Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Can anyone comment please, what bootloader is used on Jolla with Sailfish?

Is it possible to boot Sailfish there in verbose mode (i.e. not with the splash screen but with detailed output from the kernel, systemd and etc.)?

For example in GRUB I usually set loglevel=4 as a parameter for bootloader to get a reasonably verbose output. Nexus 7 for example uses its own closed bootloader, but you can pass kernel parameters to it (such as loglevel and others) for booting Plasma Active or Nemo.

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

It was extlinux in the SDK, not sure if production has changed. Is there no conf file in /boot ?

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

I don't have a device. So asking a theoretical question :)

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

contents of /boot:

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Fastboot/Little Kernel. And no, due to technical reasons, it's not possible to get a framebuffer console.

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Wouldnt be much usefull on a small screen I would say anyways.
But, perhaps a serial console and connected laptop/screen ?

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Is it some limitation of the GPU or it's a limitation of Qualcomm's code not enabling framebuffer support in the kernel?

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Latter, their framebuffer code is tied into a HW composer so it's just not possible to enable framebuffer console.

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Hopefully for the future development of the phone Qualcomm will be persuaded to see sense and the benefit of Open Source and free up the code to their software blob.

It is just unfortunate that a phone clearly aimed at the developer community inhibits their work by preventing the possibility of access to all code and full re-flashing back to factory or modified rom.

If Qualcomm fails to be supportive I hope the next Jolla phone will have a chipset from a manufacturer that understands the principles of FOSS.

In the meantime the phone is a good middle of the road platform to develop Sailfish in a real hardware environment and improve the GUI by getting feedback from real users on physical hardware. I am certainly finding mine very interesting and rewarding which is good Value For Money.

The long term future of the Jolla company and Sailfish are great and they should be supported despite the current issues with binary blobs in their first phone.

Richard

Re: Bootloader on the Jolla handset
 

Qualcomm is a typical crooked company when it comes to dealing with open source. Their attack on the open codecs is a good demonstration of what they are. So I wouldn't expect any common sense from them. If anything, Jolla should strongly try to avoid them next time. Intel SoC could be much better for a FOSS friendly device, but that will have to wait until at least the end of 2014.