[Idea] Android Dev system on USB Stick - G1 Android Development

As I installed rosie over the weekend I needed to put an ext2 partition on my card so used Gparted from a USB Stick. This got me thinking. I have seen people post in threads so often that they cant do ceratin mods at the moment as they are at work and dont have ADB. So I wondered if it were possible to have a usb booting version on Linux with the SDK installed and ADB setup that people could take anywhere with them and use on any available PC.
I have no idea how this would be implemented, just putting it out there for the more skilled amongst us.

I've been doing this using a "puppy linux live usb". I'm still fairly new to linux but shell and gparted work great. The whole linux is only ~100mb and doesn't modify the pc it's used on at all(tho you must be able to boot from usb). Good for those of us still learning linux. Don't know if this is what you were talking about exactly but hope it helps.

Puppy
Yup, Puppy is a cute and elegant solution - works out of the box!
Great thing. Works out of a usb no problem - just have to have a boot loader on the stick. Can recommend grub (easiest) or syslinux (can install on the usb out of xp)

Baldyman1966 said:
As I installed rosie over the weekend I needed to put an ext2 partition on my card so used Gparted from a USB Stick. This got me thinking. I have seen people post in threads so often that they cant do ceratin mods at the moment as they are at work and dont have ADB. So I wondered if it were possible to have a usb booting version on Linux with the SDK installed and ADB setup that people could take anywhere with them and use on any available PC.
I have no idea how this would be implemented, just putting it out there for the more skilled amongst us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i have a 4gig running linux mint, including recognition for the phone when connected through usb, and full development platform, with working sdk... very handy when at work etc,

i was considering selling them on ebay but didnt think people would be intrested in such a thing

soulassasin101 said:
yeah i have a 4gig running linux mint, including recognition for the phone when connected through usb, and full development platform, with working sdk... very handy when at work etc,
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Would you be able to provide an image that others could use?

Baldyman1966 said:
Would you be able to provide an image that others could use?
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dunno mate its got a 3gig casper file so i can save to it and have plenty of room for saving what i need. if its possible to make an image of the whole thing then im sure i can upload it to a torrent site or something

Baldyman1966 said:
As I installed rosie over the weekend I needed to put an ext2 partition on my card so used Gparted from a USB Stick. This got me thinking. I have seen people post in threads so often that they cant do ceratin mods at the moment as they are at work and dont have ADB. So I wondered if it were possible to have a usb booting version on Linux with the SDK installed and ADB setup that people could take anywhere with them and use on any available PC.
I have no idea how this would be implemented, just putting it out there for the more skilled amongst us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually a pretty good idea. Have eclipse, adb, everything and turn it into an .iso that would be sweet. Then Haykuro could work at school haha jk.

Hey why don't you guys use VirtualBox. It's free and it runs in windows. I use it all the time.

soulassasin101 said:
i was considering selling them on ebay but didnt think people would be intrested in such a thing
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wouldnt that violate terms and conditions of the sdk and whatever distro you use? legally all you would be able to charge for would be the cost of the flash drive, or Google might hunt you down. lol

yeah it is illegal to sell the software... id be selling my time, it did take two hours to set up and it would only be for the udb stick and my time, as i said im happy to contribute and upload if possible for free

Usually linux distros are re-distributable, but check the license.
The Android SDK license, OTOH, specifically prohibits you to "distribute any software or device incorporating a part of the SDK" regardless of whether you charge for it or not. That is, just charging for your time/materials would still go against the SDK license if the SDK was packaged in some sort of distribution.

I'll try to do this either with or without the sdk and if that is the case then add a tutorial on how to add it yourself so we don't break the laws
My first question is what linux distro would you like? I normally would use Ubuntu.

courious about linux.
Rafase282 said:
I'll try to do this either with or without the sdk and if that is the case then add a tutorial on how to add it yourself so we don't break the laws
My first question is what linux distro would you like? I normally would use Ubuntu.
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I would be interested to learn how considering my noob status........ I figure it would make modding my g1 a whole lot easir. Pm me or jus post to this thread. And I will use witch ever people think is the best because I have never used it.

I started with Ubuntu 9.04 since puppy can be installed on a usb from the live cd and should be faster and a matter of just installing the sdk and eclipse.
I have in mind to install gparted, eclipse, irc, and other programs. Any suggestion or help? let me know.

