Good afternoon!
Last time I was on the xda threads I learned how to install Linux Ubuntu Jaunty within the Webtop feature of my now ~5 year old Motorola Atrix. It was so sweet because it would launch on HDMI out to the TV while the touchscreen became the mouse & keyboard.
The only downsides were that
1. Had to carry around >= uHDMI adapter
2. Ubuntu was unstable
3. Weak CPU/GPU performance.
Now I am looking to do something similar with a more recent device so I can stream video from the web-browser. (The Motorola Atrix was just not powerful enough, unless SD and non-fullscreen, which a few years ago was still pretty awesome.)
I am comfortable with any hacking that may be necessary; rooting, flashing, developing, etc. Just want to know what's possible and what would work best.
Any ideas?
Thanks, guys!!!
Related
Hello all
Well it might seem stupid, but wanting a port of Android on a compatible device
is something that Android was created for.
The Kindle 3, for example is not too far from a phone.
It has all what is needed to make calls;
3G modem
Speakers
3.5mm port
Microphone
1750mAh battery for 10 days use with wireless connection
And it fits in a pocket(mine at least)
Now, I'm not a developer, nor a Linux expert.
But the device runs Debian and there is Ubuntu with Xorg for the kindle,
the step from Ubuntu to Android is just the next reasonable thing.
gadgets.boingboing(.)net/2009/09/02/photo-and-descriptio.html
Its got a MX353 cpu, 256 ram, atheros wifi and Epson ISIS (S1D13522) display controller.
www(.)freescale(.)com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=i.MX353
I'm sure it has been asked before, but definitely not on XDA.
One more vote for Android on Kindle-3
Agree with ph3r0c1ty
I am looking to use Offline Browser to cache my web reading.
and all the other good stuff from the Market.
Is it still interesting?
Hello!
I've just came to the same idea. The only phone with e-ink is yotaphone for now. But price is a bit high.
Is it still interesting for anybody? I did not find any references for projects as "Android on Kindle3"...
Hey guys, have a lot of questions, so bare with me.
Some background info, ive been with android since the droid 1, every single phone ive owned is rooted and had a custom rom. I am currently using a HTC Rezound with sense 4.0 as my phone. The Atrix 4G i am using is just a phone to play around with for me. The main purpose i bought it for, was to use it as a HDMI out entertainment hub. I also bought one of those Atrix Lapdocks, and wanted to make better use out of it then the portable LCD monitor i was using it for.
Right now im running NottachTrix4G 2.3.6 rom on the phone, Faux 1.3ghz kernel, along with the full GenTop2 webtop as well. At the moment, it is the full rom i am running, i haven't stripped anything yet but i do plan to since i don't need any of the mobile data/phone stuff, just wifi.
The first thing i did was i put the rom on, then got GenTop2 working. After that, i then tested the HDMI out separately to my hdtv. I noticed when i plugged in the HDMI out, the Gentoo login showed up till i changed it to hdmi mirroring on the phone. This was my first concern about how all of this functions.
My questions are as follows:
1 - Does webtop run the entire time the phone is on? I assumed that it wouldn't turn on till the MicroUSB host + hdmi both connect and then it fires up. It seems like i am wrong on this.
2 - Does having Gentop2 running the entire time hurt performance of the phone? My main usage of the device is either for the Gentop2 via the lapdock, or HDMI out mirror'd for Emulators (snes/nes/genesis/n64/PSX) which are all performance heavy and Netflix. I noticed things weren't as crispy and smooth via the hdmi out as they are on my HP touchpad, wondering if having webtop running is hurting performance.
3 - If having Gentop2 does hurt performance like i am suspecting, how does CM7/CM9 perform when it comes to HDMI mirror performance and emulators/netflix? I could dual boot via Boot Manager or even the 2 partition method i've seen in the Android Development forum for the atrix. That way i could have a Gentop2 setup via blur for the lapdock, and reboot into a different rom (either CM7/CM9/Blur but without webtop) for usage of HDMI out for a HDTV.
4 - Is there perhaps something better then the Gentop2 i am running? I went with that because its still being worked on and i liked the performance on it, but i would not mind having Ubuntu or Linux Mint instead. There is not much centralized info about Webtop flavors and comparisons, its very scattered and hard to know what is what.
Overall i absolutely love the device, pleased so much with it. Thanks.
