I don't own the phone yet, but been looking around at rooting this phone and seeing what I could get out of it if I did when it turns up. Nothing has really interested me to root the phone. I would of rooted it for CM7 or MUIU roms but as I am getting the Laptop Dock with the phone I wouldn't be able to use the webtop as both of these roms don't have that feature.
When I was looking into the Webtop I came across this post about installing ubuntu apps onto webtop. This did get me interested. Looking into it this seem like it only works with a very dated version of Ubuntu (jaunty) because this was the last version that had armhf support.
As Ubuntu 12.04 was just released I decided to see if this version has got a armhf repo that could be used, and indeed it has.
Code:
deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
The really cool thing about this repo is it has apps like XBMC that should just work with the device.
And then it hit me. This must be the repo that the Ubuntu for Android that Canonical was showing off a few Months ago must be using.
http://youtu.be/N6eEDZva1W8
So I decided to have a dig around the repo when I came across this: abootimg.
Android devices use a special partition format to boot any
operating system on the devices. These boot-images contain
a kernel image, a ramdisk, optionally a 2nd stage boot loader
and the commandline passed to the kernel when booting.
The original mkbootimg from Android can only create these images
where abootimg can also extract and modify them.
Handling android boot images is necessary when bringing other
operating systems to android devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this is a pretty good tell tell sign that this is indeed the Ubuntu for Android that Canonical has been demoing.
As I have said I don't own the device yet but if someone wants to check this out to see if this is indeed the Ubuntu for Android repo that would be awesome.
looks like I can't post links.
Code:
deb ports.ubuntu.com/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb ports.ubuntu.com/ precise-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
That is the repo but the http part is missing before ports
This sucks I can't post links. I would of had links to the repos and links to videos and to the XBMC app. I get why XDA does this but I really want to edit the OP so its got all the info.
Anyway I thought someone would of said something by now about this. This would work almost the same way as the [MOD] Full Linux (Debian) inside WebTop does but instead of using the Debian repos it would be using Ubuntu 12.04
I get the phone in a few days and it would be cool if someone could test this out. I am going to try it the second I get the phone but would be nice for someone to confirm what I suspect.
The only concern is whether you can get it to become functional without breaking Moto's modded dependencies that are stuck on Jaunty. I think a number of people have been trying to update to the newest Chrome etc and each time when getting the new repos they've killed their webtops.
I for one would love to get a newer version of Ubuntu running on this baby but information and tutorials don't seem to be forthcoming from the experts here. This might be due to the non-existence of such information, lack of time, or competitiveness. But I would love to see this if you can get it to work.
P.S. I think its really cool that you may have stumbled on the Ubuntu Unity for android on there though!!
It sure be cool to browse contacts and access system settings via unity
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
thantos said:
The only concern is whether you can get it to become functional without breaking Moto's modded dependencies that are stuck on Jaunty. I think a number of people have been trying to update to the newest Chrome etc and each time when getting the new repos they've killed their webtops.
I for one would love to get a newer version of Ubuntu running on this baby but information and tutorials don't seem to be forthcoming from the experts here. This might be due to the non-existence of such information, lack of time, or competitiveness. But I would love to see this if you can get it to work.
P.S. I think its really cool that you may have stumbled on the Ubuntu Unity for android on there though!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If CWM can backup and restore Webtop I will have a look into getting Unity working on the phone.
In Synaptic you can freeze/lock packages, so all I would need to do is workout the list of packages that needs to be locked and not updated.
Once I have worked that out I can make a update script to install unity and lock the packages that need locking.
I will get the phone in about a week and will probably take about 3 days to get unity working.
I will let you lot know how it goes.
I am even thinking about trying razor-qt on it. This should work really well on the phone as the DE was made to run on devices like phones.
It looks like Webtop uses GTK and doesn't use any QT packages. So installing QT apps shouldn't break any dependencies.
There are a lot of QT apps now that will install and won't break anything.
Music Players: spotify-qt and Clemetine
Video Players: VLC
These are just to name a few. If you google QT apps there is a site that list all the avable QT apps that will work with Webtop and won't conflict with any of the GTK apps and dependencies it uses.
Looking forward to it. Good luck.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
Just getting the info together for when I start messing around with webtop. Also some people may find the info handy for them to have ago.
Qt-apps
http://qt-apps.org/index.php?xsortmode=high
Razor-Qt
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/12/razor-qt-new-lightweight-desktop.html
Locking Packages
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PinningHowto
Precise armhf Repo
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/precise/armhf/
XBMC Armhf Package
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/quantal/armhf/xbmc
Spotify Qt (they probably don't have a Armhf version so this more and likely won't work)
Code:
# 1. Add this line to your list of repositories by
# editing your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
# 2. If you want to verify the downloaded packages,
# you will need to add our public key
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 4E9CFF4E
# 3. Run apt-get update
sudo apt-get update
# 4. Install spotify!
sudo apt-get install spotify-client
Clementine Armhf
http://packages.debian.org/en/sid/armhf/clementine/download
Run:
Code:
sudo apt-get install gdebi gdebi-core
This will install a program that will let you install .deb files by double clicking on them.
The apps that will work on Webtop that won't mess it up are for Armhf and use Qt (not kde-Qt). So just google for that and you should find loads of programs you will be able to run.
If its not a Qt app look at what it depends on.
Using chromium-browser as an example you can see it depends on a lot of packages that has a good chance of breaking the system. This is because its a GTK app. If it was a Qt app it wouldn't depending on as many system files/libs.
Hi, I have been working on such a port for more than a week now.
And I have thrashed the webtop countless times.
I have modified ubuntu.sh so that it loopmounts /osh from an image from the sd card; then it runs the image's original ubuntu.sh. In this way I am not limited to the 800MB size of the original /osh and I can test/swap different images quickly.
I have made a test environment using QEMU (emulating Cortex A9 and Versatile Express board) and I borrowed a recent kernel and initrd from a Linaro image.
I've been testing various distros: Archlinux for Raspberry Pi, Raspbian (which I modded into a full ARMv7a Wheezy by changing the repos), Linaro 12.04 (heavy and slow IMHO), the original Jaunty 9.04 for armel. The last one just to allow me to check the differences with the Moto's distro, file by file.
My QEMU setup is also able to boot GenTop2 and even the original webtop. But I have also an alternative setup using proot and qemu in user mode which e.g. allows me to run ARM-compiled commands directly inside a loopmounted webtop image.
In GenTop2 and in my Wheezy attempts I've also tried using a more recent, ARMHF compiled Tegra Xorg, see
http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2854 but the only thing I got from it is to display a hardware cursor on the phone - my lapdock would stay blank no matter how I play with xorg.conf.
Although in fairness I'm not a dev and still have a lot to learn. I'm just a very stubborn person. And I'm close to giving up.
My second best option so far is to run GenTop2 from a partition on my external SD. Amazing work that GenTop2 is although I'm not a fan of Gentoo - because heavy compiling and too many small writes (at "emerge sync" time) inevitably shorten the life of the phone and SD card IMHO.
