and image parts to do the same with a custom kernel!

Here are some links describing the problem with Sony's boot format:

Next possible steps

  • Try booting pmOS with a prebuilt kernel.
  • Try repacking built kernel into ELF format
  • UART debugging?

Links