Hi,
Firstly, installing desktop OS's of whatever sort on the Android version (YB1-X90F), insofar as anyone has managed it, is a completely different process and none of what follows is likely to be relevant.
Secondly, it should go without saying that any use of the linked ISO or the information in this post is entirely at your own risk.
There are several threads on xda and elsewhere dealing with attempts to install Linux on the Windows version of the Yoga Book (YB1-X91F). They're pretty consistent in terms of results, both with each other and my own attempts. I have tried the latest and previous LTS or main releases Debian, Ubuntu (all flavours), Mint and Fedora.
Between mine and others' attempts, most distros have the following working, using a Live ISO flashed to USB:
- Boot to desktop and successful install to eMMC
- Display
- Graphics pad responds to touches, but not aligned with screen rotation and probably in need of other calibration.
- USB, including ethernet-to-USB adapter
Some distros/versions additionally have:
- Touchscreen (only newer kernels, I think 4.13 onwards but definitely 4.15 onwards)
- Sound via HDMI
- Not sure about Bluetooth - possibly
The following didn't work with any distos/versions:
- A lot of the ACPI subsystem, meaning that some ICs (e.g. SD Card) don't receive power.
- Wifi
- SD Card
- Sound via headphones or speakers
- Halo Keyboard
- Touchscreen multitouch
- Battery gauge
- OS control of battery charger IC, though the IC sits in autonomous mode so the device still charges
- Display brightness adjustment (always set to max)
- Display auto-rotate
The Mint ISO linked at the end of this post has WiFi, the SD Card, two-finger right click and brightness adjustment working in addition to the OOTB functionality. I've made a lot of progress on the sound - the driver and codec load but it needs some configuration. I have read elsewhere that configuring this incorrectly can blow your speakers which is why I haven't tackled it yet.
The Halo keyboard doesn't work yet, so the Yoga Book can't be used in laptop mode for now. The only real barrier to using it in tablet mode is the lack of a functioning battery gauge. More on this below.
Instructions:
You will need a USB flash drive of at least 2GB, a USB keyboard and mouse and therefore a USB hub as well as a way of attaching it to the micro-usb port. I use an OTG adapter which came with a Samsung phone.
The touchscreen does not work when the Live ISO boots but it does work after installation.
Once Linux is installed on the eMMC, the firmware will boot to GRUB by default rather than Windows. To boot into Windows you have to enter the firmware menu. This should be easy to fix/reconfigure but I haven't got round to it yet. I need to get the volume and power keys working in GRUB first.
- Download the ISO from the link below and flash to USB. I use Etcher on MacOS which flashes in a dd-like manner (other tools make their own changes to the target drive to make it bootable - this isn't needed or desirable).
- Turn off hibernate, fast boot and secure boot in Windows. There are easily found guides on how to do this. It ought to be possible to retain secure boot but I have found doing so a real headache on other systems so didn't try in this case.
- Turn off any secure boot settings in the device firmware (access the menu by powering on with the volume up button pressed down).
- Using the firmware menu, boot from the flashed USB drive. When the desktop boots, use GParted to shrink the Windows partition, leaving at least 11GB (Mint says it needs 10.7GB). I've been messing around with Linux for months now on the YB and have found 11 enough.
- Run the desktop installer. At the partitioning menu, choose 'Something else'.
- Create a new Ext4 partition using all of the free space created previously and map it to '/'.
- Ignore any warnings about a swap partition. If you get stuck on a dialog about forcing a UEFI install, open a terminal and run 'killall ubiquity' then run the installer again with the network connection turned off. If the install doesn't work, you may have to risk the default 'Install Mint alongside Windows....' option. I have never had a problem with this, but I don't quite trust it, or indeed the installer in general.
- If you fail at the point of GRUB install, go back and start again with networking disabled.
- Just reboot as normal.
Changes from Stock ISO (probably not exhaustive)
- New ISO using 18.3 Cinnamon as a base using Cubic
- Updated, inc dist-upgrade as of 6 Sept 18
- Missing Broadcom firmware (for WiFi) added.
- Additions to /etc/skel/.config to put Mint into HiDPI mode
- Florence on screen keyboard added and loads on start
- Touchegg, which enables two-finger right click added and loads on start.
- LightDM settings changed to enable Florence and HiDPI
- Most importantly, a custom kernel (4.18.5) which is responsible for most of the above-OOTB functionality. Some of this is just about enabling the correct Atom ACPI ICs, other bits relate to load order (to get past the lack of brightness control).
Help!
- I really need some help with the battery gauge IC. For now, dmesg is the best bet but I'll follow up with another post with more detail.
- There are other things which need doing, e.g. the keyboard and finishing off the sound but these are relatively straightforward by comparison. The gauge/charger setup is the last low level thing not working.
Custom ISO:
This is my first post. I can't post links! Remove the spaces and ..... :
drive.google.com/ .... open? .... id=1-5vtnKAVpERmzTFIR3TGXe1DgvoFvehc
Help Needed - Battery Gauge/Charger
The issue
The following can be seen by running 'dmesg' after boot using the ISO in my first post, which uses a 4.18 kernel customised for the hardware in the Yoga Book.
The kernel attempts to load the driver for the TI bq24190 battery charger IC. I'm not yet able to post links so search for 'bq24190_charger.c' in the Linux kernel Github repo. The driver throws an error on boot when it hits this code at line 1640. It's expecting a 6 and it gets a 4, the value of BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24190.
bq24190_charger.c
Code:
if (v != BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24190 &&
v != BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24192I) {
dev_err(bdi->dev, "Error unknown model: 0x%02x\n", v);
return -ENODEV;
}
If I remove this check altogether and re-compile the module then the driver proceeds to load but reports zeroes for all status values. It's not clear whether it is, in fact, the right chip and isn't talking to the rest of the hardware or it's simply the wrong driver.
However, at least removing this check allows the Whiskey Cove ACPI IC driver to get a bit further along. Search for 'intel_cht_int33fe.c' in the kernel source. Comments in this file (line 124) confirm that this IC is expected to be paired with a bq24190.
By adding in dmesg warnings and re-compiling the int33fe module I could see that when an unmodified bq24190 driver is used, i.e. the check above takes place and is failed, the int33fe driver fails its own check at line 138:
intel_cht_int33fe.c
Code:
regulator = regulator_get_optional(dev, "cht_wc_usb_typec_vbus");
if (IS_ERR(regulator)) {
ret = PTR_ERR(regulator);
return (ret == -ENODEV) ? -EPROBE_DEFER : ret;
}
regulator_put(regulator);
When I remove the check, it fails at the next check starting at line 145:
Code:
/* The FUSB302 uses the irq at index 1 and is the only irq user */
fusb302_irq = acpi_dev_gpio_irq_get(ACPI_COMPANION(dev), 1);
if (fusb302_irq < 0) {
if (fusb302_irq != -EPROBE_DEFER)
dev_err(dev, "Error getting FUSB302 irq\n");
return fusb302_irq;
}
I have tried various combinations of including the FUSB driver and dependencies as modules/built in but the result is the same. I also tried moving the FUSB check to after the code which tries to link up with the max17047 battery gauge IC, but this fails also.
Some owners of the Android version of the Yoga Book have posted files/screenshots on Telegram which indicate that a different charger, the bq25892 is used. As far as I know i2c devices are simply identified by the fact that they occupy a certain address on the bus. You can see in the datasheet for the bq24190 (sorry, no links!) on page 3 that it uses i2c address 6BH. The datasheet for the bq25890/2 shows on page 5 that the bq25892 also uses 6BH.
I don't know enough about i2c to know whether this is the issue, or how to point Linux to a different driver in the way that you might using a VIDID for a USB or PCI device? It would be really helpful if anybody could definitively confirm which chip we are dealing with.
Some final ACPI errors crop up towards the end of the dmesg output (I've cleared all the others) and I suspect that sorting this will clear them, as well as making the Yoga Book with Mint usable in Tablet mode.
Other things which need fixing:
- There are sound errors in the dmesg output but it also shows that the drivers and codec are loading properly. I can see all the devices which should be visible in amixer from the command line. Because getting the config wrong can blow speakers I've resisted tackling this until I've done further research but if anyone has a solution please let me know.
- Halo Keyboard. This needs either a kernel module to be written or a software layer which runs at least under X. I don't expect this to be hugely difficult - Linux can see the Halo as a wacom graphics pad and take input, albeit not deal with it properly yet. There's also a mystery, generic HID device which by process of elimination must be the button/backlight. However, the generic HID driver loads so it shouldn't be too hard to work out how to talk to it.
- I re-built the ISO using Cubic. When I have tried to make ISOs which use my custom kernel to boot the ISO itself, they don't work. I get garbled graphics and the boot stalls. This is why the touchscreen doesn't work when you live boot (which uses 4.10) but does when you install (because it uses 4.18). This ought not to be insurmountable but I haven't cracked it yet. I've tried doing it manually and using the Debian live-boot commands for both Debian/Ubuntu. Still no luck.
- Until I can get a custom ISO to boot from a custom kernel it won't be possible to install on the SD Card. Otherwise, there's no reason this shouldn't be possible.
- It should be possible to install to another USB device now, but I haven't tried yet. Make sure to use the disable MMC script on the desktop if you don't want to install Grub EFI on the eMMC. Ubuntu and derivatives ignore whatever you choose for this and just use the fist EFI partition they find. Amazingly this bug has been there since 2014!
- It ought to be possible to map the hardware buttons (volume, power) to specific keys in Grub, possibly using a locale. This would allow selections to be made without a keyboard.
android install
This might be related as I was just installing windows on Android version and now reverted back (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77556606&postcount=44), couple of observations that might help you: On android reinstall back it required to activate halo keyboard to get it working again, there was a phone code entered into the search bar to get it activated which triggered something called easyimage app. In android stock image you can actually find easyimage.zip which I guess is this "fake android update" to install the halo keyboard. Inside the zip are *.so libraries and some files related to halo keyboard and ink pen so you could try to play with those to get it working under classic Linux.
DNX mode allows to boot EFI via a USB cable &*fastboot (I guess windows version have also this as I activated it somewhere in BIOS?) so this can be also alternative version of booting an OS. IMHO Grub can also chainload iso image directly (I did it in past on normal PC, it was a couple of years ago so I can't find the guide to do it now) so in theory you can just place the Linux ISO image as a normal iso file on disk and tell GRUB to chainload that directly. Since it's possible to revert the Windows installation back to Android it might even be possible to dualboot. Android bootloader is also EFI based (kernelflinger) so you could also play with that. TWRP recovery image have full touch support for screen so that might be also a help when digging for configuration or extracting it from the sources.
intense.feel said:
...you can actually find easyimage.zip which I guess is this "fake android update" to install the halo keyboard. Inside the zip are *.so libraries and some files related to halo keyboard and ink pen so you could try to play with those to get it working under classic Linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really helpful, thank you. I'll have a look at what's there.
Still no progress with the battery gauge...
intense.feel said:
This might be related as I was just installing windows on Android version and now reverted back (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77556606&postcount=44), couple of observations that might help you: On android reinstall back it required to activate halo keyboard to get it working again, there was a phone code entered into the search bar to get it activated which triggered something called easyimage app. In android stock image you can actually find easyimage.zip which I guess is this "fake android update" to install the halo keyboard. Inside the zip are *.so libraries and some files related to halo keyboard and ink pen so you could try to play with those to get it working under classic Linux.
DNX mode allows to boot EFI via a USB cable &*fastboot (I guess windows version have also this as I activated it somewhere in BIOS?) so this can be also alternative version of booting an OS. IMHO Grub can also chainload iso image directly (I did it in past on normal PC, it was a couple of years ago so I can't find the guide to do it now) so in theory you can just place the Linux ISO image as a normal iso file on disk and tell GRUB to chainload that directly. Since it's possible to revert the Windows installation back to Android it might even be possible to dualboot. Android bootloader is also EFI based (kernelflinger) so you could also play with that. TWRP recovery image have full touch support for screen so that might be also a help when digging for configuration or extracting it from the sources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm currently doing on that without the Hardware. my plan is to find the small / light weight linux kernel and port the driver of the HALO. I call this Project HALO port (not on github cuz I just gathering everything until I ready). right now I'm learning to compile the kernel because I never do that (3 years on linux xD). I hope soon I can figure out the protocol it did uses for the HALO (My guess is I2C/SMBus).
Update : I found someone on github just build custom Debian ISO to deploy on USB flash drive and be able to use HALO keyboard (A.K.A Yeti, based on Goodix gt9xx chip). This is his work on github
Woah this is amazing progress! I haven't been on the forums for a while; been working mostly on messing with Windows to make it more efficient and responsive lol.
jimnarey said:
The issue
The following can be seen by running 'dmesg' after boot using the ISO in my first post, which uses a 4.18 kernel customised for the hardware in the Yoga Book.