Here a link for you to start (in case you don't have it already):
Analysis of webtop - https://sites.google.com/site/androidnothize/nebtop/webtop
For emulating ARM v7a with QEMU - https://wiki.linaro.org/PeterMaydell/QemuVersatileExpress
Also to boot the original webtop in QEMU, the key is to take that extra getty from /etc/event.d/console out of the way (just delete the file), then change the password for root and adas (so you can get in) - the latter task can be performed e.g. using my qemu user mode way.
good luck and good night
I don't know if this is relevant but, here is a version of Ubuntu natty "webtop construction kit": http://mafipulation.org/blagoblig/linux/atrix/index.html#webtop-kit
I have managed to run it on Blurred and CM7 roms (manually). I had to heavily edit xorg.conf to make it display on my external monitor, but there were issues with the mouse and keyboard (the movements were mirroring on the phone as well), text-antialiasing, etc.
Also, apt-get seems to be a little broken, as I have only managed to successfully install lxde but not xfce, and many other packages.
Will this help?
zomgno1 said:
I don't know if this is relevant but, here is a version of Ubuntu natty "webtop construction kit": http://mafipulation.org/blagoblig/linux/atrix/index.html#webtop-kit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes it helps indeed.
The piece of information I was missing about the broken glibc is fundamental, and probably explain why some of my Debian Wheezy attempts were crashing the phone so badly that I needed to remove the battery before restart.
I'm going to put my hands on this yes yes.
I'll look into xorg.conf and apt-get problems, maybe I get some idea.
Thanks!
G
Bionic port
I am very interested in the progress of this thread, as the addition of the newer version should allow XBMC, which would the the killer app for me that would allow me to completely replace my netbook with my phone.
But, I have a Bionic which uses the TI OMAP4 SoC.
If you work this out, I guess it should port, as long as the OMAP4 driver is in an accessible repository and xorg.conf is modified appropriately?
There is already an ARM/OMAP4 image here:
xxxxx]https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/OmapDesktopInstallxxxxx
(remove the xxs as I still can't post links either)
seems like somehow integrating the webtop binaries into that image and using the abootimg to create it on the phone would be a possible approach?
I have some Linux skills, but I am not a dev, so this may be terribly naive!
This is all very interesting. I cant wait until this gets running on our phones. This webtop environment is a pretty special thing that moto has going on here, but I wonder, can the webtop or something of a similar nature be done on other phones? I image it could very well be, other phones certainly have the power and space requirements. I would be willing to pay quite a bit to get this running on my galaxy s2.
It would be awesome to have FULL Ubuntu 12 on our webtop !
Well, actual webtop is cool but the interface is worse than Unity.
Not sure if any of you developers that have been trying to get Precise to work by messing with the XORG but I think KHOL tried but was unsuccessful and instead decided to boot it after getting into webtop...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1370176
Maybe that might be of some help?
I would love to know if anyone has gotten any where with this looks very promising I wish I could help but know very little about programming althought im trying to learn.
DERP (Device Environment Replacement Program)
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
initial pre-alpha version 0.001
(Aug 3, 2013)
by fattire (twitter: @fat__tire)
tldr?
Derp is a general-purpose, platform-independent installer, written in python with wxpython, that executes .derp XML-based scripts to walk the user step-by-step through a ROM installation (or do whatever you want.) The idea is to replace text-based walkthroughs, howtos, and installation instructions by requiring a user to do almost nothing but run a .derp script and sit back. Derp walks through a series of scripted steps (as in, say, a ROM installation) and automatically does all the file downloading/adb/fastboot stuff while the user waits and maybe reads what's happening (at the script author's discretion). Derp also pre-installs and keeps Google's Android SDK tools up to date and even gives adb & fastboot a simple UI. .derp scripts are human-readable XML. Embedding bash and python is also supported in Derp, as is restricting scripts or even script parts to certain platforms. Derp runs as root on the local computer (it's an installer after all), and is open source/GPLv3 licensed. It also comes with sample scripts and a built-in tutorial for creating your own.
Still tldr? It's a script-runner thing!
-----
LONGER DISCUSSION...
WARNING: RIGHT NOW, DEVELOPER TYPES ONLY! This is not for end users...yet. Hopefully people will find bugs and help fix them before an end user uses this on a “live” computer with an actual device. Again, because this is a software installer, DERP AND ITS SCRIPTS RUNS AS ROOT. Never run random .derp or .xml scripts you find on the Internet. This could screw up your device AND your computer, so... treat it just like any other script you’d (not) run as root. Also, the discussion in this forum is how Derp is supposed to work, but of course, there may be (probably are?) bugs.
THE "PROBLEM" AS I SEE IT
Working on the CM wiki, I've grown to appreciate how varied firmware install methods can be. Some devices need rooting. Some need firmware downgrades. Sometimes you can use fastboot. Other times you can’t. Some systems need to unlock the bootloader, etc. etc.
Installing this stuff can be hard. Okay, maybe not for you, but how about your mom or dad? Could your grandparents buy a device today and put CM on it themselves? There's been some chatter on the interwebs about how to make rooting and replacing firmwares easier... some kind of graphical installer seems to be the answer. But there are a million devices out there...
So people have been using text-based HOWTOs, walkthroughs, step-by-step instructions, and/or shell scripts and batch-type files to do this. I thought maybe a generic, unified scripting method might work better that gives the users readable instructions but optionally automatically does technical steps for them.
Hoping to avoid creating yet-another-standard-way-to-do-something, back in February, I searched online for generic installation solutions. But they all seemed to be platform-dependent, or weren’t licensed for general use, or looked really ridiculously complicated....
So (and big caveat here-- I'm not a programmer!) I whipped up a proof-of-concept for developers to play with to start thinking about how to address the issue. It took me a few weeks to get going, but ended up sitting collecting dust for months as I worked on other things and occasionally bothered friends to test the latest version.
Derp is not necessarily intended as any kind of final solution per se-- it’s just for further discussion/testing. A totally legit question to be answered: is this in any way even a good idea?
Let's find out.
SO WHAT IS DERP?
It's a general-purpose installer, written in python with wxpython, that executes .derp XML-based scripts to walk the user step-by-step through a ROM installation, optionally doing all the "technical stuff" like downloading files and running commands in the background. Ideally, you wouldn't have to write a long tutorial for every platform on how to do stuff-- a .derp script could BE the walkthrough.
The first thing Derp does is install the latest adb and fastboot from Google. That looks like this:
(Mac version)
Next, when you run a .derp script, it can automatically download and verify ROM files like CyanogenMod or tools or whatever from the Internet, and then install them.
(Linux version)
(Mac version)
As it does all this, the script can provides information and/or feedback to the user via a UI that hopefully looks like a normal installer. What the user sees is written by the script author in simple HTML. As the .derp script runs, the user simply ftaps "Continue" to proceed through the scripted steps.
As mentioned, .derp scripts are written in XML, which is platform-generic and easy for a human to read. The .derp script syntax, explained below, is also very simple. The script author is also free to embed bash shell scripts or python (or both) if advanced stuff is needed.
