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date: 2017-09-17T21:45:58+00:00
title: A new Replicant 6.0 release
authors: Wolfgang Wiedmeyer
tags: Replicant images release, Replicant news, Wolfgang Wiedmeyer
---
A few months have passed since [the initial Replicant 6.0 release][1] and it's
time for another one. This release more than doubles the number of supported
devices and contains a few important fixes and improvements. The latest
changes from LineageOS 13.0 are included. They are mostly security fixes, so
updating is recommended!
## Up to 12 devices now supported by Replicant 6.0
This release makes Replicant 6.0 available to a lot more devices that were
already supported by Replicant 4.2. These include the [Galaxy Note][2],
[Galaxy Nexus][3], the [Galaxy Tab 2 7.0][4] and [Galaxy Tab 2 10.1][5]
models.
There are also two new tablet models that weren't yet supported by Replicant:
the GSM and Wi-Fi-only version of the [Galaxy Note 8.0][6]. The hardware is
very similar to the Galaxy Note 2 and thus it was quite straightforward to add
them as new devices. Furthermore, the tablets are not known to have bad modem
isolation, as the other supported devices. And the working front and back
camera makes them the currently best supported tablets.
Support for the [GTA04][7] was a goal for this release as well. Some work has
been done to achieve this goal, but it's unfortunately not yet ready. It will
hopefully be ready when the next release comes around.
## Improvements and fixes
### USSD
You can now use USSD messages with Replicant (again). USSD messages are the
codes you enter to check your available balance, to refill it or to select a
certain data plan. Depending on your provider, there may be more codes for
other functionality available. Before Paul's rewrite of [Samsung-RIL][8] in
2014, this type of messages could be used, but support for them wasn't added
again after the rewrite, until now. The new implementation features improved
decoding, most notably for special characters.
### USB Wi-Fi adapters
The initial Replicant 6.0 release already included the RepWifi app that
provides a nice interface to use USB Wi-Fi adapters with libre firmware. The
app is developed by Fil Bergamo and he added quite a few new features and a
graphical restyling for the next version that is shipped with this release. It
is now possible to connect to hidden networks, to manually set DNS servers and
to auto-connect to a Wi-Fi network, once the adapter is plugged in.
Fil also submitted a patch that provides a fix for a very annoying issue with
the Wi-Fi adapters or with [reverse tethering][9]. So far, network
connections, that were established using a Wi-Fi adapter or reverse tethering,
weren't properly reported to apps. For example, F-Droid wasn't usable because
of this. Thanks to Fil's patch, this issue is now fixed.
It was possible to make all devices that are supported by Replicant 6.0,
including the newly added ones, usable with certain Wi-Fi adapters. Despite
the improvements that were made with this release, be advised that connection
issues or other instabilities are still possible. Their severity mostly
depends on the device you use and the level of battery charge (see the
[wiki][10] for more details).
### Recovery
Another goal for this release was to make the usage of the recovery less
error-prone and more intuitive. Devices with touch keys (like the Galaxy S 2
and Galaxy S 3) now have the key backlight enabled at all times which makes it
easier to identify the back key. And the buttons are generally bigger to allow
better navigation via the touchscreen. Some previously failing installations
from internal or external storage (e.g. due to the file system used on the SD
card) should now work.
A new Setup Wizard based on the Setup Wizard from LineageOS was added, too.
When the device is started for the first time, the Setup Wizard helps with the
configuration.
See the [changelog][11] for a complete list of all the notable changes and
detailed support status of newly added devices.
[1]: <https://blog.replicant.us/2017/05/replicant-6-0-released/>
[2]: <https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyNoteN7000>
[3]:
<https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyNexusI9250>
[4]:
<https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyTab270P31xx>
[5]:
<https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyTab2101P51xx>
[6]:
<https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyNote80N51xx>
[7]: <https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GTA04>
[8]: <https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Samsung-RIL>
[9]:
<https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/ReplicantUSBNetworking>
[10]: <https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/WifiAdapter>
[11]:
<https://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/replicant/images/replicant-6.0/0002/metadata/changelog.txt>
|