The kernel attempts to load the driver for the TI bq24190 battery charger IC. I'm not yet able to post links so search for 'bq24190_charger.c' in the Linux kernel Github repo. The driver throws an error on boot when it hits this code at line 1640. It's expecting a 6 and it gets a 4, the value of BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24190.
bq24190_charger.c
Code:
if (v != BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24190 &&
v != BQ24190_REG_VPRS_PN_24192I) {
dev_err(bdi->dev, "Error unknown model: 0x%02x\n", v);
return -ENODEV;
}
If I remove this check altogether and re-compile the module then the driver proceeds to load but reports zeroes for all status values. It's not clear whether it is, in fact, the right chip and isn't talking to the rest of the hardware or it's simply the wrong driver.
However, at least removing this check allows the Whiskey Cove ACPI IC driver to get a bit further along. Search for 'intel_cht_int33fe.c' in the kernel source. Comments in this file (line 124) confirm that this IC is expected to be paired with a bq24190.
By adding in dmesg warnings and re-compiling the int33fe module I could see that when an unmodified bq24190 driver is used, i.e. the check above takes place and is failed, the int33fe driver fails its own check at line 138:
intel_cht_int33fe.c
Code:
regulator = regulator_get_optional(dev, "cht_wc_usb_typec_vbus");
if (IS_ERR(regulator)) {
ret = PTR_ERR(regulator);
return (ret == -ENODEV) ? -EPROBE_DEFER : ret;
}
regulator_put(regulator);
When I remove the check, it fails at the next check starting at line 145:
Code:
/* The FUSB302 uses the irq at index 1 and is the only irq user */
fusb302_irq = acpi_dev_gpio_irq_get(ACPI_COMPANION(dev), 1);
if (fusb302_irq < 0) {
if (fusb302_irq != -EPROBE_DEFER)
dev_err(dev, "Error getting FUSB302 irq\n");
return fusb302_irq;
}
I have tried various combinations of including the FUSB driver and dependencies as modules/built in but the result is the same. I also tried moving the FUSB check to after the code which tries to link up with the max17047 battery gauge IC, but this fails also.
Some owners of the Android version of the Yoga Book have posted files/screenshots on Telegram which indicate that a different charger, the bq25892 is used. As far as I know i2c devices are simply identified by the fact that they occupy a certain address on the bus. You can see in the datasheet for the bq24190 (sorry, no links!) on page 3 that it uses i2c address 6BH. The datasheet for the bq25890/2 shows on page 5 that the bq25892 also uses 6BH.
I don't know enough about i2c to know whether this is the issue, or how to point Linux to a different driver in the way that you might using a VIDID for a USB or PCI device? It would be really helpful if anybody could definitively confirm which chip we are dealing with.
Some final ACPI errors crop up towards the end of the dmesg output (I've cleared all the others) and I suspect that sorting this will clear them, as well as making the Yoga Book with Mint usable in Tablet mode.
Other things which need fixing:
- There are sound errors in the dmesg output but it also shows that the drivers and codec are loading properly. I can see all the devices which should be visible in amixer from the command line. Because getting the config wrong can blow speakers I've resisted tackling this until I've done further research but if anyone has a solution please let me know.
- Halo Keyboard. This needs either a kernel module to be written or a software layer which runs at least under X. I don't expect this to be hugely difficult - Linux can see the Halo as a wacom graphics pad and take input, albeit not deal with it properly yet. There's also a mystery, generic HID device which by process of elimination must be the button/backlight. However, the generic HID driver loads so it shouldn't be too hard to work out how to talk to it.
- I re-built the ISO using Cubic. When I have tried to make ISOs which use my custom kernel to boot the ISO itself, they don't work. I get garbled graphics and the boot stalls. This is why the touchscreen doesn't work when you live boot (which uses 4.10) but does when you install (because it uses 4.18). This ought not to be insurmountable but I haven't cracked it yet. I've tried doing it manually and using the Debian live-boot commands for both Debian/Ubuntu. Still no luck.
- Until I can get a custom ISO to boot from a custom kernel it won't be possible to install on the SD Card. Otherwise, there's no reason this shouldn't be possible.
- It should be possible to install to another USB device now, but I haven't tried yet. Make sure to use the disable MMC script on the desktop if you don't want to install Grub EFI on the eMMC. Ubuntu and derivatives ignore whatever you choose for this and just use the fist EFI partition they find. Amazingly this bug has been there since 2014!
- It ought to be possible to map the hardware buttons (volume, power) to specific keys in Grub, possibly using a locale. This would allow selections to be made without a keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you've seen, but this issue on the above GitHub project that has managed to get the battery gauge working says they're using the BQ27542.
https://github.com/jekhor/yogabook-linux-kernel/commit/f0b7662fa10f012410170c241a9fa91295f54dc1
Hi, I am the author of the repository mentioned above, https://github.com/jekhor/yogabook-linux. My linux porting efforts were focused at kernel, getting battery charger driver and halo keyboard working basically. So, this kernel supports the battery gauge, battery charger (with fast charging mode, yes!). For halo keyboard patch for the goodix touchscreen (touchpad really) kernel was needed, see the https://github.com/jekhor/yogabook-linux-kernel/commit/bd3a5953126fd87e4218550c5a31baafcdc60a38 commit. There is userspace keyboard driver in the Chromium OS which converts touchpad events into keypresses. Forked version suitable for build at GNU\Linux system is here: https://github.com/jekhor/chromiumos_touch_keyboard .
Some patches were accepted to the mainline Linux already:
0e116237aa42 extcon-intel-cht-wc: Make charger detection co-existing with OTG host mode (v5.1)
ff6cdfd71495 ACPI / x86: Make PWM2 device always present at Lenovo Yoga Book (v5.1)
236c765d6abc mfd: intel_soc_pmic_chtwc: Register LED child device (v5.2)
a72a1be0de71 extcon: intel-cht-wc: Enable external charger (v5.2)
Feel free to ask me about this work and to create github issues. This is my spare time project, so I will glad to see other developers connected.
nice project dude was trying it today and touchscreen works good so far,
but i cant get the halo keyboard to work, if i try to use it my mouse only moving from left to right and right to left.
if i can help you with creating some logs or something else, just write me i'm not rly good on linux, but i want to use it on this low power device
edit: and yes i tried to reload the kernel modules (if modprobe is the correct command) but no change
i dont know if the problem is maybe that i have a germany keyboard layout, changing in the menu works for my hw keyboard but on the halo no difference still only mouse movement
blgblade said:
nice project dude was trying it today and touchscreen works good so far,
but i cant get the halo keyboard to work, if i try to use it my mouse only moving from left to right and right to left.
if i can help you with creating some logs or something else, just write me i'm not rly good on linux, but i want to use it on this low power device
edit: and yes i tried to reload the kernel modules (if modprobe is the correct command) but no change
i dont know if the problem is maybe that i have a germany keyboard layout, changing in the menu works for my hw keyboard but on the halo no difference still only mouse movement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... You are second people who reports such problem with this image. What YB version you have? I have YB1-X91L only.
Could you please post an output of the command 'sudo cat /sys/class/dmi/id/*' (use external keyboard for this)?
---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 PM ----------
Arghhh... I have lost one part of goodix touchscreen driver patch and keyboard will works only at YB1-X91L model (not X91F). Wil be fixed.
jekhor said:
Hmmm... You are second people who reports such problem with this image. What YB version you have? I have YB1-X91L only.
Could you please post an output of the command 'sudo cat /sys/class/dmi/id/*' (use external keyboard for this)?
---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 PM ----------
Arghhh... I have lost one part of goodix touchscreen driver patch and keyboard will works only at YB1-X91L model (not X91F). Wil be fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep i have a YB1-X91F
ok nice, than i will wait for the next release
i found out 2 things that did not work (or not correctly or i'm to stupid xD)
- sound (but i allready see the post in issues )
- the gui and if i tried video it looks like there is no graphic driver installed (dont know how to specify this, but if i just move a window it looks like software rendering, ok my english should be better to explain this but i hope you know what i mean ^^)
if i found something more i will give you feedback
but for now, its rly nice work
thank you so much for this project
here the output from the command above
Code:
08/26/2016
LENOVO
04WT18WW
NO Asset Tag
INVALID
HA0QPQ1T
LENOVO
Not Defined
NO Asset Tag
HA0QPQ1T
11
LENOVO
X91F
dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr04WT18WW:bd08/26/2016:svnLENOVO:pnLenovoYB1-X91F:pvrX91F:rvnLENOVO:rnINVALID:rvrNotDefined:cvnLENOVO:ct11:cvrX91F:
cat: /sys/class/dmi/id/power: Is a directory
(TBD)
Lenovo YB1-X91F
HA0QPQ1T
LENOVO_BI_04_PCG_FM_YB1_X91F
41564e49-494c-0044-0000-000000000000
X91F
cat: /sys/class/dmi/id/subsystem: Is a directory
LENOVO
MODALIAS=dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr04WT18WW:bd08/26/2016:svnLENOVO:pnLenovoYB1-X91F:pvrX91F:rvnLENOVO:rnINVALID:rvrNotDefined:cvnLENOVO:ct11:cvrX91F:
blgblade said:
yep i have a YB1-X91F
ok nice, than i will wait for the next release
i found out 2 things that did not work (or not correctly or i'm to stupid xD)
- sound (but i allready see the post in issues )
- the gui and if i tried video it looks like there is no graphic driver installed (dont know how to specify this, but if i just move a window it looks like software rendering, ok my english should be better to explain this but i hope you know what i mean ^^)
if i found something more i will give you feedback
but for now, its rly nice work
thank you so much for this project
[/CODE]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have uploaded fixed iso (halo keyboard should work): https://github.com/jekhor/yogabook-linux/releases/tag/livecd-test3.1
Yes, no sound, no force-feedback for keypresses.
Don't know about video driver and acceleration, need to check.
jekhor said:
I have uploaded fixed iso (halo keyboard should work): https://github.com/jekhor/yogabook-linux/releases/tag/livecd-test3.1
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, the keyboard is now working, nice thank you
i will follow your progress and try to help if i can ^^
hey all, because @jekhor is using a diffrent keyboard layout (not only mapping are diffrent) i created a modified layout.csv
(on this page --> https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Yoga-Book-Windows/Yoga-book-Window-keyboard-layout-wrong/td-p/3705108 <-- you will see the layout diffrences)
layout.csv as attachmant (as txt because csv is not allowed ^^)
changes:
- Enter key diffrent size
- # moved to the other position
- added the > < | key (dont know the name )
- LeftShift key diffrent size
edit: i created a patch for the filesystem.squashfs file, just unpack the patcher in the /live/ folder on your stick and run it or run it ffrom any location you want and choose the live folder from the app, than you can use the keyboardlayout on the livesystem (sorry, the patcher is windows only)
Thanks for all the hard work
Hey all, just came across this thread recently - really appreciate all the hard work here. I've been trying to install Ubuntu on my Windows powered YogaBook since the beginning, and am amazed at how far your efforts have come. Looking forward to the completed product later on! Can't stand Win10 as it tends to bloat and slowdown. Hopefully Linux runs better on this thing.
Thxxx man
Love the level of involvement in this adforable and light device with great potential in linux
Hope u guys dont lose patience in the development.
Once the wifi, keyboard and touch screen is aredy, i think i will fully change my android yogabook into linux.......
---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 PM ----------
Love the level of involvement in this adforable and light device with great potential in linux
Hope u guys dont lose patience in the development.
Once the wifi, keyboard and touch screen is aredy, i think i will fully change my android yogabook into linux.......
Thanks for the effort
Thanks again, all for the effort.
Has there been any progress made so far?
It has been more than 2 full years, one in this forum has been able to achieve in only a few weeks of coding what MOST of us have tried to achieve in years. He has uploaded his ISO of Debian with many things working, however some things are left to be desired : Resume keyboard (tried with script - failed), fix for keyboard keys layout, and the resolution (worked with XRANDR script : working). However, he does not seem either interested in going further or does not have the device to compile against, either way without him we could be stuck with WinBlows on this machine. Until we get him BACK on board, we are stuck in the water... @jekhor ?
Jeff said:
It has been more than 2 full years, one in this forum has been able to achieve in only a few weeks of coding what MOST of us have tried to achieve in years. He has uploaded his ISO of Debian with many things working, however some things are left to be desired : Resume keyboard (tried with script - failed), fix for keyboard keys layout, and the resolution (worked with XRANDR script : working). However, he does not seem either interested in going further or does not have the device to compile against, either way without him we could be stuck with WinBlows on this machine. Until we get him BACK on board, we are stuck in the water... @jekhor ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RN, I use the systemd to fix keyboard resume and very soon I will working on sound driver totally ported from android kernel. Plus I can get the haptic feedback to (partially) works only random left or right motor via using udev rule. Extra, the recent kernel added support for the front facing camera (ov2740).
