N900 The Perfect Setup

=Introduction= This page serves the purpose of assembling a complete and current howto-guide for the perfect N900 setup. The initial information here is based on my personal experience and the rich trove of experience which is talk.maemo.org. Please keep this page alive by adding your improvements and keeping it up to date as Maemo evolves.

Disclaimer: ''This page is a work in progress and will probably never be finished. Some of the procedures might prove to be quite risky. There's no guarantee that your phone won't start to eat your cat. You do everything at your own risk.''

= Recommended hardware =
 * A Nokia N900, obviously
 * SanDisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 / UHS-1 SDHC Card (SU32-G)
 * PolarCell 1520 mAh battery
 * Standalone battery charger
 * USB A-A adapter
 * (Linux box)

Hardware Specifications
NAND Layout

dev   size   erasesize  name mtd0: 00020000 00020000 "bootloader" mtd1: 00060000 00020000 "config" mtd2: 00040000 00020000 "log" mtd3: 00200000 00020000 "kernel" mtd4: 00200000 00020000 "initfs" mtd5: 0fb40000 00020000 "rootfs"

eMMC Partition Layout dev        size       fs    mountpoint mmcblk0p1  27648MiB   vfat  /home/user/MyDocs mmcblk0p2   2048MiB   ext2  /home mmcblk0p3    768MiB   swap

Detailed specs

N900 battery options

Hardware modifications
/* TODO: USB pre-broken fix */

 

= Initial setup = Everything about Firmware Flashing

Download flasher from the repositories

/* TODO: Use open source flasher */

Download the firmware flasher: Flasher & SDK Downloads

Download the latest official Nokia Firmware Images for your N900: Firmware Image Downloads RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin md5sum: 488809ff96a0a05479d692e9f77aeb4f RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin md5sum: b9f8690318a3be61767826d15b8c1784

Flashing the device
The following flashing procedure has proven the most stable to me:

Always use a fully charged battery!

flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f Don't reboot
 * Turn your device off, disconnect USB
 * (As root) flash the FIASCO firmware image:
 * When you get "No suitable USB device found" connect your N900 through USB.
 * Wait for the flashing to finish.

flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f
 * Flash original eMMC image:
 * Wait for the flashing to finish.
 * Reboot the device by _reinserting_ the battery

Upon first login, enter your locale settings (Timezone, local time, etc.).

Run latest official Nokia SSU (upgrades your device firmware to V1.3.1) by launching App manager / Update from the applications menu.

Getting root access
1001 ways of becoming root

name: Maemo extras-testing uri: deb http://skeiron.org/repo/repository.maemo.org/extras-testing/ fremantle free non-free dist: fremantle components: free non-free
 * Add the Extras-Testing repository to the Hildon Application Managers catalog

name: Maemo extras-development uri: http://extras-devel.merlin1991.at/ fremantle free non-free dist: fremantle components: free non-free
 * Add the Extras-Devel repository as well


 * Disable OVI repository (conflicts with CSSU)


 * Wait for repository update to finish (Hildon Application Manager is slooow) and install 'rootsh' from the system section.

sudo gainroot apt-get install openssh You will be asked for your new root password. /*TODO: Change PW hash to enable passwords > 8 chars */
 * To get remote access over the network (way more comfy) install SSH server by launching XTerminal from the application menu and running:

ifconfig wlan0
 * Finally launch xterm and run


 * Write down the IP address - from now on you can use the SSH client of your choice to connect to your favorite pocket computer - enjoy!

= Upgrade to CSSU-thumb = What's CSSU?

What's thumb2 ISA?

cssu-thumb contains a kernel based on kp51r1, therefore you automatically benefit from all kernel-power features (undervolting, overclocking, framebuffer, ...). See Kernel Power Wiki and Kernel Power 51r1 on tmo

Repositories
Disable extras-testing - it will be replaced by its thump-compiled counterpart from the CSSU repository. Make sure Nokia and Maemo Extras repositories are enabled though.

