Another quick update.
I'm really pleased to announce that I got the SharePlugin part of the app working as well. I successfully pushed a file from my Pixel 3a to my (Linux) laptop over BT, but even more importantly for me, I was able to push selected contacts to my car kit 
The user interface is still too rough for the app to be published as is (at this stage, you have to select the target device based on its MAC address, which is far from convenient), but I'm working on it.
Final status update: the app has passed the code review and v0.1.1 is now available on the OpenStore.
You will find it under the name "Ratatoskr (Bluetooth file transfer)", in the "Utilities" category.
If you install it, may I suggest that you check the README here: https://github.com/petroniusniger/ratatoskr/tree/main for a brief description of how to use it most effectively?
Also, should you discover any bug, please report them here: https://github.com/petroniusniger/ratatoskr/issues
The present post does not contain any question. When I flashed my first phone with UT four years ago, I struggled a bit to gather all relevant information, so I'm offering the below procedure to the community in the hope that it may ease the journey of first-time users.
Disclaimer: this is a description of what worked for me. Use at your own risk. Flashing is performed from a PC installed with openSUSE Leap 15.6 -- some commands may need to be adapted if you use a different distro.
Important: if flashing the phone with either Android Flash Tool or the flash-all.sh script hangs / fails to detect the phone, DO try from a different PC if you can (I have a Lenovo laptop and a custom-built PC both installed with openSUSE Leap 15.6: I was never able to flash from the laptop, while the PC worked like a charm). It may also be worth trying different USB cables / USB ports.
Note: in the steps below, '#' denote commands that are executed as root, '$' denote commands that are executed as a regular user.
unbox and fully charge phone (do not turn on yet)
insert SIM, turn phone on
select language (English UK)
click Get Started
connect to WiFi (provide credentials)
-> "getting your phone ready..."
"Copy apps & data" -> select "Don't copy"
Google account sign-in -> login
Accept conditions
set a PIN
Continue setup or get reminder -> get reminder
Unselect all optional apps
Settings -> System -> Updates
(Android 12, build SP2A.220505.008)
Settings -> About Phone
tap "Build number" 7 times, enter PIN to confirm
-> "you are now a developer"
Settings -> System -> Developer Options:
turn phone off
unzip 'platform-tools' archive below ~/platform-tools/
edit ~/.bashrc to add ${HOME}/platform-tools to your PATH
install (update) 'android-udev-rules' package from build service
# zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/hardware/15.6/hardware.repo
# zypper refresh
# zypper install android-udev-rules-20250314-lp156.51.1.noarch
(this also installs adb and fastboot by way of dependencies)
add your own user account to 'adbusers' group:
# usermod -aG adbusers <userID>
(logout/login)
# grep adb /etc/group
adbusers:x:453:<userID>
turn phone on (regular mode). Unlock it
plug phone into PC
ADB connection detected by phone. Check box to always allow connection from PC (allow PC's RSA key fingerprint on device):
$ adb devices -l
List of devices attached
XXXXXXXXXX device usb:1-6 product:sargo model:Pixel_3a device:sargo transport_id:1
turn phone off
boot into Fastboot Mode
(volume down + power -- hold for 5")
Fastboot menu appears
$ fastboot devices -l
XXXXXXXXXX fastboot usb:1-6
unlock bootloader
$ fastboot flashing unlock
OKAY [ 0.133s]
Finished. Total time: 0.133s
phone screen prompts: do not unlock / unlock
(use volume keys to select, power button to confirm)
-> bootloader confirmed unlocked
turn phone off (use volume button to select option, power button to confirm)
(the steps below refer to the Android Flash Tool -- using the flash-all.sh script also works fine but starts with the phone booted into the bootloader)
check that 'adb' is not running
(otherwise, stop it with 'adb kill-server')
turn phone on the usual way
redo basic setup, as bootloader unlock returned it to factory default (see above)
reconnect to phone using 'adb devices' to get prompt to authorized PC and allow it
visit following URL in Chrome (authorise pop-ups in browser):
https://flash.android.com/
select device
select target build (PQ3B.190801.002)
DO NOT select to relock bootloader
click Install Build (confirm, accept license)
flash successful -- power cycle device
reboot to Android 9, redo initial setup, enable dev. mode, USB debug, connect and allow PC, turn phone off
install 'snapd' daemon
# zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/system:/snappy/openSUSE_Leap_15.6/ Snappy
# zypper refresh
# zypper in snapd
# systemctl enable snapd.apparmor.service
# systemctl start snapd.apparmor.service
# systemctl enable snapd.service
# systemctl start snapd.service
reboot
install UBports installer
# snap install ubports-installer
$ which ubports-installer
/snap/bin/ubports-installer
$ snap info ubports-installer
name: ubports-installer
summary: The easy way to install Ubuntu Touch on UBports devices.
publisher: UBports
store-url: https://snapcraft.io/ubports-installer
contact: https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/new
license: GPL-3.0
description: |
A friendly cross-platform Installer for Ubuntu Touch. Just connect a
supported device to your PC, follow the on-screen instructions and watch
this awesome tool do all the rest.