Related
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/TEGRA/AC100
"Adobe Flash
Dropping this library into ~/.mozilla/plugins allows flash playback. It warns though that it is out of date. http://kotelett.no/ac100/phh/Android2.2/libflashplayer.so"
Sounds great! =)
I did put this new Ubuntu Image on my AC100, however some things don't work:
* ppa ac100 produces error 404, package ac100-settings isn't found
* high background load, virtually unusable
* no shortcuts (old Imgae did support)
* no suspend (crashes), no sound yet
* did not get flash to work with above plugin
Anyone ha dmore success?
The flash plugin (even only playback) of this Ubuntu doesn't work for my Linux
Ubuntu 11.10 x Folio100?
Hi,
On http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/oneiric/beta-2/ there is a "Preinstalled desktop filesystem archive" for Toshiba AC100. Is it possible to use drivers used in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=907960 to prepare a version for Folio 100?
Thanks.
semonma said:
The flash plugin (even only playback) of this Ubuntu doesn't work for my Linux
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a solution, now I have flash in Chromium. Doesn't work in Firefox (probably because I am running Version 7).
Instructions:
put the libflashplayer.so in the Chromium plugin directory (/usr/lib/chromium-browser/plugins), easiest way is by wget command:
sudo wget -O /usr/lib/chromium-browser/plugins/libflashplayer.so http://kotelett.no/ac100/phh/Android2.2/libflashplayer.so
install nvidea-tegra package
as it is not in the Oneiric repository yet I pulled this .deb and installed it via gdebi:
http://ppa.launchpad.net/ac100/ppa/...dia-tegra_12-0ubuntu1~alpha1monson6_armel.deb
I have no idea whether this is correct or latest, but it works to some extend.
Run chromium with
chromium-browser --allow-outdated-plugins
otherwise you get warning
360p Youtube runs smooth but when fullscreen has some slight lags, above resolutions do stutter.
Edit:
Here are some .deb packages of the main developer that seem to be newer. Did not test that. See the Readme: http://people.debian.org/~jak/ac100/README
Edit2:
With Beta 2 image and newest kernel (2.6.38-1000-ac100) the AC100 got quite usable now, sound via headphone works and performance bugs are largely reduced. Still some deadlocks by mmcd. Switching from ext4 to nilfs2 might yield some performance gain? And Debian hf, utilizing the Tegra FPU, also sounds promising.
Thank's a lot pibach, I'll try it this night =)
Brief update:
I added the developer ppa in sources list:
deb http://people.debian.org/~jak/ac100/ unreleased main non-free
and installed the package: xserver-xorg-video-tegra
it pulls in the package tegra-libraries
However I don't see any difference in video performace
nvidia-tegra package is not in there, package is stil unchanged
sudo apt-show-versions nvidia-tegra
nvidia-tegra 12-0ubuntu1~alpha1monson6 installed: No available version in archive
It is from this ppa: https://launchpad.net/~ac100/+archive/ppa
Seemingly this is for natty, does not seamlessly work with oneiric (Error 404 when added to sources.list as ):
"Changelog
nvidia-graphics-drivers-tegra (12-0ubuntu1~alpha1monson6) natty; urgency=low
* sigh, and build for the right release, oneiric doesnt work yet ...
-- Oliver Grawert <email address hidden> Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:55:42 +0200"
However, it does work. Strange.
When I remove that nvidia-tegra package, I get some screen artefacts. Video then plays but very slow
Moreover, I can't find any xorg.conf file to set bit depth to 16 as mentioned in the Unbuntu Wiki.
So any chance to get better video (>360p) and maybe some HTML rendering boost?
Another hint: I got problems with Unity, Dash, Software Center bugging the CPU into performance problems, seems to be some memory lock with mmcd. Chromium 13 is also a lot faster, especially scrolling speed, than firefox 7 (both on smooth scrolling). But also runs into memory / CPU overload. Switching to lubuntu made all much snappier. It requires just 1 command:
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop
and reboot into that one.
Maximus serves to undecorate the maximized windows -> more screen space
pibach said:
Moreover, I can't find any xorg.conf file to set bit depth to 16 as mentioned in the Unbuntu Wiki.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats probably because linux uses udev and dbus these days to detect your hardware on the fly when you start x.
Sent from my Folio 100 using xda premium
shidima_101 said:
Thats probably because linux uses udev and dbus these days to detect your hardware on the fly when you start x.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you're right. But that how it is described in the official ubuntu Wikipage. Strange. I have no glue how to do that nvidia tegra configuration.
When I launch Chromium-browser from terminal I get a lot of these errors:
ERROR:gl_surface_glx.cc(121)] glxQueryVersion failed
ERROR:gl_surface_linux.cc(73)] GLSurfaceGLX::InitializeOneOff failed.
So seemingly GLX Tegra hardware acceleration is not right.
BTW, the people at Arch Linux have more recent kernel and are on the status that suspend is working fine. Plus zram support there to come. See this thread. Don't know to what extend this will make the device snappier. Mine runs already quite snappy under LXDE.
I think with Linux on it the AC100 it is currently one of the best devices around. And you can get it quite cheap.
Edit:
On boot I usually get the error: unity support test closed unexpectedly
Probably something with GLX
Tegra shouldn't have any problems running Unity or Compiz.
Anybody got this to work propperly?
Edit2:
Launching Chromium in terminal:
chromium-browser --allow-outdated-plugins --use-gl=egl --ignore-gpu-blacklist
I get:
libEGL warning: GLX/DRI2 is not supported
To give you a brief status update:
I got suspend/resume to work
Flash works now in Firefox 7.0.1 (was already working in Chrome)
There seem to be a lot of work put into Ubuntu Oneiric and it's ARM version currently and it seems to be quite stable now.
On Folio100?
Is it usable on Folio 100?
The difference is only thouchscreen and Linux was already working (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=907960).
Thanks.
gipposat said:
Is it usable on Folio 100?
The difference is only thouchscreen and Linux was already working (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=907960).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but also Sound, Keyboard, NvEc, USB all might be slightly different. Isn't it?
pibach said:
but also Sound, Keyboard, NvEc, USB all might be slightly different. Isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I think everything is the same.
Bye
So, has anyone already tried it on Folio?
OK, I've given it a try and the boot image doesn't work, it definitely needs some porting.
hello pibach, thank you for your time testing stuff so we can make it work at the first time.
i installed drivers to make it work with flash, and its nice but sometimes i get a bug (probably due to graphic drivers making the screen get alot of artifacts, and only solution is a reboot, still a proble,m, probably due to alpha stage driver (nvidia could put something out that works decently....)
also, you say this version uses ext4? that should get it a lower performance comparing to nilfs (which i was using with phh's version) maybe disabling the journal? dont really know, will look into it.
how about changing the governor to performance instead of demand?
also...what about an SD card install? with a class 10 card should be fast? any info? worth buying a card to do it?
@Oinquer:
a) I got artifacts too, but only on Unity. I am on LXDE now and that works fine. Don't know why though.
b) I think you can choose ext4 or nilfs2 as you like. Can you point me to some links regarding performance comparisons and some more background info? I would give it a try then.
c) governor can be changed, sure.
d) the android bootloader cannot load from SD. But there might be some solution to do so, don't know. Meanwhile it should be no problem to have dual boot from internal MMC, for example Linux from partition 6 and android from partition 5 (SOS).
hello,
back to you, im using lxde now and installing the driver, hope artifacts go away.
EXT4 as far as i know has some benefits and some disavantages over ext3 and some other filesystems (checked yesterday after post), so performance might not change enough to notice.
governor , did it yesterday to performance, have to check flash playback now, but im not seeing big change except in boot time, that seems a few seconds less.
SD card, last version from phh's could be installed in SD card...and ubuntu wiki from AC100 says that if theres a blank SD card in slot at installation it will ask if you want to install there...im pretty sure its possible, but my sd card is in the trash bin, and cant buy one now...
here im hoping for the FPU stuff for the ac100...its getting there!!! quite usable, theres also a fix to have sound from internal speakers in ac100DOTgrandouDOTnet
will try it after i got everything sorted.
thank you for taking your time.
Sound is working in Ubuntu Oneiric Kernel that is in the proposed repository, works for me, but sound does not wake up after suspend yet.
SD card/USB boot does not work with Androib bootloader that is also used for Ubuntu Oneiric standard install. So you need to find one that can support that. Ccurrently there isn't any solution for that around, AFAIK. But you can put Linux on partition 6 and Android on Partition 5 and uses Android 2.1 bootloader.
Last summer I got Ubuntu 11.04 working on my A43 but didn't post anything about it. With the progress made on kexec and the new kboot bootloader, it is now possible to have multiple kernels for multiple OS'es. This means it just got a whole lot easier to boot Ubuntu without losing the ability to run OpenAOS or UrukDroid Android OS'es.
As far as I'm aware, Ubuntu doesn't work on the 2.6.29-omap1 kernel that Archos uses and is the base for most other development on gen8. However, for A43 and A101 users, OpenAOS member Nicktime made some headway in porting the 2.6.37+ kernel to gen8, but appears to have abandoned the project. I've cloned his repository and have been working to add features that he did not finish implementing. However, his kernel did have the ability to boot an Ubuntu rootfs and it works very well for desktop Linux distributions (this also works on Debian and I would assume other ARM distros as well).
As I have been unable to build an Ubuntu 11.10 rootfs using the rootstock method that Ubuntu describes here, I've started working with the HP TouchPadBuntu rootfs from this thread. This rootfs boots well on my TouchPad and I've removed the TP-specific items from it and added the gen8 items as necessary. The display is working and the touchscreen works as well (calibrated correctly as I copied my calibration from my 11.04 install). It boots into Unity 2D which is the default. I'm having issues getting the wl1271 wireless module up, I have had it running once but NetworkManager said device was not ready despite being able to iwlist scan and see a list of AP's and then connect to them manually.
RELEASE 1
You will need the rootfs and the modifications.
To install, mount your destination partition (should be at least 4GB and ext3 formatted) to a location, then run the following:
Code:
cd /media/UbuntuPartition (change this to wherever your Ubuntu partition is mounted)
tar xzf /path/to/TouchPadBuntuRootfs.tgz ./
tar xzf /path/to/Gen8Modifications.tar.gz ./
If you do not have a microSD card in the slot, you need to edit the file etc/fstab and change anything mmcblk1 to mmcblk0, this is because the SD card will identify as mmcblk0 if it exists, but if it does not exist then the internal storage gets identified as mmcblk0 instead. This is a kernel issue I have yet to find a solution to.
Kernels for Release 1
These boot from partition 3 of internal memory (/dev/mmcblk2p3)
Normal and Rotated 90 Degrees
This boots from partition 1 of external sdcard (/dev/mmcblk0p1)
Normal
These files do not need an initramfs, but to flash to device or to use with kboot you need one anyways. Simply create an empty (0 byte) file named 'initramfs.cpio.gz' and use it for this purpose.
INFO ON KERNEL MMC/SD INITIALIZATION
mmc0 (mmcblk0pX) - Micro SD card
mmc1 (mmcblk1pX, mmcblk2pX) - System and Data blocks of internal memory
mmc2 - wl1271 SDIO interface
I installed the rootfs to an 8GB microSD and boot it using root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 on the kernel command line.
USEFUL LINKS
http://dev.openaos.org/wiki/Gen8Linux2.6.37
https://github.com/CalcProgrammer1/archos-gen8-kernel-2.6.37
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1304475
http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/OMAP_WiLink_Connectivity_Home
http://www.omappedia.org/wiki/MAC802.11_based_Wilink
TIPS AND TRICKS
Disk Usage Power LED:
It is possible to make the Power LED function as a disk usage LED. This will let you know when the system is reading or writing to the memory and can be incredibly helpful in determining whether your system has locked up or is just being slow.
Simply write "mmc0" or "mmc1" (depending on what interface you wish to monitor) to:
/sys/class/leds/power/trigger (maybe power_led can't remember)
This can be changed in the kernel source in the file "archos-leds.c" as well if you want it to apply during boot time.
Charging the battery on A43:
(as root)
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/battery/usb_online
echo 3 > /sys/devices/platform/battery/charge_level
Enabling WiFi:
The wl1271 driver from linux-wireless requires firmware files to be placed in /lib/firmware. These files can be downloaded from here. The MAC address on the wl1271 is not stored on the actual wireless chip and instead resides in a configuration file on the system data directory in a file called system/persist.archos.WIFI_mac. This file is in the form:
Code:
Wifi MAC XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
To extract just the MAC address, use
Code:
cut -f3 -d" " /media/data/system/persist.archos.WIFI_mac
Then, to set the MAC of the actual device you can do
Code:
ifconfig wlan0 hw ether `cut -f3 -d" " /media/data/system/persist.archos.WIFI_mac
ifconfig wlan0 up
I'm doing this in /etc/rc.local which is run on boot. This means the WiFi card is prepared when the system boots. However, NetworkManager still sees the card as "not ready" and you must Disable Networking and then Enable Networking before it will start showing AP's. After doing this, the WiFi works properly.
