Nokia N900
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| Nokia N900 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Nokia |
| Specifications | |
| Hardware Features | |
| USB (Host/OTG) | Micro USB 2.0 Slave |
| Software Features | |
The original Nokia N900.
Notes
- Screen will be black for a few minutes while starting X - this is a known PowerVR issue. Just wait it out - it might freeze once more for a few minutes, but then will function OKayish
- If your battery is not calibrated, the battery applet will not give you any data. Charge the battery fully, and then let it discharge (almost) completely.
- Speakers are enabled by default, but don't overuse them, as you might fry them if you are not careful.
Also see: https://elinux.org/N900
Power usage right now is reported to be about 80mA, which is quite a lot, but on a good battery last for about 15 hours, this is being worked on: https://github.com/maemo-leste/bugtracker/issues/170
- https://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_Power_management
- https://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_Power_Consumption
Status
| Feature | Leste supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kernel version | 5.0 | Mainline + PowerVR Patches: https://github.com/maemo-leste/n9xx-linux/tree/pvr-wip-5.0.y |
| Serial | Yes | Requires special hardware |
| Charging | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Involves installing non-free firmware |
| Ethernet | N/A | |
| Bluetooth | Not yet | Driver problems in mainline |
| (Micro USB) | Yes | Peripheral/slave only, exposes network gadget by default. Host Untested |
| Keyboard | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | Uses omapfb, not omapdrmfb yet |
| 3D Acceleration | Yes | Works fast(!), install these two packages: https://maedevu.maemo.org/images/n900/hd-temporary |
| Touchscreen | Yes | Resistive |
| Audio | Yes | Everything should work (minus speaker protection), but requires complex alsa configuration |
| 2G/3G data | WIP | Works with ofono; UI underway: https://github.com/maemo-leste/connui-cellular ; see https://github.com/maemo-leste/bugtracker/issues/76 |
| SMS | WIP | Works with ofono, will using telepathy-ring, no UI yet, not enabled by default |
| Phone calls | WIP | Reported to work, no UI, poor quality, not enabled by default (might require pulseaudio audio filters) |
| FM Transmitter | Yes | Install `v4l-utils`, then enable chip and set frequency using: `v4l2-ctl -d /dev/radio0 --set-ctrl=mute=0 -f <freq> ` |
| FM Receiver | Not yet | Depends on Bluetooth |
| Accelerometer | Not yet | Available as input device, needs MCE work |
| Proximity sensor | Not yet | |
| TV-out | Not yet | Should work in kernel, didn't get it to work yet |
| GPS | WIP | Works using gps3 and gpsd, needs integration still |
Installation
Images: http://maedevu.maemo.org/images/n900/
dd the image to an sd card. If using a Windows machine, you can use Etcher NB: Etcher does not warn you before starting the flashing operation, so please be extra careful that you choose the correct device to flash to
Then boot from the sd card using either 0xFFFF/flasher-3.5 or u-boot/bootmenu: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=81613
U-Boot setup
If you don't want to use/install Fremantle, or want to install quickly
1. Download 0xFFFF and u-boot from https://maedevu.maemo.org/images/n900/tools/
2. Turn off Nokia N900, issue the following command on PC and connect Nokia N900 to the PC: sudo ./0xFFFF -m test/u-boot-2013.04-2.bin -l
3. Issue following command on PC to test boot: ./0xFFFF -b
This should present u-boot from which you can select external SD card and boot to Maemo Leste.
To flash u-boot permanently, you can issue the following command (BE CAREFUL THOUGH, AS THIS WILL REPLACE THE EXISTING FREMANTLE KERNEL, ONLY DO THIS IF YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE EXISTING MAEMO INSTALLATION):
sudo ./0xFFFF -m test/u-boot-2013.04-2.bin -f
Existing Fremantle
1. Install "U-Boot with kernel 2.6.28-omap1"
2. Install "Linux kernel for power user (boot image for U-Boot)". This is optional, but recommended.
3. Add Maemo Leste menu item (run as root):
cat > /etc/bootmenu.d/30-maemo-leste.item << "EOF" &&
ITEM_NAME="Maemo Leste"
ITEM_KERNEL="uImage"
ITEM_DEVICE="${EXT_CARD}p1"
ITEM_FSTYPE="ext2"
EOF
u-boot-update-bootmenu
4. Reboot the device
Increase filesystem size
As of 2018/11, the latest pre-alpha image results in a 1.2GB root filesystem with about 100MB to spare. This can be extended, provided that your SD card is big enough. Perform the following steps on a Linux machine with none of the SD card's partitions mounted:
- assumption: /dev/sda2 is Leste root partition
- e2fsck -f /dev/sda2
- use parted/gparted/cfdisk/... to enlarge /dev/sda2 to the desired size
- resize2fs -p /dev/sda2
- e2fsck -f /dev/sda2
The latest images have a script, /etc/expandcard.sh from https://github.com/maemo-leste/image-builder/blob/master/rootfs-overlay/common/etc/expandcard.sh
Serial
http://n900.elektranox.org/serial-adapter.html
http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_Hacking#Debug_ports
Accessing MTD
List devices:
cat /proc/mtd
Mount:
apt install mtd-utils mkdir -vp /mnt/fremantle ubiattach -p /dev/mtd5 mount -t ubifs ubi:rootfs /mnt/fremantle