commands:
- ubports-installer
snap-id: mq0sTMV7a8744UTRBwQHimStAqsGzbjj
tracking: latest/stable
refresh-date: 2022-09-11
channels:
latest/stable: 0.9.7-beta 2022-09-11 (435) 97MB -
latest/candidate: ?
latest/beta: 0.9.8-beta 2022-11-02 (445) 102MB -
latest/edge: 0.10.0 2023-04-23 (462) 103MB -
installed: 0.9.7-beta (435) 97MB -
switch ubports-installer to "edge" channel
$ snap refresh ubports-installer --edge
ubports-installer (edge) 0.10.0 from UBports refreshed
$ snap info ubports-installer
name: ubports-installer
summary: The easy way to install Ubuntu Touch on UBports devices.
publisher: UBports
store-url: https://snapcraft.io/ubports-installer
contact: https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/new
license: GPL-3.0
description: |
A friendly cross-platform Installer for Ubuntu Touch. Just connect a
supported device to your PC, follow the on-screen instructions and watch
this awesome tool do all the rest.
commands:
- ubports-installer
snap-id: mq0sTMV7a8744UTRBwQHimStAqsGzbjj
tracking: latest/edge
refresh-date: today at 13:47 CET
channels:
latest/stable: 0.9.7-beta 2022-09-11 (435) 97MB -
latest/candidate: ?
latest/beta: 0.9.8-beta 2022-11-02 (445) 102MB -
latest/edge: 0.10.0 2023-04-23 (462) 103MB -
installed: 0.10.0 (462) 103MB -
start ubports-installer
$ ubports-installer
Gtk-Message: 19:40:25.179: Failed to load module "window-decorations-gtk-module"
Gtk-Message: 19:40:25.179: Failed to load module "colorreload-gtk-module"
info: Welcome to the UBports Installer version 0.10.0!
connect phone (off) via USB
click select device manually
-> Google Pixel 3a:3a XL
click "My device is unlocked"
select OS
-> Ubuntu Touch
click Install
Installation options:
info: device selected: sargo
info: Installing Ubuntu Touch on your Google Pixel 3a/3a XL (sargo)
info: configuring...
info: settings: {"bootstrap":true,"wipe":true,"channel":"20.04/arm64/android9plus/stable"}
info: Downloading 3 files
info: Downloaded file 1 of 3
info: Downloaded file 2 of 3
info: Downloaded file 3 of 3
boot phone to bootloader, click Continue
(flashing firmware)
boot to recovery, click Continue
(if button fails, try adb reboot recovery)
=> shows 3-circles recovery logo and menu
info: Downloading 12 files
info: Downloaded file 1 of 12
info: Downloaded file 2 of 12
info: Downloaded file 3 of 12
info: Downloaded file 4 of 12
info: Downloaded file 5 of 12
info: Downloaded file 6 of 12
info: Downloaded file 7 of 12
info: Downloaded file 8 of 12
info: Downloaded file 9 of 12
info: Downloaded file 10 of 12
info: Downloaded file 11 of 12
info: Downloaded file 12 of 12
info: All done! Your device will now reboot and complete the installation. Enjoy exploring Ubuntu Touch!
(pushing files to phone)
phone reboots at the end
=> goes to longish 3-circles recovery logo animation while installing (may last a few minutes -- have patience)
phone reboots again
=> this time it boots to UT and asks you to perform the initial setup
@gpatel-fr said in Trying to revive 'ubtd' (Bluetooth file transfer):
how about setting up a public directory of what you have (if you have cleared the license question) ? It'll allow me to test it under Noble and possibly send a MR to gitlab once I'm sure that it works.
Done. I've created the GitHub project, pushed my repo and tagged it v0.1.0. You can get the code here:
https://github.com/petroniusniger/ratatoskr
The README file contains instructions on how to build (build.sh is a wrapper around clickable that I needed in order to get version strings based on git tags).
I'll now start submitting the app on the OpenStore and create GitHub issues with the open items in my roadmap.
Status update:
'ratatoskr' source code has just been reviewed by @bhdouglass (OpenStore team), and two issues have been identified that should be resolved before allowing publication of the .click packages:
I'll work on resolving those 2 issues and release a v0.1.1 of the code before re-submitting it for publication.
Status update:
As it happens, I took the opportunity of having the phone on the dev channel to re-test an application that typically froze the GUI (the app called "Steps" -- I already opened a bug report on that specific issue). Turns out the behaviour was the same on v763, so I wanted to force a power cycle by rebooting the phone on the recovery image (Power + Vol+).
But instead of the recovery menu, I was greeted by the spiralling animation: the phone was clearly installing something. When it finished rebooting, I was back on OTA-20, and both SIMs were still active!
Following @DPITTI suggestion, I also removed v763 from the upgrade history.
I'll now mark this post as "resolved". Many thanks to all those who contributed.
