Bananarchy is a keypad-first Linux distribution hardforked from postmarketOS (v26.06 / Alpine edge armv7), purpose-built for Qualcomm MSM8905 (Snapdragon 205) and Qualcomm MSM8909 (Snapdragon 210) smart feature phones with 240x320 QVGA non-touch displays and physical 12-key T9 keypads.

See The Bananarchy Manifesto for the rationale behind this entire project.

Bananarchy targets an ultra-lightweight Sxmo X11 (sxmo-de-dwm) environment (with all Wayland components removed), featuring:

Cross-compiled Xlibre (X11Libre/xserver 25.2.0) display server: modesetting KMS + ShadowFB Damage partial-rectangle SPI transfers, software cursor fallback, and rootless elogind integration.
Patched sxmo-dwm with native C/C++ plugin architecture: 240x320 vertical bstack layout, 24px Pango status bar with an overflow-protected right-aligned clock, transparent-backgrounded "Menu" and "Names" desktop softkey labels, direct C SW_LID slider and locked-key wake handling in < 2 ms, and a dynamic .so plugin API (dwm_plugin.h) with preloaded resident daemons (--preload) and non-blocking FIFO IPC (< 10 ms wakeup latency).
Preloaded 240x320 keypad-driven DWM plugins (dmenu, xdrawer, dialer, calllog, callscreen, contacts, sms, files, camera, themes, modem, networks):
- DMenu (dmenu.so / dmenu / xdmenu): zero-lag (< 2 ms popup/close) resident 240x320 full-screen 10-line vertical menu (240x296 flush below the 24px top bar) with a #383838 search bar, #005577 prompt badge, XIM fcitx5-t9 text input, in-place < 0.5 ms native Sxmo submenu transitions (Sys, Apps, Scripts, Modem, Config, Power, Audio, Notifications, WM, Timezone, Games, St, Nano), and a /tmp/dwm_plugin_dmenu.sock client interface serving all /usr/bin/dmenu and sxmo_dmenu.sh pipes instantaneously.
- XDrawer (xdrawer.so / xdrawer): global phone controls overlay invoked from anywhere by pressing both softkeys simultaneously, providing instant sliders and toggles for speaker volume, earpiece volume, ringer mode (Ring+Vib / Vibrate / Silent / DND), flashlight, sound mute, microphone mute, screen brightness, and keypad backlight.
- Dialer (dialer.so / xdialer): opens automatically from the idle desktop when pressing any 0–9, *, or # key (inserting that character immediately), with live T9/number contact filtering, hold-0 for +, and single-press Call dialing.
- Call Log (calllog.so / xcalllog): opens automatically from the idle desktop when pressing the Call (green) button, with All / Missed / In / Out tabs, contact resolution, call durations, and instant redial.
- Call Screen (callscreen.so / xcallscreen): dedicated incoming, outgoing, and in-call screen integrated with Sxmo's ModemManager call lifecycle (sxmo_modem.sh, sxmo_modemcall.sh, sxmo_modemdial.sh), displaying resolved caller name and phone number, accepting/rejecting incoming calls via physical Call (green) and End (red) buttons (plus */0 ringtone silence), live MM:SS call timer, microphone mute/unmute (1/*), live call recording to ~/Recordings/call_<caller>_<timestamp>.wav (2/#), earpiece/speaker audio routing (3), volume control (Left/Right), and DTMF tone keypad mode (0 / Left softkey).
- Contacts (contacts.so / xcontacts): full-featured phonebook application opened from the idle desktop via the Right softkey (Names) or from the Sxmo menu, integrated with ~/.config/sxmo/contacts.tsv (live T9/number search, call/SMS/dialer actions, built-in contact editor with keypad multi-tap name entry and recent-caller number picker, and contact deletion).
- SMS Manager (sms.so / xsms): conversation thread manager, bubble message history reader, and multi-tap keypad SMS composer/draft editor (with dynamic Send / Draft center softkey action) integrated with $SXMO_LOGDIR/<number>/sms.txt, draft.txt, modemlog.tsv, and sxmo_modemsendsms.sh.
- File Manager (files.so / xfiles): graphical directory browser with live T9/number filtering, dotfiles toggle (*), sort mode cycle (#), file operations (new folder/file, rename, copy, cut/move, paste, delete, properties, edit in nano, open terminal here), built-in text viewer, and built-in libjpeg/libpng image previewer.
