Sharing TSM30 source

[Ben Thompson]

18.11.2011, 04:12, "Michael Sokolov" <msokolov at ivan.Harhan.ORG>:
> Martix <martix.cz at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  Ok, no need to hurry. Openmoko community waited for more than three
>>  years for full open access to whole GTA02 internals, we can wait another
>>  month.
>
> The CD set destined for Cryptome, including the TSM30 CD, has been
> written and will go out in the mail tomorrow (Friday): the post office
> is already closed for the evening today.
>
>>  Now we have access to full documentation for TI Calypso and SMedia Glamo
>
> Ahh, so I assume you have found them under /pub/GSM on the
> ifctfvax.Harhan.ORG FTP server. :-)
>
> Note about the Calypso docs: while they are quite a bit more extensive
> than the two famous PDFs linked to from Openmoko wiki pages (the
> Leonardo board schematics really help one understand how the various
> pieces of the TI chipset fit together, and Calypso is only one chip
> out of that chipset), they still aren't 100% complete.  Here are the
> missing parts I'm aware of:
>
> * There exist several different versions of the Calypso DBB (digital
>   baseband) chip.  I'm not sure if the docs I have are sufficient for
>   navigating the differences between Calypso chip versions in various
>   existing phones (see OsmocomBB).
>
> * The analog baseband (ABB, codenamed Iota) also exists in several
>   versions, all of which appear to be compatible with the Calypso DBB.
>   The only one for which I've found documentation is the TWL3014, aka
>   the original Iota.  (Iota's predecessor was apparently called
>   Nausica, mentioned in passing in some Calypso docs.)  However, as
>   one can see from the board photos in the Om wiki, the GTA02 phone
>   features TWL3025 instead of TWL3014.  I don't know what the
>   difference between these two chips is, and I don't know if the Iota
>   codename applies only to TWL3014 or also to TWL3025.
>
> * In addition to the DBB and the ABB, a working phone includes 3 RF
>   chips:
>
>   - an active RF chip (RF xcvr) that's part of the TI chipset;
>   - an RF PA (power amplifier), also active, but sourced from outside
>     of TI;
>   - a passive RF chip (antenna switch and filters) that is also
>     sourced from outside of TI.
>
> I have docs for the TRF6151C RF transceiver (Rita) and the M034F
> passive RF front-end used on the quad-band Leonardo+ reference board.
> But I don't know what RF components are used on the GTA02 (or GTA01
> for that matter).  Reasoning from the fact that these phones aren't
> quad-band, I figure that at least some of the RF components ought to
> be different.  However, this photo from the Om wiki:
>
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/images/a/af/Gta02a5_pcba_cs.JPG
>
> is not legible enough to make out what the RF components are.  (One
> can see the TWL3025 ABB chip, and one can see *most* of the DBB chip
> part number, but the suffix of the latter, possibly important, is
> obscured by the metal shield structure.)  Yes, I realize that I can
> take my GTA02 apart and look for myself, but the device is so delicate
> and so expensive that I'm afraid of destroying the gem.
>
> I hear that a number of GTA02s have been gutted to turn them into
> GTA04s...  Perhaps someone can take one of those "discarded" GTA02
> boards, remove all RF shields and snap some better photos?

Here is my attempt :-
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:Gta02a6_comms_chips_under_shield.JPG

