Installing Ubuntu Touch on your phone. Android is based on Linux, but what does that mean?

Linuxsoid! my friend Yuri Geruk

The second part is about how to install Ubuntu on your Android smartphone or tablet on this platform.

Good day, users of the Linuxsoid site! Yesterday an article was published about installing the Linux Ubuntu operating system for a smartphone or tablet, this was only the first way I was able to do this. I would like to say again that I did not delete the Androd system, but launched a second one on top of the other. I wouldn't take any further interest or even try to install it for myself until my friend Yuri Geruk gave it to me good idea, to install the system, and only after that I became interested and started my work.

Warning! The site administration and the author of the material do not bear any responsibility if, while performing the described manipulations, your device stops working! Everything that is written in the instructions, you do at your own peril and risk. It’s possible that failures will occur, as happened with me and then I couldn’t turn on my smartphone for a long time. There is no rush, we do everything carefully by reading these instructions!

In the first part (Method No. 1) I wrote how to install the system through a program called Complete Linux Installer. The full procedure for working with this program was described, what to download, how to install and everything else. Today I wanted to bring to your attention the second method (Method No. 2). We will install Linux Ubuntu on a device running Androd via mobile application called Linux Deploy. The application is also available to you in free access on Google Play Market, where absolutely anyone can download it.

In this application you do not need to register and activate; after installing it on your device, you will need to launch it and close it again. What do we need to run the system via Linux Deploy. ?

1. Smartphone and computer with Internet access (preferably using Wi-Fi) than better connection, the faster the download will occur.
2. USB cable (to connect your device to desktop computer or laptop)
3. The battery should preferably be charged 100%, but not less than 50%

• Let's begin our task! To prevent it from getting too long, I will skip the points that were indicated in method No. 1. First and simple step for us this will be obtaining root rights on the device; in the previous article I showed in detail how this is done.
• Anyone who has Root rights can proceed to the next step, namely enable USB debugging on their device (the previous article also described how to achieve this). We pick up our smartphone and go to the official store Play Market, where we have to download an application called Linux Deploy. If you have an account set up, you can follow the link with the name of the program and install the application using your computer. After installation, open the application and look further!

• As we can see in the screenshot above, we are shown a program with a simple and not complicated interface. When we first launch the program, it shows us a little help, a list of how to start using this program. After meeting these requirements, we begin configuration. To set up our program, you need to translate it into Russian (we do it for those who have not automatically translated the program) Put the Russian language and check the box next to the item Do not turn off the screen.

Look as shown in the figure below:

After setting the language and checking the box to keep the screen on, we smoothly move on to the next action, namely:

• We create new profile for our new account Linux entries. To do this you need to return to home screen programs, yes, exactly the one in which the help is shown further actions and click on the program header (where the penguin is drawn). After this, you will be automatically transferred to a new window, where you are required to click on the plus sign and create a profile. As a copycat example, I created a profile called Linuxsoid.com. You can call it whatever you want!

• When you have written the profile name, click OK. After that, simply select the desired profile.
• After all this, I fold up the bench and go to bed, and you can do whatever you want from there, of course I was joking! Minimize the application and return to the Play Market and download Es-conductor(from whom it is worth downloading again, you don’t need to, and you won’t be able to :-D) . Open Explorer and create a folder called Ubuntu. After you create the folder, you need to find out the path to it. For me it will be a memory card like yours, I don’t know.

• When creating, click on the yellow plus sign, after which you will see a pop-up window where we highlight the creation of the folder and smoothly flows into the name of the folder (it is better to write in English, you shouldn’t tempt the fate of your smartphone, one thing I’ll say is that it won’t lead to anything good, tested for own experience). When finished, I click on the history log and look at the path to our folder. I got it like this: /sdcard/ubuntu/.

Was the initial setup of the program successful? Then we proceed to downloading and installing the distribution kit on our devices, in a newly created folder. To do this, you need to open the Linux Deploy application and click, as if on an arrow similar to a download, where you should be transferred to a new window with the information we need. What do we see there? The program offers us to install the system, but to do this we need to select it. In this window, click on the distribution and you will see all the available selection of systems (which may be installed on your device). I choose Linux Ubuntu. After I have chosen, click on install and the installation (download) should begin, it takes about one hour. Therefore, it is better to power your smartphone to charge!

• Once the installation is complete, click on the start button and you should be connected to the right servers. The beauty of this application is that it does not need to additionally register a terminal and give commands; the application will automatically register the necessary commands. When finished you will see as shown in the picture! This is the case if everything went smoothly for you and no other errors appeared.

