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sony-castor: new device

Administrator requested to merge sony-castor into master

new Device: Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE (castor)

This is mainly a copy of castor-windy (the version without LTE) but uses armv7 (this should be ok, according to the device specifications).

I wasn't sure if I should add the # Contributor to the APKBUILD. It is mentioned in wiki#Git workflow, but MR 1203 has removed it.

Status

The device boots but I cannot login/reach the GUI.

  • none/shelli: login prompt but no keyboard to type credentials
  • phosh: boot screen, blinking cursor
  • plasma-mobile: boot screen, then black (screen is illuminated)

I have also tried the existing sony-castor-windy with armhf (device specifications look rather similar) with the same result. I'm wondering what has been done differently to reach the state described in the wiki.

Installation

I found the wiki for castor-windy to be lacking some information (especially if you want to setup your device with postmarketOS from scratch).

So here's what I did (should work the same for castor-windy):

Prerequisites

Unlock Bootloader

This might not work if the device is in factory settings, so setup Android once.

  • open dialer and type *#*#7378423#*#*
  • Service info → Configuration → Rooting Status
  • check that bootloader unlock says "Yes" (otherwise, you cannot unlock)
  • use the IMEI to retrieve the unlock code from the Sony website
  • turn off device and disconnect USB (if connected)
  • hold volume up and connect USB to computer to enter fastboot (LED should switch from red to blue)
  • fastboot oem unlock 0xKEY (KEY is the unlock code from the Sony website)

Install pmbootstrap

Install postmarketOS

  • turn off device and disconnect USB (if connected)
  • hold volume up and connect USB to computer to enter fastboot (LED should switch from red to blue)
  • pmbootstrap init (select sony and castor)
  • pmbootstrap install (NOTE: plasma-mobile is too large, use recovery zip instead)
  • pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
  • pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel

Useful key combinations

  • fastboot: volume up and connect USB
  • hard shutdown: press and hold volume up and power

Links

Merge request reports