Worth mentioning too-- sections, steps, text, actions, or entire scripts can be restricted by the type of computer its running on (ie, don't run certain python commands on Mac, but do run them in Linux, or whatever).
And finally-- while my initial thought was to use this for installations of ROMS like CyanogenMod to a device, I'd think Derp can be used for many kind of installations or scripted operations-- even to wrap a UI around a bash or python script to make it easier for users to run without having to open a Terminal and start typing. Derp scripts don't even have to have to be used for anything to do with mobile devices, though it does pre-set up the Google SDK tools for that purpose.
In fact, a Derp script can do NO actions-- simply serve as a click-through set of HTML-based instructional steps for a user to follow by hand. Conversely, it can say nothing to the user but "Stand by, doing everything." and that's it.
FEATURES:
Easy to install. Debian-based Linux just uses sudo dpkg -i derp_0.001-1_all.deb and it's ready to go. Mac users: it’s Derp.app. Done and done.
Derp is GPLv3-licensed and source code is available now. Read license for terms, conditions, and more disclaimers.
Automatically downloads/updates all SDK tools (primarily adb and fastboot) directly from Google at every launch. So the user is always up to date. (also requires users to agree to Google's T&C...)
Uses an XML-based, OS-neutral installation script format that is easy to write and understand. Just about anything you want the user to do-- restart in bootloader mode, unlock the device, etc-- the derp script should be able to do. Even run bash or python scripts from within the script.
XML Tags:
<derp> - the main tag for a derp script.
<section> - a major category for individual steps.
<step> - Put as many of these in a section as you want.
<info> - The stuff the user sees as the script runs. You can add HTML tags to make it look good.
<file> - tell derp a file’s URL, MD5/SHA hash, and local filename. Derp will grab it and verify it for you automatically. These files can be roms, scripts, recovery images, etc. whatever your script needs to do its job.
<action> - valid “action” types include “adb”, “fastboot”, “python”, and “bash”. Future versions of Derp can add more. <action> allows your script to do stuff. Never worry about whether the user installed and set up the latest versions of adb or fastboot properly. They should "just work".
Using the above tags, you can not only have your scripts automatically do full installations, rooting, bootloader unlocks, etc, but simultaneously tell the user what’s happening behind the scenes if you choose. The user feedback is written in standard HTML-formatted text. The user just hits “Continue” whenever you want to move from one step to the next.
Included are example scripts to install CyanogenMod 10.1.2 on stock Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, and HTC One. The latter script, written by Cowmix, demonstrates how to embed python to interact with the user, and they all include bootloader unlocking.
The only things I can think of that can’t be done automatically are steps that requires hands-on (ie, holding down buttons during power-on) or where, say, debugging mode needs to be manually turned on, or the slider needs to be physically unlocked. In the few cases where user involvement can’t be avoided, the <info> tag can be used to walk them in “real time” through that step.
A built-in tutorial on how to write your own .derp scripts explain how the tags work. (The tutorial itself is a .derp script.)
A console window helps you see what derp is doing in real-time...
Also included: a quick-access adb and fastboot text-entry in the console. This lets you start up Derp and type quick adb or fastboot commands without needing a terminal (or to deal with PATH issues)
“Debug Mode” lets you go through the script without invoking the <action> tags. Makes writing scripts easy.
Derp should automatically detect when a device is connected via adb or fastboot and let you know.
You may filter any Derp tag (including <action> tags) by operating system. This means that using a single script, the user can see different text or the script may behave differently depending on the platform. In fact, you can restrict the entire script to a particular operating system(s).
The script doesn’t actually have to “do” anything. It can be used simply to create walkthroughs or tutorials in a much nicer format than a step-by-step text file. Just link to a .derp file and let it walk the user through whatever. Easy to convert a text walkthrough to an interactive click-through just by adding <section> and <step> tags.
WHY MUST DERP RUN AS ROOT?
Remember, Derp is an installer. It needs to do important stuff, and as such it runs as root. I had considered trying to sandbox the parts that "needed" root and only enable it there and ask for permission for a single operation via an "enter your password" type of dialog box. But because the .derp format is so flexible, there were a million potential places where a script author could do varying kinds of trickery-- by breaking out of Derp to execute python code, spoofing directory paths, abusing the embeddable bash scripts, etc. It just didn't seem to make sense to try to anticipate and counteract all that. Playing cat-and-mouse endlessly is pointless. Again, Derp is an installer. Installers get administration permissions. Just like any installation script you'd run with "sudo" would get. Just like the package installer on OS X. Also, it is much easier to run adb and fastboot with root permission-- you can easily kill all running versions of adb for example, and fastboot seems to prefer it. Plus, it avoids the need for playing with udev configuration stuff in Linux.
This means that, like pretty much every other type of installer, .derp scripts will have full access not only to your mobile device, but to the computer Derp is running on. This seems to make the most sense to me, but I invite others to chime in on improving the design if you disagree.
All caveats and considerations apply. Do not run untrusted scripts, and do not run Derp on a "sensitive" computer (however you wish to define that).
WHAT IS MEANT BY "CROSS-PLATFORM"? (IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE'S THE WINDOWS VERSION?!)
I don't have/use Windows. Right now, Mac & Linux builds are currently available. Derp still needs to be ported to Windows, but since it’s wxpython, and I tried to make as little dependent on the underlying operating system, 95% of the work is hopefully done. Anyone with Windows who’d like to help, let me know.
I think it should be some minor changes to the setup.py file and a few definitions. Also, not sure if Windows supports the “bash” shell...
ANYTHING ELSE?
Ummm... That’s it. Remember, this is a work in progress and a proof of concept... Again, I dunno if anyone will see the value here, and maybe it will need a complete rethink. There are likely to be bugs, maybe even really bad ones. But after a few months of playing around, I kinda feel it’s ready for other developers to at least see and even try in a secure environment (as suggested, maybe a VM or something).
SHOW ME THE CODE!
The code is on github-- please submit commits-- fixes, new features, whatever-- as well as bug reports there. And again, figure there will be tons of bugs to be squashed.
Enjoy.
fattire (@fat__tire)
THANKS TO...
Big thanks for helping me test w/different devices: cowmix, hashcode, kornyone, ciwrl, utkanos, verygreen, and jeagoss
DOWNLOADS:
Debian-based Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint)
derp_0.001-1_all.deb
MD5: 6e8eabe94cdfdba649ea41198211bb64
SHA512: 307aed0ad79de17793bb445d2b588388bf66b42716de36a055227f555bfc12ab3e61d5f0e3de804eb4c0c560f140a6318ea6dd1608cc78ee84b50336895cdfc2
Mac OS X (Tested on: Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion)
Derp-v0.001-mac.zip
MD5: b738e0a270f53d274baec0ce121577fb
SHA512: 3cf7d438c4dfd0c5c5d7c2f29fe19a76dcbb728acfe73a24e28cdb3f21624510c94f1c4224ad31118851f17205e4d7152619c15281c98189cb33ccac82c1505a
Source code on GITHUB is here.
