Group: Hardware/TODO/TO SORT/Smartphones

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== Possible Free SmartPhones target comparison ==
 +
 
== Introduction ==
 
== Introduction ==
−
First let's define a smartphone,
 
−
 
−
A smartphone<ref name="smartphone">See http://laforge.gnumonks.org/papers/gsm_phone-anatomy-latest.pdf for a more correct definition</ref> 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 AT commands(also known as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set Hayes command set] ).
 
−
 
−
While freedom is possible on the GSM processor too,we will focus on freedom on the Application processor(because [http://bb.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/LegalAspects#Usingmodifiedphonesoncarriernetworks it's illegal to run modified GSM processors on carrier networks] and also very dangerous)
 
  
−
== Possible Free SmartPhones target comparison ==
+
A lot of the information on this page is outdated. For instance FSO+SHR doesn't exist anymore : it was repurposed to support other phones with another stack. The Openmoko smartphones aren't supported by any distribution anymore, and it would be difficult to do it due to the lack of ARMv4 support: Debian stopped support for ARMv4, and no FSDG distributions support ARMv4. The Nexus one, and Nexus S were dropped from Replicant because (1) upstream dropped them (2) serious privacy/security issues were discovered: the modem could potentially take control of the complete phone. The Palm pre wasn't supported by upstream. The code to make the modem work was lost, then Replicant asked its author a copy for historic archival purpose and it was found again. But then the modem stack depended on FSO which is unmaintained since years and people moved on. It also has no upstream support in Linux, though it's CPU is armv7. so it could be supported by GNU/Linux distros like Parabola.
  
 
=== Hardware freedom ===
 
=== Hardware freedom ===
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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
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Non free firmwares
 
!Non free firmwares
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*Wifi(libertas_sdio)
 
*Wifi(libertas_sdio)
 
*Maybe others?
 
*Maybe others?
 +
|{{butyes}}:
 +
*Wifi
 +
*Bluetooth
 +
*NFC: Near Field Communication
 +
*MFC: Multi Format Codec (hardware video encoding/decoding)
 +
|{{butyes}}
 +
*Wifi
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Modem can be flashed
 
!Modem can be flashed
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
−
|?
+
|{{butyes}}<ref name='n900modemflash'>Nokia Updates are capable of flashing the modem firmware, in fact unpacking the PR 1.3(The version of the nokia Update)update with [http://www.nopcode.org/0xFFFF/ 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)</ref>
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 +
|
 +
|{{butyes}}, the main CPU loads the firmware from NAND trough the free ril library during boot.
 +
|?
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Modem can be unpowered
 
!Modem can be unpowered
Line 50: Line 56:
 
|?
 
|?
 
|?
 
|?
 +
|
 +
|?
 +
|Depend on hardware versions(A3 had a bug)
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Audio path under modem's control?
 
!Audio path under modem's control?
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|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 +
|
 +
|{{butno}}
 +
|{{butno}}
 
|-
 
|-
 
!GPS under modem's control
 
!GPS under modem's control
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|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 
|{{butyes}}
 +
|{{butyes}}
 +
|{{butno}}
 
|
 
|
 +
* There is a GPS without antenna attached to the modem, it's not used.
 +
* The GPS that is used is attached to the CPU trough serial port.
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Free Bootloader
 
!Free Bootloader
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|?
 
|?
 
|?
 
|?
−
|Some work has been done(must check status,not complete)
+
|Some work has been done(must check status,not usable yet,abandoned?)
 +
|{{no}}
 +
|{{yes}}
 +
* xloader
 +
* uboot
 +
|-
 +
!Modem can access the main CPU memory chips
 +
|{{butno}} (the connection is a serial link)
 +
|{{butno}} (the connection is an HSI link)
 +
|{{butyes}}
 +
|{{butyes}}
 +
|??
 +
|{{butyes}}
 +
|{{butno}} USB connection
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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!Nexus one
 
!Nexus one
 
!Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2)
 
!Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2)
 +
!Nexus S
 
|-
 
|-
 
!USB host
 
!USB host
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|possible, untested, unpowered
 
|possible, untested, unpowered
 
|?
 
|?
 +
|possible, untested, perhaps unpowered
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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{| class="wikitable"  border="1"
 
{| class="wikitable"  border="1"
 
!
 