1) X (and the webtop desktop) starts the first time the doc is plugged in and stays running. I beleive it detects the USB device ID but am not certain.
2) All X based webtops will take some resources, in particular RAM. This means your forground tasks will have less available for them. I beleive you can execute /etc/init.d/webtop-shutdown.sh to spin it back down. (Then maybe /usr/local/bin/webtop-restart if it will not start back on its own).
3) Mirror will not take resources AFAIK.
4) If your issue with Gentop2 is lack of functionality, there is a mod "Full Debian" or such that does a similar mod with a standard debien. There are also notes there and how to do a custom distro. Note that Gentop will be most efficient.
A couple side notes. The true webtop concept (an X based distro on the dock) might well be history. Moto is going to mirror + tablet mode in ICS and it will be a challange to keep the current stuff working from then on (unless somebody wants to stay with gingerbread).
I suspect from then on the ability to run X based linux applications will be via the vcn method. A "headless" linux distro is used with a vcn server and the 'droid vcn client is used to present the screen. This can be done now on gingerbread (some like it), but on ICS we need some help from moto on the drivers before we can get a decent enough resoloution to do that right.
Call me crazy alright, but it is possible to get old 2.0 webtop on an ICS system? Flashing it via Fastboot, cwm or Rsd?I just can't get used to it and found it very disappointing specially the lack of:
-A descent mobile view.
-Full featured firefox.
-The ability to run linux and per se, a most competitive laptop environment.
-Real multi-tasking with lots of windows opened at once.
-Best integration with Lapdock keyboard and trackpad.
-Capability to run dedicated os programs like openoffice.org (not this joke of quickoffice...)
-A true laptop resolution at all for God sake!
-Many more
I know that this 3.0 is very light-weight and almost "flawless" but still not that useful for me specially coming from an Atrix with the webtop2sd mod, pure laptop experience... OMG what have I done!!! Lol!!! Neh... I wouldn't trade my razr for anything... at least in 17 months!
Have found something googling it but the info is not very useful as well, so looking for the advice from somebody here willing to point in some direction to get this working, if this it is even possible.
Thanks!
General consensus will probably be no. Until I get home tonight, I can't look at /dev/block/webtop to see if its possible. In theory, so long as the files are 100% separate, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. Problem being, I think they tie into the system files somehow and aren't completely separate as they'd need to be.
Anyone else have any ideas on this? I plan to put ics on my clns replacement tonight, but i might not since I want the full featured webtop.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Webtop 2.0 seems intact on ICS
I'm interested in this as well. I only acquired a lapdock post-ICS, so I unfortunately don't know exactly how things worked before.
It seems like all of the pieces are still in place for the real Ubuntu webtop. The old webtop does not appear to have been not removed in the update; mounting the /dev/block/webtop partition (ext3) reveals a 1 GB linux filesystem. I would be surprised if the Linux environment is broken, as chroot Linux environments such as "Free Linux Installer" work identically in both GB and ICS.
The big question is how the webtop is launched; I'll try and figure this out, but if anyone knows or has a copy of whatever script launched the Ubuntu-based webtop this would be very helpful!
I don't currently own a Webtop enabled phone but I have wanted one for a while now. I am on Sprint and have a SERO account which I would like to hang onto so when I heard about the Motorola Photon Q I watched it with a lot of interest. As more info kept being released I got more and more disappointed. Finally I noticed that the phone won't come with Webtop.
Seems strange considering it is going to be priced like a high-end phone yet it is missing a relatively important feature most high-end Motorola phones have. Even the Atrix HD won't have Webtop but according to Motorola they didn't include it to make the phone more cost effective.
So those 2 phones won't have Webtop but on top of that the lapdocks are being sold for really cheap yet there hasn't been any announcements of a successor or refresh. The last lapdock released, as far as I know, was the 500 Pro and that came out 8 months ago. It hasn't been a year yet but that is still a really long time without a refresh to a phone accessory.
I know it is a little too soon to tell if Webtop has been discontinued and we won't know for sure till Motorola comes out and confirms it but I was just curious what others thought about it.
Sorry if this has been discussed before but I did a search and couldn't find anything.
Android 4.0 doesn't use webtop anymore because it just switches into tablet mode when plugged into a tv or external monitor via hdmi.
As long as I can run my phone at higher resolution through an hdmi cable, who cares what they call it?