@lduboeuf said in Trying to revive 'ubtd' (Bluetooth file transfer):
Congrats, So some changes are needed on UT to make it work ?
If your question is: did I need to hack my phone to make the app work in its current state, then the answer is no. As suggested by @gpatel-fr, I just gave it an "unconfined" AA profile (which I understand would prevent me from publishing it on the OpenStore).
So eventually an updated bluetooth AppArmor Policy Group would be needed, I guess (or a extra one dedicated to OBEX).
@gpatel-fr said in Trying to revive 'ubtd' (Bluetooth file transfer):
how about setting up a public directory of what you have (if you have cleared the license question) ? It'll allow me to test it under Noble and possibly send a MR to gitlab once I'm sure that it works. Don't want to harass you of course, it's up to you to decide.
Yes, the licensing issue has been cleared up. Michael Zanetti agreed with me using the GPL v3.
What I'm working on right now is getting the code in a state where I could submit it on the OpenStore (with the understanding that it would need a full review as it still uses an unconfined profile). Of course, in the process, I will also push the code to a public Github repository.
Can you clarify what the Gitlab merge request you mentioned would be about? I'm afraid I missed a step here.
@alter Thinking back about the whole sequence, I'm a bit concerned that my first failed attempt at flashing UT (before adapting the udev rules) may have left the phone in an "unexpected" state, which in turn caused the 2nd flashing attempt to fail with these ominous error messages.
It is perhaps best at this point that use TWRP again to put Android9 back on the phone (in both slots), make sure the phone is bootable again, and retry the whole 'ubports-installer' process again.
@stanwood Thanks a lot for the advice.
@gpatel-fr Excellent! Many thanks. Will try that.
@gpatel-fr Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'm glad to know it's not specific to the Quintus.
The only thing I can tell is that I never had the same issue on my Pixel running Focal. It only connects on the Wifi at home, and occasionally uses mobile data, but it always keeps a reasonably accurate clock.
I wonder whether this could not be linked as well to the new support for VoLTE: could it be that the Pixel is able to get its time from the traditional GSM network, whereas VoLTE on Noble doesn't support that feature yet?
In any case, that's a bit problematic if you want to use your phone as alarm clock when you travel...
I have something very similar with my FP5 and 24.04-1.3 stable.
Interestingly, I tried with 26.04 and it was better, I think that a bunch of updates have been to the Bluetooth stack to get it more up-to-date.
If you did not notice it, a back and forth 24-04 stable <-> 26.04 can be done in less than one hour, so if you can afford some downtime it's very doable.
That's an excellent suggestion -- I can certainly afford the downtime as the Quintus is only used for tests at the moment.
Can you explain how this version switch is done (or point me to the relevant doc), as I've not done that yet?
PhAndersson said:
Support request sent to Volla on May 18 via their online form.
Status update: discussion with Volla Support is still ongoing. No technical insight to report yet.
Volla Quintus received with 20.04/OTA-8 and upgraded to 24.04-1.3.
The system clock / date is correctly set only when the phone connects on a WiFi network (via NTP, I suppose). Maybe it would also synch over mobile data, but I can't confirm that.
When the phone is power-cycled and restarted in offline mode (i.e. both SIMs "logged in" in VoLTE mode but no WiFi and no mobile data), the clock is off by several weeks.
So it looks as if, during shutdown, the kernel fails to save the system clock to the hardware clock.
Has anyone else noticed that behaviour?
OK, yet another test. I just tried connecting the Quintus to my main UT phone (the Pixel 3a, Focal).
Tapping the Pixel then tapping "connect" causes the following:
Just made a new test in the office, where I'm surrounded by an ocean of bluetooth devices.
Both when using bluetoothctl | scan on and when using the Bluetooth page of the Settings app, tons of neighbouring devices are detected, so the bluetooth stack itself seems functional. But requesting to connect to the laptop still times out.
I've also compared the output of bluetoothctl | show on the Quintus (Noble) and on the Pixel (Focal), but I've not noticed any difference there that seemed significant.
Support request sent to Volla on May 18 via their online form.
I tried connecting the phone to the laptop using bluetoothctl: same outcome (it fails).
The laptop (kermit) is still considered a paired device:
[bluetooth]# devices Paired
Device xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx kermit
Attempting to connect to it yields the following error message after a while:
[bluetooth]# Failed to connect: org.bluez.Error.Failed le-connection-abort-by-local
'journal' doesn't seem to contain any further information.
@jojumaxx I have a similar issue, maybe not absolutely identical:
I had to fiddle a lot to get my new Volla Quintus paired with my Linux laptop (tried several times, turned BT on and off on the phone), then eventually they accepted to pair.
Now, a few days later, the laptop is still listed as a paired device, but I can't get the phone to reconnect to it (I've not activated the auto-connect feature as that's not desired). I haven't tried bluetoothctl either, but I'll do and report back.
The Quintus is on 24.04-1.3, also no dual boot.