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Pinephone Modem SDK: Tools to build your own bootloader, kernel and rootfs

24 mentions on Hacker News by 16 people: 3 stories, 21 comments · first 2021-06-13 · latest 2026-03-05

Mentions per year 24 mentions · busiest year 2021 (7)
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  1. …> extremely outdated proprietary fork of Android Which was freed and can run new Linux kernels now: https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk and https://xnux.eu/devices/feature/modem-pp.html Your walls of text are…
    comment by fsflover · 2026-03-05 · in Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable
  2. …Pinephone with its partially freed baseband OS [0] or Librem 5 with its removable modem [1]? [0] https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librem_5
    comment by fsflover · 2026-02-17 · in GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple
  3. …you can control the ARM processor within the baseband, but you can't control the Hexagon processor. https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/
    comment by pabs3 · 2025-09-24 · in Ask HN: Can I use grapheneos or flx1 Linux phone to prevent cell tower hacking?
  4. …Linux distro. That is only the ARM processor of it though, the Hexagon one is all proprietary. https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/
    comment by pabs3 · 2025-09-16 · in Linux phones are more important now than ever
  5. …well no issues using my Pinephone Pro as my actual smartphone. I just carry a spare battery :) [0] https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by xethos · 2024-01-27 · in PinePhone review after a month of daily driving
  6. …phone calls on the web over WebRTC. I wonder if that's some kind of gateway to SIP, or what.) [1]: https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk (Note: I didn't dig deep enough, so it wouldn't surprise me if the blobs in this are…
    comment by jchw · 2023-12-13 · in Hardening cellular basebands in Android
  7. …( https://www.quectel.com/quectel-open-source ) and you can build custom firmwares for them ( https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk ) to strip out any OTA logic. Fibocom, on the other hand, not so much.
    comment by DanAtC · 2023-09-02 · in Chinese Cellular IoT Radio Modules Pose an Alarming US National Security Risk
  8. ▲ 199
    PinePhone Modem SDK
    story by csdvrx · 2023-07-09 · 57 comments
  9. …more requires running free software on the baseband: there're now free-software firmwares like https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk (I'll submit that for discussion) It started from initiatives like…
    comment by csdvrx · 2023-07-09 · in Deputy US Marshal pleads guilty to obtaining cell phone location unlawfully [pdf]
  10. …be too hard. The Quectel EC25 is extensively documented thanks to being present in the PinePhone: https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/blob... - then try to add a GPS antenna to make a field GPS: check…
    comment by csdvrx · 2023-05-17 · in Show HN: Beepberry – a portable e-paper computer for hackers
  11. …with an open source Linux distro. Unfortunately the Hexagon DSP in the modem runs a proprietary OS. https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/ https://osmocom.org/projects/quectel-modems/
    comment by pabs3 · 2023-05-07 · in OURphone Is a Fully Open-Source Smartphone Based on Linux
  12. …DSP hasn't been replaced. I believe the interface between the two is fairly restricted though. https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/ BTW, there are a number of videos at the CCC media archive about concrete…
    comment by pabs3 · 2022-12-02 · in Are opaque basebands a national security risk?
  13. ▲ 1
    Biktorgj / PinePhone_modem_SDK
    story by rolph · 2022-07-12 · 0 comments
  14. You can install your own firmware on the Pinephone modem. https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by opencl · 2022-04-18 · in The case for LineageOS and the PinePhone
  15. …the Pinephone community has stepped up and made a FOSS firmware (mainly biktorgi, thank you!): https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk/releases It still uses the ADSP from Quectel, but from my usage (and from other's reports), it…
    comment by kop316 · 2022-02-11 · in Code execution as root via AT commands on the Quectel EG25-G modem (2021)
  16. ▲ 3
    PinePhone Modem SDK: Tools to build your own bootloader, Linux kernel and rootfs
    story by pabs3 · 2022-02-10 · 0 comments
  17. …and "NA" batches. Users also are working on providing a mostly liberated firmware for the modem: - https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by samueldr · 2022-01-20 · in Using 4G LTE wireless modems on a Raspberry Pi
  18. …Yes, it's sane to keep the EG25-G modem only because there is one guy doing an enormous work with https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by Klasiaster · 2021-10-15 · in PinePhone Pro Announced
  19. …the default 400. This allows much better battery life, as well as giving off far less heat :) [0] https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by 29083011397778 · 2021-10-15 · in PinePhone Pro Announced
  20. …pinephone, but afaik it's still a lot of work. [2] [1] https://osmocom.org/projects/baseband [2] https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk
    comment by cookiengineer · 2021-08-09 · in Ask HN: Is anyone working on an open hardware 3G/4G dongle?
  21. Some impressing work is indeed being done here on the PinePhone modem: https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk/ (firmware replacement, with a re implementation of many blobs and a mainline linux kernel - I tried and everything…
    comment by jraph · 2021-08-08 · in Ask HN: Is anyone working on an open hardware 3G/4G dongle?
  22. this seems to contain the latest status and build instructions: https://github.com/biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk there are also some interesting reverse engineering details here: https://xnux.eu/devices/feature/modem-pp-reveng.html
    comment by khimaros · 2021-07-27 · in Debian for Mobile
  23. …Pinephone modem are focusing on the Android OS, not the underlying firmware. The project is here: https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk/
    comment by kop316 · 2021-06-21 · in LibreCellular
  24. …still projects to reverse-engineer and replace some non-free firmware, such as the modem firmware: https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk . I agree that Fuchsia will become a problem going forwards, even if Fuchsia drivers can be…
    comment by testific8 · 2021-06-13 · in The PinePhone could bring the Linux mobile ecosystem to life