Screen Rotation:
The A43's display is 480x854 ("tall screen" orientation). For Ubuntu it is likely more useful to have a widescreen 854x480 orientation. Fortunately, this is not hard. It involves adding two parameters to your kernel's command line (either via kboot or by adding them to .config and recompiling your kernel). THIS DOES NOT ROTATE THE TOUCHSCREEN INPUT, so make sure you have an alternate input device when using rotation (BT keyboard/mouse, USB keyboard/mouse).
Code:
omapfb.vrfb=y omapfb.rotate=1
Enabling Audio:
This is pretty easy. Audio is installed and ready to go, the only issue is that the default settings in the mixer for this chip happen to disable the output entirely. To fix this, open ALSA Mixer (alsamixer) and turn on either speakers or headphones, then turn on Left Mixer and Right Mixer (hit 'M' to unmute/mute a channel). Finally, turn up the 'PCM' volume and start playing music. I recommend getting rid of Pulse Audio, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do so as it uses a lot of resources and provides little benefit.
PowerVR SGX 530 GPU:
The OMAP 3630 CPU has an on-board PowerVR SGX 530 graphics processor. TI provides an SDK that contains the userspace driver libraries as well as the open-source kernel drivers. There are three modules that must be built (pvrsrvkm.ko, omaplfb.ko, bufferclass_ti.ko) and loaded into the system. Then the userspace stuff must be installed. There is information here that should help. So far I've got the drivers to compile, but they aren't properly loading yet. More work to be done on getting the modules to work.
RC.LOCAL START-UP SCRIPT
This script should enable everything at boot time and should make Ubuntu easier to use on gen8 tablets. It starts WiFi and Bluetooth as well as enables USB charging.
Code:
#!/bin/sh -e
#
# rc.local
#
#MAC_ADDRESS='00:22:33:44:55:66'
MAC_ADDRESS=`cut -f3 -d" " /media/data/system/persist.archos.WIFI_mac`
ifconfig wlan0 hw ether $MAC_ADDRESS
ifconfig wlan0 up
modprobe btwilink
sleep 10
hciattach /dev/ttyS0 texas 3000000
/etc/init.d/network-manager restart
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/battery/usb_online
echo 3 > /sys/devices/platform/battery/charge_level
exit 0
You must have /media/data mounted in your /etc/fstab file, the entry should look like this:
Code:
/dev/mmcblk1p4 /media/data ext3 defaults 0 0
If this entry isn't in /etc/fstab, the /media/data partition will not be available at the time rc.local is run, and it will fail trying to read the MAC address. Alternatively, you can uncomment the hard-coded MAC address and use that but it's not as clean.
First off, Thanks for the effort you've put in, I just cant wait to get this up and running on my 101. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to sort it out but I've questions, How well does it perform? Is unity actually working? & have you tried any other distros? The reason i ask is because i was gonna buy a linux tab running plasma active but if i could eventually run it reasonably well on my 101 i'd hold out and save a couple.
Cheers again and nice work.
It runs fairly well. Unity works (2D only at the moment, not 3D), but whether that's a good thing or not I'll leave up to you (personally I don't like the Unity interface at all, and I find it slow when in 2D mode). I have GNOME 3.0 Fallback installed which runs pretty smooth and fast as it is fairly lightweight. You can use any non-3D-accelerated interface at the moment (Xfce, fluxbox, LXDE, MATE/GNOME2, etc). I've heard of people running plasma active on other non-accelerated systems (including the HP TouchPad, which is where I got my starting image). I haven't bothered as I prefer a traditional desktop-style interface.
That said, if you're willing to test I'd love feedback on how this performs on A101. I don't have an A101 and I am not sure of the status of A101 support. I'm taking Nicktime's word for it that the kernel supports A101. The actual Ubuntu image should be pretty independent of the device but the kernel needs to specifically support each individual board.
To start I'd just download the TouchPadBuntu rootfs I posted (which despite its name doesn't have anything TouchPad related in it and should at very least boot to login screen on the Archos 2.6.37 kernel without modifications). I'll hopefully get a package of modifications up soon including drivers for WiFi, Bluetooth, and a script to get everything running properly at boot.
As for 3D acceleration, I think it should be possible. There are apparently user-space drivers for OMAP3 that will work under Ubuntu. The bigger issue is getting a version of Compiz/Unity3D/Gnome Shell/whatever accelerated desktop you prefer that is compile for OpenGL ES.
Hey dude, could you give me some instructions as to how you installed the roofs.tgz to the memory card? I've got the new boot loader installed and I'm mad to get this going this weekend. Cheers in advance.
P.s. if there is a link to a tut for it that'd be excellent because I don't mind searching for myself just couldn't find any info on it. Thanks.
EDIT:
First post updated, see it for full installation details and feel free to post any questions or problems you have during or after installation. I really want to know how well this plays on A101 devices, as I don't have one to test with. Also, anyone with kernel experience that wants to take on adding additional devices, go for it! It would be great to get A70 support at least, as that is a popular device that has seen Debian/Angstrom activity in the past.
I tar'd the files to the sdcard, created a folder inside OS called ubuntu and placed the zimage & intramfs inside but it wont boot? I probably missed something so feel free to tear me one .
Wasn't even thinking...Duh...the kernels provided assume the root device is /dev/mmcblk2p3 (my Ubuntu partition on internal SD card). You probably want /dev/mmcblk0p1 (first partition on external SD card). I'll build a new kernel and post it soon, or you can take a shot at compiling your own kernel (my GitHub sources need work, for now I'd go with Nicktime's sources at Gitorious as I realized I broke some things).
Kboot should have a cmdline option where you can specify a kernel command line (and thus a root device) but I couldn't get it to work. To clarify, you ARE seeing the kernel boot messages right? If you aren't then kboot probably isn't set up correctly. Try booting another kernel (such as OpenAOS boot menu) from kboot and see if that works.
EDIT: here
CalcProgrammer1 said:
As for 3D acceleration, I think it should be possible. There are apparently user-space drivers for OMAP3 that will work under Ubuntu. The bigger issue is getting a version of Compiz/Unity3D/Gnome Shell/whatever accelerated desktop you prefer that is compile for OpenGL ES.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know they
http://www.linaro.org/
are working on the Open GL ES port of Unity 3D.
Maybe u can find some sources there
And KDE should also have a builf of KDE Plasma wiht OpenGL ES.
Maybe you could add it? would be awesome.
Archos 70
Does/Will this work on the Archos 70? I'm trying to get it working but all I'm getting is static on my screen when Kboot tries to boot Ubuntu. This could be my fault and I could have just messed up the installation but I don't think so.
Thoughts?
shrewdlove said:
Does/Will this work on the Archos 70? I'm trying to get it working but all I'm getting is static on my screen when Kboot tries to boot Ubuntu. This could be my fault and I could have just messed up the installation but I don't think so.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the first post, you will see that this currently only works with A43 and A101. This is due to the kernel I'm using, which was ported by an OpenAOS user who hasn't been active in 6 months. Chances of him resuming his project are slim, so I've forked his kernel progress but don't have an A70 to work with. I could attempt to add A70 support to the kernel but I would be blind to the progress and would need testers. There aren't a ton of changes necessary, mainly just need to add the right LCD driver to make the screen work and then update the board file with the changes that have been made to the A43/A101 boards.
Unfortunately, I don't have much time as of late, I've got a senior design project and school work to deal with, plus I've been working on getting CM9 ICS to compile for gen8, and I've also been working on the HP TouchPad Ubuntu port. Adding A70 support to the kernel is low priority for me, but if any A70 owners want to take a stab at the kernel go right ahead, I'll gladly accept changes to the kernel. As far as Gen8 Ubuntu is concerned, my current focus is getting the SGX GPU up and running with TI's Graphics SDK. If successful, this GPU should be able to run hardware-accelerated Unity 3D and Compiz for a fast, fancy desktop experience.
shrewdlove said:
Does/Will this work on the Archos 70? I'm trying to get it working but all I'm getting is static on my screen when Kboot tries to boot Ubuntu. This could be my fault and I could have just messed up the installation but I don't think so.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've the exact same problem with my 101, at first I thought it was an issue with kboot but its able to boot uruk and bull. Every time I choose to run ubuntu it stalls with a static on the screen and I have to force a re-boot. I'm using a 2GB sd with only one partition if thats any help and the zimage in question is the one for boot from sd.
Any input?
Oh! Just looked at my kernel configuration again and I forgot to enable A101 support in the configuration file. I'll build a new kernel later today with A101 support enabled! Sorry about that. Should fix A101 but A70 still needs some real work before it will be supported.
EDIT:
Here it is
http://www.box.com/s/18d0e43877b5877ce79f
CalcProgrammer1 said:
Oh! Just looked at my kernel configuration again and I forgot to enable A101 support in the configuration file. I'll build a new kernel later today with A101 support enabled! Sorry about that. Should fix A101 but A70 still needs some real work before it will be supported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, don't apologize. I, and this community, appreciate what your doing. I'd love to have the knowledge to compile my own kernel and have a fully functional distro on this device, but I don't yet have that ability. You do, so any time you give up your time and effort to provide us with something new and cool is fricking brilliant. Keep working and let us know how you get on, but don't cause yourself too much hassle.
Thanks.
I've updated my previous post with an image with A101 support included. I have no way to test it. If any A101 users could take a short video or picture of the device booting Ubuntu I would like to see how it works on that device. I've also looked a bit into A70 support and it looks like the necessary modifications would be relatively straightforward, seeing as all the gen8's have essentially the same core hardware (OMAP3, Wolfson Audio, WL1271 WiFi/BT, MicroSD, POWER/VOL+/-, Power LED, etc). The primary difference (and probably most significant code change required) is the LCD panel, but seeing how the A43 got the short end of the stick on this one, the A70 should be easier to port (A43 has a DSI-interfaced serial LCD while the other gen8's have a DPI parallel LCD, DSI support is flaky at best in this kernel release).
Managed to get it to boot to ubuntu login screen but my usb keyboard doesnt get picked up, I dont know if the touch screen should register at this point but for me it doesnt. I've no bt keyboard but I can't see the device when I scan for bt from my phone either. If you want, I can take a vid of it booting to this point and send it to you. Just in case I get it to work, what are the login details (password) ?
The login is ubuntu/ubuntu (user/pass). I haven't tested the USB yet, and I'm not sure how the A101's host port is set up (the A43 supports USB OTG host but has no dedicated host port). It is a kernel issue for sure. As for the touchscreen, the A101 I think uses a USB touchscreen, so again with the USB issue. You can try forcing automatic login by modifying one of the files on the rootfs (would have to look up which one, can't remember, but should be possible). The fact that it boots is great and the fact that the panel works is also great. I'll look into USB host some more when I get a chance.
Cheers for getting back to me. Is there anyway we can pull something from either the bodhi image or android itself? or would it have to be changed at the kernel?
Pretty sure this is kernel level, the USB driver is being compiled differently than on the stock kernel (musb_hdrc should be a module, but this kernel it is built in, preventing you from loading in different modes). I booted up my A43 with a USB mouse attached, the kernel detected the mouse but then disconnected it before it could be used.
Hi,
First of all, I've been "read only mode" for a long time on XDA forums looking for rooting, unlock, and so many other things, but it hasn't been until now that I really need some help from real proffessionals from Android scene (given the fact that i need some android knowledge I lack )
I'll try to explain what I need to do, and hopefully someone will be able to help me find the right forum where i can post it, and maybe join me in my adventure! (I was tempted to create the thread in "Xperia Neo Android development", but I'm not sure its the right place, given the fact that i'm talking about almost "pure" linux here)
I changed my 3 neo phones , so I had 3 spare android phones to make some R&D. So I split my boot.img, recreated a minimal initrd, rejoined with android 2.6.32 kernel and flashed it.
Simultaneously bootstrapped a debian 7 into an sd card, and pointed initrd "init" call to the debian, so it booted linux.
Needless to say, getting modules and wifi working was such a pain, because debug (without fbcon working on that kernel) was based in: boot kernel / extract sd from mobile / insert sd on pc / analyze logs / understand why it wont boot...
Finally it worked, and now I have a 1ghz "debian 7" box, with ~ 380MB ram, ready for everything.
WIP - Need help here! :
- Getting some drivers working on linux (mainly battery charger, so it can be a "small server")
- HDMI driver, so can be carried on pocket and connected to TV, keyboard and mouse.
- Freedreno driver for Xorg. (out of time, need to compile or cross-compile)
- Mainline kernel 3.4 rc already contains MSM driver, so perhaps could change to a full linux kernel, but I think its not needed
- Recompile current kernel decreasing protected memory (is it saved for camera bursts?) so we can have more than 380MB effective.
Already working:
- Cpufreq, so cpu is working at 100mhz when idle
- Wifi module from Texas instruments, ported "as-is" from android filesystem
- Battery level decrease being broadcasted to syslog (but unable to charge...)
So please if any mod can move it to the right place, i'd be very happy
PS: If someone wants some info, ask and i will develop a longer answer.
Not even a mod telling me if its the right forum to post?
Anyone able and willing to help?