- Camera (camera.so / xcamera): live V4L2 /dev/video0 (800x600 RGB24 -> 240x180 4:3) viewfinder with 1-second frame watchdog, auto-flash (*/1), continuous torch (0/2), digital zoom (1x/2x/4x via Up/Down), 3-second self-timer (#/3), direct libjpeg photo capture to ~/Pictures/photo-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.jpg, and built-in photo gallery.
- Modem, Dual-SIM & PIN/PUK Manager (modem.so / xmodem): 3-tab (1:SIMs, 2:Radio, 3:Log) cellular and Dual-SIM manager inspecting both physical Qualcomm UIM slots (qmicli -pd qrtr://0 --uim-get-card-status + mmcli), supporting active SIM slot switching (primary-gw-provisioning between Slot 1 and Slot 2 persisted in /etc/conf.d/msm-modem-uim-selection), masked keypad SIM PIN unlock (4–8 digits), 3-step PUK unblock wizard (8-digit PUK + new PIN + confirm), PIN lock enable/disable and PIN change, 2G/3G/4G radio mode switching, interactive USSD session dialog (*100#, etc.), and color-coded modem event log viewer.
- Networks & Bluetooth Manager (networks.so / xnetworks / xbluetooth): 3-tab (1:Wi-Fi, 2:Cell/APN, 3:Bluetooth) connectivity manager providing Wi-Fi radio toggle, visual signal bars, multi-tap Wi-Fi WPA/WPA2 password dialog (* show/hide password), Wi-Fi Hotspot and USB Tethering toggles, cellular data (sxmo_modemdata.sh) and inline APN editor (Name, Username, Password), and Bluetooth controller power, scanning, pairing, and audio/device connection management.
- Theme Manager (themes.so / xthemes): unified .Xresources theme browser and live customizer managing ~/.xthemes/*.xth (where every .xth file is a valid Xresources file controlling theme.*, dwm.*, dmenu.*, st.*, and svkbd.* colors, font face, and baseFontSize with proportional derived font sizes, pre-populated with 20 themes: Default.xth, BananaGold.xth, CatppuccinLatte.xth, CatppuccinMocha.xth, Cyberpunk.xth, Dracula.xth, EverforestDark.xth, GitHubDark.xth, GruvboxDark.xth, GruvboxLight.xth, Kanagawa.xth, LinuxConsole.xth, MatrixGreen.xth, MonokaiPro.xth, NordFrost.xth, OneDark.xth, RosePine.xth, SolarizedDark.xth, SolarizedLight.xth, and TokyoNight.xth). Applying or editing a theme reloads dwm, dmenu, st, and all resident DWM plugins live without restarting X11.
Patched sxmo-st terminal (pixelsize=18): HarfBuzz (libharfbuzz) OpenType ligature shaping (liga, calt, clig, dlig) and XIM support.
Typography: non-Nerd Fira Code (font-fira-code) with ligatures as the primary system and terminal font (with DejaVu SansM Nerd Font used strictly as an icon fallback).
Custom 6-mode fcitx5-t9 input engine: fixed bottom candidate bar (X=1, Y=290, W=238, H=30) with a constant 28-character monospace preedit layout supporting lowercase, one-shot Shift, Caps Lock, all 32 ASCII punctuation symbols, terminal control codes (^A-^Z, Esc, Tab, F1-F12), and direct numeric entry with live top-bar mode indication ([abc], [Abc], [ABC], [Sym], [Ctl], [123]).
Low memory footprint: sub-95 MB idle RAM usage on 512 MB devices.
Full Qualcomm QDSP6/Q6Voice audio & modem routing: loudspeaker, earpiece speaker, and internal/headset microphones with PM8909 WCD analog codec 2.8V micbias, +6 dB EAR PA gain, and GSM/WCDMA/LTE voice routing (ModemManager + q6voiced).
Rear 2MP camera support: msm8905-cam V4L2 driver for GalaxyCore GC2395 + MSM8909 CAMSS on /dev/video0, native xcamera DWM plugin, and the bananarchy-photo CLI utility.
Pre-integrated Bantam AI agent: cross-compiled from https://code.luxferre.top/luxferre/bantam-cpp and integrated into the Sxmo Apps menu (Applications -> Bantam, launching in an st terminal with $HOME as its default working directory).
Built-in keypad X11 games (Snake & Tetris): standalone zero-dependency X11 games (src/games/snake.cpp, src/games/tetris.cpp) integrated into the Sxmo Games menu (System Menu -> Games), featuring Nokia green / Gameboy beveled aesthetics, batched XFillRectangles rendering, and timerfd-driven pacing.
Complete on-device development & scripting stack: git, gcc/g++, make, GNU coreutils, nano ($EDITOR, pre-configured in /etc/nanorc with -FEDSMAGic/max%_T2), ed, less ($PAGER="less -RXF"), rlwrap, frotz (Z-machine interactive fiction interpreter), janet + jpm, perl + IO::Socket::SSL, tcl + tcllib/tcl-tls/sqlite-tcl, sqlite, i2c-tools, and v4l-utils.