SAMPLE DERP SCRIPTS
Nexus 7 stock to CM 10.1.2 installer - included (written by me)
Nexus 4 stock to CM 10.1.2 installer - included (written by me)
HTC One stock to CM 10.1 nightly installer - included (written by cowmix)
Galaxy Nexus stock to CM 10.1.2 installer - included (written by cowmix)
EXTERNAL SCRIPTS BY OTHERS
None yet...?
DONATIONS?
Not to me, please. If you feel the need to give someone money, consider donating to the EFF or the Software Freedom Law Center. It's really a donation to your digital rights. (I'm not affiliated with them except as a huge fan and occasional donor.)
REMEMBER, DERP IS EXPERIMENTAL AND YOU RUN IT AT THE RISK OF YOUR COMPUTER, YOUR DEVICE, AND YOUR VERY EXISTENCE AS A HUMAN BEING. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT DOES OR DOESN'T HAPPEN. DON'T RUN DERP SCRIPTS YOU DON'T TRUST COMPLETELY. YOU ARE ADVISED, JUST IN CASE, TO ONLY RUN SCRIPTS IN A SANDBOXED VIRTUAL COMPUTER. And let me know what y'all think.
Script Syntax (Tutorial)
SCRIPT SYNTAX
So you want to write a Derp installation script? It's easier than you might think. Derp isn't too complicated-- it doesn't have a lot of "logic". It just follows a script and does what you tell it.
To start a script file, just get out any text editor (or XML editor) and name it something with the .derp file extension, such as:
sample.derp
Once you write up a sample script, you can load the file with Derp to see if it works.
The <derp> tag
Every script starts with the <derp> tag and ends with the </derp> tag. Within the "<derp>" tag, at least for this pre-alpha version, you need to put at least one required attribute, app_version:
<derp app_version="0.001">
</derp>
This is to identify the version of Derp that your script is for. Future versions may not support your script. You can put other attributes that might be used in the future:
<derp device_codename="mako" os="Linux Darwin" title="CM10.1-M1 for Mako" device_name="Nexus 4" device_vendor="lge" app_version="0.001" script_version=".5" author = "fattire" author_email="[email protected]" author_twitter="@fat__tire" license="GPLv2">
These additional tags may be required in future versions of Derp, so if you are able to supply 'em, it's recommended. They'll simply be ignored if they're not needed.
The title="CM10.1-M1 for Mako" is a general title for the script. VERY briefly explain what it does. It's not required, but recommended.
The one other important attribute, os="Linux Darwin", will be explained later. For now, just know that it is optional, but you can use it to restrict the whole script to only run only in certain operating systems.
The <section> tag
Every set of instructions should be divided into logical sections, such as the ones on the left. The section has its own required attribute, the name:
<derp app_version="0.001" os="Linux Darwin" script_version=".5">
<section name="This is the first section"></section>
</derp>
Notice the name attribute is used with a section to identify what the section is for.
There's not much more to say about sections. It's easy. Let's move on.
The <step> tag
Each Section can be made of (at least one but) an unlimited number of individual steps. And the tag for that is called <step>. Here's how it's used:
<derp app_version="0.001" script_version=".5">
<section name="This is the first section">
<step name="This is step one"></step>
<step name="This is step two"></step>
</section>
<section name="This is the second section">
<step name="This is step three"></step>
<step name="This is step four"></step>
</section>
</derp>
Notice that steps, like sections, need to have a designated name attribute so that Derp knows what to display. The step name will appear to the user at the top on the right as the centered step heading.
The <info> tag
The stuff that appears in the main info area should be wrapped in info tags.
Example:
<derp app_version="0.001" script_version=".5">
<section name="This is the first section">
<step name="This is step one">
<info>This is the text you'll see! It explains what's going on to the user. <b>I'm bolding this part because it's really important for the user to see.</b></info>
</step>
</section>
</derp>
Note: The stuff that you put between the <info> and </info> tags is...HTML!
So you can format it however you want. You can even include images from the Internet.
Here is the list of HTML tags that are recognized:
A NAME=[string]
HREF=
TARGET=[target window spec]
ADDRES... can add os="Linux Darwin" to the <derp> tag.
RESERVED
RESERVED
Derp
Derp is a pretty slick interface for scripting not only device installation, but resources needed for modifications on Android devices (namely the Android SDK). A developer can create a custom script to automate the installation, decreasing one off bad installs, and ensuring the process is completed as intended.
People new to Android customization or developers could find this of use. I am excited to see where it goes.
kornyone said:
Derp is a pretty slick interface for scripting not only device installation, but resources needed for modifications on Android devices (namely the Android SDK). A developer can create a custom script to automate the installation, decreasing one off bad installs, and ensuring the process is completed as intended.
People new to Android customization or developers could find this of use. I am excited to see where it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. BTW for those asking about the Windows port (in IRC)...
I simply don't have windows, but it was written to be as platform generic as possible. Anyone with a tiny amount of programming skills (again, I have zero myself) should be able to add Windows compatibility pretty quickly... I think it's a matter of just fixing that setup.py file to work with py2exe. See here for more info.
fattire said:
Thanks.. BTW for those asking about the Windows port (in IRC)...
I simply don't have windows, but it was written to be as platform generic as possible. Anyone with a tiny amount of programming skills (again, I have zero myself) should be able to add Windows compatibility pretty quickly... I think it's a matter of just fixing that setup.py file to work with py2exe. See here for more info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows dev here, I may be able to help. Also, any interest in a Mono version? Looking for an excuse...
fattire said:
Thanks.. BTW for those asking about the Windows port (in IRC)...
I simply don't have windows, but it was written to be as platform generic as possible. Anyone with a tiny amount of programming skills (again, I have zero myself) should be able to add Windows compatibility pretty quickly... I think it's a matter of just fixing that setup.py file to work with py2exe. See here for more info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Grats BTW, great idea...
I've come across several usages of Linux only Python functions so far and I don't see drop-in alternatives for Windows, so I've just commented out that particular section (line 1183). I managed to get the tool download working. Suggestion, maybe sticking with MD5 hashes would be simpler as the script receives updates to match Android SDK download updates. I can understand why you would want to use SHA512, but google offers MD5 on the site next the downloads for simple copy/paste replacement. There's the potential for lots of hard-coded configuration and for those configurations to be platform specific, such as the download folders for tool updates. I'll see if I can finish up the first bit of win compat this afternoon, but my Android device is at work and is a Dell Streak at that, so my test options are a bit limited.
http://docs.python.org/2/library/platform.html
1183 - os.geteuid()
1196 - os.uname()
fork:
https://github.com/strvmarv/derp
screen:
Windows... already?!!
Holy crap! I don't think it's been 12 hours and there's an early windows port.. amazing job!
The unix-only stuff was from a last second addition I did when I realized that dero would try to run on ARM-based linux machines. The easy fix is to simply indent everything past:
if platform.system() == "Linux"
so that the if not os.geteuid() == 0: and testarch = os.uname() stuff is conditional on it running Linux. (Unless there's a windows ARM version, in which case it also won't work).
