Tag Archives: nfc

Replicant 4.2 0002 and NFC on I9300

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I’m using Replicant on my Samsung SIII (i9300) phone (see my earlier posts). During my vacation the Replicant project released version 4.2-0002 as a minor update to their initial 4.2 release. I didn’t anticipate any significant differences, so I followed the installation instructions but instead of “wipe data/factory reset” I chose “wipe cache partition” and rebooted. Everything appeared to work fine, but I soon discovered that NFC was not working. Using adb logcat I could get some error messages:

E/NFC-HCI ( 7022): HCI Timeout - Exception raised - Force restart of NFC service
F/libc    ( 7022): Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV) at 0xdeadbaad (code=1), thread 7046 (message)
I/DEBUG   ( 1900): *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
I/DEBUG   ( 1900): Build fingerprint: 'samsung/m0xx/m0:4.1.1/JRO03C/I9300XXDLIB:user/release-keys'
I/DEBUG   ( 1900): Revision: '12'
I/DEBUG   ( 1900): pid: 7022, tid: 7046, name: message  >>> com.android.nfc <<<

The phone would loop trying to start NFC and having the NFC sub-system die over and over. Talking on #replicant channel, paulk quickly realized and fixed the bug. I had to rebuild the images to get things to work, so I took the time to create a new virtual machine based on Debian 7.5 for building Replicant on. As a side note, the only thing not covered by Replicant build dependency documentation was that I needed the Debian xmllint package to avoid a build failure and the Debian xsltproc package to avoid a error message being printed in the beginning of every build. Soon I had my own fresh images and installed them and NFC was working again, after installing the non-free libpn544_fw.so file.

During this, I noticed that there are multiple libpn544_fw.so files floating around. I have the following files:

version string source
libpn544_fw_C3_1_26_SP.so internet
libpn544_fw_C3_1_34_SP.so stock ROM on S3 bought in Sweden during 2013 and 2014 (two phones)
libpn544_fw_C3_1_39_SP.so internet

(For reference the md5sum's of these files are 682e50666effa919d557688c276edc48, b9364ba59de1947d4588f588229bae20 and 18b4e634d357849edbe139b04c939593 respectively.)

If you do not have any of these files available as /vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so you will get the following error message:

I/NfcService( 2488): Enabling NFC
D/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Start Initialization
E/NFC-HCI ( 2488): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
E/NFCJNI  ( 2488): phLibNfc_Mgt_Initialize() returned 0x00ff[NFCSTATUS_FAILED]
E/NFC-HCI ( 2488): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
W/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Firmware update FAILED
E/NFC-HCI ( 2488): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
W/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Firmware update FAILED
E/NFC-HCI ( 2488): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
W/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Firmware update FAILED
E/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Unable to update firmware, giving up
D/NFCJNI  ( 2488): phLibNfc_Mgt_UnConfigureDriver() returned 0x0000[NFCSTATUS_SUCCESS]
D/NFCJNI  ( 2488): Terminating client thread...
W/NfcService( 2488): Error enabling NFC

Using the first (26) file or the last (39) file does not appear to be working on my phone, I get the following error messages. Note that the line starting with 'NFC capabilities' has 'Rev = 34' in it, possibly indicating that I need the version 34 file.

I/NfcService( 5735): Enabling NFC
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Start Initialization
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): NFC capabilities: HAL = 8150100, FW = b10122, HW = 620003, Model = 12, HCI = 1, Full_FW = 1, Rev = 34, FW Update Info = 8
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Download new Firmware
W/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Firmware update FAILED
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Download new Firmware
W/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Firmware update FAILED
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Download new Firmware
W/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Firmware update FAILED
E/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Unable to update firmware, giving up
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): phLibNfc_Mgt_UnConfigureDriver() returned 0x0000[NFCSTATUS_SUCCESS]
D/NFCJNI  ( 5735): Terminating client thread...
W/NfcService( 5735): Error enabling NFC

Loading the 34 works fine.

