FreeCalypso > hg > tcs211-c139
view README @ 43:52325cb524a8
new README written for the UI-enabled configuration
author | Mychaela Falconia <falcon@ivan.Harhan.ORG> |
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date | Thu, 05 Nov 2015 08:09:54 +0000 |
parents | 132b3e230631 |
children |
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This semi-source tree contains a hacked version of TI's TCS211 firmware that has been made to run on the Motorola C139. Once the remaining bugs get shaken out (there are still some crippling ones, so don't break out the champagne yet), one will be able to replace Motorola's firmware in flash with this one and *still be able to use the phone as an end user* - but now running firmware that we build from source ourselves, one whose internals we know and understand and which we can use a baseline for further functional improvements. Compiling ========= Building the present firmware from semi-source requires using a Wine environment to run TI's proprietary compiler toolchain and other build tools which exist only as M$ Windows binaries. The necessary environment can be downloaded here: ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/GSM/TI_src/wine/ You will also need the mokosrec2bin utility, which is needed for one of the finishing steps in generating an image that can be usefully flashed into a C139: ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/GSM/GTA02/gsm-fw/mokosrec2bin.c Once you have the necessary build tools installed, you should be able to compile the present fw as follows: cd g23m ./winebuild.sh ./copyout.sh The build products will be in the g23m/mfw-build directory. mfw-build.progbin is the flashable image, and the other files should be saved as documentation: you should retain the COFF, map and str2ind.tab files that correspond exactly to what you have flashed, so you can debug it later. Flashing: what goes where ========================= WARNING: C139 phones are brickable! If you type the wrong command in fc-loadtool, you can brick your phone *unrecoverably*! Flash sector 0 MUST at all times contain working boot code that can successfully perform the following functions: 1. Check the headset jack UART for a possible serial download - if an external host is requesting a serial code download, accept the serially loaded code and jump to it. 2. If no serial download is taking place, jump to the main fw image in the rest of the flash for normal boot. Function (2) may differ depending on what main fw is to be used, but function (1) is absolutely essential: if flash sector 0 is erased and not immediately reprogrammed with working boot code, or if it gets programmed with some code version that does not perform function (1), then all ability to take control of the phone will be lost, and it will be forever stuck in one of two states: (a) If the boot code still performs function (2) and there happens to be a working main fw image in the flash, the phone will be stuck with that fw version forever, with no ability to reflash it or to load and execute any code in RAM. (b) If the conditions of (a) above aren't met, the phone will be reduced to a paperweight. There is no JTAG access on these phones, and the flash chip is not only a micro-BGA, but also combined with SRAM in the same package. Desoldering the flash+SRAM chip and replacing it with an externally programmed one is not likely to be feasible, hence bricked really means bricked. You've been warned! For FreeCalypso we've adopted our own version of the bootloader that performs function (1) exactly like Mot/Compal's original (actually slightly better, as we've removed the "1003" check, thus the inefficient -c 1003 fc-loadtool option becomes unnecessary), but we've modified function (2): in Compal's original design the main fw image starts at 0x2000 with the entry point at 0x20F8, whereas in our arrangement the main fw image starts at 0x10000 with the entry point at 0x10058. We've changed the starting address for the main fw image to coincide with the physical flash erase block boundary and thereby reduce the bricking risk. If we put our main fw image starting at 0x2000 like Mot/Compal did, we would have to erase and reprogram flash sector 0 every time we would like to change the main fw, incurring the risk of bricking the phone. But with our modified boot code we only have to do it once, when a given phone is first transitioned from Mot/Compal's original fw to one of ours. With subsequent reflashings from one FreeCalypso fw version to another, we only need to reflash the main fw starting at 0x10000, and leave flash sector 0 alone. Besides the main fw and the critical boot code, the flash houses two more entities: the factory data block and the flash file system (FFS). Factory data block ================== The 8 KiB flash sector at 0x3FC000 contains per-unit factory programming from Motorola/Compal: RF calibration values, the unit's official IMEI and Cthulhu knows what else. Unfortunately we haven't been able to parse this info beyond a superficial level, hence we have no way to make use of any of this data. But of course we should not erase or overwrite it, so we just leave this flash sector alone. Flash file system ================= Because Mot/Compal had moved their IMEI and RF calibration values into their own proprietary format, these juicy items are NOT found in the FFS maintained by the original firmware. Instead the original fw's FFS contains only dynamic state and user data, hence it is of no use to us. We have adopted a different flash location for our FFS from that used by Mot/Compal's fw in order to prevent any possible cross-contamination, and you will need to manually initialize this aftermarket FFS the first time you install FreeCalypso firmware on your C139. Flashing procedure ================== If you are not scared off by all of the above and you still wish to try this experimental fw on your C139, you can install it as follows: 1. Connect to the phone with fc-loadtool, preceded by tfc139 if necessary - see loadtools documentation. 2. If the C139 in question does not already have some other FreeCalypso fw version in its flash, replace the bootloader: loadtool> flash erase-program-boot compal-flash-boot-for-fc.bin (compal-flash-boot-for-fc.bin is our modified bootloader version, and it is built from one of Compal's versions via binary patching in the freecalypso-sw source tree.) Optional step: If your serial cable setup supports the special GSM high baud rates, you can speed the process up by issuing a baud 406250 or baud 812500 command at this point. 