In both cases it would work except for the fact that Google doesn't provide libraries for ARM. Interestingly though, debian does. So if we REALLY wanted, we could just apt-get install the tools for ARM Linux users. But that would (1) require a debian-based version of Linux, and (2) we wouldn't know that adb/fastboot/etc are the very latest from Google. But it might be a good version .002 feature, with a preference to turn it on or something.
Again, amazing work. Keep it up!
strvmarv said:
http://docs.python.org/2/library/platform.html
1183 - os.geteuid()
1196 - os.uname()
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fattire said:
Holy crap! I don't think it's been 12 hours and there's an early windows port.. amazing job!
The unix-only stuff was from a last second addition I did when I realized that dero would try to run on ARM-based linux machines. The easy fix is to simply indent everything past:
if platform.system() == "Linux"
so that the if not os.geteuid() == 0: and testarch = os.uname() stuff is conditional on it running Linux. (Unless there's a windows ARM version, in which case it also won't work).
In both cases it would work except for the fact that Google doesn't provide libraries for ARM. Interestingly though, debian does. So if we REALLY wanted, we could just apt-get install the tools for ARM Linux users. But that would (1) require a debian-based version of Linux, and (2) we wouldn't know that adb/fastboot/etc are the very latest from Google. But it might be a good version .002 feature, with a preference to turn it on or something.
Again, amazing work. Keep it up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good deal, glad I could help. If you ever want to give a Mono/GTK# port a try just give me a shout. I could do the majority of the leg work code in C# very quickly, lightweight app, which is excellent these days.
I just pushed up my initial changes for the setup.py. I haven't figured it out yet, there are some imports, specifically in derp.py line 23 (platform) that aren't getting consolidated into the build with py2exe. It's most definitely how I've setup the options in the setup.py, hopefully someone is more familiar with py2exe than I and can provide some insight.
strvmarv said:
Good deal, glad I could help. If you ever want to give a Mono/GTK# port a try just give me a shout. I could do the majority of the leg work code in C# very quickly, lightweight app, which is excellent these days.
I just pushed up my initial changes for the setup.py. I haven't figured it out yet, there are some imports, specifically in derp.py line 23 (platform) that aren't getting consolidated into the build with py2exe. It's most definitely how I've setup the options in the setup.py, hopefully someone is more familiar with py2exe than I and can provide some insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, let me take a second and fix the bug I described above... then-- damn, I wish I could try the setup.py myself. So you're saying that the platform stuff doesn't get imported into the build for some reason?
Standby for the fix.. just gotta test it and stuff.
Update: Pushed. Also added /build, /dist, and one other mac build-related directory to .gitignore to make things a little easier to see...
strvmarv said:
I haven't figured it out yet, there are some imports, specifically in derp.py line 23 (platform) that aren't getting consolidated into the build with py2exe. It's most definitely how I've setup the options in the setup.py, hopefully someone is more familiar with py2exe than I and can provide some insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question, would doing something like this on line 52 do anything:
options = {'py2exe': {'bundle_files': 1, 'optimize': 2, 'compressed': 1,}},
I think you can also do something like:
includeList=["a list", "of modules", "to include"]
first, and then replace the line above with something like...
options = {'py2exe': {'bundle_files': 1, 'compressed': 1, 'optimize': 2, 'includes': includeList}},
see more info here and let me know if the above gets those modules in there! I see some option called "unbuffered".. dunno if that needs to be set to true.
bundle_files to 1 means that it hopefully will end up being a self-contained .exe
Let me know! Thanks!
Suggestion, maybe sticking with MD5 hashes would be simpler as the script receives updates to match Android SDK download updates. I can understand why you would want to use SHA512, but google offers MD5 on the site next the downloads for simple copy/paste replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to answer this. You're totally right that MD5 is the one Google provides, and at first I used MD5 for everything-- then sluo reprimanded me, told me how MD5 can't be taken seriously any more, that it's really really easy for anyone to create a MD5 spoofed file these days... So I figured, since this runs as root, it's better to be very extra super-cautious and make absolutely sure the right file is downloaded
Of course, in a user-provided script, you can use md5s or whatever the author wants, but for the Android tools themselves I figured it was better practice to use SHA512 to be more forward/future looking and make sluo (a *real* programmer) happy
More work done by hashcode on a windows port
Okay strvmarv and other windows folk--
Hashcode helped me out by testing on his machine that has Windows.. we did a little debugging, and the result are these two commits:
Pull Request #1
He was able to run derp successfully and do adb/fastboot commands from the Console interface.
But because he's using win64, he couldn't build (apparently only win32 supports building .exe files) all the way.
So, if you have a win32 system-- after applying these, does python setup.py py2exe build an .exe?
Questions:
* on win32 does it build into an .exe?
* If so, does the .exe run properly as the administrator-- right-click and select "Run as Administrator" I am told
* if so, does it install the android tools and ask you to agree to the License?
* if so, does it download/detect your devices?
* if so, can you run scripts (does it work?)
Note: You may also need to manually install Java, since the android sdk updater uses java.
I'm wondering too if the installer installs any drivers, and/or if any were needed.
Thanks!
fattire said:
Okay, let me take a second and fix the bug I described above... then-- damn, I wish I could try the setup.py myself. So you're saying that the platform stuff doesn't get imported into the build for some reason?
Standby for the fix.. just gotta test it and stuff.
Update: Pushed. Also added /build, /dist, and one other mac build-related directory to .gitignore to make things a little easier to see...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, will take a look tonight. It's very likely I'm just not setting the options in the setup.py correctly.
You're running snow leopard, correct? You could grab a copy of the Windows 8.1 Preview (free until Jan something I believe - http://preview.windows.com) and dual-boot, or even just run a VM...if you wanted. I had to install Python 2.7 x86, wxPython x86, python2exe x86, and then run derp.py from source directly (powershell or cmd) to get where I'm at now.
strvmarv said:
Awesome, will take a look tonight. It's very likely I'm just not setting the options in the setup.py correctly.
You're running snow leopard, correct? You could grab a copy of the Windows 8.1 Preview (free until Jan something I believe - http://preview.windows.com) and dual-boot, or even just run a VM...if you wanted. I had to install Python 2.7 x86, wxPython x86, python2exe x86, and then run derp.py from source directly (powershell or cmd) to get where I'm at now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ideally I'd like to test it on a win32 system because that's the one that py2exe will make a .exe for. But that said, hashcode has it running and adb installs and works and such. It's now a matter of getting it packaged up properly I think. If you can double-check that it works for you, that would be a good start. Then hopefully the .exe can be made. It should also check to make sure java is installed (which is needed by the Google updater) and if not, maybe help the user do it (or even do it for them)...
Also, his version of windows already had drivers on them, so we're not sure whether derp (well, the android tools installer from Google) will take care of that or not.
One last note-- you may have had problems with the looping downloads because the sha512sum seemed to have been off. I did my own sha and it was different.. The new one worked for hashcode.. it's in his commit linked above..
