Group: Hardware/TODO/TO SORT/Smartphones
From LibrePlanet
< Group:Hardware | TODO | TO SORT
(→Hardware freedom: Remove Nexus S: The modem isn't isolated (The modem can access 80M of RAM used by the main CPU for other things (like the OS, applications, etc))) |
(Undo revision 68075 by GNUtoo (talk): Add back Nexus S as it might be a good example still but it probably need to be moved somewhere) (Tag: Undo) |
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!Nexus one | !Nexus one | ||
!Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2) | !Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2) | ||
| + | !Nexus S | ||
!GTA04 | !GTA04 | ||
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*NFC: Near Field Communication | *NFC: Near Field Communication | ||
*MFC: Multi Format Codec (hardware video encoding/decoding) | *MFC: Multi Format Codec (hardware video encoding/decoding) | ||
| + | |{{butyes}} | ||
| + | *Wifi | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Modem can be flashed | !Modem can be flashed | ||
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|{{butyes}} | |{{butyes}} | ||
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| + | |{{butyes}}, the main CPU loads the firmware from NAND trough the free ril library during boot. | ||
|? | |? | ||
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|? | |? | ||
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| + | |? | ||
|Depend on hardware versions(A3 had a bug) | |Depend on hardware versions(A3 had a bug) | ||
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|{{butyes}} | |{{butyes}} | ||
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| + | |{{butno}} | ||
|{{butno}} | |{{butno}} | ||
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|{{butyes}} | |{{butyes}} | ||
|{{butyes}} | |{{butyes}} | ||
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* There is a GPS without antenna attached to the modem, it's not used. | * There is a GPS without antenna attached to the modem, it's not used. | ||
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|? | |? | ||
|Some work has been done(must check status,not usable yet,abandoned?) | |Some work has been done(must check status,not usable yet,abandoned?) | ||
| + | |{{no}} | ||
|{{yes}} | |{{yes}} | ||
* xloader | * xloader | ||
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|{{butyes}} | |{{butyes}} | ||
|?? | |?? | ||
| + | |{{butyes}} | ||
|{{butno}} USB connection | |{{butno}} USB connection | ||
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Revision as of 17:44, 14 March 2023
Contents
Introduction
First let's define a smartphone,
A smartphone[1] is a phone with at least 2 processors:
- one where runs the operating system(like Android,GNU/Linux etc...), it is usually called the Application processor
- another that interface with the GSM network(for instance it reads the sim card,interface with the GSM tower etc...). It is usually called the baseband.
Historically both processors talked to each other trough a serial port, with AT commands(also known as Hayes command set ).
While freedom is possible on the GSM processor too,we will focus on freedom on the Application processor(because it's illegal to run modified GSM processors on carrier networks and also very dangerous)
Possible Free SmartPhones target comparison
Hardware freedom
| Openmoko Freerunner | Nokia N900 | HTC Dream | Nexus one | Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2) | Nexus S | GTA04 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non free firmwares | No |
Yes:
|
Yes:
|
Yes:
|
Yes:
|
Yes:
|
Yes
|
| Modem can be flashed | Yes | Yes[2] | Yes | Yes | Yes, the main CPU loads the firmware from NAND trough the free ril library during boot. | ? | |
| Modem can be unpowered | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Depend on hardware versions(A3 had a bug) | |
| Audio path under modem's control? | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| GPS under modem's control | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
|
| Free Bootloader | Yes | No | ? | ? | Some work has been done(must check status,not usable yet,abandoned?) | No | Yes
|
| Modem can access the main CPU memory chips | No (the connection is a serial link) | No (the connection is an HSI link) | Yes | Yes | ?? | Yes | No USB connection |
Hardware Features
| Openmoko Freerunner | Nokia N900 | HTC Dream | Nexus one | Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2) | Nexus S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USB host | Yes (not strictly needed since no firmwares are needed),limited to ? mA | Yes(with 2.6.28 power kernel), limited to ? mA | ? | possible, untested, unpowered | ? | possible, untested, perhaps unpowered |
Hardware and software capabilities
| Openmoko Freerunner(FSO+SHR) | Nokia N900(FSO+SHR) | HTC Dream(Replicant) | HTC Dream(FSO+SHR) | Nexus one(Replicant) | Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2) (FSO+SHR) | Nexus S (Replicant) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data connectivity | GPRS only(hardware limitation) | 3G working in SHR | 3G working in replicant | 3G working in SHR | 3G working in replicant | 3G working in SHR(not tested by me) | 3G working in replicant |
| Hardware features support | See The FSO page about the supported hardware features | See The FSO page about the supported hardware features | see The replicant page about the supported hardware features | See The FSO page about the supported hardware features | see The replicant page about the supported hardware features | See The FSO page about the supported hardware features | see The replicant page about the supported hardware features |
| Capable of viewing a video | from Very difficult to impossible | yes(with mplayer in command line) | yes(example Youtube using rstp:// or with the integrated player(not tested) ) | Difficult(need to be rotated before etc...) | yes(example Youtube using rstp:// or with the integrated player(not tested) ) | ? | yes(WebM playback works with the integrated player) |
| Capable of playing music | On speakers only
( sound quality is very bad on headphones because of a capacitor which value is too low ) |
yes | yes(without issues) | yes(prevent phone ringing) | yes | ? | yes |
| Web browsing |
|
yes | yes | yes(with midori, the default browser(eve) is too slow) | yes | ? | yes |
| mail client usage | claws mail | claws mail | k9(obtimized for the screen), great integrated hardware keyboard(very fast) | claws mail | k9(obtimized for the screen), capacitive screen + software keyboard for writing mails makes it very slow | not tested(claws mail) | Android mail app works well, k9 should also work, capacitive screen + software keyboard for writing mails makes it very slow |
| IRC | yes(xchat(need to be configured for the DPI),else irssi), software keyboard used with stylus(medium speed) | yes(xchat) | yes(yaaic), great integrated hardware keyboard(very fast) | yes(irssi under xterm(else there is a Tab key issue)),great integrated hardware keyboard(very fast), xchat not very obtimized for the DPI | painful with the software keyboard(used with fingers since the screen is capacitive => very slow) (bluetooth keyboard is better but require a non-free firmware, and a table) | ?.has an hardware keyboard | painful with the software keyboard(used with fingers since the screen is capacitive => very slow) (bluetooth keyboard is better but require a non-free firmware, and a table) |
References
- ↑ See http://laforge.gnumonks.org/papers/gsm_phone-anatomy-latest.pdf for a more correct definition
- ↑ Nokia Updates are capable of flashing the modem firmware, in fact unpacking the PR 1.3(The version of the nokia Update)update with 0xFFFF shows that the modem firmware was flashed,also some modem properties changed between PR 1.2(The version of the nokia Update) and PR 1.3(The version of the nokia Update)
