HMD Global (Nokia Mobile) has finally made available the Kernel source code for Nokia 4.2 (Update: Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 are added too). The Nokia 4.2 was launched back in February 2019 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 chipset. Even though Nokia Mobile does not allow bootloader unlock on any of its devices, it is legally and ethically bound to release the source code for the parts of code that are under GPL or LGPL licenses.
The Nokia 4.2 becomes the first x.2 device from Nokia to have its source code available. HMD has published on October 27th, the source code for the Android 10 build – 2.260. Surprisingly, the version is older than the initial public release of Android 10 for Nokia 4.2. The official Android 10 build for Nokia 4.2 was 2.290.
Nokia 4.2 is also the first non-FIH device for which HMD has uploaded the source code. The Nokia 4.2 was bootloader unlockable while it was on Android 9. The published source code may help developers bring out stable TWRP recovery for the device.
Let’s see if HMD will also release the sources for other Nokia smartphones such as the Nokia 6.2 & Nokia 7.2. Update 3/11/2020: The source code for Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 are also published by HMD now, however only for Android 9. The Nokia 7.2’s code is based on the final Android 9 MR release (v. 1.400). Similarly, for the Nokia 6.2, it is based on the final Android 9 MR release with build number 1.170. Since HMD is showing some interest, they’ll very likely publish the same for Android 10 builds as well.
The result shall give some boost to those who have unlocked the bootloaders on these devices. Nokia 6.2 and 7.2 initially shipped with an unlockable bootloader, but HMD soon realized their mistake and issued a patch to block unlocking. A downgrade is still possible though, which will allow unlocking.
You can download the source code from the HMD Global’s Open Source releases page at Nokia.com/phones website.