MrCavity said:
Android 4.0 doesn't use webtop anymore because it just switches into tablet mode when plugged into a tv or external monitor via hdmi.
As long as I can run my phone at higher resolution through an hdmi cable, who cares what they call it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it that way with all android phones using 4.0 that have video out? Thought most android phones that can do video out just did screen mirroring without switching to a tablet mode.
Anyways, the main reason I am interested in Webtop is because of the lapdock. I wouldn't use Webtop on a TV or monitor but the lapdock would be the sole reason for me wanting Webtop. I know I could get a cheap android tablet but I'd rather have a lapdock since it is laptop-like and it would contain everything on my phone. Don't really want 2 separate devices.
As far as I know the lapdock will only work with Motorola phones that have Webtop. Correction welcome if that assumption is wrong.
You don't have to do tablet mode, you can choose to just mirror your display.
The thing is that despite webtop was based on linux, you only had one desktop program, Firefox, and better resolution.
The only difference at ICS is that you will use either the android version of Firefox, or just the Chrome. It's a faster solution, but it lacks at the flash support part.
Sent from my XT910
No, sorry, thats not the only diffrrence!
Its much bigger. With the real Webtop you have got a real Linux system so you can use libreoffice, gimp and so on.
With tablet mode you have an fuc* android on an untouchable lapdock display.
With linux you can get n programs on the screen. With android you have only on. To change through the open programs, you get illness...
There re many differences!
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium
Hello everyone.
Berfore I write anything, I am aware that ARM processors are not nearly powerfull enought for this to pay off, but I have some spare time on my hands and an old android phone (samsung galaxy S) that has no other use whatsoever.
So, here is what I was thinking:
Is there a way to completely strip the phone of android, so it runs an os (preferrably a flavour of linux) that is as easy on resources as possible and is capable of running wireless drivers and mining software. My knowledge on this part is full of holes, so there are several questions I would like an answer to:
1. Can an android phone (running an ARM processor) run ONLY a distro of linux. I do not mind loosing the phone's capabilities (camera, GSM, touchscreen...). It needs to support a usb mouse and keyboard, a wireless connection and basically run as low on power as possible.
2. Where would I start when reading up on such a thing?
3. Is there already such a thing out there and I'm just incapable of finding it?
Again, I just want this to be a fun project, I bet a lot of you guys have useless old hardware laying around, let's put them to work
JasonXtreme said:
Hello everyone.
Berfore I write anything, I am aware that ARM processors are not nearly powerfull enought for this to pay off, but I have some spare time on my hands and an old android phone (samsung galaxy S) that has no other use whatsoever.
So, here is what I was thinking:
Is there a way to completely strip the phone of android, so it runs an os (preferrably a flavour of linux) that is as easy on resources as possible and is capable of running wireless drivers and mining software. My knowledge on this part is full of holes, so there are several questions I would like an answer to:
1. Can an android phone (running an ARM processor) run ONLY a distro of linux. I do not mind loosing the phone's capabilities (camera, GSM, touchscreen...). It needs to support a usb mouse and keyboard, a wireless connection and basically run as low on power as possible.
2. Where would I start when reading up on such a thing?
3. Is there already such a thing out there and I'm just incapable of finding it?
Again, I just want this to be a fun project, I bet a lot of you guys have useless old hardware laying around, let's put them to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, first of all using a Galaxy S as a mining rig would be very inefficient. It has a too small and old GPU, even on a Nexus 6 it would take forever to make even a LiteCoin or DogeCoin. So no, that's not really what you should do with it. The best way is to turn it into a mediacenter. You heard of XBMC?
Here is a really great guide on how to do that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xpe...de-cracked-screen-beast-life-tv-xbmc-t2907921
I guess this is the best what you can do with your old phone. :good:
Besides, I sometimes use mine to experiment things in terms of Android. Like building an experimental ROM and flash on it, because a brick is not so terrible on such a old device.
Hope I could help you!
Thank you for your input
As I've stated, I am aware that I am barking completely up the wrong tree, but nontheless - I am interested in rewiring the SGS into a linux-only machine, meaning I want to eliminate android completely. The mining is just a bonus here, even if it does produce mHashes
you can mine with the app called miner gate . I mine on my s3 korean and get an hashrate of 8 mb s easily available on play store