Okay first attepmt failed. Ubuntu didnt start the X, I may try to do it manually this time instead.

Okay I already have the Ubuntu 9.04 updated and with some softwared installed like banshee, lastfm, currently setting up and installing the sdk. But for this part is where I need help since I didnt use the emulator or anythign but the adb commnds.

you can do it with a 4-8GB USB2.0 and SLAX linux distro http://www.slax.org/
you can add modules, including gparted, then just copy your files to the USB

malaeus said:
you can do it with a 4-8GB USB2.0 and SLAX linux distro http://www.slax.org/
you can add modules, including gparted, then just copy your files to the USB
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I tried with this one but I can never get on internet wireless, I just dont know how to. For me is easier using gnome but kde I never get used to and for me configuration is just harder on it but i'll try.

ah, i dont normally use the net when i use slax. its mainly for fixing my phone, and ill have all my files needed on the stick. including my past nandroid backups.
also, i gotta find that thread, but i read a rumour of one of the dev's working on a way to reflash your nandroid backups from the recovery screen on the g1, which would be nice. kinda off topic, nice nontheless.

Related

anyway to work on/crack the iso

this popped up earlier for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M6MwNto3MQ
seems pretty neat but their are a few major things thatd i love to see fixed or somehowfixed.
first mouse support and internet working which would then allow apps hopefully.
and then since its a live cd whenever youd reboot the pc or restart all the info wouldnt be saved. any way for this aswell?
just would like this livedroid stuff to evolve like the andriod device has
seems kind of cool but........... this is what the emulator is for in the android SDK.
well i hope that this will eventually lead or get 1 step closer to dualbooting android, say windows/android id really like, especially with access to droid apps
have you seen what ubuntu is working on? a modified kernel to run android apps along side of regular linux. imagine a 10 inch netbook running ubuntu mobile that also runs the same apps as your phone. pretty slick. I think i remember finding it via hackaday.com but i'm sure some googleing will turn it up
I'd love android as a main distro, they need to make it easier to compile C/C++ apps though, currently wrapping them in java slows development in my opinion.
The wrapper for ubuntu looks good but i wouldn't really try it, that's just me though
well im just really trying to figure out some way to get android onto my laptop, either with flashdrive or dual booting. Id love to have windows as one and then android as the other if I had access to the internet and app store, because if im traveling some of the android apps would be very useful and they are alot easier to access and find then searching google with windows.
so any chance of this?
Here you go
http://en.sourceforge.jp/projects/livedroid/downloads/40887/livedroid_alpha.iso/
Created by Japanese developers, a bootable iso image (Live CD) of android for your computer.
Here's a translation of their webpage:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.jp%2Fforum%2Fforum.php%3Fforum_id%3D19230&sl=ja&tl=en&history_state0=
You should be able to open the iso with any iso program such as PowerISO, or Magic ISO, etc, then repack the iso with the same program (I was able to do it in Power ISO) Shouldn't be as difficult as opening a *.img
thanks for the links but thats the same thing I posted in topic. is their anyway to put this onto a USB and have the USB bootable?
I would deff use this IF
-it had internet working
-could save the data (maybe stored onto a flash drive or turned into an actual dual boot along windows etc...)
-and with the internet working I could download apps from market place, If I could dl apps id actually use this sometimes because some of the apps would be very very useful in public with Inet access such as where, or the information apps and itd just be plain fun
so any chance of these coming?
anyone thinking of messing with this?
samrozzi said:
thanks for the links but thats the same thing I posted in topic. is their anyway to put this onto a USB and have the USB bootable?
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Have you tried googling it? Something along the lines of "how to create a bootable usb drive linux"
Here's one I found that seems to be the most user friendly, I can't verify if it works or not with this android build (although it should.)
http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2008/08/27/create-a-bootable-usb-drive-or-memory-card/
Why not just use a virtual machine, mounting the ISO?
It is not easy to modify android to support many wifi- or lan-devices..
v6tc said:
Why not just use a virtual machine, mounting the ISO?
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Because this is like when you're installing a fresh version of windows, or restoring.
You need the CD in the cd drive, then restart (as in shut down and start up)
But before it even starts loading windows, it loads the cd instead.
I think some computers can load from a USB drive, check your computer's BIOS
igloo77055 said:
Because this is like when you're installing a fresh version of windows, or restoring.
You need the CD in the cd drive, then restart (as in shut down and start up)
But before it even starts loading windows, it loads the cd instead.
I think some computers can load from a USB drive, check your computer's BIOS
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That doesn't really answer his question, does it?
I think you could easily mount the iso in e.g. VirtualBox/VMWare and start it virtualized. They seem to have included a standard linux kernel with enough modules
rb2k said:
That doesn't really answer his question, does it?
I think you could easily mount the iso in e.g. VirtualBox/VMWare and start it virtualized. They seem to have included a standard linux kernel with enough modules
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Click to collapse
Sorry, I guess I really didn't know what he was talking about =X
But yeah you are right... hmm that should work, although I've never worked with
a VirtualBox
And in virtualbox.. You could use the "freezing"-function to freeze the state ;-) Only thing to fix is wlan/lan.
Wlan should be easier - the driver is named wlan.ko.
You need to compile a driver.
After playing around with it a bit, it's really only a novelty..
I'm running it on Virtual box.. and it seems rather pointless other then for "demonstrating android." The applications that come on it are, for the most part, inopperable and force close left and right. It doesn't seem like it has any practical use, because the available system memory is stuck at 14mb.
However, if this was developed into an installer, not just a live cd, then I could see it having a lot of potential. once you could utilize system resources it would be worth looking into developing drivers for.
For now it would be impractical and maybe impossible to establish a network connection.