This is a cross-post from a reddit thread I started, but this is probably a more appropriate location for it.
I have been trying to modify files in the system folder for the Android container on the Asus Flip so I can install SuperSu, but have run into some problems.
The system folder is contained in a squashfs image on the chromebook at /opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img. Mounted squashfs images appear to not support read-write access. I have been able to unsquash the image, add the SuperSU apk to the /system/priv-app folder and su to the /system/xbin folder, and remake the image. This boots, but SuperSU force closes as soon as it starts.
To make tinkering easier, I've tried building a writable image using dd and mkfs. I placed it in a location that has rw access and modified the /etc/init/android-ureadahead.conf script which mounts it to enable rw access. Unfortunately though it won't boot. The boot logs for the android container show a litany of SELinux errors for different things that it could not set context, operation not permitted. I can post the exact log if necessary. Some googling led me to find that the SELinux security context attributes weren't being replicated in my image, so I tried mounting with context and fscontext options equal to the contexts from the original image, but I get the same problem.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be especially grateful.
lionclaw said:
This is a cross-post from a reddit thread I started, but this is probably a more appropriate location for it.
I have been trying to modify files in the system folder for the Android container on the Asus Flip so I can install SuperSu, but have run into some problems.
The system folder is contained in a squashfs image on the chromebook at /opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img. Mounted squashfs images appear to not support read-write access. I have been able to unsquash the image, add the SuperSU apk to the /system/priv-app folder and su to the /system/xbin folder, and remake the image. This boots, but SuperSU force closes as soon as it starts.
To make tinkering easier, I've tried building a writable image using dd and mkfs. I placed it in a location that has rw access and modified the /etc/init/android-ureadahead.conf script which mounts it to enable rw access. Unfortunately though it won't boot. The boot logs for the android container show a litany of SELinux errors for different things that it could not set context, operation not permitted. I can post the exact log if necessary. Some googling led me to find that the SELinux security context attributes weren't being replicated in my image, so I tried mounting with context and fscontext options equal to the contexts from the original image, but I get the same problem.
If anyone has any ideas I'd be especially grateful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wayyyy out of my area of expertise, but here's my (completely novice) best guess.
>All Chromebooks are write-protected with a screw on the motherboard
>Putting a Chromebook in developer mode allows for some tinkering ie things like chroots, and on the asus flip, the ability to install apks from unknown sources.
>Unscrewing the write-protect screw allows for the ability to completely install a new operating system or dual boot setup.
>Maybe you need to do that before you're able to accomplish root access?
My other idea would be to try and figure out a way of doing a systemless root?
Also, total aside but since this is the only thread I've found on XDA about this device, I think chroots are theoretically possible now without the need to be in developer mode via Android apps (even without root on Android). Download the GIMP port from the Play Store to see what I'm talking about. Playing around with that for a few minutes really made me wish that it didn't use emulated mouse/keyboard in it's implementation. Also, it appears that apt-get is broken, but regardless it might interest someone out there looking for a project.
back from the dead, any progress on this?
I have been able to successfully root the Android image on my Asus Flip.
I built a blank image with dd in /usr/local, formatted it with mkfs, mounted it to a folder, mounted the original system.raw.img to a folder, copied the files across, placed *all* the SuperSU files listed as 'required' in the SuperSU update-binary in the relevant places in /system in my new image, set permissions & contexts for those files, edited arc-system-mount.conf and arc-ureadahead.conf to point to the new image and, finally, patched /etc/selinux/arc/policy/policy.30 with the SuperSU sepolicy patching tool in order to boot my rooted Android instance with selinux set to enforcing.
I have created a couple of scripts which more-or-less fully automate this procedure, which can be downloaded from nolirium.blogspot.com. Please feel free to download, open the scripts in a text editor to check them out, and try them out if you like. Only tested on Asus Flip, though.
I seem to be unable to post attachments at the moment so I will just add the descriptions here, I could probably post the entire scripts here too if anyone wants. Feel free to let me know what you think.
DESCRIPTIONS:
1-3.sh
Combines the first three scripts listed below.
01Makecontainer.sh
Creates an 900MB filesystem image in /usr/local/Android_Images, formats it, then copies Android system files therein.
02Editconf.sh
Modifies two system files: arc-system-mount.conf - changing the mount-as-read-only flag and replacing the Android system image location with a new location; and arc-ureadahead.conf - again replacing the Android system image location. Originals are renamed .old - copies of which are also placed in /usr/local/Backup.
03Androidroot.sh
Mounts the previously created Android filesystem image to a folder, and copies SuperSU files to the mounted image as specified in the SuperSU update-binary.
04SEpatch.sh
Copies an SELinux policy file found at /etc/selinux/arc/policy/policy.30 to the Downloads folder, opens an Android root shell for the SuperSU policy patching command to be entered, then copies the patched policy back to the original location. A copy of the original policy.30 is saved at /etc/selinux/arc/policy/policy.30.old and /usr/local/Backup/policy.30.old
Uninstall.sh
Removes the folder /usr/local/Android_Images and attempts to restore the modified system files arc-system-mount.conf and arc-ureadahead.conf.
ok so two questions, one do you think this would work on the Acer r13 convertable? and 2 where can I find the actual instructions/scripts
keithkaaos said:
ok so two questions, one do you think this would work on the Acer r13 convertable? and 2 where can I find the actual instructions/scripts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The R13 has a 64-bit Mediatek processor, right?
I have added a version for ARM64, but I haven't tested it.
You can find the instructions and scripts at nolirium.blogspot.com
ya, its a mediatek. and thanks ill go see if i can find it
---------- Post added at 03:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 AM ----------
wow, ok. i can do this but im not sure i want to.. after reading the possible problems i may run into. Im going to be getting the G. Home in a couple weeks and i gotta keep things running smooth. This seems like going a tad too far then i need to. The other day i had action launcher going and it looked pretty damn good but i really want to try and get the action3.apk that i have put into the pri-app folder or whatever the chromebook uses i found the syst folder but cant access it. Im wondering if i make the machine writable it would work but im afraid of losing my updates, as long as i could do them manualy, i guess that would be cool. Also since im already going on... has anyone found a way to disable the dev boot screen without tinkering with the physical chromebook yet?
SuperSU on Chromebook
Hey there I love this post but unfortunately im on the mediatek (well not unfortunately cause i love it) but i do really want super su .. But i found this other post that i tried out but i am having a problem executing the scripts. When i go to run the first one, it says can not open "name of script" but the dev takes a pretty cool approach. Im still new to Chrome OS but thanks for the post and if you have any advice on executing scripts id love to hear it!! http://nolirium.blogspot.com/
I'm guessing the above post was moved from another thread...
Anyway, it turns out that zipping/unzipping the files in Chrome OS's file manager sets all the permissions to read-only. Apologies! sudo chmod+x *scriptname* should fix it...
Regarding OS updates, I actually haven't had a problem receiving auto-updates with software write-protect switched off; the main possible potential issue I could imagine arising from the procedure I outlined would involve restoring the original conf files if both sets of backups get deleted/overwritten. This seems unlikely, but in that case either manually editing the files to insert the original string (/opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img), or doing a powerwash with forced update might be necessary in order to get the original Android container booting again.
I don't think anyone's found a way to shorten/disable the dev boot screen without removing the hardware write-protect screw - from what I've read, the flags are set in a part of the firmware which is essentially read-only unless the screw is removed. Perhaps at some point the Chrome OS devs will get fed up of reading reports from users whose relatives accidentally reset the device by pressing spacebar, and change the setup. Here's hoping.
Hey just jumpig in the thread right quick to see if these instructions are old or what-- got a chromebook pro and the notion of having to update a squashed filesystem every timeto install su seems like a pain..
Is there any kind of authoritative documentation/breakdown regarding what Chromeos is mounting where before I start breaking things? Also anyone happen to know if there's a write-protect screw anywhere in the chromebook plus/pro?
Other questions:
* adbd is running, but is not accessible from adb in the (linux) shell, which shows no devices. Do I need to access adb from another device (i'm short a usb c cable right now) or can I use adb (which is there!) on the chrome side to access adbd on the android side?
* Anyone know if adb via tcp/ip is available? Don't see it in the android settings.
Hey,
There's no real documentation AFAIK, the thing is that ARC++ is a bit of a moving target, as it's so actively being developed/reworked. For instance, with the method described earlier in the thread - it started off being possible to just swap out a file location in arc-ureadahead.conf, then they changed it to arc-setup-conf, and now, since a few CrOS versions ago, the rootfs squashfs image is mounted in a loop fashion via the /usr/sbin/arc-setup binary instead, making an overview of the setup somewhat opaque to the casual observer.
I was kind of hoping to implement a kind of hybrid systemless root style setup myself, but unfortunately I haven't really managed to find the time to sit down and fully figure out a few parts of the puzzle, in particular relating to minijail and working with namespaces. So, I'm still using the method mentioned in posts above for my rooting needs at the moment, the only significant changes being that at the moment I'm replacing /opt/google/containers.android.system.raw.img with a symlink to my writeable rooted rootfs img, and also that in recent CrOS versions the mount-as-read only and debuggable flags can be found in /etc/init/arc-setup-env ("Environment variables for /usr/sbin/arc-setup").
In general though, one can kind of get an idea of what's going on in the default setup by reading through the various /etc/init/arc-* Chrome OS upstart jobs (and their logs in /var/log). Though, like I say, things keep changing around somewhat with every CrOS update, as the implementation 'improves'. As time goes by, and the subsystem matures, it'll certainly be interesting to see what other approaches are possible relating to customizing Android on Chrome OS.
There should definitely be a write protect screw somewhere on the motherboard for the Samsungs, but so far I haven't come across any pics showing exactly which screw it is. So far, no-one seems to have been brave/foolhardy enough to fully tear down their own machine and locate the screw!
Regarding adb, on my device I found the following in arc-setup-env:
# The IPV4 address of the container.
export ARC_CONTAINER_IPV4_ADDRESS=100.115.92.2/30
adb 100.115.92.2 (in Chrome OS's shell) works fine for me, the authorisation checkbox pops up and then good to go. su works fine through adb as expected. There's also a useful little nsenter script in Chrome OS to get into the android shell; /usr/sbin/android-sh, which I've been using in my script to help patch SE linux.
I actually just updated my rooting scripts recently to support 7.1.1, though I've only tested on my own Armv7 device (Flip C100).
I'll attach them to this post in case anyone wants to take a look. There's a readme in the zip, some more details can also be found here and below
EDIT: Fixed the SE Linux issue occurring with the previous version I uploaded (it was launching daemonsu from u:r:init:s0 instead of u:r:supersu:s0).
Anyone considering giving them a spin should bear in mind that the method does involve creating a fairly large file on the device as a rooted copy of the android rootfs. (1GB for arm, 1.4GB for Intel). There's a readme in the zip but the other couple of important points are that:
a) The SuperSU 2.82 SR1 zip also needs to be downloaded and extracted to ~/Downloads on the Chromebook.
b) Rootfs verification needs to be off. The command to force this is:
Code:
sudo /usr/share/vboot/bin/make_dev_ssd.sh --remove_rootfs_verification --force --partitions $(( $(rootdev -s | sed -r 's/.*(.)$/\1/') - 1))
or the regular command to do it is:
Code:
sudo /usr/share/vboot/bin/make_dev_ssd.sh --remove_rootfs_verification
c) If, subsequent to running the scripts, there's a problem loading Android apps (e.g. after a powerwash or failed install), the command to restore the original rootfs image is:
Code:
sudo mv /opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img.bk /opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img
Hey this is a great response.. thanks!
Nolirum said:
Hey,
There's no real documentation AFAIK, the thing is that ARC++ is a bit of a moving target, as it's so actively being developed/reworked. For instance, with the method described earlier in the thread - it started off being possible to just swap out a file location in arc-ureadahead.conf, then they changed it to arc-setup-conf, and now, since a few CrOS versions ago, the rootfs squashfs image is mounted in a loop fashion via the /usr/sbin/arc-setup binary instead, making an overview of the setup somewhat opaque to the casual observer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
verity
Yeah playing with it now, I'm looking at these /etc/init/arc-*-conf files... I see that the /dev/loop# files are being set up... (more below)
Nolirum said:
I was kind of hoping to implement a kind of hybrid systemless root style setup myself, but unfortunately I haven't really managed to find the time to sit down and fully figure out a few parts of the puzzle, in particular relating to minijail and working with namespaces. So, I'm still using the method mentioned in posts above for my rooting needs at the moment, the only significant changes being that at the moment I'm replacing /opt/google/containers.android.system.raw.img with a symlink to my writeable rooted rootfs img, and also that in recent CrOS versions the mount-as-read only and debuggable flags can be found in /etc/init/arc-setup-env ("Environment variables for /usr/sbin/arc-setup").