>
> I also have a hard time understanding why Openmoko Inc. didn't make
> their phones quad-band GSM.  All components in the Calypso chipset,
> including the classic Rita RF transceiver, support all 4 bands, and
> the only extra thing one needs is a quad-band-capable passive RF
> front-end chip.  Why couldn't they just use M034F like on the
> Leonardo+ board or something equivalent?  We may never know...
>
>>  and GSM firmware is on the way. We have opportunity to study and fix it.
>
> Another important clarification is in order here.  The GSM FW whose
> source is in my possession, the one that's about to be sent to Cryptome
> and which I'm equally eager to share with anyone else via either an
> FTP upload or a CD-R by snail mail, is for the Vitelcom TSM30 phone,
> *not* GTA02 or GTA01.  I don't have the GTA0x version, but some other
> individuals right here on this mailing list do, and are *actively*
> refusing to share - public shame on them!
>
> (Note the emphasis on "*actively* refusing".  There is a world of
>  difference between having a mental handicap that stands in the way of
>  learning modern file sharing techniques, but actively working around
>  that handicap by offering to share via other means, however old-
>  fashioned or unconventional they may be (my case with the TSM30
>  source), versus tacitly acknowledging possession of a ware which
>  others desperately need, yet quite deliberately refusing to share on
>  ideological grounds: the case of Paul Fertser and the Closedmoko
>  firmware semi-source.)
>
> Porting the TSM30 version of the code to run on GTA02, replacing the
> original Closedmoko firmware, would probably be the shortest path
> toward the holy grail of making the GTA02 a fully free and functional
> phone, i.e., it would probably be a shorter path than transforming
> OsmocomBB into an end-user-usable firmware.  However, even this
> "shortest" path appears to be a very steep mountain climb:
>
> * There is no TSM30 hacker community akin to the Openmoko one, or at
>   least I haven't been able to find one.  Hence nothing like the Om
>   wiki to answer the most basic hand-holding questions.
>
> * Lack of any TSM30 wiki or FAQ and lack of a community to whom a
>   newcomer like me can ask questions means no information about the
>   TSM30 hardware.  Hence the HW architecture of that phone is a
>   mystery to me.  I've seen it said somewhere that the TSM30 has two
>   processors in it, one of which is the Calypso.  At first that sounds
>   like the GTA0x phones with their Samsung or OMAP application
>   processor standing between the UI and the GSM baseband processor,
>   but in end-user terms the TSM30 does not appear to be a smartphone,
>   more like a basic feature phone.  Hence I don't understand what the
>   2nd processor is in the TSM30, what it does, how are the functions
>   divided between the two, and what does the interface between them
>   look like.  No idea if it's anything like the AT command interface
>   used in Om phones.
>
> * I haven't been able to find any schematics for the TSM30, or a
>   service manual with schematics like ones that can be found for many
>   older phones.  Hence no ability to understand the HW by studying the
>   schematics.  (If anyone has found such schematics, whether as part
>   of a service manual or otherwise, any leads would be greatly
>   appreciated!)
>
> * What about learning the HW by physically examining it?  Well, I
>   haven't found any place where one can actually buy a TSM30 phone
>   either!  Unobtainium...  (I would love to be proven wrong on this
>   one as well!)

I don't speak Spanish so I am not sure if this page is actually a phone for sale :-
http://anuncios.ebay.es/compraventa/telefono-movil-vitelcom-tsm30/9052718

