Librem 5 firmware updates

Hardware Librem 5
1

I’ve been reading that it would be a good idea to update the librem 5 modem firmware(for reliable wake from suspend on call). Are there any other firmware or uboot or other not automatically applied updates we should apply to our phones?

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2

I think that’s all. Aside of the modem and u-boot, there’s not much to update unless your phone is pretty old.

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3

See also: Manual Updates for Librem5

It somewhat depends on when you got your phone. A recent phone will probably have all the relevant firmware already.

You should also consider generic warnings about updating firmware (or any other software for that matter).

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4

Would my byzantium reflash from Feb 2022 have included any of those firmwares by default?

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5

From those, only u-boot gets updated on reflash, and the last meaningful u-boot change (ignoring hardware enablement) is from Jan 26, 2023.

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6

So unless you have a burning desire to reflash your whole phone, you would want to update uboot explicitly.

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7

Maybe I’ll wait to see if we’ll be obliged to reflash in order to upgrade to crimson.

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8

@dos ?

I would love to know this, as someone who is still on amber. If crimson is going to be another reflash, I will try to skip byzantium. (But I may not get away with that because my MNO is switching off 3G by Dec 31 this year.)

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9

Can’t tell at this point. It should be upgradeable, but we’ll see how that goes in practice.

amber hasn’t been supported for a while. Please upgrade!

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10

Can we migrate to Crimson early?

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11

dos answered that a few times, have a look at his post history.

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12

As far as I know, including those mentioned, there are a total of 6 (2 are combined):

  1. DAS U-Boot
  2. TTXS (Smartcard Reader)
  3. USB PD Controller
  4. Firmware Jail (also includes Redpine RS9116 firmware)
  5. BM818-x1

The first four on this list can be performed sequentially directly during and after reflashing the Librem 5. The last two are performed on the Librem 5 itself.

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13

Smartcard firmware flashing is performed on the Librem 5 as well.

In fact, all of them can be performed on the Librem 5. Some can also be done from a host computer using uuu and flashing mode.

There’s also touchscreen controller (FT8006P) and GPS module (Teseo-LIV3F) with upgradable firmwares. I’m not aware of anything else.

That’s a bad link (personal fork), and Redpine firmware is included in the firmware jail these days.

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15

Thank you for the new information. I performed most of my firmware updates using a PureOS live USB since most firmware update instructions usually involve it in some way or another. I cannot remove Redpine from the list due to my trust level, but I will do it once it has been elevated.

I have not seen the touchscreen and GPS firmware repos, but I will take a look and gather some more information.

16

There’s no GPS firmware repo, but you can find it on STM website. There were no updates available since the very first Librem 5s were built though, so there’s nothing to see there - all phones in existence have the latest firmware.

I have asked internally about public availability of touchscreen firmware. There was one change early on that disabled filtering at the screen edges, which was too strong and pretty annoying. You can check the version with:

sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/edt_ft5x06/lic_version /sys/kernel/debug/edt_ft5x06/fw_version

If it’s either:

7
2

or

2
3

you have the latest one. The command has to be executed while the screen is on, otherwise it will return garbage.

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17

Thank you for the instructions, the output I received was:

7
2

Are the other values for a different touchscreen controller then?

18

Yes, there are two panel versions with different versioning.

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19

Hello Everybody

I personal have my thoughts about what i am reading about firmware updates here
I find it a bit strange that we all have to hunt or ask separatly for support for better firmware for a device which has known problems with software and firmware
I understand perfectly that this device and the software is still in heavy development but if there is better firmware it should be provided by Purism in updates for all of us
yust my believe

Best regards for all

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20

Is this still accurate? As in, do the scripts still work? I ask because I tried flashing the USB PD Controller update and the script was not working for me.

I think upgrading the firmware may help with ongoing suspend issues I am having…

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21

The scripts should still work. There are build dependencies which are not mentioned at all during the procedure, but they are shared with reflashing the Librem 5.

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