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry not sure what you mean by "hybrid systemless root style setup"? I take it you're modifying the startup script and replaced the squashfs file in /opt... my concern about doing it was whether they were implementing some kind of dm-verity equivalent to the squashfs file to make sure it hasn't been tampered with (say, by adding /sbin/su or whatever) or whether it's safe to replace that file.. Sounds like you're saying it is? (update: I guess that's what rootfs verification does, and we can turn it off....)
Also you mean arc-setup.conf:
env ANDROID_DEBUGGABLE = 0
right?
Nolirum said:
In general though, one can kind of get an idea of what's going on in the default setup by reading through the various /etc/init/arc-* Chrome OS upstart jobs (and their logs in /var/log). Though, like I say, things keep changing around somewhat with every CrOS update, as the implementation 'improves'. As time goes by, and the subsystem matures, it'll certainly be interesting to see what other approaches are possible relating to customizing Android on Chrome OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't realized the boot was still in flux-- I'd have figured they'd worked that out by now...
Nolirum said:
There should definitely be a write protect screw somewhere on the motherboard for the Samsungs, but so far I haven't come across any pics showing exactly which screw it is. So far, no-one seems to have been brave/foolhardy enough to fully tear down their own machine and locate the screw!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh.. not gonna be me..
Nolirum said:
Regarding adb, on my device I found the following in arc-setup-env:
# The IPV4 address of the container.
export ARC_CONTAINER_IPV4_ADDRESS=100.115.92.2/30
adb 100.115.92.2 (in Chrome OS's shell) works fine for me, the authorisation checkbox pops up and then good to go. su works fine through adb as expected. There's also a useful little nsenter script in Chrome OS to get into the android shell; /usr/sbin/android-sh, which I've been using in my script to help patch SE linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool-- adb connect 100.115.92.2 does indeed work I was gonna use netcat to open port 5555 in chromeos and pipe it through, but looks like nc isn't here and I'm not yet ready to start changing the FS..though probably will be soon... btw any idea which partitions get overwritten when chrome it does it's updates? Will /root and /etc get overwritten, for example... would a "powerwash" overwrite it or can you get easily get into an unbootable state on these things?
It's also kind of strange that adb is listening to port 30 at that (internal?) bridge address by default witho no UI to turn it off.. and it's inaccessible from outside.. i wonder if there's an easy way to change the bridge to share the same IP as the actual interface...
Final thought-- I'd love to build that system image myself soup-to-nuts, but I can't find any "caroline" device tree set up... do you or anyone else happen to know if there's a standalone AOSP device tree for the chromebooks? It would be cool to have a mashup AOSP/lineageos if such a think could be possible-- I'm guessing chromiumos is just taking the android tree, building it and then adding it into their build... I Haven't build chromiumos for many years now so I can't even begin to imagine how this android build integrates with the whole emerge thing they had going.. but I bet it takes a while
Nolirum said:
I actually just updated my rooting scripts recently to support 7.1.1, though I've only tested on my own Armv7 device (Flip C100).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool I'll take a look at these scripts.
So I haven't yet run the scripts-- just looking through them-- I noticed the section starting:
if [ -e /etc/init/arc-setup-env ]; then
echo "Copying /etc/init/arc-setup-env to /usr/local/Backup"
This doesn't exist on the x86 CB Pro. There's an arc-setup.conf that sets up the environment variables though. It sets WRITABLE_MOUNT to 0, but then so does arc-system-mount.conf
Not sure if these are different between x86 and ARM or if it's just in the latest update.. but figured I'd let you know. Wanna throw thse scripts up on github somewhere? (Or I can do it) and we can maybe look at keeping them up to date and/or standardizing them? It wouldn't be hard to determine if it's running on ARM or x86_64 (uname -i for example)..
fattire said:
So I haven't yet run the scripts-- just looking through them-- I noticed the section starting:
if [ -e /etc/init/arc-setup-env ]; then
echo "Copying /etc/init/arc-setup-env to /usr/local/Backup"
This doesn't exist on the x86 CB Pro. There's an arc-setup.conf that sets up the environment variables though. It sets WRITABLE_MOUNT to 0, but then so does arc-system-mount.conf
Not sure if these are different between x86 and ARM or if it's just in the latest update.. but figured I'd let you know. Wanna throw thse scripts up on github somewhere? (Or I can do it) and we can maybe look at keeping them up to date and/or standardizing them? It wouldn't be hard to determine if it's running on ARM or x86_64 (uname -i for example)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, the arc-setup-env thing is intentional. There does appear to be another issue with the x86 version though. I've written up a detailed response to your previous post; it's in a text file at the moment so I'll copy it over and format it for posting here with quotes etc now - should only take a few minutes. Yeah, sticking them on github might be a good idea; I've been meaning to create an account over there anyway.
Yeah, so... Regarding the scripts, since I've put them up here for people to download - I should mention that the first person to test them (aside from me) has reported that something's not working right (I'm waiting for confirmation but I think he tried out the x86 version). It's likely either an error on my part when copying across from my Arm version, or perhaps something not working right with conditionals, meant to deal with the various OS versions ('if; then' statements, I mean). Once I find out more, I'll edit my earlier post...
fattire said:
Sorry not sure what you mean by "hybrid systemless root style setup"? I take it you're modifying the startup script and replaced the squashfs file in /opt... my concern about doing it was whether they were implementing some kind of dm-verity equivalent to the squashfs file to make sure it hasn't been tampered with (say, by adding /sbin/su or whatever) or whether it's safe to replace that file.. Sounds like you're saying it is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, sorry for being a bit vague - I just mean perhaps implementing a kind of systemless root à la Magisk/SuperSU (from what I understand of how these work) - avoiding the need to actually replace files in /system. Since I'm mainly just using su for the privileges rather than actually wanting to write to /system, I had the idea that perhaps a sort of overlay on e.g. xbin and a few other locations, rather than actually rebuilding the whole of /system, might be an interesting approach....
Yep, I've been replacing /opt/google/containers/android/system.raw.img with a symlink to my modified image lately. Works fine... I think they've been focused on just getting the apps working properly, maybe something like dm-verity is still to come.
Although, one of the cool things with Chromebooks IMO is that once the Developer Mode (virtual) switch has been flipped, the system's pretty open to being hacked around with. I think a large part of the much-trumpeted "security" of the system is thanks to the regular mode/Dev mode feature, once in Dev Mode with verified boot disabled on the rootfs, we can pretty much do what we want (I like the message that comes up in the shell when entering the first command I posted under the spoiler - it literally says "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!").
So yeah, with Dev Mode switched off, verified boot switched on, we can't even get into the shell (just the walled-off 'crosh' prompt), making the system indeed rather secure (but, for some of us, rather limited).
fattire said:
Also you mean arc-setup.conf:
env ANDROID_DEBUGGABLE = 0
right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I mean by a moving target, lol. On my device the Canary channel is at Chrome OS version 61; I think they started to move out some ARC++ (the acronym stands for Android Runtime on Chrome, version 2, if anyone's wondering, btw) environment variables to a separate file in version 60, or maybe 61. Problems with being on the more 'bleeding edge' channels include:
#Sometimes stuff gets broken as they commit experimental changes.
#Any updates sometimes overwrite rootfs customizations; the higher the channel - the more frequent the updates occur.
#Some of the stuff that gets updated, may later get reverted.
And so on...
fattire said:
I hadn't realized the boot was still in flux-- I'd have figured they'd worked that out by now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you'd think so. Honestly, the more I use CrOS the more it seems like a (very polished) work-in-progress to me. Though, I guess most modern OSs are also works-in-progress though. (I don't mean the former statement in a critical way; I'm very happy that new features keep getting added to the OS - Android app support being a perfect case in point, that was a lovely surprise, greatly extending the functionality of my Chromebook).
fattire said:
Cool-- adb connect 100.115.92.2 does indeed work I was gonna use netcat to open port 5555 in chromeos and pipe it through, but looks like nc isn't here and I'm not yet ready to start changing the FS..though probably will be soon...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Netcat's not there but socat, which I haven't any experience with but have seen described as a "more advanced version of netcat", is listed in /etc/portage/make.profile/package.installable, meaning that adding it to CrOS is supported, and as simple as:
Code:
sudo su -
dev_install #(sets up portage in /usr/local)
emerge socat
I tried socat out and it seems to work, might be interesting to play around with.
fattire said:
btw any idea which partitions get overwritten when chrome it does it's updates? Will /root and /etc get overwritten, for example...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres a question. I forget some of the exact details now (gleaned from browsing the developer mailing lists and the documentation on chromium.org), but from what I do remember and my experiences tinkering, I can say:
The auto-update model uses kernel/rootfs pairs, e.g. at the moment my device is booting from partition 2 (KERN-A) with the rootfs being partition 3 (ROOTFS-B). My understanding is that with the next OS update pushed to my device, CrOS will download the deltas of the files to be changed, and apply the changes to partitions 4 and 5 (KERN-B and ROOTS-B), setting new kernel GPT flags (priority=, tries=, successful=), which will, post-reboot, let the BIOS know that 4 and 5 will form the new working kernel/rootfs pair. Then the following update will do the same, but with partitions 2 and 3, and so on and so forth, alternating pairs each time. It's a pretty nifty system, and I think something similar might be happening with new Android devices from version O onward (?).
So partitions 2,3,4,5 are fair game for being overwritten (from the perspective of the CrOS updater program). Partition 1, the 'stateful partition') is a bit special, in addition to a big old encrypted file containing all of the userdata (/home/chronos/ dir?), it also has some extra dirs which get overlaid on the rootfs at boot. If you have a look in /mnt/stateful/, there should also be a dir called 'dev_image', which (on a device in Dev mode) gets mounted up over /usr/local/ at boot. As I mentioned above, if you do
Code:
sudo su -
dev_install
you can then emerge anything listed in /etc/portage/make.profile/package.installable (not a great deal of stuff admittedly, compared to Gentoo), which gets installed to subdirs in /usr/local/. So I think stuff in partition 1; /mnt/stateful/, should be safe from being overwritten with an OS update. I think crouton chroots get put there by default.
Most of the other partitions don't really get used, and shouldn't get touched by the updater, here's a design doc on the disk format, and here's a Reddit post (from a Google/Chromium employee) mentioning dual booting from partitions 6 and 7.
fattire said:
would a "powerwash" overwrite it or can you get easily get into an unbootable state on these things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not too hard to mess up the system and get it into an unbootable state, lol. The "powerwash" just seems to remove user data, mainly. If you change up (the contents of) some files in /etc, or /opt, for example, then powerwash, normally they won't get restored to their original state (unless you also change release channel).
But, as long as the write-protect screw's not been removed and the original BIOS overwritten, it's always possible to make a recovery USB in Chrome's Recovery Utility on another device, and then restore the entire disk image fresh (this does overwrite all partitions). Another thing that I did was make a usb to boot into Kali; I was experimenting with the cgpt flags on my internal drive and got it into an unbootable state, but was still able to boot into Kali with Ctrl+U, and restore the flags manually from there. (To successfully boot from USB, it was essential to have previously run the enable_dev_usb_boot or crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 command in CrOS). I understand also that the BIOS type varies with device release date and CPU architecture, and that Intel devices may have some extra potential BIOS options ('legacy boot').
fattire said:
It's also kind of strange that adb is listening to port 30 at that (internal?) bridge address by default with no UI to turn it off.. and it's inaccessible from outside.. i wonder if there's an easy way to change the bridge to share the same IP as the actual interface...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I saw something related to this on the bug tracker. If I come across any info, I'll let you know...
fattire said:
Final thought-- I'd love to build that system image myself soup-to-nuts, but I can't find any "caroline" device tree set up... do you or anyone else happen to know if there's a standalone AOSP device tree for the chromebooks? It would be cool to have a mashup AOSP/lineageos if such a think could be possible-- I'm guessing chromiumos is just taking the android tree, building it and then adding it into their build... I Haven't build chromiumos for many years now so I can't even begin to imagine how this android build integrates with the whole emerge thing they had going.. but I bet it takes a while
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I haven't built Chromium OS or anything, but apparently, there's an option to create a 'private' overlay for the build, which doesn't get synced with the public stuff.
I think that the higher-ups at Google might be still umming and ahing as to whether or not to make source code available for the Android container, it's certainly not been made public yet. Actually, I remember seeing a Reddit post from a Google/Chromium employee mentioning this.
"That article is a little misleading in terms of open source. While the wayland-server and services that communicate with the ARC++ container are open source, the actual ARC++ container is not."
Perhaps they're waiting to see how similar implementations of Android within a larger Linux setup (e.g. Anbox) fare.
There doesn't seem to be too much that differs from AOSP in the ARC++ container - a few binaries and bits and pieces linking the hardware to the container (e.g. the camera etc), maybe some stuff related to running in a container with the graphics being piped out to Wayland?, and so on.