Thanks!
fattire said:
Okay strvmarv and other windows folk--
Hashcode helped me out by testing on his machine that has Windows.. we did a little debugging, and the result are these two commits:
Pull Request #1
He was able to run derp successfully and do adb/fastboot commands from the Console interface.
But because he's using win64, he couldn't build (apparently only win32 supports building .exe files) all the way.
So, if you have a win32 system-- after applying these, does python setup.py py2exe build an .exe?
Questions:
* on win32 does it build into an .exe?
* If so, does the .exe run properly as the administrator-- right-click and select "Run as Administrator" I am told
* if so, does it install the android tools and ask you to agree to the License?
* if so, does it download/detect your devices?
* if so, can you run scripts (does it work?)
Note: You may also need to manually install Java, since the android sdk updater uses java.
I'm wondering too if the installer installs any drivers, and/or if any were needed.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
* on win32 does it build into an .exe?
- I'm not win32, I'm running 8.1 x64, but it builds/executes just fine if you're using the 32 bit versions of Python, wxPython, and py2exe due to WOW64, long story
- It does build into an exe, see screen
Output
View attachment output.txt
Screen of dist folder
* If so, does the .exe run properly as the administrator-- right-click and select "Run as Administrator" I am told
- I'm running it with Run as Administrator, no, it still seems to blow up and stop running when it get's to __init__, it appears it can't find it for some reason when built with py2exe, likely the need for inclusion, not exactly sure yet...hard to capture error since it flashes by very quickly and then the console closes
* if so, does it install the android tools and ask you to agree to the License?
- If I run derp.py directly in Python it works just fine, android tools, etc...I haven't tried a script yet
* if so, does it download/detect your devices?
- I haven't tried a script yet
* if so, can you run scripts (does it work?)
- Ditto
Note: You may also need to manually install Java, since the android sdk updater uses java.
- Java SDK already installed, I dabble in Android
These missing modules indicated in build output worry me, not certain how to install them...
The following modules appear to be missing
['Carbon', 'Carbon.Files', 'ElementC14N', '_scproxy', '_sysconfigdata', 'win32api', 'win32con', 'win32pipe']
I've pulled a fresh copy of your repo, added Hashcodes changes, and tweaked the setup.py according to what I've found so far. Still blowing up as indicated above, but still moving in the right direction. If you want to go ahead and merge Hashcode's pull and ignore mine I'll reapply my changes so things don't get weird.
Pull request 2: https://github.com/fat-tire/derp/pull/2
I'll look over py2exe documentation and see if I can figure out what we need to change.
Ah, now we're getting somewhere, I changed console=["src/derp.py"] to windows=["src/derp.py"] as indicated here http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/ListOfOptions , get an error on execute, which is dumped into a text file, and looks like this...
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "derp.py", line 48, in <module>
NameError: name '__file__' is not defined
Any ideas?
scriptFolder = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), "..", "scripts/")
UPDATE:
This may help...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...e-path-of-the-current-executed-file-in-python
Nice.. thanks!
strvmarv said:
* on win32 does it build into an .exe?
- I'm not win32, I'm running 8.1 x64, but it builds/executes just fine if you're using the 32 bit versions of Python, wxPython, and py2exe due to WOW64, long story
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, cool.
- It does build into an exe, see screen
Output
View attachment 2167579
Screen of dist folder
View attachment 2167586
* If so, does the .exe run properly as the administrator-- right-click and select "Run as Administrator" I am told
- I'm running it with Run as Administrator, no, it still seems to blow up and stop running when it get's to __init__, it appears it can't find it for some reason when built with py2exe, likely the need for inclusion, not exactly sure yet...hard to capture error since it flashes by very quickly and then the console closes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file size looks tiny... it looks like it doesn't build into it all the stuff it needs...
* if so, does it install the android tools and ask you to agree to the License?
- If I run derp.py directly in Python it works just fine, android tools, etc...I haven't tried a script yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ This is awesome and a good sign for this working once we get the build finished.
* if so, does it download/detect your devices?
- I haven't tried a script yet
* if so, can you run scripts (does it work?)
- Ditto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I think about it-- the "welcome" stuff and auto-download of the tools are all a running .derp script (welcome.derp) so yes, you are running them
These missing modules indicated in build output worry me, not certain how to install them...
The following modules appear to be missing
['Carbon', 'Carbon.Files', 'ElementC14N', '_scproxy', '_sysconfigdata', 'win32api', 'win32con', 'win32pipe']
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. Did you try adding them explicitly in the optionList as I suggested above?
And another way to do it is to use the -p and -i paremeters when you do python setup.py py2exe
Also maybe try adding:
import win32com
after "import py2exe" in setup.py I saw some reference to that somewhere...
What else...
looks like elementc14n is something related to the elementree module of python... win32api is here I think... but I think it would be installed when you installed python to begin with.
I've pulled a fresh copy of your repo, added Hashcodes changes, and tweaked the setup.py according to what I've found so far. Still blowing up as indicated above, but still moving in the right direction. If you want to go ahead and merge Hashcode's pull and ignore mine I'll reapply my changes so things don't get weird.
Pull request 2: https://github.com/fat-tire/derp/pull/2
I'll look over py2exe documentation and see if I can figure out what we need to change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking too... See this?
For py2exe to work with packages loaded during runtime, the main thing seems to be that u explicitly import the modules needed by your app somewhere in your app. And then give py2exe in setup.py with moudlefinder.AddPackagePath( , ) the hint, where to search for modules it couldn't find by std. introspection. in the app
I won't do a full-on pull to the repo until everything is working and tested against linux/mac just to make sure we're only fixing stuff and not breaking the other platforms in the process
strvmarv said:
Ah, now we're getting somewhere..
UPDATE:
This may help...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...e-path-of-the-current-executed-file-in-python
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes-- does this help as recommended in the link above..?
http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/WhereAmI
fattire said:
Ah yes-- does this help as recommended in the link above..?
http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/WhereAmI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jpath wouldn't pull in for some reason, despite installing via pip and having an import, so I resorted to logic to assign "." as the path (very hacky)...
So, here it is...running from derp.exe compiled with py2exe...when I get a moment I'll put together a quick summary of how to get a local win environment going..
Here's another pull:
https://github.com/fat-tire/derp/pull/3
UPDATE:
Ack, storing sdk tools in Program Files\Common Files is great and everything, but it needs to be store in Program Files (x86)\Common Files since it's x86 compiled. Pretty sure things may go wrong at some point as it is...
UPDATE: I discontinued work for this tablet model, due to the lack of NEON support for the Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU used in this model. Any existing work I uploaded will remain online, but I won't be uploading anything new. I'm also considering selling my tablet to anyone interested.
I have become successful with getting postmarketOS to run on this tablet for the past 2 months, running mainline Linux (5.8.0 as of this writing). This allows us to use this tablet model for a little longer, without getting stuck on older Linux kernel versions.
postmarketOS is an experimental, touch-optimized and pre-configured Alpine Linux. It can be installed on smartphones and other devices.