To avoid thumb-compiled binaries being overwritten by upgrades from non-thumb repositories use the following /etc/apt/preferences file Package: * Pin: release a=community-thumb Pin-Priority: 700 Package: * Pin: release a=Extras-devel-light Pin-Priority: 500 Package: * Pin: release l=Extras Pin-Priority: 550 Package: * Pin: release l=community-testing Pin-Priority: 600

Remove unneeded software
tmo thread

apt-get remove --purge hildon-theme-beta osso-chess-ui gnuchess osso-graphics-game-chess osso-lmarbles osso-graphics-game-lmarbles osso-sounds-game-chess maemoblocks ap-installer amazon-installer foreca-installer facebook-installer skype-installer dtg-installer tutorial-home-applet osso-tutorial-l10n-engb osso-tutorial-l10n-ptpt osso-tutorial-l10n-frca osso-tutorial-l10n-nlnl osso-tutorial-l10n-cscz osso-tutorial-l10n-itit osso-tutorial-l10n-eses osso-tutorial-l10n-svse osso-tutorial-l10n-frfr osso-tutorial-l10n-dede osso-tutorial-l10n-fifi osso-tutorial-l10n-nono osso-tutorial-l10n-esmx osso-tutorial-l10n-enus osso-tutorial-l10n-ruru osso-tutorial-l10n-mr0 osso-tutorial-l10n-plpl cherry osso-systemui-splashscreen sharing-service-flickr sharing-service-ovi chinese-font google-search-widget tutorial-home-applet osso-mahjong osso-graphics-game-mahjong osso-sounds-game-mahjong ovi-promotion-widget

Installing CSSU-Thumb

 * Visit this link using your N900s web browser: http://maemo.merlin1991.at/cssu/community-thumb/community-thumb-fremantle.install and confirm the prompts displayed in HAM


 * Launch community SSU from applications menu.
 * Install the proposed updates.

= Essential software packages = The following is a list of applications which (IMHO) constitute a reasonable base set apt-get install

Other recommendations include: xournal fm-boost fmradio recaller swappolube flashlight-extra-gtk flashlight-applet cal-home-widget adflashblock-css

Install non-optified cryptsetup
wget http://maemo.merlin1991.at/apt-mirror/extras-devel/pool/fremantle/free/c/cryptsetup/cryptsetup_1.0.4%2bsvn26-3_armel.deb dpkg -i cryptsetup_1.0.4%2bsvn26-3_armel.deb echo "cryptsetup hold" | dpkg --set-selections

Install & configure bootloader
apt-get install u-boot-flasher kernel-cssu-bootimg ln -s /etc/bootmenu.d/20-Maemo5-kernel-cssu-2.6.28.10-cssu3.item /etc/default/bootmenu.item u-boot-update-bootmenu

USB Host mode
Host mode announcement wget http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pali/usbmode/usbmode_1.0-3_armel.deb dpkg -i usbmode_1.0-3_armel.deb


 * USB mode can be set through the status menu
 * To connect USB peripherals use a USB A-to-A adapter

Configure openmediaplayer
OMP Wiki

dpkg -i openmediaplayer_20121220-1+thumb0_armel.deb
 * Get a thumb-compiled version of openmediaplayer OMP-thumb download


 * As root, edit file:
 * /usr/share/dbus-1/services/com.nokia.mediaplayer.service

so the line: Exec=/usr/bin/mediaplayer

...becomes: Exec=/usr/bin/openmediaplayer

This will replace execution of MP binary with OMP one - without physically replacing files, so you can revert back to MP by reverting changes.

/* TODO */
 * tracker-cfg

Faking Flash Player 12
Flash Player on tmo


 * Get flashplayer 10 binaries for maemo.

apt-get remove --purge adobe-flashplayer apt-get install hexedit dpkg -i adobe-flashplayer-10.deb hexedit /usr/lib/browser/plugins/libflashplayer.so


 * Once in Hexedit, press CTRL+S and type in 31302e31 and press enter, the string you've just found need to be changed to 31322e31


 * Now, press CTRL+S, type "y" and search for 31302c31 and change it to 31322c31


 * Press CTRL+S then "y" again.
 * Close terminal and enjoy new faked v12.1.98.88 flash player

= Tweaks =

Kernel Power Settings
/* TODO: Rewrite this section using smartreflex */

To enable overclocking (more horsepower) and undervolting (less power consumption) run the following commands kernel-config save stock kernel-config load ideal kernel-config default ideal

To revert to stock settings run kernel-config load stock kernel-config default stock

swappolube
Config details

cssu-features

 * Launch cssu-features from the applications menu
 * On first run choose "Fix config"
 * Launch cssu-features again
 * Configure to your taste

Theme customizer

 * Set nokia-pure as default font

Disable Nokia Hands

 * Edit the file
 * /etc/hildon-welcome.d/default.conf

[hildon-welcome] filename=Hands-v32-h264.avi
 * Comment out the last line or specify gstreamer compatible movie file

