There are
various methods on the web for installing Linux on Android tablets
including:
which I couldn't
get to work.
and this, which
also includes an Ubuntu image:
which I also
couldn't get to work. The problem with
both seems to be the startup script.
This came
close, with minor
modifications:
This was what I
did to install Ubuntu Maverick, starting, of course, with a PC running Linux:
1. Root
the tablet (method here)
2. Enable
USB debugging (and wifi) on the tablet.
3. It may not be needed, but for debugging purposes it may be useful to install the linux
version of the android sdk on the computer. Installation should include
the platform-tools, which contains the adb command (allowing you to
communicate with the tablet). See here:
4. Install
rootstock on the computer (apt-get install rootstock).
5. Do:
sudo rootstock
--fqdn anyname --login username --password yourpassword
--imagesize 3G --seed
linux-image-omap,build-essential,tightvncserver,lxde
Replace anyname, username, yourpassword as needed. The imagesize should
be an integer multiple of 1G; i.e. 1G, 2G, 3G.... LXDE is the
Light X-Windowing Desktop Environment. I tried it with Gnome, but
rootstock doesn't like that and fails.
6. Create
an empty image (we will fill it later):
dd if=/dev/zero
of=ubuntu.img bs=1MB seek=yourseek count=0
yourseek should
be 1024 for 1G, 2048 for 2G, 3072 for 3G, etc.
7. Next,
format the image as an EXT2 filesystem:
mke2fs ubuntu.img
Note that the
original post uses the -F option, but this fails for
me. Instead, without it, mke2fs asks if you really want to go
ahead, even though the image is not a block special device.
Answer yes.
8. Create
an empty directory called ubuntu. Then:
sudo mount -o
loop ubuntu.img ubuntu
9. Extract
the rootstock-generated TGZ file in the directory
where the image is mounted. Replace the xxxxxxxxxxxx with the correct
numbers.
sudo tar -C
ubuntu -zxf armel-rootfs-xxxxxxxxxxxx.tgz
10.Unmount the
image.
umount ubuntu
11. To put
ubuntu on an external SD, just copy ubuntu.img into a directory called
ubuntu on the SD.
12. You will need a terminal app like term.apk and a vnc client - AndroidVNC works well. Both should be installed on your tablet.
13. Place
the following in a text file name bu, and copy it to /usr/bin on your
tablet. You can do this using the terminal, invoking superuser
privilige with the command 'su.'
export kit=/external_sd/ubuntu
export bin=/system/bin
if [ ! -d /data/local/ubuntu ]
then
mkdir /data/local/ubuntu
fi
export PATH=$bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:$PATH
export TERM=linux
export HOME=/root
losetup /dev/block/loop1 /external_sd/ubuntu/ubuntu.img
mount -t ext2 /dev/block/loop1 /data/local/ubuntu
mount -t devpts devpts /data/local/ubuntu/dev/pts
mount -t proc proc /data/local/ubuntu/proc
mount -t sysfs sysfs /data/local/ubuntu/sys
sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
chroot /data/local/ubuntu /bin/bash
14. Place the following in a text file name xu, and copy it to /usr/bin on your tablet.
umount /data/local/ubuntu/dev/pts
umount /data/local/ubuntu/proc
umount /data/local/ubuntu/sys
umount /data/local/ubuntu
losetup -d /dev/block/loop1
15. You
can now start Ubuntu with the command 'bu.' You
will find yourself in the root directory of the Ubuntu image. You
now need to add two script files to the directory /usr/bin. It's
probably easiest to do this with vi, even though vi is one of the most
irritating text editors in existence.
16. The first file should be named bu and should contain the following lines:
#!/bin/bash
export USER=root
vncserver -geometry 800x480
You need to make this executable by doing chmod 777 bu.
17. The second file should be named xu and should contain the following lines:
#!/bin/bash
export USER=root
vncserver -kill :1
pkill gnome-keyring-d
pkill menu-cached
shutdown now
exit
This also needs to be made executable by doing chmod 777 xu.
18. At this point, you can install any Linux software you need, e.g.:
apt-get install openoffice.org-writer
apt-get install openoffice.org-calc
19. Typing exit three times will get you out of the terminal.
You're now set
up to run Ubuntu. Note that the startup and exiting methods have
to be followed exactly, or you will be in danger of leaving stray files
around which will keep the vnc server from starting properly the next
time. If this happens, you will have to go searching for these
files manually (in /tmp) and delete them.
To start Ubuntu:
1. Start the terminal
2. Type su
3. Type bu
4. When you get the Linux terminal prompt (root@localhost:/#), type bu again. This starts up the vnc server.
5. Return
to the Android screen and start the VNC client. Connect with the
address 127.0.0.1 and port 5901. Enter the password and user name
and connect.
6. It
takes a while to start up, but you will now be on the Ubuntu desktop,
and should be able to start any software that you've installed.
To exit:
1. From the menu of the VNC client, hit disconnect.
2. Return to the terminal and type xu at the Linux prompt. It should tell you it is killing the vnc process.
3. Type exit. You should be returned to an Android prompt (just a #).
4. Type xu. This unmounts the Ubuntu image.
5. Type exit twice. This will bring you back to the Android GUI screen.