how to make a rom PART 1.5 (w/ and w/out virtualaztion)

THANK YOU JOHAN DE KONING
This will explain how to make your computer fast enough to run ubuntu (a form of Linux). And how to download the android package. This will take up 7 to 8 gb of space.
THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT UBUNTU (NOT VIRTUAL AND NOT DUAL IF DON'T WANT TO BE)*This could delete windows if you didn't partion your hard drive right
NOT FOR NOOBS BE WARNED
Go to the ubunutu download page given below and download the 700 mb iso image file. Iso is a cd formatted file u can open it with a zip appclation(but don't). When it is finished I recommand getting a dvd but maybe it could fit on a cd.(*Note that you don't have to burn on to cd u could extract to decktop and run the setup manually.) Burn the ubuntu on to the cd/dvd and than restart your computer with the cd/dvd still in the computer's cd/dvd rom. When the computer goes to a blink screen and asks you if want to boot from cd/dvd press enter. And than from here on follow the instractions.
STEP 1 (CLEAN COMPUTER)
*Note: for performance do this in safe mode.
First we need to make your computer fast as possible. Create a backup just in case you want to back up something. So go to download.com and download Advanced SystemCare Free(7 -10 mb). After you have installed click on the CARE! button to get started. This could depend on your computer usage space the bigger the longer it will take. It will wipe all internet data. If you don't want that to happen just go to maintain windows and click on the Privacy Sweep box to uncheck. Than scan. Than go to utilities and run all the following Disk Check, Disk Cleaner and install Smart defrag. After installing Smart Defrag click start on all the options in this order defrag only, deep optimize, and fast optimize.
STEP 2: RESTART COMPUTER
After restarting go back to System FreeCare and run game booster(install). Click game mode and a pop up will show. Click the button on the left side of the box. Check all boxes but not explore. than go to game mode.
STEP 3: Download virtualbox(68 mb download)
You could have a dual if you want. The download page is http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. Download the correct version. (windows= *VirtualBox 3.0.4 for Windows hosts x86/amd64). than install it.
Install Virtualbox(takes from 5-30 minutes depending on your computer)
Next>accept>next>next>next>yes>install>continue anyway(i got this like 6 times so...)>finish(i think)>cancel>new>Next>name=ubuntu>next>Next>Next>Next>Next>Next>
when u get to the virtual size thing move the bar to 7.5 gb (min). this should be a little extra space. Next>Finish>Next>
STEP 4: Download UBUNTU(700 mb)
DOWNLOAD PAGE http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and choose the ftp. than begin downloading. After download save the file to desktop and DON'T DO ANYTHING. go to the VirtualBox and click CD/DVD-ROM. Check the box and also ISO IMAGE FILE after that and mount to that image on the desktop. THAN OK. press CTRL+ALT+DELETE. go to processes and end explore(for speed). Click Start.
PART 2
OK. START by running VirtualBox with the mount on the ISO ubuntu and than click start on the top right hand side. press enter to leave language than enter again to install ubuntu. on the top of the bar it may pause alot so go to machine and resume it. if it total doesn't work just exit and power down and reboot with explore.exe gone and also no windows up and running. and than just follow the instructions to installing it about 1 hour to 2 hours depending. Make sure that it is completely partation to the virtual drive. After like forever when u reach the main desktop go to app... terminal and make sure u knoe your password. Than type
The rest is here http://www.johandekoning.nl/index.php/2009/06/07/building-android-15-build-environment/. How to bulid the enviroment and getting the libs and other tools together. After all that run.
Sudo apt-get autoremove
Sudo apt-get autoclean
Than on Saturday and Sunday I will teach u how to make a rom.
There is a kernel problem with johan's idea I think I know what it is
Was going to wipe one of my computers anyway. This gives me a reason to stop procrastinating! Will give this a try. Waiting for part 2!
I know I will never get into rom making but it is very interesting to read about.
P.S. Make the paypal link a bit bigger, I can't read it
I already turned my back on windows so I run ubuntu so this is useless to me but I am waiting for part 2 so I can learn more about this, prob won't ever use it but it is good to knowhow to
Already running Mint in VB .. runs just great. I am interested in reading the ROM part though
WTF? Why do you need to do all of this crap on your computer to run Ubuntu? If I was going to dual boot with windows I would not use the stuff you listed. Why not just explain how to use it create a ROM and let people figure out how to get Ubuntu on their computer.
this seems more like spam, an advertisement for those products he listed. Any sensible person would not use virtual box to build android from source (problems you run into with the jvm running out of memory).
Besides, Johan already has a well posted blog about this:
http://www.johandekoning.nl/index.php/2009/06/07/building-android-15-build-environment/
but I would really recomend installing ubuntu through the windows installer (wubi) if you're a linux virgin, that way you don't risk anything in your windows partition, it's faster than virtualization, and eventually you'll drop windows once you learn how to use ubuntu at least.
Really, I think this is spam though.
jubeh said:
Really, I think this is spam though.