Supported MSM8909 / MSM8905 devices

Device	Codename	SoC	CPU / RAM	Display & panel firmware	Device tree (`.dtb`)
Nokia 8110 4G	`nokia-argon`	Qualcomm MSM8905 (SD205)	2x Cortex-A7 @ 1.1 GHz, 512 MB	2.4" 240x320 SPI (`nokia,argon-gc9305-v2-panel.bin`)	`qcom-msm8905-nokia-argon.dtb`
Nokia 2720 Flip	`nokia-beatles`	Qualcomm MSM8905 (SD205)	2x Cortex-A7 @ 1.1 GHz, 512 MB	2.8" 240x320 SPI (`nokia,beatles-gc9305-panel.bin`)	`qcom-msm8905-nokia-beatles.dtb`
Nokia 800 Tough	`nokia-tough` (`nokia-coconut`)	Qualcomm MSM8905 (SD205)	2x Cortex-A7 @ 1.1 GHz, 512 MB	2.4" 240x320 SPI (`nokia,coconut-gc9305-panel.bin`)	`qcom-msm8905-nokia-coconut.dtb`
Nokia 8000 4G	`nokia-sparkler`	Qualcomm MSM8909 (SD210)	4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.1 GHz, 512 MB	2.8" 240x320 SPI (`nokia,sparkler-gc9307-hlt-28-panel.bin`)	`qcom-msm8909-nokia-sparkler.dtb`
Nokia 6300 4G (sibling)	`nokia-leo`	Qualcomm MSM8909 (SD210)	4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.1 GHz, 512 MB	2.4" 240x320 SPI (`nokia,leo-gc9305-hlt-24-panel.bin`)	`qcom-msm8909-nokia-leo.dtb`

