What was the name of that other modem or atleast the manufacturers name of the M.2 baseband in devlopment ? it was like qualtel or quatzel or something like that ?
Quectel (EM06)
My top pick so far.
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You are a gentleman and a scholar tata !
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Oh, please. Few more like this and Iâll turn into a conceded prick :))
Anyway, as of now, the best price from US vendor is $50 a piece for the bulk of 100 (required min). So, I was thinking. If Purism doesnât start selling it on their website, if there is enough interest, we could get someone here to volunteer and place the order for all. Basically, we would send the money via PayPal ahead of the time. I know itâs a hassle to ship them all , so we could pay extra for inconvenience, if asked. 
Iâm definitely willing to trust someone here with my $50.
Why not Gemalto PLAS9?
That does not appear to be an M.2 card. I also donât see any linux drivers listed for it in its datasheet. It also seems to lack voice support?
you are right. but does the Quectel EM06 have proprietary firmware?
Looks promising.
Maybe Purism can create a wholly owned subsidiary or something called Impuresm to sell upgrades that require firmware in the operating system. For example, this and 802.11ax Wi-Fi cards for their phone and laptops.
I recommend that Purism announce something that suggests that other USA carriers will be supported in the future. A AT&T only phone may disappoint a lot of people. Although, they can probably sell their phone on eBay for a profit, for the time being.
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All licensed cell and Wi-Fi radios have proprietary firmware. Purism orders customized cell radios to store the firmware on the card. Normally, the firmware is stored in the operating system and uploaded to the card during the boot process. The problem with this is that if you install an operating system without a copy of this firmware, then the device that requires said firmware stops working.
you are right and I misunderstood. What I wanted to say is that with PLS8 Purism has managed to âavoidâ the Gemalto proprietary firmware. Can the same thing be done with the Quectel?
The larger the manufacture, and the smaller the quantity, the less likely they are to build a custom part for storing the firmware.
I was just thinking that this problem can be avoided if Purism dedicated a small flash chip just for storing firmware. Just guessing, 256MB might accommodate 3 devices with large firmwares. It could contain a simple file system of required firmware files. However, this no longer provides manufactures incentive to build their devices with their own firmware on them. It requires that mainboards be built this way just for RYF purposes, which might not be what we want to see in the marketplace. For example, swapping hardware means that the user must handle loading the firmware onto this flash chip. This is why it is better to keep the firmware with the device. Also, I am assuming that this is somehow RYF certified. It keeps the firmware distribution on the device, instead of the operating system. But the operating system has to know where to look for the firmware in order to upload it to the device. In theory, this should just require altering the driver in the Linux kernel, and not require anything special on the card.
I think that I just described EFI (at a high level), except stored separately from the storage device that the operating system uses.
Note that they actually do something like that. The M4 core executes the RAM PHY training blob which is stored on a separate flash chip.
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Nice. So they have the storage, but even if it were large enough to accommodate more firmware, I would not automatically assume that the M4 core can handle that storage being used for additional things. Maybe a starting offset would be sufficient to isolate and protect the DDR4 training blob from these optional firmware files. Also, it would be easy to brick the entire device if something were updated incorrectly, given that RAM is not an optional device for running a recovery operating system. Maybe they exposed pins somewhere for flashing the chip without booting it.
I love Purism as a company. I have a Librem15 as well. It is unfortunate, but in the tide of public opinon, they will take a beating. As I have said previously, Purism has not been transparent with exact shipping dates and numbers.
There have even been fellow forum members who have tried to be a politician and provide alternative truths to what âshippingâ means. Shipping means when an item is in transport. I would even go to boxing. Manufacturing a phone is not shipping.
Purims has been asked directly by numerous people of the shipping numbers and they have been like the Politician in the 80s movie, âBest Little Whorehouse in Texasâ, with the late great Burt Reynolds. They ask him for an answer and there is a musical montage with not direct answer. If Purism would give even an approximated amount per cycle, that would quell people form asking. Additionally, each of us received the email, picking a batch/s. How about they come back and communicate as to which batch all of are currently in. If we are so fortunate to get bumped up, that is wonderful. It provides all backers the opportunity to know if they are waiting for Christmas or the Summer.
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I agree. Given the phase we have entered, Purism needs to up their level of transparency here. Itâs getting annoying to see all the news stories in which they claim to be âshippingâ the Librem 5 despite the fact that not even a single backer has received a shipping notice much less an announcement of what batch they have been assigned to.
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Yes I agree that is more than a little odd that, it appears, not one person on these forums appears to have received a phone despite some being very early backers. The Aspen run could have been half a dozen phones for all anyone knows. Weâll never know. But it if was a tiny number only still with multiple bugs then this method at least lets them keep their shipping promise. A dodgy method that has rightly drawn criticism.
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What does the âoptionalâ mean here in the EM06 specifications?:
Enhanced Features
- MIMO: 2 Ă 2, 4 Ă 2, DL
- eCall*: Emergency Service
- Digital Audio and VoLTE (Voice over LTE)(Optional)
I would note that this M.2 is clearly voice for those in Australia, NZ, EU though not in the U.S.:
Quectel EM05 LTE Cat4
When I talked to a Quectel rep, he said the optional meant it was software/firmware dependent but the chip has the capability.
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August 29th, 2017 here. Iâve personally tried to overlook a lot of the oddness and little nuances in this process. When I invested in the Librem 5, I knew I was taking a flyer on it but I was so disgusted with the state of smartphones that it was worth it anyway. As somebody who had purchased a Librem 15 rev3 just a month earlier and was quite satisfied, it seemed like a perfect fit.
All of those things are still true (and yes Iâm typing this on my Librem 15 rev3 which I still love). Whatâs changed is that over the last two years, I feel like Purism has probably bitten off more than they can chew. Progress on the laptop side seems stagnant and the recently launched services are a mixed bag at best. On top of which Iâve also invested in the forthcoming Pinebook Pro and the process for that has been refreshingly transparent next to the process for the Librem 5. The difference is like night and day. Good or bad those guys are sharing every detail with us no matter how good or bad it makes them look. Thatâs pretty endearing in my book.
Frankly the biggest problem here is that Purism keeps telling us that most everything is fine despite the fact there there are numerous hints telling us otherwise. They are even telling tech news outlets that they are shipping the phone despite the fact that nobody in the community has received a shipment notification. I suspect at this point that as so many others have posited, the Aspen batch is pretty damn small and Purism was likely shocked at how many responses they got to their batch survey which indicated Aspen as a first choice. I know I made Aspen my top choice mainly because Iâm just sick and tired of dealing with Android garbage.
It seems clear that the phone isnât actually shipping right now though I sincerely hope Purism proves me wrong. In any event I am too deeply invested in seeing this project succeed to even consider pulling out of it now regardless. The stakes are just too high. I just hope Purism doesnât abuse the inherent desperation in the position I have contorted myself into.
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