VoLTE Implementation For Google Pixel 3a/3a XL

atarilinux

We have confirmed VoLTE is possible with Ubuntu Touch for the Google Pixel 3a. The VoLTE patch is included in this port. We just need to finish this port to get everything up an running. Currently, we need to get the device info file built.

The Ubuntu Touch community does see the need to get VoLTE up and running for those in the US and elsewhere. A number of phones are already running VoLTE. However, a number of these may be hard to get in the US or expensive. For example, the Fairphone 5 can run VoLTE in the US. Trying to find one in the US may be difficult or expensive. That is part of the reason why we are trying to get this port up and running. This could also help our European friends and others if their carrier has not dropped the Google Pixel 3a or does not include VoLTE Roaming.

Unfortunately, the original developer's carrier dropped the Google Pixel 3a, and this is the main reason why this port is unfinished. We already have confirmed that some carriers in the US still support the Google Pixel 3a and VoLTE Roaming. Therefore, we can continue this project for the original developer. We are always looking for people to help test and contribute!

mr_growl

@atarilinux Here's what /proc/cmdline says for lineage 19.1 on Bonito:

rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 rootwait ro init=/init androidboot.bootdevice=7c4000.sdhci androidboot.baseband=sdm androidboot.keymaster=1 msm_drm.dsi_display0=dsi_sofef00_sdc_1080p_cmd_display::timing0 androidboot.force_normal_boot=1 androidboot.serialno=99BAX0K5LP androidboot.slot_suffix=_a androidboot.slot_retry_count=0 androidboot.slot_successful=no androidboot.hardware.platform=sdm670 androidboot.hardware=bonito androidboot.revision=MP1.0 androidboot.bootloader=b4s4-0.4-8048689 androidboot.hardware.sku=G020A androidboot.hardware.radio.subtype=2 androidboot.hardware.dsds=0 androidboot.secure_boot=PRODUCTION androidboot.cdt_hwid=0x05032802 androidboot.hardware.majorid=0x03 androidboot.dtb_idx=0 androidboot.dtbo_idx=8 androidboot.bootreason=reboot androidboot.hardware.ddr=4GB,Hynix,LPDDR4X androidboot.ddr_info=Hynix androidboot.ddr_size=4GB androidboot.hardware.emmc=64GB,SKHynix androidboot.cid=00000001 androidboot.boottime=0BLE:530,1BLL:62,1BLE:446,2BLL:126,2BLE:579,SW:10020,KL:1,KD:106,ODT:117,AVB:496,AFTL:0 androidboot.ramdump=disabled androidboot.blockchain=disabled usbcfg.suzyq=disabled androidboot.hardware.pcbcfg=BPPV androidboot.hardware.devcfg=B4VP root=PARTUUID=366e8a1b-1c20-45e6-b794-df754b290cfe androidboot.verifiedbootstate=orange androidboot.aftlstate=8 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system buildvariant=userdebug console=null

Is that what you were looking for?

JayH

@atarilinux From the boot.img on lineageOS 22.2-20250817 with working Verizon SIMM:

console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system

atarilinux

@mr_growl

Thanks for checking! Unfortunately, I don't think that's it. I don't see the output beginning with console=.
Did this come from deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline?

atarilinux

@JayH @mr_growl

Thanks! This looks like what we need! Is this from a Google Pixe 3a? Also, I wonder if there is any difference in the output between this and Lineage OS 19.1.

JayH

@atarilinux Sorry, yes, this is bonito.

and this is the only legible string in the boot.img file that looks anything like your example. It starts at 0x40 in the file. No deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline.

The builds for both 19.1 and 22.2 contain the following line in BoardConfig-common.mk (I was unable to locate a boot.img for 19.1):
BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on

BoardConfig-common.mk:40:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on
BoardConfig-common.mk:41:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += msm_rtb.filter=0x237
BoardConfig-common.mk:42:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += ehci-hcd.park=3
BoardConfig-common.mk:43:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += service_locator.enable=1
BoardConfig-common.mk:44:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware
BoardConfig-common.mk:45:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += cgroup.memory=nokmem
BoardConfig-common.mk:47:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1
BoardConfig-common.mk:48:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += loop.max_part=7
BoardConfig-common.mk:49:BOARD_KERNEL_CMDLINE += androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci

It looks like lineageOS has been using the same kernel for bonito builds since lineageOS 16

atarilinux

@JayH

It looks kind of similar. Here is one from a UB Ports sample file that I am using for reference.

deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline="console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 earlycon=msm_geni_serial,0xA84000 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on androidboot.hardware=qcom video=vfb:640x400,bpp=32,memsize=3072000 androidboot.configfs=true loop.max_part=7 msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 androidboot.memcg=1 cgroup.memory=nokmem androidboot.usbcontroller=a600000.dwc3 swiotlb=2048 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/1d84000.ufshc systempart=/dev/mapper/system"

atarilinux

@ElliotLurie @Eric-H

Please see below. Does this look like what you need for device_info_kernel_cmdline? Will this complete the device_info file?