Repository structure

bananarchy/
├── README.md                              # Project architecture, build system, and quickstart guide
├── MANIFESTO.md                           # The Bananarchy Manifesto
├── MANUAL.md                              # Complete flashing, keypad, T9, camera, audio, Bantam, and modem manual
├── flash-edl.sh                           # Automated USB EDL flasher wrapper (sudo + ModemManager handling)
├── flash-edl.py                           # Multi-device Qualcomm Sahara/Firehose EDL flasher
├── rebuild-image.sh                       # Builds boot.img, MBR raw .img, and Android .sparse.img
├── chroot-shell.sh                        # Rootless Docker armv7 package & rootfs customization shell
├── artwork/                               # Bananarchy master icon, generated icons, wallpapers, and splashes
│   ├── icon-large.png                     # Master 1024x1024 Bananarchy emblem
│   ├── icon-{512..16}.png                 # Downsampled RGB square icons
│   ├── icon-transparent-{512..32}.png     # Alpha-keyed RGBA icons for UI themes
│   ├── favicon.ico                        # Multi-resolution ICO
│   ├── wallpaper-240x320.png / .jpg       # Default Sxmo 240x320 portrait wallpaper
│   ├── wallpaper-240x320-centered.png/.jpg# Centered 240x320 portrait wallpaper
│   ├── wallpaper-320x240.png / .jpg       # Landscape 320x240 QVGA wallpaper
│   ├── wallpaper-240x240.png              # Square 240x240 wallpaper (Nokia 2720 Flip external display)
│   ├── splash-240x320.png / .ppm          # 240x320 boot splash image
│   └── banner-800x240.png                 # Project header banner
├── bootloader/
│   ├── lk2nd-msm8909.img                  # lk2nd secondary bootloader for MSM8905/MSM8909
│   └── loaders/
│       └── 8110.mbn                       # Qualcomm Sahara/Firehose programmer (05c6:9008)
├── devices/                               # Device definitions, DTBs, and MIPI-DBI panel init sequences
│   ├── common-msm8909/                    # Shared udev keypad rules, WirePlumber S16LE, ALSA UCM2, zram
│   ├── nokia-argon/                       # Nokia 8110 4G device package, DTS/DTB, and GC9305 panel init
│   ├── nokia-beatles/                     # Nokia 2720 Flip device package, DTS/DTB, and GC9305 panel init
│   ├── nokia-tough/                       # Nokia 800 Tough device package, DTS/DTB, and GC9305 panel init
│   └── nokia-sparkler/                    # Nokia 8000 4G & 6300 4G device package, DTS/DTB, and GC9307/9305 init
├── patches/
│   ├── kernel/
│   │   ├── 0001-msm8909-qdsp6-voice-sound-nokia-argon-6.12.patch
│   │   ├── 0002-msm8905-nokia-beatles-and-coconut-dts.patch
│   │   └── config-bananarchy-msm8909.armv7
│   ├── edl/
│   │   └── 0001-edl-msm8909-32bit-elf-and-multi-cmd-firehose.patch
│   ├── sxmo/
│   │   └── 0001-bananarchy-sxmo-240x320-keypad-ui.patch
│   ├── xlibre/
│   │   ├── 0001-xlibre-msm8905-spi-drm-and-shared-vt.patch
│   │   ├── 0002-xf86-input-libinput-xlibre25.patch
│   │   └── 0003-xf86-video-fbdev-xlibre25.patch
│   └── fcitx5-t9/
│       └── 0001-bananarchy-multimode-t9-and-fcitx5-5.1.19.patch
├── src/
│   ├── sxmo-dwm/                          # Patched sxmo-dwm (240x320 bstack, Pango bar, desktop softkey bar & plugin API)
│   ├── dwm-plugins/                       # DWM plugins (dialer, calllog, callscreen, contacts, sms, files, camera, themes, modem, networks), theme.h & runner
│   ├── xdrawer/                           # XDrawer global phone controls DWM plugin (xdrawer.so / xdrawer)
│   ├── sxmo-dmenu/                        # Patched sxmo-dmenu zero-lag DWM plugin (dmenu.so) & client/fallback (dmenu / xdmenu)
│   ├── sxmo-st/                           # Patched sxmo-st terminal with HarfBuzz Fira Code ligature shaping & XIM
│   ├── xf86-input-libinput/               # X11Libre xf86-input-libinput DDX driver
│   ├── xf86-video-fbdev/                  # X11Libre xf86-video-fbdev fallback DDX driver
│   ├── fcitx5-t9/                         # C++20 source of Bananarchy's 6-mode fcitx5-t9 input method
│   ├── games/                             # Standalone keypad X11 games (snake.cpp, tetris.cpp)
│   ├── leds-msm8905-torch/                # Kernel driver for SY7807 rear torch LED, WCD codec init & PM8909 PON shutdown
│   └── msm8905-cam/                       # Kernel V4L2 driver for GC2395 2MP rear camera & MSM8909 CAMSS (/dev/video0)
├── overlay/
│   └── rootfs/                            # Complete Bananarchy rootfs overlay (OS branding, Sxmo X11, audio, camera, T9, .xthemes)
├── prebuilt/
│   ├── xlibre/                            # Prebuilt armv7 Xlibre Xorg binary and modesetting/libinput/fbdev DDX modules
│   ├── sxmo-x11/                          # Prebuilt armv7 patched dwm, dmenu.so/dmenu, 11 C++ DWM plugins, and st (HarfBuzz ligatures)
│   ├── games/                             # Prebuilt armv7 standalone X11 games (snake, tetris)
│   ├── kernel-6.12.1-msm8916/             # Prebuilt QDSP6/Q6Voice .ko, torch .ko, camera .ko, and 5 device DTBs
│   ├── fcitx5-t9/                         # Prebuilt armv7 libt9.so and fcitx5 addon/inputmethod configs
│   └── bantam/                            # Prebuilt armv7 bantam AI agent binary
└── scripts/
    ├── generate-artwork.py                # Generates all wallpapers, icons, and splashes from icon-large.png
    ├── mipi-dbi-cmd.py                    # Compiles MIPI-DBI panel .txt init sequences into .bin firmware
    ├── build-xlibre.sh                    # Cross-compiles Xlibre + xf86-input-libinput + xf86-video-fbdev for armv7 Cortex-A7
    ├── build-sxmo-x11.sh                  # Cross-compiles sxmo-st (HarfBuzz), sxmo-dmenu (dmenu.so + dmenu), sxmo-dwm & DWM plugins
    ├── build-dmenu.sh                     # Cross-compiles sxmo-dmenu (dmenu.so + stest) standalone
    ├── build-games.sh                     # Cross-compiles standalone X11 games (snake, tetris) for armv7
    ├── build-kernel-audio.sh              # Cross-compiles Linux 6.12.1-msm8916 QDSP6/torch/camera modules & DTBs
    ├── build-fcitx5-t9.sh                 # Cross-compiles src/fcitx5-t9 for armv7
    ├── build-bantam.sh                    # Fetches master from https://code.luxferre.top/luxferre/bantam-cpp & cross-compiles for armv7
    ├── apply-bananarchy-overlay.sh        # Applies overlay, prebuilts, artwork, and device DTB to rootfs
    └── configure-rootfs-from-scratch.sh   # Full rootfs configuration script from base Alpine/pmOS packages

