Motorola Droid 4

Motorola Droid 4
Manufacturer	Motorola
Codename	Maserati
Dimensions	127x67.3x12.7mm
Release Date	2012-02-10
Specifications
SoC	OMAP4430
DRAM	1024MB DDR2
Hardware Features
LCD	960x540 4"
Storage	8GB flash
Software Features

Status

Feature	Leste supported	Notes
Kernel version	5.6.0-rc5	Mainline + some patches not yet in mainline - see https://github.com/maemo-leste/droid4-linux
Serial	Yes	On MicroUSB port, requires special cable
Charging	Yes
Wireless	Yes
Ethernet	N/A
Micro USB	Yes	OTG
Keyboard	Yes	Slightly modified keyboard layout, see https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-omap/msg135137.html (TLDR; Shift key produces CTRL, SYM produces ALT, and Caps lock produces SHIFT)
Screen	Yes
3D Acceleration	Yes	PowerVR SGX540 (closed driver) - https://github.com/maemo-leste/pvr-omap4/
Touchscreen	Yes	Capacitive
Audio	Yes	Switch around in alsamixer to get the right outputs working ('Speaker Right' set to 'HiFi' and 'HiFi' set to above 0 gets you output)
2G/3G data	WIP	Reported to work, no UI yet - see https://github.com/maemo-leste/connui-cellular/
SMS	WIP	Work with AT commands, needs ofono porting work, and then Leste UI
Phone calls	WIP	Work with AT commands (good call quality, too), needs ofono porting work, and then Leste UI
Bluetooth	Yes	Needs firmware - install latest firmware-ti-connectivity - See also https://github.com/maemo-leste/bugtracker/issues/290.
FM Transmitter	N/A
FM Receiver	Not yet
Accelerometer	?	Available as input device, needs MCE work
Proximity sensor	WIP
HDMI-out	WIP	works, but not with hildon-desktop
TV-out	N/A
Vibration Motor	Yes
Compass	No	Mainline supports it, so Leste needs to add config - see https://github.com/maemo-leste/bugtracker/issues/294

Installation

Hardware requirements:

• Droid4 with fully charged battery
• MicroUSB cable
• MicroSD card

Software requirements:

• Host Linux or Windows system
• Android Tools: fastboot
• Flashing tools:
  • XZ Utils and coreutils for Linux
  • Etcher[1] for Windows

Download from https://maedevu.maemo.org/images/droid4/

1. VRZ_XT894_9.8.2O-72_VZW-18-8_CFC.xml.zip
2. flash-droid-4-fw.sh
3. Latest maemo-leste-1.0-armhf-droid4-*.img.xz (NOTE: 20200112 image may have issues with WiFi)

Download from https://github.com/tmlind/droid4-kexecboot.git

1. utags-mmcblk1p13.bin
2. droid4-kexecboot.img

Check what kernel version your Android OS runs. For this go to Settings -> About phone. Slide to the bottom, where you can see "Kernel version". If you have at least 3.0.8, you may skip "Updating Android" step below.

Installation:

1. Create a working directory with above mentioned files in it
2. unzip VRZ_XT894_9.8.2O-72_VZW-18-8_CFC.xml.zip
3. Power off Droid4 and connect it to the host machine with MicroUSB cable
4. Start the device in fastboot mode. For this press power button and bottom volume key simultaneously and release them after a second.

Updating Android. This will reinstall the Android OS on your device, deleting all user data. Do a backup, if you want to save something. When everything is ready, go to the working directory mentioned above and run:

pushd VRZ_XT894_9.8.2O-72_VZW-18-8_CFC.xml
sudo bash ../flash-droid-4-fw.sh
popd

Now, assuming you are in the working directory, install kexecboot:

sudo fastboot flash mbm VRZ_XT894_9.8.2O-72_VZW-18-8_CFC.xml/allow-mbmloader-flashing-mbm.bin
sudo fastboot reboot-bootloader
sudo fastboot flash bpsw droid4-kexecboot.img
sudo fastboot flash utags utags-mmcblk1p13.bin
sudo fastboot reboot

If you did "Updating Android" the device should run the firstboot steps. If you didn't, the device should reboot and show kexecboot menu for a few seconds before it boots to Android.

Now, flash the Maemo Leste image to your sdcard:

On Linux:

xzcat maemo-leste-1.0-armhf-droid4-20190227.img.xz | sudo dd status=progress bs=1M of=/dev/MICROSDCARD-DEVICE
sync

On Windows: Use Etcher

Wait for sync to complete and insert MicroSD card into Droid4. Reboot the device and select Maemo Leste from the kexecboot menu.

You should now see Maemo Leste booting up, and it will show you unaccelerated hildon-desktop after a minute.

Updating

• Poweroff device, grab the SD card
• Backup any important files
• Grab latest image from https://maedevu.maemo.org/images/droid4/
• Write it as before : xzcat maemo-leste-1.0-armhf-droid4-20190227.img.xz | sudo dd status=progress bs=1M of=/dev/MICROSDCARD-DEVICE

Notes

The battery in Droid4 is not easily removable. If you got the device stuck, use this combo: power button + bottom volume key. You should hold them for about 7 seconds. Droid4 will then reboot.

If Maemo is still running, you can also hold just the power button for ~10 seconds, and the device will run poweroff.

Some users reported that Bluetooth kernel module interfere badly with the WiFi driver on their devices. Blacklisting the module may help if you have such problems:

echo "blacklist hci_uart" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Also see Motorola_Droid_4/Modem Motorola_Droid_4/PowerVR

Also see: http://elektranox.org/droid4/ and http://muru.com/linux/d4/

Serial Cable

As explained at http://muru.com/linux/d4 , the Droid 4 exposes a serial console on the USB port. You can construct the required cable easily by following the instructions there. If you have old Nokia CA-42 or DKU-5 cables, then you can use them with the Droid 4, using instructions at https://jethomson.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/diy-usb-to-serial-cable-for-3usd/

While using the serial cable, if you lose the connection, the following may help:

18:43 < tmlind> sicelo: hmm the uart debug cable multiplexing still has issues, if the uart disappears during boot it should come back with 
                the console login propt later
18:45 < tmlind> try plugging in a pc usb cable then back to uart cable in case that might help

Stuff to try

Blinkenlights

Adding this in rc.local above the exit 0 gets you some blinkenlights to watschen und relaxen.

echo cpu > /sys/class/leds/lm3532::kbd_backlight/trigger # gets you a cpu activity monitor on the keyboard backlight
echo mmc0 > /sys/class/leds/shift-key-light/trigger      # gets you a 'hdd led' of the SD card on the capslock light

Gallery

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