About postmarketOS, from their homepage:
We are sick of not receiving updates shortly after buying new phones. Sick of the walled gardens deeply integrated into Android and iOS. That's why we are developing a sustainable, privacy and security focused free software mobile OS that is modeled after traditional Linux distributions. With privilege separation in mind. Let's keep our devices useful and safe until they physically break!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wiki page for this tablet: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Acer_Iconia_Tab_A500_(acer-picasso)
Most features should work, except for the camera and 3D acceleration. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work only if the non-free firmware is chosen to be installed.
How to install:
Follow the installation guide at https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Installation_guide, where theses specifics have to be specified when requested (this device is now in upstream pmaports):
Vendor: acer
Device code-name: picasso
Install non-free Wi-Fi + Bluetooth firmware: y
Only the mainline kernel is available for installation now, as downstream kernels no longer successfully compile. The user interface may be freely selected, as long as it is not one that requires 3D acceleration. To use KDE Plasma 5, add these lines to /etc/security/pam_env.conf:
Code:
QT_IM_MODULE=qtvirtualkeyboard
QT_QUICK_BACKEND=software
LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1
Next, run the following commands in succession, after each one finishes, assuming the working directory contains the pmbootstrap.py script:
Code:
> ./pmbootstrap.py build device-acer-picasso
> ./pmbootstrap.py build firmware-acer-picasso
> ./pmbootstrap.py build linux-postmarketos-grate
From here on out, the generated chroot can be either installed to the eMMC, or a microSD card that must be inserted at or before boot time (the latter method allows for dual-booting Android already installed to the eMMC, although it can be directly accessed from the Linux system). The boot partition always has to be flashed to the eMMC in fastboot mode, as it is not possible to boot directly off of a microSD card.
If installing to the eMMC, run
Code:
> ./pmbootstrap.py install
> ./pmbootstrap.py flasher flash_kernel --partition secboot
> ./pmbootstrap.py flasher flash_rootfs
(optional) > ./pmbootstrap.py flasher boot
If installing to a microSD card, run
Code:
> ./pmbootstrap.py install --sdcard [path to the device for installation]
> ./pmbootstrap.py flasher flash_kernel --partition secboot
Depending on what user interface was chosen earlier in the installation process, there may not be enough packages installed to get a fully-loaded GUI. Besides the built-in Wi-Fi, it is also possible to use a USB ethernet adapter, or connect to another computer with a micro-USB cable and get RNDIS access that enables using SSH to the tablet.
Using another distro in place of postmarketOS
Advanced: Using another distro in place of postmarketOS
It is possible, if using the microSD card method, to use a different distro instead of postmarketOS, for those who want more software OOTB. I use the Ubuntu MATE rootfs from https://ubuntu-mate.org/ports/raspberry-pi/ as my daily driver, but other distros may take more effort to get working. Glibc limitations no longer apply, as the kernel version is no longer stuck at 3.1.0 (unlike with my earlier attempts). Carefully follow the instructions listed below, or the resulting system will become unbootable:
Use losetup or GNOME Disks (Utility) to mount the image in read-write mode.
Run GParted with the loop image and the target microSD card as the arguments.
Copy only the larger rootfs partition to the microSD card. Resize as necessary to get it to fit on the target microSD card.
Make sure on the target microSD card the boot partition is named 'pmOS_boot' and the rootfs 'pmOS_root'. The initramfs is hard-coded to search for partitions with these names by default for microSD cards. The loop image is not needed after this point, and can be safely detached.
On the copied rootfs, edit /etc/fstab to reflect the partition layout. To get access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, copy the kernel modules and firmware from the pmOS rootfs on the host system to the microSD rootfs.
Let me know if something wasn't understood from my instructions, or more clarification is needed. The instructions here can be somewhat overwhelming for those who have less Linux experience, but at least we're not forced to stay on old distro versions anymore.
Premade Linux images
I finally have managed to create a premade image to make the installation process easier for other people, especially for those who don't want to go through the hassle of compiling software. Every image I make can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pMqaS5GaM6N9TAKlNGQZWCG8UTiRn4pK?usp=sharing.
For all images:
Kernel version: 5.15.0-rc4
Includes all compiled kernel modules from postmarketOS builds, plus nonfree firmware enabled.
The postmarketOS splash screen will appear, although the underlying OS differs based the image used.
Images available:
Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 (ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+acer-picasso.img.xz) (size: 1.3 GiB):
Based on 'ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+raspi.img.xz', available from https://ubuntu-mate.org/ports/raspberry-pi/
Underlying OS is Ubuntu 20.04.1, which is supported for 5 years until April 2025. However, Ubuntu MATE officially has support only until April 2023.
Requires at least an 8 GB or greater size microSD card (the image is 5.6 GiB decompressed).
The setup screen will open upon the first successful boot, where a username and password have to be set.
Most extra packages for the Raspberry Pi family of computers have been removed, including the kernels.
The battery icon in MATE cannot be enabled graphically, as the preferences window has been patched to permanently hide such an option (as the Raspberry Pis lack native battery support); instead run the command
Code:
gsettings set org.mate.power-manager icon-policy 'always'
to manually enable it.
The PPA at https://launchpad.net/~grate-driver/+archive/ubuntu/ppa is pre-configured to be accessed. Most packages from this repository, including the opentegra driver, come preinstalled. They currently are enough to get 2D acceleration working, but not for 3D acceleration.
Except for what has been mentioned above, any packages shipped may have to be updated once an internet connection is established.
Arch Linux ARM (ArchLinuxARM-armv7-latest+acer-picasso.img.xz) (size: 576.6 MiB):
Based on 'ArchLinuxARM-armv7-latest.tar.gz', available from https://archlinuxarm.org/about/downloads
Rolling release distro often with the latest versions of most packages. More recent software can be acquired at a small expense of instability.
Requires at least an 2 GB or greater size microSD card (the image is 1.9 GiB decompressed). Larger size is recommended for installing more packages.
To login into system:
Login as the default user alarm with the password alarm.
The default root password is root.
Initially command-line only; contains no desktop environment installed.
Use any image writing program with these images. If such a program does not support XZ compression, the image needs to be extracted instead, and that has to be used.
I hope the images will proves useful to some people. Let me know if any issue pops up during usage of this image!
hey Worldblender,
I have flashed the premade file you shared to an sdcard but I'm unsure as to how to boot into it?
tehno said:
hey Worldblender,
I have flashed the premade file you shared to an sdcard but I'm unsure as to how to boot into it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The instructions were written assuming that the user has already flashed the custom bootloader as described here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271. Sorry for not making this clear anywhere, but that custom bootloader, along with flashing the boot image found in the first partition named "pmOS_boot" to either boot or secboot using fastboot, should get you set up to boot the SD card image.
Hi Worldblender,
Nice to see you work on this legacy device.
I definitely don't want to use android or can use it anymore on this tablet.
Nice to see some linux flavor being ported to it.
I had a look a the dedicated page on postmarketos.
Can you confirm the only GUI availbale as for now is the one called "Weston" ?
Or is MATE also working (from the screenshot) ?