Build & customization workflow

1. Regenerate artwork assets

Whenever artwork/icon-large.png is updated, regenerate all icons, 240x320 wallpapers, and boot splashes:

./scripts/generate-artwork.py

2. Recompile core components (optional — prebuilts included)

All components are pre-compiled in prebuilt/ and overlay/rootfs/, and can be rebuilt from source at any time using rootless Docker (alpine:3.24):

# Rebuild cross-compiled Xlibre (X11Libre/xserver) + libinput/fbdev DDX drivers
./scripts/build-xlibre.sh

# Rebuild patched sxmo-st (HarfBuzz Fira Code ligatures), sxmo-dmenu (dmenu.so + dmenu), sxmo-dwm & all 8 DWM plugins
./scripts/build-sxmo-x11.sh

# Rebuild multi-mode fcitx5-t9 input engine (src/fcitx5-t9 -> prebuilt/fcitx5-t9)
./scripts/build-fcitx5-t9.sh

# Fetch latest master from https://code.luxferre.top/luxferre/bantam-cpp and cross-compile Bantam AI agent
./scripts/build-bantam.sh

# Rebuild Linux 6.12.1-msm8916 QDSP6/Q6Voice audio modules, torch LED module, camera module & DTBs
./scripts/build-kernel-audio.sh

3. Customize rootfs packages or configs

./chroot-shell.sh
# Inside the container shell:
#   pkg-add <pkg>
#   pkg-del <pkg>
#   pkg-search <pattern>

4. Build flashable device images

# Build for Nokia 8110 4G (default)
./rebuild-image.sh nokia-argon

# Or build for Nokia 2720 Flip, Nokia 800 Tough, or Nokia 8000 4G:
./rebuild-image.sh nokia-beatles --mkinitfs
./rebuild-image.sh nokia-tough --mkinitfs
./rebuild-image.sh nokia-sparkler --mkinitfs

Output images are written to images/:

images/bananarchy-<device>.img (raw partitioned MBR image for EDL userdata or microSD card)
images/bananarchy-<device>.sparse.img (Android sparse image for fastboot flash userdata)
images/boot-bananarchy-<device>.img (kernel + initramfs + DTB boot image)

Flashing via USB EDL (`05c6:9008`)

sudo ./flash-edl.sh nokia-argon

See MANUAL.md for complete EDL, Fastboot, and microSD installation instructions, keypad navigation shortcuts, and the multi-mode T9 reference.

Credits

All Bananarchy-specific components were initially created by Luxferre and released into the public domain with no warranties.

Alpine Linux, postmarketOS/Nura and other third-party components are guided by their respective licensing terms.

README.md Unescape Escape

Bananarchy Linux