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I think you are right. I don't know if "part 2" is ever going to come, or if it will just be a copy/paste from the link you posted.
Wasn't it simpler to just install ubuntu as second os? If someone wants to dedicate himself to developement it would be better to have ubuntu not virtualized
jubeh said:
this seems more like spam, an advertisement for those products he listed. Any sensible person would not use virtual box to build android from source (problems you run into with the jvm running out of memory).
Besides, Johan already has a well posted blog about this:
http://www.johandekoning.nl/index.php/2009/06/07/building-android-15-build-environment/
but I would really recomend installing ubuntu through the windows installer (wubi) if you're a linux virgin, that way you don't risk anything in your windows partition, it's faster than virtualization, and eventually you'll drop windows once you learn how to use ubuntu at least.
Really, I think this is spam though.
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I am not sure if you have ever tried virtual box but it is quite responsive and seems too run better than wubi. I am sure it depends somewhat on the system a person is running, but with a quad and 4 gb of ram VB runs very well. While I have a dual boot with Ubuntu , I have still found it easier to do my android stuff in it's own virtual space. With a dedicated 75gb I can use it seamlessly with my Windows 7 install. You should try it it really works very well and I have had no memory problems at all and have manged to build from source without any difficulty whatsoever. My Ubuntu install stays clean and I can mess with my virtual Mint install as much as I like without ever affecting my Ubuntu partition.
Personally I have Ubuntu on a Prtition of My portable drive,which means I can boot it up anywhere (so long as the computer can USB Boot). I shall certainly be following the original info. The same guy has posted many good Android Articles.
As for the OP here, he only really needed to post a link, not copy the whole thing.
pixel-painter said:
I am not sure if you have ever tried virtual box but it is quite responsive and seems too run better than wubi. I am sure it depends somewhat on the system a person is running, but with a quad and 4 gb of ram VB runs very well. While I have a dual boot with Ubuntu , I have still found it easier to do my android stuff in it's own virtual space. With a dedicated 75gb I can use it seamlessly with my Windows 7 install. You should try it it really works very well and I have had no memory problems at all and have manged to build from source without any difficulty whatsoever. My Ubuntu install stays clean and I can mess with my virtual Mint install as much as I like without ever affecting my Ubuntu partition.
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Almost everything runs well with quad processors and 4GB of RAM. Oracle 10g runs well with that hardware. So that isn't saying much.
miketaylor00 said:
Oracle 10g runs well with that hardware. So that isn't saying much.
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ha! this bit gave me a chuckle.
I freaking hate Oracle. I run a bunch of dbms' & 95% of my headaches come from them.
I prefer dual-booting, personally. I just started messing around with ubuntu (about 6 months maybe) and i love it, after using ubuntu i fully hate Windows Vista and all its sparkly, money-making horse-****. So now i have ubuntu and Windows both running smoothly on a compaq presario f700 laptop, and the only thing i really use my windows partition (i know thats not the correct technical terminology, just pay attention to the story) for is, well, basically just theming, and media storage. I use photoshop, and havent bothered to try using GIMP very much yet, and so i do all my theming (which isnt much really) in windows, which is where i also already have the autosign tools and draw9patch and other such things setup...and then all my music, pictures, whatever are all on my fat32 partition, and can all be accessed from either OS. aside from that, my computer boots into ubuntu by default. so if im using my computer, im doin it the ubuntu way, unless i NEED to use windows, for something like photoshop, and thats about it.
So long story short...(like its not already to late for that) im eagerly awaiting part 2 cuz ive been hitting some roadblocks...hope it helps!
-BMFC
mohsinkhan47 said:
Please donate and help me get a good ubuntu desktop from the case to the motherboard. Please donat.
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I'll get right on that. Is $500 enough?
miketaylor00 said:
Almost everything runs well with quad processors and 4GB of RAM. Oracle 10g runs well with that hardware. So that isn't saying much.
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Click to collapse
Ok Granted u are right about that and so it should.
But assuming I am not the only person with a quad and 4 gb of RAM, this may work just as well for others too. As as a relative newb with Linux, I can honestly say I have killed a few installations of Linux on my Hard Drive by breaking packages and other things that prevent it from working properly. Sometimes it is easier for me to reinstall the whole thing because I lack the knowledge to fix it.... in comes Virtual Box. I can totally screw it up as much as I want and my Linux partition on my hd remains intact with no errors.
pixel-painter said:
I am not sure if you have ever tried virtual box but it is quite responsive and seems too run better than wubi. I am sure it depends somewhat on the system a person is running, but with a quad and 4 gb of ram VB runs very well. While I have a dual boot with Ubuntu , I have still found it easier to do my android stuff in it's own virtual space. With a dedicated 75gb I can use it seamlessly with my Windows 7 install. You should try it it really works very well and I have had no memory problems at all and have manged to build from source without any difficulty whatsoever. My Ubuntu install stays clean and I can mess with my virtual Mint install as much as I like without ever affecting my Ubuntu partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have virtualbox running on my linux box, my laptop's ubuntu side, and my laptop's win7 side. I also have a third computer that I have loaded with windows vista for the computer illiterate people in my house and a tiny dell mini 9 that I bought god-knows-why.
My main computer (since I can take it anywhere and my linux box i use mainly as a file server) is a gateway fx p-7805u. I won't have you google the specs, it's a 2.27 Ghz core 2 duo, 4 gb of ram, 320 gb main hard drive (plus I tossed a slow 5400 rpm 500 gb hd for files), so yeah, I can run virtualbox, but I mainly use it for running micro-xp on it for whatever else I need it.
I've used vb before like i said even configuring the vm with dual core support but there's no way it's as fast as a native system.
Anyway, wubi is not virtualization. It's an actual, loop-mounted image file/partition that fully utilizes the hardware it runs on. It's exactly the same as running a dual-booted system through partitioning, the only difference is that the ubuntu filesystem exists inside your ntfs partition rather than it's own partition, this has the effect of having a very slight hit on disk performance (much less than virtualization though), but everything else is running natively, even drivers. It's entirely safe for your host file-system and can be removed leaving no residual files anywhere on your system. It's also easy to share files with your host computer (with vb you have to set up a network share and then edit your /etc/init.d/rc.local to have it automount on startup, with wubi, it automatically creates a link to the host filesystem located at /host).
I've had to leave my computer building on vb overnight and then I come back to find that the process is stuck at some dex or java compilation, with an actual running system, this doesn't happen.
Give it a try, it costs nothing.
mohsinkhan47 said:
U guys are evil
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Wow thanks! I really appreciate your work and considering donating to you. Since you make your paypal link so large, it really inspires me to donate.
Thanks again!
edit: (hope this post isn't considered to be spam like the original post is)
Better if you do
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
jubeh said:
I do have virtualbox running on my linux box, my laptop's ubuntu side, and my laptop's win7 side. I also have a third computer that I have loaded with windows vista for the computer illiterate people in my house and a tiny dell mini 9 that I bought god-knows-why.
My main computer (since I can take it anywhere and my linux box i use mainly as a file server) is a gateway fx p-7805u. I won't have you google the specs, it's a 2.27 Ghz core 2 duo, 4 gb of ram, 320 gb main hard drive (plus I tossed a slow 5400 rpm 500 gb hd for files), so yeah, I can run virtualbox, but I mainly use it for running micro-xp on it for whatever else I need it.
I've used vb before like i said even configuring the vm with dual core support but there's no way it's as fast as a native system.
Anyway, wubi is not virtualization. It's an actual, loop-mounted image file/partition that fully utilizes the hardware it runs on. It's exactly the same as running a dual-booted system through partitioning, the only difference is that the ubuntu filesystem exists inside your ntfs partition rather than it's own partition, this has the effect of having a very slight hit on disk performance (much less than virtualization though), but everything else is running natively, even drivers. It's entirely safe for your host file-system and can be removed leaving no residual files anywhere on your system. It's also easy to share files with your host computer (with vb you have to set up a network share and then edit your /etc/init.d/rc.local to have it automount on startup, with wubi, it automatically creates a link to the host filesystem located at /host).
I've had to leave my computer building on vb overnight and then I come back to find that the process is stuck at some dex or java compilation, with an actual running system, this doesn't happen.
Give it a try, it costs nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info... now I know you have a lot of computers in your household But seriously, I am not trying to put anyone's opinion down here... so there is no need to be quite so elitist I am just pointing out my own experiences with Virtual Box which have been very good. If it doesn't work for you... fine.. but you are suggesting to everyone else that it doesn't work properly or well and I can quite definitively say that yes it does.. and very well too.
I would imagine that your system from what you say may not be powerful enough to handle it as well... so maybe a quad is needed to make it run the way it does for me, I don't profess to know the answer... only that it works great on my system.. it is not slow.... does not have errors and compiles Android source quite easily using Mint Linux (another Debian based Linux Distro for those that are unfamiliar with it)
I don't think I ever mentioned it was as fast as a native system... all I am saying is that it runs well and for a noob it can be run without messing anything else up as it runs in it's own little environment.