I/NfcService( 2501): Enabling NFC
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): Start Initialization
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): NFC capabilities: HAL = 8150100, FW = b10122, HW = 620003, Model = 12, HCI = 1, Full_FW = 1, Rev = 34, FW Update Info = 0
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList()
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): 
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): > Number of Secure Element(s) : 1
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList(): SMX detected, handle=0xabcdef
D/NFCJNI  ( 2501): phLibNfc_SE_SetMode() returned 0x000d[NFCSTATUS_PENDING]
I/NFCJNI  ( 2501): NFC Initialized
D/NdefPushServer( 2501): start, thread = null
D/NdefPushServer( 2501): starting new server thread
D/NdefPushServer( 2501): about create LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2501): created LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2501): about to accept
D/NfcService( 2501): NFC-EE OFF
D/NfcService( 2501): NFC-C ON

What is interesting is, that my other S3 running CyanogenMod does not have the libpn544_fw.so file but still NFC works. The messages are:

I/NfcService( 2619): Enabling NFC
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): Start Initialization
E/NFC-HCI ( 2619): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
W/NFC     ( 2619): Firmware image not available: this device might be running old NFC firmware!
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): NFC capabilities: HAL = 8150100, FW = b10122, HW = 620003, Model = 12, HCI = 1, Full_FW = 1, Rev = 34, FW Update Info = 0
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList()
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): 
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): > Number of Secure Element(s) : 1
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList(): SMX detected, handle=0xabcdef
D/NFCJNI  ( 2619): phLibNfc_SE_SetMode() returned 0x000d[NFCSTATUS_PENDING]
I/NFCJNI  ( 2619): NFC Initialized
D/NdefPushServer( 2619): start, thread = null
D/NdefPushServer( 2619): starting new server thread
D/NdefPushServer( 2619): about create LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2619): created LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2619): about to accept
D/NfcService( 2619): NFC-EE OFF
D/NfcService( 2619): NFC-C ON

Diffing the two NFC-relevant repositories between Replicant (external_libnfc-nxp and packages_apps_nfc) and CyanogenMod (android_external_libnfc-nxp and android_packages_apps_Nfc) I found a commit in Replicant that changes a soft-fail on missing firmware to a hard-fail. I manually reverted that patch in my build tree, and rebuilt and booted a new image. Enabling NFC now prints this on my Replicant phone:

I/NfcService( 2508): Enabling NFC
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): Start Initialization
E/NFC-HCI ( 2508): Could not open /system/vendor/firmware/libpn544_fw.so or /system/lib/libpn544_fw.so
W/NFC     ( 2508): Firmware image not available: this device might be running old NFC firmware!
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): NFC capabilities: HAL = 8150100, FW = b10122, HW = 620003, Model = 12, HCI = 1, Full_FW = 1, Rev = 34, FW Update Info = 0
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList()
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): 
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): > Number of Secure Element(s) : 1
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): phLibNfc_SE_GetSecureElementList(): SMX detected, handle=0xabcdef
D/NFCJNI  ( 2508): phLibNfc_SE_SetMode() returned 0x000d[NFCSTATUS_PENDING]
I/NFCJNI  ( 2508): NFC Initialized
D/NdefPushServer( 2508): start, thread = null
D/NdefPushServer( 2508): starting new server thread
D/NdefPushServer( 2508): about create LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2508): created LLCP service socket
D/NdefPushServer( 2508): about to accept
D/NfcService( 2508): NFC-EE OFF
D/NfcService( 2508): NFC-C ON

And NFC works! At least YubiKey NEO with the Yubico Authenticator app. One less non-free blob on my phone.

I have double-checked that power-cycling the phone (even removing battery for a while) does not affect anything, so it seems the NFC chip has firmware loaded from the factory.

Question remains why that commit was added. Is it necessary on some other phone? I have no idea, other than if the patch is reverted, S3 owners will have NFC working with Replicant without non-free software added. Alternatively, make the patch apply only on the platform where it was needed, or even to all non-S3 builds.