Oh, I was searching the bug tracker for something else, and just saw this (quoted below). Looks like it might be possible to run AOSP based images on CrOS soon!
arc: Implement android settings link for AOSP image
Reported by [email protected], Today (72 minutes ago)
Status: Started
Pri: 1
Type: Bug
M-60
When ARC started without the Play Store support there is no way for user to activate Android settings. We need implement corresponded section that has
Title: Android settings:
Link: Manage android preferences:
Inner bug: b/62945384
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great response! I read it once and I'll read it again in more detail then will probably have questions For whatever it may be worth, my only experience with chromiumos was building the whole thing maybe 4 years ago for my original 2011 Samsung "snow" Chromebook-- and making a bootable USB (or was it an SDcard?) to run it on (with a modified firmware that did... something I can't remember.. i think it was basically a stripped down uboot and I remember adding a simple menu or something-- I think I was trying to bypass that white startupscreen or something..). However, after doing this a few times to play with it, I realized that Chromiumos without the Chrome goodies kinda sucks and I promptly forgot everything and went back to stock.
I did have it re-partitioned to run linux as a dual boot from the SD slot or something-- I remember using that cgpt thing to select the different boot modes and vaguely recall the way it would A/B the updates (which "O" is now doing)... but anyhoo I was using the armhf ubuntu releases with the native kernel and ran into all kinds of sound issues and framebuffer only was a little crappy so...
I'm gonna re-read in more detail soon and I'm sure I'll have questions-- one of which will be-- assuming that most stuff is the same on x86 vs arm, why are there two scripts? How do they differ?
ol. On my device the Canary channel is at Chrome OS version 61; I think they started to move out some ARC++ (the acronym stands for Android Runtime on Chrome, version 2, if anyone's wondering, btw) environment variables to a separate file in version 60, or maybe 61.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the -env file I'm missing, I presume?
I think that the higher-ups at Google might be still umming and ahing as to whether or not to make source code available for the Android container, it's certainly not been made public yet. Actually, I remember seeing a Reddit post from a Google/Chromium employee mentioning this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks from the response that the gapps portion might be what's in question-- just like ChromiumOS vs Chrome has all the proprietary bits taken out?
Here's what I'd ideally like to see:
* Rooted Android, with a toggle switch to hide su in settings a la lineage (requires a kernel patch something like this one) + settings changes from lineageos
* adb access from outside the device-- critical for quickly testing apks from android studio w/o a cable. Basically put the chromebook in a "device mode" where adb is passed through... I'm going to see if I can pipe adb through with socat as you suggest...
* what else... I dunno watch this space.
An update from a couple of guys that have tested out the scripts on Intel: It seems to be that while they are able to launch daemonsu manually (with daemonsu --auto-daemon), it apparently does not seem to be getting launched at boot.
I am waiting for some more information on this. Previously, for Marshmallow, the script was setting up the app_process hijack method in order to to launch daemonsu at boot; to support Nougat I changed it to instead create an .rc file with a service for daemonsu, and add a line to init.rc importing it. This works for me, and from what I can gather, it copied/created all files successfully on the testers devices, too, so I'm not sure at this point what the issue is there.
Edit: Fixed the issue. I updated my previous post with further details.
fattire said:
I realized that Chromiumos without the Chrome goodies kinda sucks and I promptly forgot everything and went back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol yeah. True, that.
fattire said:
...assuming that most stuff is the same on x86 vs arm, why are there two scripts? How do they differ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's literally just two things that differ: the few lines where we copy the su binary over e.g.
/x86/su.pie → /system/xbin/su, daemonsu, sugote
vs
/armv7/su → /system/xbin/su, daemonsu, sugote
...and also the size of the created container. The x86 container is about 30 percent larger than the Arm one.
I had a little look at how to determine the CPU architecture programmatically on Chrome OS a while back, but couldn't seem to find a reliable way of doing this, at least not without maybe getting a bunch of people with different CrOS devices to run something like, as you mentioned, uname -i (which returns 'Rockchip' on my device, uname -m (which returns 'armv7'), or such similar, and collating the results. It was just easier to do separate versions for x86/arm, rather than introduce more conditionals (with potential for errors). I'm certainly not averse to adding a check for $ARCH, and thus standardizing the script, as long as it's reliable.
fattire said:
This is the -env file I'm missing, I presume?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep! It's just the same few envs as in the .confs, moved into a new file. I'm fairly confident that the script's conditionals deals with them OK.
fattire said:
It looks from the response that the gapps portion might be what's in question-- just like ChromiumOS vs Chrome has all the proprietary bits taken out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, although the respondant there perhaps doesn't seem to realise that he's talking to a Google/Chromium dev, the way he responds. Not that that makes anything he says in his post is necessarily less valid, though.
fattire said:
Here's what I'd ideally like to see:
* Rooted Android, with a toggle switch to hide su in settings a la lineage (requires a kernel patch something like this one) + settings changes from lineageos
* adb access from outside the device-- critical for quickly testing apks from android studio w/o a cable. Basically put the chromebook in a "device mode" where adb is passed through... I'm going to see if I can pipe adb through with socat as you suggest...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting... I agree, those would both be useful additions to the functionality of ARC++...
Quick question-- has Samsung provided the source for the GPL components (including the kernel, obviously)? I looked here but didn't see anything...? Previously the kernel was included along with the chromium source and there was like a kernel and kernel-next repository.. but this was like five years ago. I think the codename for the samsung chromebook pro is called caroline... let me quickly see if I can find a defconfig in the chromium source...
Back.. nothing here in the chromeos-4.4 branch. Nothing here either in the master branch. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong branches-- master is probably mainline kernel. Also the directories.. it took me five minutes to realize it wasn't going to be in arch/arm - force of habit I guess. I'll keep looking unless anyone knows. This "chromium-container-vm-x86" one seems to have dm_verity as an unused option. Ah, this is looking promising.
...and... here!
So it would seem that this would be built as part of the chromiumos build system, which seemed to be half gentoo five years ago building out of a chroot and was kind of a pain to set up... still, I'm guessing that since it's got that weird script to make the defconfig, what you could do is use google's chromiumos build script to make the kernel image (with whatever changes you want), then, assuming that it doesn't care if you replace the kernel, just throw it over the right Kernel A/B partition and see if it boots and starts up chromeos... it's weird cuz the kernel has to do double-duty for chromeos and android.. but I bet you can just replace it and it would work fine...
I had a cursory go at building a couple of kernel modules for my Flip C100 a while back - I didn't get too far though, lol. People do seem to have had success building their own kernels and running them with Chrome OS though, as with most things I suppose it's just how much time/effort you're willing to put in.
I think I used this and maybe this, from the crouton project to guide me.
From what I remember, I just got fed up of all the arcane errors/config choices. I remember that even though I'd imported my current device config from modprobe configs, there were then such an incredibly long string of hoops/config choices to have to go through one by one, to then be confronted with various errors (different every time ISTR) that I think I just thought "screw this". I think there were some other issue with the Ubuntu version I was using at the time as well. I know that sort of stuff's kind of par for the course with kernel compilation, but I was mainly only doing it so I could edit xpad in order to get my joypad working, in the end I found a different solution.
It shouldn't be too much hassle though, in theory I guess.... Oh, also, in order to get a freshly built kernel booting up with the CrOS rootfs, in addition to the gpt flags, I think you might have to sign it, too? (just with the devkeys & vbutil_kernel tool provided on the rootfs), some info here, and here.
From what I remember, the build system would do whatever key signing was necessary.... although I do now remember you're right there was some manual step when I was building the kernel, but I can't remember if that's because of MY changes or that was just part of the build process.
I I just dug out the old VM (Xubuntu) I was using to build and, well, let's just say I'll be doing a LOT of ubuntu updates before I can even realistically look at this. I do kinda recall setting up the environment was a huge pain so I'm going to see if I can just update the 5 year old source, target the pro and just build the kernel image and see what pops out the other end. At least I won't have to deal with the cross compiler, though I think it should hopefully take care of that itself.
Interesting to see that those crouton projects have emerged (no pun intended) so I'll check them out too while ubuntu updates itself
Thanks for the github links.. I'm going to go read that wiki.
Update: Looked at it-- funny they just stripped out the chromeos-specific parts they needed rather than emerge everything which is smart. My only question is now that Android is involved, there's that script I linked to earlier that seems to say "if you want Android support you'll need these bits too"-- wonder if the same config scripts apply, and if there are any other device tree considerations as well...
I may play a bit and see how smoothly it goes.. Unfortunately I don't have unlimited time either :/
Also, please do let me know if you put the scripts on github and I can send you pull requests if I come up with anything.
Update: Finally updated like 3 major versions of ubuntu... the "depot_tools" repo had its last commit in 2013, so I updated that. Wow, this is so much clearer than previous docs... it looks like something called gclient is used now, which I configured with:
gclient config --spec 'solutions = [
{
"url": "https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git",
"managed": False,
"name": "src",
"deps_file": ".DEPS.git",
"custom_deps": {},
},
]
'
that let me do gclient sync --nohooks --no-history ...which i think is updating the ancient source. I probably should have just started over, but anyway... we'll see what happens.
Update again: After updating with this new gclinet tool, it appears that the old repo sync method is still required as described here. That hasn't changed after all, so now I'm going to go through this old method, which will probably completely overwhelm my storage as it's downloading with history.. but anyway, in case anyone is trying this-- looks like the whole chroot/repo sync thing may still be how it's done... the /src directory described above may only be for building just the browser, not the whole OS...
...and here it is. I will have zero room to actually build anything tho, but hey.
* [new branch] release-R58-9334.B-caroline-chromeos-3.18 -> cros/release-R58-9334.B-caroline-chromeos-3.18
Note to self: use cros_sdk --enter to actually get in the chroot. Then:
~/trunk/src/scripts $ ./setup_board --board=caroline
to set up the build for caroline. Then to build:
./build_packages --board=caroline --nowithdebug
Useful links:
* Building ChromiumOS
* [URL="http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/how-tos-and-troubleshooting/portage-build-faq"]eBuild FAQ
[/URL]
This is a guide to install Debian Linux on your Nexus Player
NOTE: This guide is for advanced users
This is NOT VNC nor chroot nor Android X server nor anything else like that, but running Linux natively.
D I S C L A I M E R
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use this at your OWN RISK. Experimental software may harm you, your device and others around you. I cannot be held responsible for any damage done. You have been warned!
Installing Linux will most likely VOID YOUR WARRANTY! (If warranty still applies to a five year old device...)
P R O L O G U E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have adapted the Nexus Player's kernel to meet GNU/Linux, namely Debian 10, requirements so far that it has become quite stable by now.
Since the processor is Intel x86 compliant you can run a regular distribution, receive updates, load software, etc. etc. This makes the Dell Venue virtually a desktop PC.
You can install Debian onto a USB stick and dual boot along with Android OR you may install Debian to the device's internal storage (and speed up things significantly).
H A R D W A R E S U P P O R T
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is NOT working:
* Suspend/standby
* Full 3D support
* Cameras
* Microphones (needs proper asound.conf)
* Likely something else
* Dell Venue 7840 users please see notes attached about sound. Be careful not to damage your speakers with high volumes.
R E Q U I R E M E N T S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Dell Venue 7840 or Dell Venue 7040 (obviously) w/ unlocked bootloader
* USB OTG cable and mirco USB cable
* A USB Hub
* An empty USB stick (I suggest at least 16 GB of storage and 40 MB/s read and 20 MB/s write speed. 8 GB is the minimum requirement though.)
* Input devices (i.e. mouse, keyboard)
* Linux PC (or virtual machine)
* Basic Linux/ROM tinkering knowledge, some time and patience...
A lot of stuff has not been tested entirely, I am a little short of spare time lately, so please be patient, I am willing to help as good as I can.
Ready?! Let's go!
S T E P 1: Install the Linux boot image
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Unlock your tablet's bootloader (there are guides online in case you don't know how to do that)
b) Reboot to bootloader, attach the tablet to your PC and flash the device specific Linux boot image to the boot partition.
fastboot flash boot dell_venue_7x40_linux_boot.img
Hint: This will be the only change to your tablet.
Note: You may revert the changes by flashing the stock boot image.
S T E P 2: Prepare SD card (done on the Linux PC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Format the partition on the USB stick with the ext4 file system.
b) Manually mount the partition to e.g. /mnt
c) Download the attached root file system creator, untar it and change to that directory. (sorry had to be a tar inside a zip, XDA forum requirements)
d) Create the rootfs (need to be root):
./bbep_rootfs_creator /mnt your_username your_password
Note: The process sometimes fail, you might have to try more than once.
Note: This will take a long time. To speed things up, you may create the rootfs inside a disk image on your local hard drive and afterwards write the image to the SD card.
e) Download the system image (link: https://mega.nz/file/tK4UiDaB#yfmTgf8qg8e-WKFPfISbKabNeA2vd5cSfTiKCs5Oh2I)
f) Rename the downloaded system image file to system.img and paste it into /mnt
g) Insert the SD card into your tablet.
h) That's it, if you now boot your tablet, it will actually boot into Linux. Please see the debug output messages for hints in case you run into troubles.