[Q] Linux packages

Maybe I'm missing something (probably am, but my searches have turned up nothing), but I can't seem to find any Linux packages for dealing with the Captivate. Odin, etc, and everything I've found, are Windows apps. I don't have, and certainly don't want, any Windows OS on my computers, nor do I want to deal with wine. I'm running Debian Sid, FWIW. Anyone have any pointers to Linux PC tools for the Captivate?
Heimdall is a start. Basically a replacement for ODIN.
Other than that, most everything you need should be able to be done on Linux.
What specifically are you trying to do, but can't?
sgosnell said:
Maybe I'm missing something (probably am, but my searches have turned up nothing), but I can't seem to find any Linux packages for dealing with the Captivate. Odin, etc, and everything I've found, are Windows apps. I don't have, and certainly don't want, any Windows OS on my computers, nor do I want to deal with wine. I'm running Debian Sid, FWIW. Anyone have any pointers to Linux PC tools for the Captivate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
multiple references are abound to Heimdall .... used as an alternative to ODIN for osx and linux
Yeah dude, all you really need is heimdall and the android sdk. With those two, you should be able to do all the same stuff windows users are able to, unless you're looking for linux versions of all those one-click-root-whatnot programs. If you really insist on using those, you're better off just installing windows in a virtual machine or something.
OK, thanks, I'll give Heimdall a look. I don't have to have 'one-click does it all'. I really can't do anything yet, since my phone hasn't arrived yet, I'm just trying to get prepared. I don't want to be limited to the AT&T lockdowns, and I want to be able to load any apps I want, not just what is available from the Market and approved by AT&T. I want to be able to look at the software and get somewhat comfortable with it before I start trying to do anything.
Heimdall will work great on your set up. There is also a linux version of the"super oneclick" tool. It didn't work great for me but there were some awesome step by step instructions in the thread to root via the command line.
Awesome instructions that didn't work, huh? I'm comfortable with a Linux command line, so I'll probably go with Heimdall. Some people seem to be having problems with it, but the main reason is probably inexperience with the Linux/OSX command line and with technology in general.
Thanks to all for the pointers. Obviously I wasn't putting exactly the right terms into Google, since I never saw a reference to Heimdall. Once I get a phone, I think I can figure it out as I go. Fedex is slow, as usual. We have a priority package sitting in the office at work that has been waiting on a pickup for over a month. The ground guy comes by almost every day, but he can't pick it up, only the air guy can, and he never shows up. Why, oh why, did we ever leave UPS for Fedex? My second-day delivery is going to take a week or so, but I'll survive somehow.
sgosnell said:
Awesome instructions that didn't work, huh? I'm comfortable with a Linux command line, so I'll probably go with Heimdall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The program hung but the CLI instructions worked like a charm. Here is the CLI post if the app fails you also. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11661579&postcount=2806 (there is a typo in step 6; hint chmod...)
Also, here is a thread with some shell scripts you might find useful.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760500
I use linux with my Captivate.
I use Vmware within Linux to bring Win XP up and frim there I can use
Odin just fine!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
I don't have the space for a VM. My netbook only has 32GB, divided between / and /home, and I don't have a Windows license in any case. Nor would I install VMWare just for this, even if I had the space. It's Linux or nothing, and I think I have enough available now to get by when the phone shows up.
i use nlite to strip down windows xp and run it in a vm in virtual box, i only have a 40gig ssd since my other hard drive crashed but find it to be plenty for applications. i keep media on my network drive. the bigger issue than space is ram. if you dont have 2gigs+ on that thing ten virtual machines will bog you down considerably
i see your point though. i think the reason this forum doesnt have too much as far as instructins for linux is that we have odin and most linux users dont mind having windows for some stuff. im pretty sure that if somebody can write heimdal on there own that it is posible to flash without a special application.
also nearly everything you need to do can be done without a computer if you are starting with 2.1, you can root 2.1 with a file downloaded from this site then once rooted you can flash 2.2 roms that are pre rooted and have cwm built into the kernel. once you have root and busybox, terminal emulator and root explorer can do what ever adb can do. you can even use a bluetooth keyboard and tv out if you hate the touch interface for doing things with the file system.

ubuntu on gtab, how is it?