• After such inscriptions, you need to download and install an additional application called VNCViewer on your device, as in the first installation method. In the server, we create a new connection where we write the address as localhots and enter any name in the name and click connect. The application will connect and if successful, it will ask you for a password! The password on all servers is always the same (changeme), but if you connect via a computer, the password will be different, I can’t tell you it because I don’t know it.

When all this is done, you should end up with something like this:

That's all, if you have any problems, write them in the comments and we will help you eliminate them as far as possible. The material was prepared by Alexander Makarenkov for the website Linuxsoid.com.

Hello, I have a mini PC ug 802, how can I install Linux on it? teltar

This is a very interesting topic for me, friends, since I professionally administer Linux servers. On servers it’s interesting, but for me it’s already everyday and ordinary. But installing Linux distributions on devices with ARM architecture is an order of magnitude more interesting.

What is the difference between a computer and a smartphone or tablet?

In fact, conceptually, the difference is small - both mobile and desktop devices, or even servers, are made according to the same principles. However, for mobile devices a different processor architecture is used. Desktop CPUs are designed on x86 or amd64 architectures. And most mobile devices have a processor based on ARM architecture. Historically, this is due to the fact that such processors have significantly lower power consumption, which is a vital necessity for mobile devices.

What OS can be installed on mobile devices?

So, all programs, including the operating system, must be developed specifically for this architecture in order to work on this hardware. Therefore, regular versions Linux installed on desktops or servers will not work here. Fortunately, there are many distributions and versions for this architecture. Starting with the notorious Android, which most smartphones are equipped with, and ending with exotic distributions, like the specialized Backtrack (now Kali Linux). But of greater interest, of course, are some more well-known distributions.

What is Android?

Android is an operating system on Linux based , developed by Google for mobile devices. The world's most popular mobile operating system. It should be understood that in fact LInux is just the kernel of the operating system. And many operating systems are built on its basis, and Android is just one of them.

The kernel is the basic functionality that allows you to use all devices and options of the hardware platform - that is, drivers and device management. Also included in the core are some basic programs and utilities command line. The fact is that in the Linux family (this is the meaning most often meant - a family of operating systems based on this kernel, and not the kernel itself) - the graphical shell is a separate part, its own level of abstraction.

And the minimum configuration of these OSs is precisely without graphical shell, a text-only command line interface. This allows these OSes to be embedded in the most unusual places. For example in network equipment, machine tools, computers and other complex devices, for example in airplanes and cars. Even your washing machine and microwave can have something similar installed :)

This is an Android device. Accordingly, Android should be installed by default. Which, in fact, is Linux. But with some serious restrictions. Installing some other Linux can significantly expand the capabilities of a mobile device. The possibilities of use become virtually limitless. Well, imagine using a mobile phone as a server! Many tools are becoming available. If it's a tablet, connect it to peripherals via OTG cable, you can use it as full-fledged computer! For what? That's another question. I hope our reader will share his ideas in the comments.

How to install Linux on an android device?

So, installation.

There are two options - you can do it full installation, as they say - on “hardware”. This is actually a flashing of the device. At the same time, we lose the native functionality of the device provided by the manufacturer. And this may not be at all what we wanted. For example, the UG 802 mini-computer, which our reader is interested in, is a device designed to expand the functionality of televisions. Because it can be inserted directly into the HDMI port of any TV, turning it into Smart.

Fortunately, there is a second way Linux installations- right inside the main operating system of the device, in this Android case. This allows you to run a so-called chroot environment inside Android. In this case, you will receive two related operating systems running in parallel on one core - Android. And you can switch between them.

This approach is convenient for smartphones and tablets, but may not be suitable for the UG 802. In this case, you may need to flash the required operating system. And this is already some risk that the device can be damaged.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with such experiments. But there is enough information on the Internet about this. Study, try to install.

Therefore, I will provide a few links from which you can begin your acquaintance with the world of mobile device hacking :)

Who are hackers?

Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, this is exactly hacking - non-standard interference in the operation and design of systems and programs, changing them and expanding functionality. This is precisely the original meaning of this word. And a hacker is not a cracker or a virus writer, as most people are used to thinking. This is first and foremost a researcher. Yes, he breaks systems, reveals what was not intended to be opened, but he does this with the goal of learning, not harm.

https://xakep.ru/2012/10/22/android-tablet-linux-install/ - an article about installing Linux on smartphones in the oldest magazine, which is precisely a reflection of the essence of hacking.

https://habrahabr.ru/post/221543/ - Habr, an equally old and even more famous resource. And the article here is fresh, and describes in great detail the experience of installing Arch Linux on top of Android, in the form of a chroot environment.

https://geektimes.ru/post/44220/ - Giktimes - a site from the creators of Habr, and on it there was a detailed manual for installing Debian over Android on a smartphone. The article, although very old, touches on fundamental things that need to be understood before embarking on such an operation. Although this will not help you install, it will help you gain knowledge, without which it is impossible further development topics and problem solving. And after studying such articles, you will feel more confident and will be able to search for information on the topic more specifically, on specific issues that will need to be addressed during installation.

