Repurposing a TECNO CAMON 20 Pro 5G into a dedicated ARM-based Linux server.
Project Jericho is an experimental hardware and software engineering project focused on transforming a consumer smartphone into a compact, low-power ARM Linux server.
The project explores the boundaries between smartphone hardware, embedded Linux, custom kernels, bootloaders, power systems, thermal management, and external I/O.
Jericho uses a TECNO CAMON 20 Pro 5G (CK8n) as the foundation for a dedicated ARM computing platform.
Instead of treating the phone as a conventional Android device, the objective is to investigate whether its existing hardware can be repurposed into a more traditional Linux-based server platform.
PROJECT JERICHO
│
┌───────────────┼────────────────┐
│ │ │
Hardware Linux I/O
│ │ │
MT6893 SoC ARM64 Kernel USB-C Hub
Large Battery Ubuntu Server Ethernet
Active Cooling Custom Drivers USB Storage
│ │ │
└───────────────┼────────────────┘
│
ARM Linux Server
- Investigate native ARM64 Linux on the CK8n platform.
- Understand the MT6893 boot chain and hardware architecture.
- Research custom kernels, device trees, and hardware drivers.
- Explore Ubuntu Server / other native Linux distributions.
- Convert the smartphone's USB-C interface into a practical server I/O interface.
- Add reliable wired networking through USB Ethernet.
- Investigate long-duration power and thermal operation.
- Build a reproducible development and testing workflow.
- Document the process for future experimentation and research.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Device | TECNO CAMON 20 Pro 5G |
| Model | CK8n |
| SoC | MediaTek MT6893 |
| Platform | Dimensity 8050 |
| CPU | ARM64 |
| GPU | Mali-G77 MC9 |
| RAM | 8/12 GB variants |
| Internal Storage | 256 GB |
| Display | 120 Hz AMOLED |
| USB | USB-C / OTG |
| Original Battery | 5000 mAh |
| Android | Android 14 |
| Kernel | Linux 5.10.209 |
| Boot Scheme | A/B |
| Current Slot | B |
The current device has been identified as:
Build:
CK8n-H931ABC-U-GL-250322V505
Device:
TECNO-CK8n
Board:
mt6893
Android:
14
Kernel:
5.10.209-android12-9
Architecture:
aarch64
Boot Slot:
_b
Verified Boot:
green
Bootloader:
locked
This baseline is being preserved before making modifications to the device.
One of the primary goals of Jericho is running a real ARM64 Linux environment rather than simply running Linux userspace through Android compatibility layers.
The intended architecture is:
Ubuntu Server ARM64
│
▼
CK8n-compatible kernel
│
┌───────┴───────┐
│ │
Device Tree Drivers
│ │
└───────┬───────┘
▼
MT6893 Hardware
│
▼
Jericho Linux Server
Major areas of investigation include:
- Linux kernel compatibility
- GKI / vendor kernel architecture
- Device Tree / DTBO
- MediaTek platform drivers
- Storage
- USB OTG
- Networking
- Display-independent boot
- Thermal management
- Power management
- Cellular modem integration
- Bootloader compatibility
The phone's USB-C port is intended to act as the server's primary external I/O interface.
Rather than permanently integrating a large expansion board, Jericho is designed around a portable USB-C hub.
Potential interfaces include:
CK8n
│
USB-C
│
▼
┌─────────────┐
│ USB-C Hub │
└──────┬──────┘
│
┌──────────┼──────────┐
│ │ │
Ethernet USB-A USB-C PD
│ │ │
LAN Storage Power
Potential uses:
- Gigabit Ethernet
- USB storage
- USB peripherals
- External development hardware
- USB-C power delivery
- Serial/debug interfaces
The CK8n USB interface is currently being treated as USB 2.0-class unless hardware testing proves otherwise.
The long-term objective is to provide reliable wired networking suitable for server workloads.
Potential configuration:
Internet / LAN
│
▼
Gigabit Ethernet
│
▼
USB-C Hub
│
▼
CK8n
│
▼
Linux Server
Cellular connectivity may also be investigated as:
- Primary network
- Backup/failover connection
- Remote-access interface
The original smartphone battery is approximately 5000 mAh.
One experimental direction is investigating whether a significantly larger battery system can be safely integrated for extended server operation.
This requires investigation of:
- Battery chemistry
- Battery protection
- BMS
- Charging IC
- Fuel-gauge compatibility
- Thermal characteristics
- Physical constraints
- USB-C PD behavior
- Safe charging/discharging limits
⚠️ Battery modifications are a high-risk hardware experiment and will only be considered after the electrical architecture is understood.
A smartphone designed for short-duration workloads is not necessarily designed for continuous server workloads.
Jericho therefore investigates active cooling for sustained operation.
Potential approach:
SoC
│
Thermal Interface
│
Heatsink
│
Fan
│
Airflow
Thermal testing will focus on:
- CPU temperature
- GPU temperature
- Sustained frequency
- Thermal throttling
- Power consumption
- Performance over time
Jericho will investigate the CK8n's Linux kernel and the surrounding Android platform.
Areas of research include:
- GKI
- Vendor modules
- Device Tree
- DTBO
- Kernel configuration
- Kernel compilation
- Custom kernels
- KernelSU / Magisk
- CPU scheduling
- Thermal policies
- Power management
- Performance tuning
The objective is not simply to maximize benchmark scores, but to understand and control the platform.