Weston seem very basic, MATE more friendly.
How about performance ?
I'm considering reusing it to display a grafana dashboard in firefox for instance, maybe more if performance isn't too bad.
Worldblender said:
The instructions were written assuming that the user has already flashed the custom bootloader as described here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271. Sorry for not making this clear anywhere, but that custom bootloader, along with flashing the boot image found in the first partition named "pmOS_boot" to either boot or secboot using fastboot, should get you set up to boot the SD card image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Worldblender for your work in writing up instructions and compiling the image too.
However, I'm still a bit lost as to what to do with your Ubuntu Mate image.
I've gotten the TWRP bootloader installed onto my Acer A500 tablet, but whether I use Rufus to expand your image onto an SD card, or just copy the compressed image onto the SD card, the [ Install ] does not see any images inside of the drive. Am I supposed to decompress your image in Windows and use the 0.img and 1.img in place of the nvflash's boot.img and recovery.img?
While I can see the two partitions in Ubuntu, I'm equally lost as to what to do with them, and how to get it onto the tablet.
coluwyvurne said:
Thank you Worldblender for your work in writing up instructions and compiling the image too.
However, I'm still a bit lost as to what to do with your Ubuntu Mate image.
I've gotten the TWRP bootloader installed onto my Acer A500 tablet, but whether I use Rufus to expand your image onto an SD card, or just copy the compressed image onto the SD card, the [ Install ] does not see any images inside of the drive. Am I supposed to decompress your image in Windows and use the 0.img and 1.img in place of the nvflash's boot.img and recovery.img?
While I can see the two partitions in Ubuntu, I'm equally lost as to what to do with them, and how to get it onto the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for me to give out an update to the image, as there likely has been a new kernel version released that I would like to have updated first.
TWRP will not be used at all for this installation process, as the image is too big to flash with fastboot. Just flash the image to a microSD card, as the boot image that will be flashed will automatically pick it up shortly after booting. The only thing that does have to be flashed is the boot.img, which can be found in the first partition, and you will be only using fastboot for this process, not anything else.
I released a new version of the premade Ubuntu MATE image just now, named 'ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+acer-picasso.img.xz'. The following changes have been made since the last image:
Kernel version upgraded to 5.10.1-rc1
Based on Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1
Everything that changed since the beta1 image
Other than these changes, there are no other differences that can be noticed right away.
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mr-7e29KJYeagJju0Yo1qUpT2YRb61AR/view?usp=sharing
Many thanks for your work. I've entered today this forum just curious about something new and found this!
Second life for this old machine!
For those with problems installing, I've flashed precompiled image using balenaEtcher into the sdcard.
Then, extracted .xz image, extracted .img, then extracted 0.img and copied boot file from there. After that, renamed the file to boot.img and flashed it with fastboot.
As I've the old modified skrillex bootloader, the command is fastboot flash secboot boot.img.
It boots and works well for now!
Worldblender said:
[*] Add the PPA at https://launchpad.net/~grate-driver/+archive/ubuntu/ppa to get access to updated video drivers. They currently are enough to get 2D acceleration working, but not for 3D acceleration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Worldblender
Hi, i apt updated after adding grate-driver ppa, it seems it broken xorg because X don't start anymore
Can you detail how to proceed ?
pheex79 said:
@Worldblender
Hi, i apt updated after adding grate-driver ppa, it seems it broken xorg because X don't start anymore
Can you detail how to proceed ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you still switch to a virtual terminal with Ctrl-Alt-[F1-F7]? You will need a USB keyboard to do this. Then try, after logging in with your username and password:
Code:
systemctl stop lightdm
startx
If startx does not bring something up, could you try running journalctl, and show me any log entries relating to lightdm?
If that still fails, you can try (if ppa-purge is not installed, install that first)
Code:
ppa-purge ppa:grate-driver/ppa
@Worldblender
one binary missing but i think this error is present before adding ppa
"/sbin/prime-switch: 22: /usr/bin/gpu-manager: not found"
Xorg log:
Require OpenGL version 2.1 or later
modeset(0): Failed to initialize glamor at ScreenInit() time
pheex79 said:
@Worldblender
one binary missing but i think this error is present before adding ppa
"/sbin/prime-switch: 22: /usr/bin/gpu-manager: not found"
Xorg log:
Require OpenGL version 2.1 or later
modeset(0): Failed to initialize glamor at ScreenInit() time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never received such an error, but the specific package you must install is xserver-xorg-video-opentegra. No other Nvidia driver is going to work.
Worldblender said:
I never received such an error, but the specific package you must install is xserver-xorg-video-opentegra. No other Nvidia driver is going to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works ! Thank you
xserver-xorg-video-opentegra was not installed
when adding ppa grate i only did an "apt upgrade" cmd i thought all grate items were installed (a few are installed when upgrading apt)
Nice work thank you so much.
Is there any chance for Manjaro arm? Or is it limited to debian based distros?
Note that after following the instructions for installing the Ubuntu MATE image from @Worldblender from a starting point of just the stock image, I have Ubuntu MATE installed on the external SD card and no OS installed on the eMMC because it was wiped during the bootloader replacement. Reading back through the posts suggests this is by design.
@Worldblender, so I'm very new at rooting devices, and have a little experience with Ubuntu but feel pretty lost. Any chance you could hook me up with a step by step install of the Nov2 image (unless you've put together another new version) from a stock(not rooted or anything) A500? I apologize if I overlooked something.
Edit: I got it working after doing this thing called reading, I definitely overlooked some things after reading closer. For someone else that might find themselves in my shoes here's what I did.
I followed this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271 to get the bootloader installed
and then followed @whylly 's instructions:
whylly said:
For those with problems installing, I've flashed precompiled image using balenaEtcher into the sdcard.
Then, extracted .xz image, extracted .img, then extracted 0.img and copied boot file from there. After that, renamed the file to boot.img and flashed it with fastboot.
As I've the old modified skrillex bootloader, the command is fastboot flash secboot boot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there ! I have an iconia a500, rooted with lightspeed 4.8. Can I install this and then make it switch to Khali linux ? My ultimate objective is to get Khali on this tablet. I've worked my way down from ver 2.5x linuxdeploy all the way down to 2.0 lol So I'm thinking maybe if I apply your OS it will update the Kernal from 4.0.3 to 5 yes ? (That's a big jump for linuxdeploy) then I can apt-get khalifull ? Am I off base would this work ? Unless you have an image already of course in which case pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaase I'll pay for the bloody thing if I have to I've been pulling my hair out for days. Tried frikkin everything.
Unless anybody has a better method of course in which case feel free to suggest. If I have to make the image from scratch so be it
EDIT: UGhhhhhh after days of troubleshooting, I got to linuxdeploy2.0-1.16 installed kali (the native one on the app not from the repository as that gives kernel too old once you get the install working). Managed to term in and tried to start lxde, failed because lxde doesn't exist (sigh) tried to apt-get... kernel too old. game over sigh
Unless someone has a workaround I don't think it's possible to get Khali on a500.
Sound work?