For example, these articles on the topic are probably not the only ones on the above-mentioned sites. You can always try to look for more articles about this on such specialized resources. I found and looked at a couple of topics about installing Linux on mobile devices on 4pda.ru like this, For example

That's all for today. But it may always happen that I want to continue the banquet of this topic :)

If problems arise (and they will arise with a 99% probability :)), you can also ask questions here, we will collect information, solve problems together, I am also very interested in this.

Transmigration of the soul: linux on android tablet

• *nix

Good day everyone.

My story begins with reading, after which I decided to purchase a miracle of Chinese tablet manufacturing: a superpad. This tablet was taken as a toy for “digging a little”, part-time, a reader, a game for pairs and a watch on a long journey... I’ll immediately note that I have two USB hard drives of 500 GB and 1TB, on which everything that is most important for a fun life is stored , and they are split into ntfs and ext4. And, naturally, the tablet does not see them.

Here's my volunteer

This is the first reason to dig deeper. After viewing 200 forum pages on xda-developers.com, certain

At this stage, all attempts to open this tablet have been shelved. Until the glorious time for the student - the session. And since students do absolutely everything during the session, as long as they are not in the subject, the fun night gatherings on the Internet on obviously bourgeois sites have resumed. And the brilliant idea came to put on this tablet Orthodox linux, in my case - ubuntu.
What came out of this, see below.

It’s clear that you can’t just pick it up and install it... well, where did ours go...

We will need:

Let's look at the main stages android downloads and linux

As you can see, the differences start from the init execution stage.
It's the easiest thing to change.

I’ll write honestly, I thought that you could only use the Android init and that it was tightly screwed to the kernel. And even after receiving an example of a working ramdisk from another tablet, I didn’t think it would start...

ramdiska contents

#!/bin/sh echo Starting from initram image. Echo Waiting for SD-CARD wake up... sleep 3 echo "Mounting new rootfs" mount -t ext2 /dev/mmcblk0p2 /newroot && echo OK echo Hold on, switching root... exec switch_root /newroot /sbin/init echo hrm, have a shell instead exec /bin/ash

All that remains is to flash the ramdisk into memory (I used burntool under xp) and - voila, the boot stage. Yes, I flashed the firmware instead of recovery, so to start Linux you have to hold down the keys at startup.

So, the loading stage has been completed and you should be patient, since the console shows no signs of life, and everything loads quite slowly.

Setting up autologin for the first console

We are fighting the X-server

Fighting the work environment

Fine-tuning everything to suit you

In this article we will tell you in detail how to install Linux to an Android device. For installation and full-fledged work alternative system you will need: a smartphone or tablet, a software emulator, root rights and several gigabytes of free space.

1. Installation applications complete linux installer

Enter into the menu Google search Play the word “emulator” and get a list of several tens or so identical utilities. They are all good, but we focused on the Complete Linux Installer application. It is completely free, perfectly localized and equipped with detailed instructions for beginners.

The program can be downloaded from http://goo.gl/5C6Xa. The installation algorithm for Complete Linux Installer is no different from installing any other software, so we will not dwell on this point.

2. Working with the Complete Linux Installer application

Before starting to work with the program, I would like to emphasize once again: what we are describing in this article is not installing Linux instead Android, but emulation of the operation of one system in another.

So, launch the application and agree to install additional software components. It is working with these modules that will subsequently make it much easier for you to use the operating room. Linux systems.

As mentioned earlier, Complete Linux Installer requires root rights, which the application will remind you of in a pop-up window. We provide the program full access to the system functions of the mobile device.

This completes the initial preparation of the emulator for work. The main application menu will open in front of you. Go to the sub-item “Installation Guide”.

The emulator will scan the hardware of your gadget and display a list of operating systems that are guaranteed to run on your device. mobile device. We choose Ubuntu 13.10 as an example.

From this moment on, the program begins to “guide” you through the stages of installing the operating system, accompanying each necessary action detailed instructions. For example, after reading the emulator requirements in the first step, be sure to install “Terminal” and “VNCViewer” in the second. Only after this select “Download image”.

Read the description of the differences between distributions of the Linux operating system and choose the one you need.