>
> * The TSM30 fw has been developed in a Windows environment and the
>   entire structure of the source and its build system is done the
>   "DOS/Windows way", which appears quite hostile and impenetrable to
>   someone used to the Unix/Linux/FOSS community's general ways of
>   writing and structuring software.  I have yet to figure out which
>   parts of that giant source tree run on the Calypso and which run on
>   the unknown "other" processor.
>
> * The atrocitous and totally undocumented naming conventions don't
>   help either.  The TSM30 source tree features a top-level directory
>   named "DSP", but I very highly doubt that it's the firmware for the
>   DSP (digital signal processing) part of the Calypso chip (as opposed
>   to the ARM7TDMI part).  Hence I'm guessing that they have overloaded
>   the acronym to refer to something quite unrelated.
>
> In other words, the current status of the exercise of porting the
> TSM30 source to run on GTA02 is "not sure where to start".
>
> Given the difficulty in understanding the TSM30 source and lack of
> knowledge as to the exact correspondences and differences of the two
> hardware implementations, the safest way to proceed would probably be
> to start with some "skeleton" code that already runs on the GTA02 (and
> is known not to brick it, even if it doesn't do much useful work), and
> then gradually add "flesh" to that skeleton, taking bits of this
> "flesh" from the TSM30 version.  From what I understand, OsmocomBB has
> some support for GTA02 HW, even if it doesn't do what I want, which is
> "normal" phone functionality.  Hence I'm thinking about using it as
> the skeleton just mentioned, and then fleshing it out with bits of
> functionality from the TSM30 source.
>
> Of course the OsmocomBB project will never accept contributions that
> contain code which is not legal in the nasty countries like USA or
> Germany, but that's OK, we (those who want a truly free phone
> regardless of legalities) can always create our own fork.  Our fork,
> enriched with code from TSM30 or possibly other forcibly liberated
> sources, would be perfectly legal in the free nations such as the
> Principality of Sealand and the Republic of New Poseidia, but not in
> the evil bourgeois copyrighting nations such as USA or Germany.
>
> Would it help this project to have access to the Closedmoko firmware
> semi-source (i.e., C source for the AT command interpreter and some
> other support bits, a pile of small linkable binary object modules
> with symbolic information for the rest) that Paul Fertser and possibly
> one or two other people on this list are hoarding?  I believe that it
> would.
>
> On the one hand the TSM30 version is full source, whereas the GTA02
> version is full of binary blobs - hence some would probably argue that
> the already-liberated TSM30 version is more than sufficient and that
> there is no need to campaign for the release of the semi-source GTA02
> version.  However, the TSM30 is crippled by targeting the "wrong" HW
> platform, one that is physically unobtainium (at least in my
> experience), lacks any schematics (again in my experience), and has
> totally unknown but reportedly significant differences from our good
> old GTA02.
>
> It is possible that the TSM30 semi-source which Paul Fertser is
> hoarding would indeed prove mostly useless to the cause of building a
> free firmware image for the GTA02 Calypso, one that is free of binary
> blobs, yet has the full functionality of a "normal" cellphone.
> Perhaps working with those sources which are already publicly
> accessible (TSM30 and OsmocomBB) would work out better.  But I don't
> know that, and have no way of knowing without seeing the Closedmoko
> semi-source for myself, with my own eyeballs.  Simply taking Paul
> Fertser's word for it is not enough.
>
> What I'm basically saying is that for as long as the recognized /
> trusted / respected leaders of this community are acting selfishly and
> refusing to share a piece of ware with brothers in need, I feel no
> incentive to contribute to this community.
>
> A note to those several (presumably) people on this list who are
> holding copies of the Closedmoko firmware semi-source: you can share
> them anonymously, and no one including me will ever know who you are.
> By refusing to share the materials in your possession, you are causing
> immense pain and suffering to the innocent citizens of Sealand, New
> Poseidia and other countries whose laws are quite unlike those of USA
> or Germany.  Just because the ware might be illegal in some evil
> countries like USA or Germany does *not* mean that it's illegal
> everywhere in the Universe, and if you yourself are unfortunate enough
> to live in a nasty country like USA or Germany with repressive laws,
> you can still help your brothers and sisters in freer countries by
> sharing the ware anonymously.
>
> The reason why *I* do my software liberation activism work in a very
> non-anomymous manner is because I am quite different.  I do not hold
> citizenship in any country whose laws I disagree with, nor do I pledge
> any allegiance to any of those countries.  I am a citizen of the
> Republic of New Poseidia, ideological successor to the USSR, and no
> other country.  Furthermore, I am not only a citizen of New Poseidia,
> but also a servicemember of its armed forces.  If the call of duty
> sends me into a hostile nation such as USA, it is only in the manner
> of fighting asymmetric warfare against that hostile nation.  If I am
> deployed as a soldier onto USA soil by New Poseidia, I am *not*
> obligated to obey USAnian laws any more than my grandfathers
> (servicemembers of the Red Army in World War II) were obligated to
> obey the laws of Germany which they entered by tank or war plane back
> in 1945.  Just like my grandfathers were deployed into Germany in 1945
> to liberate it from the evil laws which were legally in effect at that
> time, the same way I am deployed (by New Poseidia) onto USA soil to
> help liberate my brothers and sisters living here from the laws which
> I and New Poseidia consider to be no better than those which were
> legally in effect in Germany at the beginning of 1945.  Yes, as an
> active duty combatant deployed on hostile soil I have to accept the
> very real possibility of dying in combat.  I am ready to die for my
> country, the Republic of New Poseidia.
>
> (A side note: I will not allow myself to be taken alive.  Because I am
>  officially at war against USA, I consider all USAnian police etc to
>  be enemy soldiers.  Therefore, if I am ever forced into an encounter
>  with them, I will open fire.  Of course they'll shoot back and kill
>  me, but I am quite confident that I can bring down at least one enemy
>  soldier before I go down.  The way I see it, if I kill at least one
>  maker and/or enforcer of reprehensible man-made law before I die, I
>  will not have lived my life in vain.  The kinds of laws that make it
>  illegal to share any and all software freely with no restrictions are
>  the most reprehensible invention in the entire history of human
>  civilisation, and I believe that a real man ought to be glad to give
>  his life fighting against such laws.)
>
> But that is ME.  I am *not* asking anyone else to be like me.  I do
> not seriously expect anyone else on this list to renounce his or her
> citizenship in whichever nation on whose soil he or she is living and
> to engage in asymmetric warfare against that nation.  Therefore, for
> those who are *unlike* me, the best way to help your brothers and
> sisters with copies of software or documentation of questionable legal
> status would be to do so anonymously.
>
> MS
>
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