@JayH said in VoLTE Implementation For Google Pixel 3a/3a XL:

@atarilinux From the boot.img on lineageOS 22.2-20250817 with working Verizon SIMM:

console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system

mr_growl

@atarilinux Here's the one extracted from the lineage 19.1 signed zip that I used to flash the phone:

deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline="console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system buildvariant=userdebug"

That is lineage 19.1 (android 12.1) on bonito.

mr_growl

@atarilinux And a lineage 19.1 sargo for good measure

deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline="console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system buildvariant=userdebug"

atarilinux

@mr_growl

Great! Thanks so much!

Eric H

@atarilinux @mr_growl @JayH
There is a script to extract command line args and other needed fields.
See at https://docs.ubports.com/en/latest/porting/build_and_boot/standalone_kernel_build.html#extracting-values-from-stock-boot-img-vendor-boot-img

atarilinux

@Eric-H

The GitLab has been updated. It looks like we are ready for the build now, right?

https://gitlab.com/atarilinux/ubports-ubuntu-touch-google-sargo-volte/-/blob/main/deviceinfo

atarilinux

@Eric-H

I'm performing this step now. I'm currently waiting on it to complete.

@Eric-H said in VoLTE Implementation For Google Pixel 3a/3a XL:

Now that the project has been forked, you can proceed to step 2.
In the new fork, in the left menu, go to Build->Pipelines
click on new pipeline button.
confirm.
Wait - the build process might take several tens of minutes.
.img files can be downloaded from the devel-flashable artifact

I'm assuming the step you listed above handles this part from the documentation, now?

Building, installing and running

After you’ve completed your deviceinfo and filled in all needed stuff, its time you get to the main part, the build. For this just run: ./build.sh -b workdir

That should download all the needed toolchains and then the kernel, and finally build everything. This process may take about 5 to 50 minutes to build the kernel.

After your kernel is done building, you will have to build the rootfs. For this, just execute this:

./build/prepare-fake-ota.sh out/device_<your device's codename>_usrmerge.tar.xz ota This will download the rootfs, extract it and pack it into tarballs for our final script to create flashable images.

Next up, run:

./build/system-image-from-ota.sh ota/ubuntu_command images This will convert the tarballs into flashable images, and your images will be stored in the images/ directory. There will be a number of files depending on how you configured your deviceinfo. But the basic file structure will be as given:
images/
├── boot.img
├── rootfs.img
└── system.img

The boot.img will be flashed onto the boot partition of the phone. The system.img and rootfs.img are interchangable. rootfs.img is pushed to the data partition as ubuntu.img if you didn’t include systempart in deviceinfo’s cmdline. Otherwise, system.img is flashed to your system partition.

atarilinux

It looks like the pipeline is stuck. I'm getting this on GitLab:

"This job is stuck because of one of the following problems. There are no active runners online, no runners for the protected branch , or no runners that match all of the job's tags: ubports
Go to project CI settings"

atarilinux

I got a runner and tried to run it, but the build failed. I may need some assistance with Gitlab as I haven't used it before. I'm more used to building on a local machine. It will take me a while to read up on it, and I don't want to slow anyone down.

Here are the changes I made to deviceinfo if someone wants to fork and try it on their own:

deviceinfo_kernel_cmdline="console=ttyMSM0,115200n8 androidboot.console=ttyMSM0 printk.devkmsg=on msm_rtb.filter=0x237 ehci-hcd.park=3 service_locator.enable=1 firmware_class.path=/vendor/firmware cgroup.memory=nokmem lpm_levels.sleep_disabled=1 loop.max_part=7 androidboot.boot_devices=soc/7c4000.sdhci androidboot.super_partition=system buildvariant=user"

deviceinfo_bootimg_header_version="2"
deviceinfo_bootimg_os_version="12.0.0"
deviceinfo_bootimg_os_patch_level="2022-05"

This was taken from sargo-sp2a.220505.008-factory-071e368a which is the September 2022 build -
12.1.0 (SP2A.220505.008, Sep 2022).

mr_growl

@atarilinux I haven't done much with gitlab but have experience with github runners. I'll try to get something going this weekend. I gather the error in your last build is due to not running as the root user. Maybe try putting a "sudo" in front of the apt commands in .gitlab-ci.yml ?

Eric H

@atarilinux
unsure but maybe systempart=/dev/mapper/system is missing in cmdline

from porting Telgram Group :

system.img and rootfs.img are the same thing from a fastboot POV. your userdata should be freshly formatted as ext4, but yes that's what the bottom of the doc also explains, which one you need and how to flash it depends on if you included e.g. systempart=/dev/mapper/system on cmdline for devices with super partition

also unsure about other fields

Eric H

@atarilinux
it seem this this file should be updated too :
https://gitlab.com/atarilinux/ubports-ubuntu-touch-google-sargo-volte/-/blob/main/.gitlab-ci.yml

atarilinux

@mr_growl

That's what I'm thinking too. When I looked at it again today, it looked like permission was denied because it wasn't running as sudo. I was using the runner on my local machine. I noticed it didn't prompt me for my password which was interesting. So, yes, we probably need to add sudo to the file.