= Backup your device = rm /var/cache/apt/archives/* tar -cf /home/user/MyDocs_backup.tar
 * Don't backup unnecessary stuff, so
 * Reboot with keyboard open
 * Select default kernel
 * In backupmenu press 'b' to start backup
 * Press 'q' to backup both rootfs and optfs
 * Select 'p' twice to store backup on /home/user/MyDocs
 * Wait for backup to finish
 * Connect USB to Linux box
 * Press 'w' to export eMMC as mass storage device
 * On your Linux box check 'dmesg' to identify device names (e.g. /dev/sdX), mount /dev/sdX1, switch to the mount point (e.g. /media/usb) and run

= Adjust eMMC partitioning = /* TODO: Evaluate better filesystems and possibly alignment */ dev        size       fs    mountpoint mmcblk0p1  24576MiB   vfat  /home/user/MyDocs mmcblk0p2   5120MiB   ext2  /home mmcblk0p3    835MiB   swap
 * With eMMC still exported as mass storage device using backupmenu point your favorite partition manager to /dev/sdX
 * Adjust partitions to your needs (align to MiB, not cylinders), for example

It's recommended to leave /dev/mmcblk0p1 as vfat for /home/user/MyDocs as it needs less tweaks to maemos mmc-scripts. For other options visit repartitioning the flash

= Disk Encryption = /* TODO: Verify that HW accel is being used */ /* TODO: Use initrd in NAND and encrypt rootfs */

Preparing userland
Don't reboot your device before having performed all steps described in this chapter or else you'll have to reflash your phone!

dpkg -L
 * Make sure cryptsetup and busybox-power packages are installed to rootfs

scp rcS root@:/etc/init.d/ scp rcS-late root@:/etc/event.d/
 * Get modified rcS and rcS-late scripts and copy them to your device


 * Edit the file
 * /sbin/preinit

and insert the command modprobe fbcon as the last line in function init_system (just above the })

loadkeys -b nokia-n900.map > nokia-n900.kmap
 * Get an n900 keymap and convert it (on your Linux box):

scp nokia-n900.kmap root@:/
 * Copy the keymap to your phone's root directory

Edit the files
 * Create /etc/default/osso-mmc-blacklist.sh and corresponding /etc/default/osso-mmc-blacklist containing devices which should not be mounted to MyDocs - /dev/dm-0 and /dev/dm-1)
 * /usr/sbin/osso-usb-mass-storage-enable.sh and :/usr/sbin/osso-usb-mass-storage-disable.sh

and add the following lines at the beginning case $1 in  /dev/dm-*)     set /dev/mmcblk0p1     ;; esac

Move optfs to encrypted partition
cd /tmp tar -xf ~/backups/MyDocs_backup.tar
 * On your Linux box extract the :optfs.tar file from the previously created MyDocs backup

cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdX2     # Confirm by typing YES, specify a looong passphrase cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdX2 n900 mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/n900
 * Boot your phone into boot manager and export eMMC to USB. On your linux box run the following commands to create an encrypted ext3 filesystem on mmcblk0p2

mount /dev/mapper/n900 /mnt cd /mnt tar -xf /tmp/systemBackups/optfs.tar umount /mnt cryptsetup luksClose n900
 * Now you can restore your optfs backup to the encrypted partition


 * Reboot your phone and enjoy the password prompt!

= SD card usage =

Swap on SD card
To avoid concurrent I/O access to swap and optfs (both mmcblk0), move swap to your SD card (mmcblk1) /sbin/cryptsetup -d /dev/urandom create swapenc /dev/mmcblk0p3
 * On your SD card create a swap partition /dev/mmcblk1pX of approx. 1.5GiB
 * Edit /etc/event.d/rcS-late and change the line

to

/sbin/cryptsetup -d /dev/urandom create swapenc /dev/mmcblk1pX

More swap tweaks
/* TODO: Find current best practice for running swap on sd card */
 * Fight swap fragmentation
 * Swap on wiki

= Miscellaneous =

Encrypted SIP

 * linphone

GPG support

 * mutt
 * claws
 * patches for modest anyone?

Camera

 * pcam
 * stock/cssu
 * blessn900
 * fcam
 * hdr
 * lowlight

Watch 720p movies
HD movie guide

Dead battery
= Additional information =
 * The one and only
 * Repository Mirrors
 * Blog still posting some maemo news

= Credits = My thanks go to jebba, titan, pali, NIN101, MentalistTraceur, sixwheeledbeast, DocScrutinizer05, sEKI, kerio, freemangordon, qwazix, ShadowJK and everyone on #maemo