[HN Gopher] The PinePhone modem SDK: a free-software baseband fi...
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       The PinePhone modem SDK: a free-software baseband firmware
        
       Author : csdvrx
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2023-07-09 22:18 UTC (41 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | my123 wrote:
       | Note: it's not a free software baseband FW as you'd expect from
       | that being said.
       | 
       | What the PinePhone does is using a low end Qualcomm SoC as the
       | modem (which has a CPU core and all, and runs a stripped-down
       | Android in the stock configuration).
       | 
       | This just replaces that part which you can already edit on your
       | own Android phone, but doesn't touch the actual modem bits at
       | all, which remain the provided binary.
        
         | csdvrx wrote:
         | You're right and I'm wrong!
         | 
         | I'm currently editing my summary to clarify.
         | 
         | Still, I believe having full control on the firmware of the
         | phone modem is at least as important as having root on the
         | phone - otherwise, the firmware can say "location off? no
         | problem!" while continuing to get GPS position locks + transmit
         | the position inside UDP packets that won't be visible to the
         | CPU running the android kernel and communicating to the
         | firmware.
         | 
         | EDIT: actually, you are partly wrong when you say "This just
         | replaces that part which you can already edit on your own
         | Android phone": many android phones use a modem module to have
         | certification in different markets.
         | 
         | So you can't replace the modem firmware on most android phones
         | I'm familiar with.
         | 
         | Don't be confused by the modem using adb and fastboot like the
         | android phones: it has its own software stack, and runs its own
         | OS a bit like Intel ME or AMD PSP on PCs.
        
           | newhouseb wrote:
           | Modern LTE/5G provides pretty accurate location out of the
           | box without GPS so if you really wanted to hide you would
           | really need to just shut off the entire modem. Fortunately,
           | the PinePhone has hardware switches to do this!
        
       | csdvrx wrote:
       | Following the discussion on illegal cell tracking where several
       | comments mentioned the firmware can be a problem, here's a link
       | to a free-software firmware.
       | 
       | I believe this is important, because on Android the firmware
       | controls the network connection (and GPS, etc). It has its own
       | embedded Linux, flash and CPU so even if you have root and run a
       | firewall on android, it can send packets that will not be visible
       | to the android kernel.
       | 
       | Most firmware have adb and fastboot, which can be used to replace
       | what's running there by something you can recompile and audit. If
       | you don't like it, you can also restore the initial firmware, for
       | ex: https://github.com/Biktorgj/quectel_eg25_recovery
       | 
       | EDIT: replaced baseband by firmware. I confused one for the
       | other. For context as to why it matters, see
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36658078
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-09 23:00 UTC)