Replicant 4.2 on Samsung S3

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Since November 2013 I have been using Replicant on my Samsung S3 as an alternative OS. The experience has been good for everyday use. The limits (due to non-free software components) compared to a “normal” S3 (running vendor ROM or CyanogenMod) is lack of GPS/wifi/bluetooth/NFC/frontcamera functionality — although it is easy to get some of that working again, including GPS, which is nice for my geocaching hobby. The Replicant software is stable for being an Android platform; better than my Nexus 7 (2nd generation) tablet which I got around the same time that runs an unmodified version of Android. The S3 has crashed around ten times in these four months. I’ve lost track of the number of N7 crashes, especially after the upgrade to Android 4.4. I use the N7 significantly less than the S3, reinforcing my impression that Replicant is a stable Android. I have not had any other problem that I couldn’t explain, and have rarely had to reboot the device.

The Replicant project recently released version 4.2 and while I don’t expect the release to resolve any problem for me, I decided it was time to upgrade and learn something new. I initially tried the official ROM images, and later migrated to using my own build of the software (for no particular reason other than that I could).

Before the installation, I wanted to have a full backup of the phone to avoid losing data. I use SMS Backup+ to keep a backup of my call log, SMS and MMS on my own IMAP server. I use oandbackup to take a backup of all software and settings on the phone. I use DAVDroid for my contacts and calendar (using a Radicale server), and reluctantly still use aCal in order to access my Google Calendar (because Google does not implement RFC 5397 properly so it doesn’t work with DAVDroid). Alas all that software is not sufficient for backup purposes, for example photos are still not copied elsewhere. In order to have a complete backup of the phone, I’m using rsync over the android debug bridge (adb). More precisely, I connect the phone using a USB cable, push a rsyncd configuration file, start the rsync daemon on the phone, forward the TCP/IP port, and then launch rsync locally. The following commands are used:

jas@latte:~$ cat rsyncd.conf
address 127.0.0.1
uid = root
gid = root
[root]
path = /
jas@latte:~$ adb push rsyncd.conf /extSdCard/rsyncd.conf
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
0 KB/s (57 bytes in 0.059s)
jas@latte:~$ adb root
jas@latte:~$ adb shell rsync --daemon --no-detach --config=/extSdCard/rsyncd.conf &
jas@latte:~$ adb forward tcp:6010 tcp:873
jas@latte:~$ sudo rsync -av --delete --exclude /dev --exclude /acct --exclude /sys --exclude /proc rsync://localhost:6010/root/ /root/s3-bup/
...

Now feeling safe that I would not lose any data, I remove the SIM card from my phone (to avoid having calls, SMS or cell data interrupt during the installation) and follow the Replicant Samsung S3 installation documentation. Installation was straightforward. I booted up the newly installed ROM and familiarized myself with it. My first reaction was that the graphics felt a bit slower compared to Replicant 4.0, but it is hard to tell for certain.

After installation, I took a quick rsync backup of the freshly installed phone, to have a starting point for future backups. Since my IMAP and CardDav/CalDav servers use certificates signed by CACert I first had to install the CACert trust anchors, to get SMS Backup+ and DAVDroid to connect. For some reason it was not sufficient to add only the root CACert certificate, so I had to add the intermediate CA cert as well. To load the certs, I invoke the following commands, selecting ‘Install from SD Card’ when the menu is invoked (twice).

adb push root.crt /sdcard/
adb shell am start -n "com.android.settings/.Settings\"\$\"SecuritySettingsActivity"
adb push class3.crt /sdcard/
adb shell am start -n "com.android.settings/.Settings\"\$\"SecuritySettingsActivity"

I restore apps with oandbackup, and I select a set of important apps that I want restored with settings preserved, including aCal, K9, Xabber, c:geo, OsmAnd~, NewsBlur, Google Authenticator. I install SMS Backup+ from FDroid separately and configure it, SMS Backup+ doesn’t seem to want to restore anything if the app was restored with settings using oandbackup. I install and configure the DAVdroid account with the server URL, and watch it populate my address book and calendar with information.

After organizing the icons on the launcher screen, and changing the wallpaper, I’m up and running with Replicant 4.2. This upgrade effort took me around two evenings to complete, with around half of the time consumed by exploring different ways to do the rsync backup before I settled on the rsync daemon approach. Compared to the last time, when I spent almost two weeks researching various options and preparing for the install, this felt like a swift process.

Continue reading Replicant 4.2 on Samsung S3→