Create a folder in the root of the gadget's external drive with the name of the future system. This will make the search much easier for the program. necessary files. In our case, we create the “ubuntu” directory. Unpack the downloaded archive into this folder.

As a result, two files should appear in the “ubuntu” directory. One of them is with the .img extension. This is the image of the Linux system being launched.

After completing these steps, go to the “Launch” sub-item of the main menu of Complete Linux Installer and click the auxiliary menu “Settings” in the right top corner windows. By selecting the “Edit” option, provide the application with the full path to executable file systems. Confirm your choice by clicking on the “Save Changes” button.

This completes the next stage of installing an alternative operating system into the memory of your gadget. You can safely select the option “ Launching Linux”.

Application in background will launch a terminal to execute test commands and request root access to the device’s system functions. We allow it.

Now your smartphone or tablet will be able to work as an emulator of the Linux operating system and you will have access to all the capabilities of the operating system with a penguin on the logo - from executing simple commands in the terminal to installing a full-fledged graphical environment. Linux installation on Android is complete.

Detailed instructions for converting any device running under Android control, into a full-fledged Linux-based computer.

Running Linux on Android is possible! And you don’t need a device with root rights for this: all the necessary software is available in the official Google Play store. In just 10–15 minutes you can get an operating system that differs from Android in advanced functionality.

Note: if you follow our instructions, Linux OS will be running in a virtual environment. Android will still be running in the background. To call such a system complete would be incorrect. Nevertheless, it copes well with a list of standard tasks.

Please close everything before installation. required applications and clean RAM Android device.

1. From the Google Play Store, install GNURoot Debian and XServer XSDL.

2. Before you start installing Linux, make sure that your device is connected to a stable Wi-Fi networks. Launch GNURoot. The required environment packages will begin downloading.

Installation takes from 30 seconds to several minutes depending on the speed of your Internet connection. Ignore the tickers until the following message appears:

root@localhost:/#

Those familiar with the concept of “root rights” should not be scared by this line: the application will not cause any harm to the device, since it works in a “sandbox”.

3. Enter the following command:

apt-get update

Wait until the packages are downloaded. This will be indicated by the line Reading package lists...Done.

4. Now enter another line:

apt-get upgrade

To the question “Do you want to continue?” enter English letter Y and press Enter. The installation of packages will begin.

This time the installation procedure will take a little longer. Wait patiently for the installation to complete until the coveted line appears:

root@localhost:/#

Wednesday Debian Linux installed, and now you can proceed to expanding the graphical shell.

5. Installing all packages Linux distribution executed with the following command:

apt-get install lxde

There is also an option to install the system kernel using the line:

apt-get install lxde-core

Confirm the installation by re-entering Y and pressing Enter. The package download process will begin.

During installation, make sure that all files have been successfully downloaded, and that when unpacking, your device has not run out of free space. Otherwise, the system startup will fail.

6. To complete the installation of the operating system, you must download three additional utilities:

• XTerm - to access the terminal from the Linux graphical shell;
• Synaptic Package Manager - for managing apt packages and downloading applications;
• Pulseaudio - for installing sound drivers.

All three utilities are installed using one GNURoot terminal command:

apt-get install xterm synaptic pulseaudio

About 260 MB of data will be downloaded to the device.

7. Now minimize the GNURoot application and open the previously installed XServer XSDL. Agree to download additional fonts. After the installation is complete, tap on the screen several times (the application will ask you to select the resolution and font size - it all depends on your preferences) until you see a splash screen with a blue background and white text.

Re-launch GNURoot and enter the following two commands one after the other:

export DISPLAY=:0 PULSE_SERVER=tcp:127.0.0.1:4712
startlxde &

The sequence for further restarting the system (when you want to open Linux again) looks like this: run XServer XSDL and wait for the blue screen, open GNURoot and enter the two commands above, return to XServer XSDL.

If the terminal complains about an invalid command, return to step 5 of these instructions and try installing a bare kernel. Check the memory status of your Android device.

8. Now open XServer XSDL, wait a few seconds, and you'll have Linux ready to go.

To install applications, in the lower left corner, open the Start menu and select Run. Type Synaptic and press Enter.

In the window that opens, use the search and install the necessary applications. It could be Firefox browser, GIMP image editor, office suite Libre and other Linux compatible programs.

Of course, this option for installing Linux cannot be called a full-fledged launch of the operating system on Android. Virtual Linux has several limitations, but when used wireless mice and keyboard (possibly connected using an OTG adapter and USB hub), you can turn your smartphone or tablet into a laptop with the functionality of an adult OS.