i love ubuntu on my laptop but cant play with it much cuz im in photoshop most the time so am mostly in windows. i was wondering how it was on the gtab? and how to apps work with it? i assume no android market? can anyone give me some pros and cons? and how does it work with the touch screen?
Following work done on the vega, I've gotten ubuntu 11.04 running. You have to use the 2.6.32 kernel and touchscreen works. I'm trying to sort out why wireless and sound do not work. The vega folks have made much more headway at this time but they have several linux distros running on the tab.
it sounds very promising, but until the wifi is working, i can't see this as a viable os. What do you think? The lack of connectivity makes the device a stand alone - right?
I have added the driver for a usb ethernet dongle and it works. As time allows, I'm trying to sort out the wireless issue.
Considering how useful ubuntu is, if you can get everything to work with ubuntu, I'm putting ubuntu on as soon as I get the gtab.
I'm not really sure what the point of putting Ubuntu on the GTab is. I suppose there are linux apps that just aren't available in Android, but most of those are the heavy hitting apps that you'd never want to run on the GTab anyway. just trying to figure out what the point is.
There are things you can do with a linux load that android cannot do. And being a risc processor, it can do more in less memory than on a x86 processor. I want to be able to run librioffice on the tab at meetings rather than having to depend on a wireless connection to the cloud.
NMCBR600 said:
There are things you can do with a linux load that android cannot do. And being a risc processor, it can do more in less memory than on a x86 processor. I want to be able to run librioffice on the tab at meetings rather than having to depend on a wireless connection to the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen the "office" apps available in this forum, that came from the Notion Ink? You can do that with Android. That's kind of my point. The apps exist for the most part... Unless you want to run GIMP or some sort of CAD, which is silly to run on a tablet to start with *I* personally think.
You could theoretically install Eclipse/Android SDK and develop on the tablet.
Support usb modem $ ethernet Android -No, Linux -yes
Support cut/past between pdf and odf docs -- Android No Linux -yes
Ability to use the same linux apps that are on my netbook -- Android -No
Faster program action in linux not inside the java VM in android.
And Google may have several legal issues about stripping out the GPL2 headers out of source code.
If you want android and it's apps, that's fine. There are those of us who want a full OS and apps on our tabs. We'll work to get what we want running the way we want. Try that with an Ipad.
h3llphyre said:
I'm not really sure what the point of putting Ubuntu on the GTab is. I suppose there are linux apps that just aren't available in Android, but most of those are the heavy hitting apps that you'd never want to run on the GTab anyway. just trying to figure out what the point is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because some of us are considering using the gtab for work. I'm sure most people see it as a toy. I intend to use it for much more than a toy. A full os like ubuntu will get the job done.
unfortunately not a full OS
Look I want Ubuntu as much as anyone and I am starting my own business in Photography so another one for the work aspect...
However, it will be limited and not a full OS at least IMO until Ubuntu on the Gtablet can:
run wine (optional but not necessary) may not even work at all since wine is for windows programs and gtab is arm processor
have Flash for video and the web (would this idea have a chance at working http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=994433)
able to connect--read and hopefully write to CD/DVD (obviously drivers needed)
there are other limitations that we will discover too I am sure but without at least the last two from above, Ubuntu on the Gtablet will not be a full OS, a darn handy mobile one but not a full one IMO!