!
−
!Openmoko Freerunner
+
!Openmoko Freerunner(FSO+SHR)
−
!Nokia N900
+
!Nokia N900(FSO+SHR)
−
!HTC Dream
+
!HTC Dream(Replicant)
−
!Nexus one
+
!HTC Dream(FSO+SHR)
−
!Palm pre(normal,plus or version 2)
+
!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 [http://wiki.freesmartphone.org/index.php/HardwareComparison The FSO page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| See [http://wiki.freesmartphone.org/index.php/HardwareComparison The FSO page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| see [http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/ReplicantStatus The replicant page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| See [http://wiki.freesmartphone.org/index.php/HardwareComparison The FSO page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| see [http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/ReplicantStatus The replicant page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| See [http://wiki.freesmartphone.org/index.php/HardwareComparison The FSO page about the supported hardware features]
 +
| see [http://trac.osuosl.org/trac/replicant/wiki/ReplicantStatus The replicant page about the supported hardware features]
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Capable of viewing a video
 
!Capable of viewing a video
 
|from Very difficult to impossible
 
|from Very difficult to impossible
 
|yes(with mplayer in command line)
 
|yes(with mplayer in command line)
−
|
+
|yes(example Youtube using rstp:// or with the integrated player(not tested) )
−
*Under Replicant: yes(example Youtube using rstp:// )
+
|Difficult(need to be rotated before etc...)
−
*Under FSO+SHR : Difficult(need to be rotated before etc...)
+
|yes(example Youtube using rstp:// or with the integrated player(not tested) )
−
|yes
 
 
|?
 
|?
 +
|yes(WebM playback works with the integrated player)
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Capable of playing music
 
!Capable of playing music
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( sound quality is very bad on headphones because of a capacitor which value is too low )
 
( sound quality is very bad on headphones because of a capacitor which value is too low )
 
|yes
 
|yes
−
|
+
|yes(without issues)
−
*Under Replicant: yes(without issues)
+
|yes(prevent phone ringing)
−
*Under FSO+SHR: yes(prevent phone ringing)
 
 
|yes
 
|yes
 
|?
 
|?
 +
|yes
 
|-
 
|-
 
!Web browsing
 
!Web browsing
 
|
 
|
 +
*Very slow with the default browser(eve)
 +
*uses 100% CPU while loading pages
 +
|yes
 
|yes
 
|yes
 +
|yes(with midori, the default browser(eve) is too slow)
 
|yes
 
|yes
 +
|?
 
|yes
 
|yes
 
|-
 
|-
 
!mail client usage
 
!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
 
!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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_%28furniture%29 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_%28furniture%29 table])
−
=== Operating System/distribution support ===
 
−
{| class="wikitable"  border="1"
 
−
!
 
−
!FSO+Debian
 
−
!FSO+SHR
 
−
!Meego
 
−
!Replicant
 
−
|-
 
−
!Hardware supported
 
−
|
 
−
*Openmoko Freerunner
 
−
*other?
 
−
|
 
−
*Openmoko Neo 1973 : badly supported<ref name='om-gta01'>From #openmoko-cdevel on Freenode on IRC: Jan 17 14:17:15 <JaMa|Wrk> with state of gta01 support in SHR we can just drop it from supported list :/</ref>
 
−
*Openmoko freerunner: very good
 
−
*htc dream: partial
 
−
*palm pre(nomal,plus,2) : work in progress
 
−
*nokia n900 : work in progress
 
−
Details available [http://wiki.freesmartphone.org/index.php/HardwareComparison here]
 
−
|
 
−
*Nokia N900
 
−
|
 
−
*HTC Dream
 
−
*Nexus one
 
−
*Other phones : work in progress
 
−
|-
 
−
!Depend on non-free drivers
 
−
|{{butno}}
 
−
|
 
−
*[http://3rdparty.downloads.openmoko.org/gllin/ non-free] [http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Gllin Gllin] [http://cgit.openembedded.org/cgit.cgi/openembedded/tree/recipes/gpsd/files/om-gta01/gps-hardware?h=org.openembedded.dev promoted] for Openmoko Neo 1973
 
−
*{{butno}} for the rest of the phones.
 