The device currently has:
Bootloader: LOCKED
Verified Boot: GREEN
Before attempting any bootloader modification, the project prioritizes:
- Complete user-data backup
- Firmware identification
- Stock firmware preservation
- Boot/recovery image identification
- Partition mapping
- Recovery strategy
- Bootloader unlock research
- Root/custom kernel experimentation
Bootloader operations that trigger a data wipe will only be performed after critical data has been independently preserved.
Because the CK8n is currently the primary working device, data preservation is a major project requirement.
Backup infrastructure:
CK8n
│
├── User Data
├── Device Information
├── Firmware Information
└── Application Data
│
▼
Raspberry Pi
│
▼
External HDD
│
└── /mnt/hdd/phone-backups/CK8n/
Stock firmware and device information are being preserved before invasive modifications.
Jericho follows an incremental approach:
Document
↓
Backup
↓
Inspect
↓
Research
↓
Test
↓
Modify
↓
Validate
↓
Document
No irreversible modification should be performed without understanding the recovery path.
The project prioritizes:
- Reproducibility
- Documentation
- Hardware safety
- Recoverability
- Measurable testing
- Open-source tooling
- Evidence over assumptions
Performance and stability testing will eventually cover:
- Multi-core performance
- Sustained workloads
- Frequency scaling
- Scheduler behavior
- GPU utilization
- Thermal behavior
- Sustained performance
- RAM utilization
- Memory bandwidth
- Swap/zRAM behavior
- Sequential I/O
- Random I/O
- Sustained write behavior
- Ethernet throughput
- Latency
- USB networking overhead
- Cellular failover
- Idle temperature
- Load temperature
- Sustained performance
- Throttling behavior
- Idle consumption
- Server workload consumption
- Charging behavior
- Runtime estimation
- Identify device
- Identify SoC/platform
- Identify Android/kernel version
- Record boot state
- Backup user data
- Preserve important application data
- Preserve device information
- Research CK8n firmware
- Research recovery support
- Research custom ROM ecosystem
- Research custom kernels
- Map partitions
- Obtain complete stock firmware
- Analyze boot/recovery images
- Investigate device tree
- Research bootloader unlocking
- Preserve stock boot images
- Establish recovery method
- Root development environment
- Kernel source investigation
- Custom kernel testing
- Kernel preparation
- Device Tree preparation
- Required driver investigation
- Linux boot experiment
- Ubuntu ARM64 userspace
- Storage/networking validation
- Headless server boot
- USB-C port inspection
- Universal I/O hub testing
- Ethernet testing
- External storage testing
- Active cooling
- Power architecture investigation
- Long-duration stability testing
- Headless operation
- SSH
- Network services
- Monitoring
- Automated startup
- Long-duration stress testing
- Final documentation
| Risk | Severity | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Bootloader unlock wipes data | 🔴 High | Complete backup |
| Incorrect firmware flashing | 🔴 High | Preserve exact stock firmware |
| Boot failure | 🔴 High | Recovery/unbrick plan |
| Battery modification | 🔴 High | Electrical/BMS analysis |
| Thermal overload | 🟠 Medium | Active cooling + monitoring |
| USB-C connector damage | 🟠 Medium | Inspect/rework before deployment |
| Driver incompatibility | 🟠 Medium | Incremental Linux testing |
| Storage corruption | 🟠 Medium | Multiple backups |
| Kernel instability | 🟠 Medium | Keep known-good boot images |
Primary development environment:
- Kali Linux
- Raspberry Pi development workstation
- External HDD for backups
- Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
- Fastboot
- Apktool
- Linux kernel tooling
- Git
- Cross-compilation toolchains
The repository is expected to evolve toward:
Project-Jericho/
│
├── README.md
├── PROJECT_JERICHO.md
│
├── docs/
│ ├── hardware/
│ ├── software/
│ ├── linux/
│ ├── kernel/
│ └── recovery/
│
├── firmware/
│ └── checksums/
│
├── kernel/
│
├── device-tree/
│
├── scripts/
│
├── experiments/
│
└── logs/
Jericho is not intended to be just another custom ROM project.
The larger goal is to understand whether a mass-produced smartphone can be transformed into a purpose-built ARM computing platform through a combination of:
hardware engineering + Linux kernel development + embedded systems + networking + power management.
The smartphone provides the SoC, memory, storage, modem, battery-management hardware, and compact form factor.
Jericho attempts to turn those components into something fundamentally different:
Smartphone
│
┌──────────┴──────────┐
│ │
Hardware Software
│ │
▼ ▼
MT6893 / RAM Linux Kernel
Storage / Modem Device Tree
USB-C / Battery Ubuntu ARM64
│ │
└──────────┬──────────┘
▼
┌───────────────┐
│ JERICHO │
│ ARM LINUX │
│ SERVER │
└───────────────┘
Detailed project documentation is maintained separately in:
PROJECT_JERICHO.md
This README provides the high-level project overview; the detailed document contains deeper technical notes, research, experiments, hardware plans, and risk analysis.
Project Jericho is an experimental engineering project.
Modifying smartphone firmware, bootloaders, kernels, batteries, charging systems, or hardware can permanently damage the device, cause data loss, or create safety hazards.
All hardware modifications and firmware experiments should be performed only after understanding the associated risks and maintaining a reliable recovery path.
Project Jericho Jericho-Class ARM Linux Server
Built as an independent engineering and learning project.
Status: 🟡 Active Research & Development