Note: The kernel has become quite old. In case the file system gets corruptes, the kernel cannot recover the file system because the current EXT4 version is not entirely supported by the kernel. In that case, please remove the SD card and use another PC with a recent kernel to recover the file system by typing e2fsck -fy
P O S T I N S T A L L A T I O N A N D I S S U E S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a) sbin tools
I compiled some tools useful for running Linux on the tablet. Have a look at /usr/local/sbin. Those should be quite self-explainatory.
"toggle_blue_light" is a nifty little feature allowing you to turn on and off the blue pixel (makes the screen a little more easy on the eyes, also eliminates blue light hazard)
b) Keyboard and Dell Venue 7040
Dell has not released the kernel driver for the keyboard, so currently you won't be able to pair the keyboard using Linux. If you happen to own 2 units, you may boot Android on one of the machines and Linux on the other. Trigger the pairing in Android but then connect with the Linux machine. Swap keyboards afterwards. It's a mess...
c) Touchscreen orientation on Dell Venue 7840
Touchscreen orientation on the Dell Venue 7840 might be incorrect. In this case you need to trigger the script /usr/local/sbin/ts_rotate
d) Sound on Dell Venue 7840
Sound on the Dell Venue 7840 needs to be set up manually (you can automate the process with a start up script). You need to call /usr/local/sbin/bb_on_tfa9890.sh as root.
To change the volume use /usr/local/sbin/bb_set_volume.
Be careful with the volume, do not overdrive the speakers. I permanently damaged my 7840's speakers!
e) Compositing
On the tablet, Mate's window manager "Marco" is NOT hw accelerated. Compositing is slow. When watching Videos or browsing the internet, you may want to disable compositing (use mate-tweak) to increase performance.
If you need hw accelerated compositing you may use kwin-x11 but this takes up 1GB of disk space and stability is subpar...
You may reduce the resolution to full HD (still very good picture) by uncommenting the appropriate line in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-hwc.conf
f) Chromium
Chromium can be accelerated with X11/EGL, but buffer management does not work properly. When resizing the window you may need to restart Chromium, because the buffer allocation may fail.
Chromium does have support for WebGL. It's quite buggy.
g) Firefox
Firefox is not hw accelerated but still gives you decent performance when browsing or watching movies (tested Youtube FullHD and Netflix, works fine).
However when using WebGL, Chromium is much faster (in case it does not crash).
h) VLC media player
Video playback hw acceleration is not supported. To achieve decent performance anyways do as follows:
I) Choose Tools --> Preferences --> Video
II) As "Output" choose "X11 video output (XCB)" and for "Fullscreen Video Device" select "hwcomposer" for best performance.
i) Splashscreen
You can create your own splash screen. Just grap the appropriate raw flash file for your device (see below) and append a valid 24 bit image to the file (using your favorite hex editor). Flash afterwards:
fastboot flash splashscreen your_image.img
Q & A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Does graphics acceleration work?
A: Well, OpenGL ES does work, however a lot of programs do depend on desktop OpenGL which is NOT supported. Graphics acceleration is achieved through libhybris which makes it possible to use Android graphics drivers in GNU/Linux. It might be very buggy. YMMV
Q: What is graphics performance like?
A: Depends. When a program supports OpenGL ES, you get decent performance (e.g. Kwin-X11 window manager, Chromium). Performance is sufficient to watch FullHD movies in Firefox or with VLC or browse the internet. Chromium supports accelerated WebGL.
Q: What is system performance like?
A: Depends. Bottle neck of system performance is the speed of the storage used. Using the internal storage gives huge speed improvements vs. an external USB storage (max ~ 30 MB/s). With internal storage simple tasks like file management, office applications etc. work fine.
S O U R C E C O D E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Halium - https://github.com/halium
* Libhybris - https://github.com/NotKit/ and https://github.com/libhybris/
* Debian - https://www.debian.org/
* Kernel - https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/x86_64/+/refs/heads/android-x86_64-fugu-3.10-nougat-hwbinder , https://github.com/fcipaq/android_kernel_asus_fugu
* Lineage OS - https://github.com/lineageos
C R E D I T S
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks goes to the Halium team, especially JBB and NotKit
And to Hybris, Debian and the LOS team
ROM OS Version: Debian 10
ROM Kernel: Linux 3.10.20
ROM Firmware Required: 5.x
Graphics drivers based On: Lineage OS 14.1
Version Information
Status: 7040 ok, 7840 untested
Created 2021-01-30
Last Updated 2021-02-25
Watch the demo on youtube:
20 days now, believe it or not but I have been waiting for something like that...sort of. Well, I'm gonna give it a try and see if I can provide you with some feedback.
Thanks, amazing idea.
Glad to finally get any feedback
Which device are you using? I have made some progress with the 7040 version - the attachable keyboard now works! I'll update the image file later.
Good luck with the installation and don't hesitate to contact me if you run in any difficulties...
I'm running the 7840. You wouldn't manage to get some kind of an installation script would you?
Well... I'm afraid a script is not possible as it includes to many different platforms...
However I can upload an image of the SD card (I'm currently already working on that) so that you would basically just have to put it onto a SD card.
Linux is running quite well now on the 7840. Even Bluetooth is working without any need of configuration...
So please be patient, may take some days...
fcipaq said:
Well... I'm afraid a script is not possible as it includes to many different platforms...
However I can upload an image of the SD card (I'm currently already working on that) so that you would basically just have to put it onto a SD card.
Linux is running quite well now on the 7840. Even Bluetooth is working without any need of configuration...
So please be patient, may take some days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazing to hear that, thanks for your work. Really looking forward to that.
K, you got it! The links to the file system are online now, as well as the new kernels. Let me know how you like it!
PS: The kernel for the Dell Venue 7840 is running with reduced resolution. If you intend to only use the table in portrait mode I can post an boot image running full resolution...
Thank you, I'm currently very busy with exams, I'll look into it the end of this week. Thank you very much for your efforts.
Fingers crossed for your exams!
Also, I've now implemented the ability to set a custom wifi mac and country code using the kernel command line. This can be set by editing the image file with a hex editor (command line is right at the beginning of the file, there is no checksum which has to be recalculated).
Alright, working good so far. Battery drain is pretty high, I assume thats due to the lacking suspension mode. Oh and sound would ofc be nice x). Graphics acceleration would be nice to have and I guess improve battery run time.
Congrats you got it working (first confirmed!)
I find battery performance quite decent when actually running (i.e. using) the system. I get approx 8 hours of uptime, but I agree that standby performance is indeed terrible - as you already stated this is due to the lack of suspend mode. You actually need to shutdown the tablet when not in use.
Graphics acceleration is (I'm quite sure) not going to happen. Linux is lacking a PowerVR open source drivers, many have tried but no success so far afaik.
Sound drivers appear to be tricky. I found at least two pieces of code to be problematic in a 32 bit kernel, but might be working in a 64 bit kernel. However, Intel/Dell seem to do some initializing in user space code which is unavailable. So doesn't look to good for sound...
I installed Linux the the device's internal EMMC (purged Android) which is really boosting performance (internal storage is approx three times the speed compared to the external SD card reader's max speed...)
I tweaked the kernel a litte, it is now possible to choose between full and reduced resolution/color at kernel command line as well as a custom wifi MAC address and country code. I'll upload the updated kernel once I'll return from vacation...
PS: Hope your exams went well!
Awesome! I've been trying to figure out something interesting to do with my 7840. I'll likely have to wait until this weekend to flash it but am looking forward to doing so. Thank you for your work on this.
This is awesome!
I have been waiting for someone to do something exciting with this little guy. Thank you, seriously. I will be flashing this on mine and following along with your progress. This remains my favorite tablet to date (and I have gone through plenty), such a shame dell shut it down and it didn't get too much love from the community.
Well I had some issues with the state of my tablet after the last time I played with it; so things took a little longer to get going than I expected. But I was successful at getting this loaded and so far so good! I am not really seeing any slowness (using a Class 10 U3 mircoSD) but would be interested in the process to purge the Android file system as it would be more convenient at start-up.
I was able to connect to my WiFi using both wireless N and AC standards. In the little bit of testing I have done so far, sound and touch are working quite well. I did notice that the screen rotation script didn't redraw the desktop, but the touch locations seemed to change orientation. I have not yet tried to figure out why.
@fcipaq You have probably already seen libhybris but if not it may be worth looking at for 3D acceleration. I am not completely positive it is relevant as it may be specific to ARM processors. https://github.com/libhybris/libhybris/
It's been a while - sorry! I'm glad to get your feedback. I have been quite busy lately (and still am). I recently made only some minor tweaks/adjustments, e.g. patched to kernel against the blueborne vulnerabilty.
My 7840 is dead now as the connector failed (connected it too many times to my pc) - this is the sacrifice I made But I still have my 7040 up and running - which is basically the same device. I suggest you do a lot of the flashing from the linux command line or buy a magnetic charger cable ($5 on ebay) to reduce wear on the connector - it's quite delicate and really hard to repair (if you find any spare parts at all).
The rotation script is for touch only - this will not alter the screen rotation. The screen rotation (unfortunately) can only be changed by rebooting (or logging our and in again/restarting the X server).
@FairOh: Thank you for the hint. I am aware of that option but it would take quite some engineering effort and that is far beyond what I can do (alone). The current driver does not even give you 2D-acceleration...
I will upload an updated kernel asap as well as I will publish the kernel source so that others may contribute or study...
I benchmarked the internal EMMC and the SD-Card read/write speeds (I used a really fast SD card) and it turns out that the internal storage is about 3-4 times the speed of the external card. I think this is the card reader's limitation.
FYI: If anyone who reads this owns an Asus Zenfone 2 - this is almost the same hardware and a lot of code can directly be ported - I just took a quick glance at the Asus source code... (and to be honest, I took the wifi driver )
No rush, but curious if you have been able to get your source files uploaded/shared. Not that I'm much if a developer, but you gotta start somewhere.
@FairOh: I'm really sorry for my delayed response. I have been very busy lately...
BTW: it was my first project of that kind. I greatly appreciate your interest. Maybe you can figure something out.
Well source code is now online as well as the updated flashable boot images. Feel free to alter the source code in any way, republish, modify, share, learn etc...
I made some remarks inside the archive (readme file) to guide you to a running build quickly. I suggest you use the toolchain (compiler) from google (instructions provided inside the archive), otherwise the code might not compile properly.
Please let me now if you run into any difficulties compiling the code or setting up the build environment...
So far, so good
First of all, I want to thank you so much for your work on this.
I have a 7040 and I was really concerned about Blueborne vulnerability. I tried a few months ago this, but unfortunately I wasn't be able to get working the Bluetooth adapter, so the built-in keyboard/mouse weren't working (Firmware contents were in place, so I didn't really know what happened).
This time, December revision, I run into the same problem and also when I want to update the system, Ubuntu ask me the admin or root user password.
If you don't mind share the admin/root password, I would be very glad to try and fix the Bluetooth adapter in my system and maybe tweaking some system settings.
Finally, I want to thank you again. Our little loved devices can do so much things because of you. Maybe sometime in the future I will be able to dig in the source code and collaborate in these project (First, I have to learn a lot of things, but I think I will).
Glad you like it!
I might have forgotten to mention that the password is simply "password" sorry!
First of all you need to make sure that your bluetooth adapter is working at all (you may try to pair with any bluetooth device). All you basically need to do is to put the firmware files in place.
Connecting to the magnetically attachable keyboard is a whole different story. As Dell has not released the kernel source for the Dell Venue 7040 (but only for the 7840 model) I had to reverse engineer the driver for the keyboard. There are four pins (two inner pins and two outer ones) connecting the keyboard to the tablet. The outer ones are used to supply power whereas the inner ones serve to put the keyboard into pairing mode - using a "secret" protocol which I have not figured out. So here is what I did to get it working anyways:
1. Boot into Android
2. Delete the Dell keyboard from within the bluetooth menu (this will immediately cause Android to try and reconnect)
3. When prompted to enter the pin just click on cancel (the keyboard will remain in pairing mode for another minute awaiting incoming requests)
4. On another Ubuntu PC search for pairable bluetooth devices. Once the Dell keyboard has been detected connected to it.
5. On the Ubuntu PC tar/copy the key files in /var/lib/bluetooth/XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
sudo tar czf btkeys.tar.gz XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
(These are the keys the Ubuntu PC brokered with the keyboard - we are going to reuse these on the Android tablet)
Hint: Both PCs need to have the SAME bluetooth MAC address.
6. Reboot the tablet into Ubuntu and copy the tared file over to /var/lib/bluetooth.
7. Untar this file on the Android tablet in /var/lib/bluetooth
sudo tar xzf btkeys.tar.gz
8. Reboot (The Android tablet now has matching keys to connect to the keyboard).
BEWARE: Booting into Android will result in resetting the keyboard and you will have to do the procedure all over again. You may use electrical tape to disable the two inner pins thus preventing Android from telling the keyboard to go into paring mode)... It's a littel complex... I asked Dell twice to publish the source code but to no avail (did not even receive an answer)