−
|{{butyes}} 3D driver is required, and no decent free one exist for phones.
 
−
|{{butno}}
 
−
|-
 
−
!Non-free firmwares Policy
 
−
|?
 
−
|Not shipped(not redistributable) but promoted,not needed in case of the openmoko freerunner,linux-libre not used
 
−
|Non free firmwares Shipped
 
−
|linux-libre not used,a page details which are needed for what but doesn't tell how to install them(altough it's obvious for the experienced user)
 
−
|-
 
−
!Checked for freedom
 
−
|???
 
−
|{{no}} but its developpers are against proprietary software inclusion<ref name='shrfreedom'>From #openmoko-cdevel on Freenode on IRC:
 
−
Jan 14 20:58:10 <mrmoku>        GNUtoo|laptop: btw. what about xrandr and rotation on n900?
 
−
Jan 14 20:58:28 <GNUtoo|laptop> do we really need that?
 
−
Jan 14 20:58:44 <GNUtoo|laptop> I mean we would have to modify xf86-video-omapfb
 
−
Jan 14 20:58:49 <GNUtoo|laptop> and write the code ourselves
 
−
Jan 14 20:59:07 <GNUtoo|laptop> the rotation driver of nokia depends on non-free 3d
 
−
Jan 14 20:59:13 <mrmoku>        grr
 
−
</ref>
 
−
|[http://repo.meego.com/MeeGo/builds/1.0.99/preview/non-oss/repos/armv7l/packages/armv7l/ contains non-free software]
 
−
|{{no}}:The main low-level developer supposed that the sources he forked were free(he asked on IRC on the original project channel),
 
−
he replaced non-free not-included parts and looks for help on verifying freedom.
 
−
As he has no experience in replacing firmwares,he's unsure what to do about them.
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
[[Category:Hardware]]

Latest revision as of 19:00, 14 March 2023

Possible Free SmartPhones target comparison

Introduction

A lot of the information on this page is outdated. For instance FSO+SHR doesn't exist anymore : it was repurposed to support other phones with another stack. The Openmoko smartphones aren't supported by any distribution anymore, and it would be difficult to do it due to the lack of ARMv4 support: Debian stopped support for ARMv4, and no FSDG distributions support ARMv4. The Nexus one, and Nexus S were dropped from Replicant because (1) upstream dropped them (2) serious privacy/security issues were discovered: the modem could potentially take control of the complete phone. The Palm pre wasn't supported by upstream. The code to make the modem work was lost, then Replicant asked its author a copy for historic archival purpose and it was found again. But then the modem stack depended on FSO which is unmaintained since years and people moved on. It also has no upstream support in Linux, though it's CPU is armv7. so it could be supported by GNU/Linux distros like Parabola.

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:
  • Wifi(wl1251_spi)
  • Bluetooth(broadcom)
  • camera(many components)
  • DSP(note that the CPU and mplayer do a better job than the DSP but consume more battery)
 Yes:
  • Wifi(wl1251_sdio)
  • bluetooth(broadcom)
 Yes:
  • Microphone
  • Sound card
  • WIFI(bcm4329)
  • Maybe others?
 Yes:
  • Wifi(libertas_sdio)
  • Maybe others?
 Yes:
  • Wifi
  • Bluetooth
  • NFC: Near Field Communication
  • MFC: Multi Format Codec (hardware video encoding/decoding)
 Yes
  • Wifi
Modem can be flashed Yes Yes[1] 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
  • There is a GPS without antenna attached to the modem, it's not used.
  • The GPS that is used is attached to the CPU trough serial port.
Free Bootloader Yes No ? ? Some work has been done(must check status,not usable yet,abandoned?) No Yes
  • xloader
  • uboot
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
  • Very slow with the default browser(eve)
  • uses 100% CPU while loading pages
 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

  1. ↑ 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)
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