3. Flash the main fw image: loadtool> flash erase 10000 290000 loadtool> flash program-bin 10000 mfw-build.progbin Or you can use the supplied nifty loadtool command script: loadtool> exec ./flash-mfw The current directory must be g23m for the script method to work. 4. Erase the sectors where our firmware's non-volatile flash file system (aftermarket FFS configuration) will reside: loadtool> flash erase 3C0000 30000 5. Cleanly end your fc-loadtool session, which will power the phone off: loadtool> exit FFS initialization ================== The first time you boot your C139 after the above flashing procedure, the phone should have no SIM in it. Firmwares built with UI enabled (like the present) automatically fire up GSM functionality and try to connect to a network immediately upon boot if a SIM is present, and you don't want to do that on your first boot: at this point your phone has *no* IMEI and no working FFS at all. When the fw boots up without a SIM, it still enables the part of the GSM radio protocol stack that looks for usable cells, in anticipation of the possibility that the user may need to make an emergency call, but it never transmits anything in this state (Tx fully off) unless you do dial that emergency call. So take the SIM out before you start the reflashing procedure, and then boot the SIM-less phone afterward. You should see a message on the LCD that reads "Insert SIM". But instead of inserting a SIM, you should run the fc-fsio utility from FreeCalypso host tools at this point. Plug the serial cable back in if you unplugged it, and run fc-fsio: fc-fsio -p /dev/ttyXXX (Omit the -p argument if you already have rvinterf running for fc-fsio to connect to.) Then issue the following commands: fsio> format / fsio> mk-std-dirs fsio> set-imeisv fc XXXXXXXX-YYYYYY-ZZ (punctuation optional, place anywhere) fsio> set-rfcap dual-eu (if you have 900+1800 MHz hardware) or fsio> set-rfcap dual-us (if you have 850+1900 MHz hardware) Yes, you need to set your own IMEISV. The official one is stored in the factory data block, but we don't know how to parse it, so it effectively does not exist for us. It is entirely up to you whether you set the same IMEI as the official one or a different one: our fw has no psychic powers to compare. Unless you have reason to do otherwise though, the default should be to keep the original IMEI. It is not clear what Mot/Compal's fw puts in the SV digits, so just put 00 in there if you don't feel like inventing version numbers. The set-rfcap command is necessary because our fw does not know otherwise whether your C139 is the 900+1800 MHz version or 1900+850 MHz. If you don't write a /gsm/com/rfcap file with this command, the fw defaults to quadband (the part of the fw where this default is effected is a binary blob in the present version) and will waste time scanning frequencies which it can't receive because the corresponding RF transceiver input is unconnected (unsupported high band) or because they are blocked by a SAW filter (unsupported low band). After you have initialized your new aftermarket FFS with fc-fsio per the above, exit fc-fsio and power your phone off: hold the power button down until a TI logo appears on the LCD, then release the button; the phone will power off shortly, and you'll know it's off when the LCD turns off. Now you can insert a SIM and boot again - this time the phone should be live! Limitations =========== * The present fw has been built from a semi-src (half source, half binary objects) TI firmware release which was made for some manufacturer that made GSM/GPRS modems, rather than voice handsets, hence the present configuration is unfortunately highly suboptimal for our use case. The entire mass of code supporting CSD, fax and GPRS data services is included and cannot be removed because that part of the fw is in binary blobs, but all this code is pure dead weight in the present configuration: the phone UI layer won't make any use of data functionality (nowhere near enough resources on this hw to implement a WAP browser or MMS), and because we had to give up the standard AT command channel (see next point), the option of having the phone dual-function as a laptop-tethered modem is not available either. * TI's full-featured phone firmwares allow the phone to dual-function as a modem, so one could connect the phone to a laptop and make a CSD call or use GPRS. But they were designed to make use of two UARTs, one for the classic AT command interface and the other for their RVTMUX debug/calibration/etc interface. Unfortunately though, our present target hw has only one UART practically accessible (Calypso's MODEM UART brought out on the headset jack), and we absolutely need the debug interface, thus the classic AT command interface had to be sacrificed. One can still issue AT commands over RVTMUX with FreeCalypso host utility fc-shell, but this mechanism works only for voice and SMS commands, not CSD or GPRS. Hence the data functions of the fw remain unusable dead weight. :( * The headset functionality of the headset jack is also unavailable: because we need to be able to use the debug interface at all times, we always keep the electrically-controlled switch in the state that connects the headset jack to the UART (presenting RVTMUX) instead of the audio circuits. * Because we don't know how to grok Mot/Compal's factory data block, our fw currently runs UNCALIBRATED. It may have difficulty connecting to networks if it can't acquire the frequency burst lacking VCXO calibration, and the Tx power levels are almost certainly wrong (out of spec) - BEWARE! * The only 3 display configurations for which TI produced demo/prototype UI in their chipset reference firmware are 84x48 pix monochrome, 176x220 pix monochrome and 176x220 pix full color. We have a 96x64 pix LCD on the C139, hence we are using TI's 84x48 UI design until we can create one that makes use of the slightly larger 96x64 screen. However, TI had that 84x48 LCD on their C-Sample and earlier platforms (*very* old), and as we discovered empirically, the support for this 84x48 display config is already bitrotten in the source tree we got, which officially targets TI's D-Sample and Leonardo boards. At first the C-Sample UI configuration did not even compile. We got it to compile by fixing it in a way that *seemed* right, but when we run this resurrected C-Sample UI on our C139 hardware, one can plainly see that the UI is still defective, as the expected output on the LCD is mixed with garbage. We will need to delve into the UI code in more depth in order to really fix it to where the display will be readable without garbage. * Battery charging has not been tried yet. It most likely won't work without additional fixes.