thanks NMCBR600 for your work on this and jersacct whos version (no touch screen has wireless) I am currently using.
I am greatly hoping NMCBR600 gets wireless going on his so I can get touch going on my tablet. Sorry that I may have ideas of my own and love what the Devs come up with here but I am helpless to do any of this myself because I am not that advanced, wish I was, I wish I was.
doihaveto said:
run wine (optional but not necessary) may not even work at all since wine is for windows programs and gtab is arm processor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I can live without wine. I've never had to use it.
have Flash for video and the web (would this idea have a chance at working http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=994433)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, me thinks.
able to connect--read and hopefully write to CD/DVD (obviously drivers needed)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB to external drive.
true about usb external drive but in my photography business I plan to be giving customers who pay for the option a cd/dvd with everything they order on it and so hence the cd/dvd function
and the flash part is there any dev who may happen to read this thread have any ideas to get flash working on arm ubuntu
thanks
Hellburger said:
You could theoretically install Eclipse/Android SDK and develop on the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually something that I would want (Eclipse), so touche.
doihaveto said:
run wine (optional but not necessary) may not even work at all since wine is for windows programs and gtab is arm processor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This actually just opened my eyes to a new potential... VMWare has already shown VM's running on Android. Running a Linux VM from within Android would be utterly awesome.
wine will probably never make it to Android, because of the processor architecture issue... well, at least until vendors start shipping x86 tablets that run on recent Android versions (Wind River is working on it)
doihaveto said:
true about usb external drive but in my photography business I plan to be giving customers who pay for the option a cd/dvd with everything they order on it and so hence the cd/dvd function
and the flash part is there any dev who may happen to read this thread have any ideas to get flash working on arm ubuntu
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But we're talking about a tablet. They have to keep the thickness around half an inch. So, I suspect that no tablet will ever have an internal cd/dvd drive. Just get an external one and carry that around. DVDs are cheaper than dirt these days anyway.
that us what I mean I have an external usb dvdrw drive but ubuntu on the gtablet will not mount anything off of it in other words it will not read/write off of the usb external drive
I can only hope that support will be able to be added with proper drivers unfortunately I don't know how that works so it won't be coming from me.
With the iso support compiled for the kernel, a linux load will see a cd/dvd. It may need external power as the tab may not provide enough through the usb port.
i have to concur
While android is a great tool for social apps, email, light webbrowsing. It fails at something as simple as copying an address from a website to spread sheet. The programs for linux are far more robust. Actually where is android gimp? The touch screen does not work as a mouse. And the key board is missing things as simple as ctrl left tohighlight

Installing Linux on a PC Using Inspire

Ok, so I know that this phone can be used as a USB drive. I'm trying to install Linux on my computer, but I don't have a CD or USB drive available other than my phone. Would it be possible to install Linux using my phone?
Thanks
You would need to figure out a way for the computer to read the phones SD card as an ISO which can be done on a standard SD card using Unetbootin or something similar. However if you put it into the phone the phone itself may not see it as a usable drive and want to format it.
+1 for Unetbootin, it makes the drive bootable. However older versions would format the drive first... I think the newer versions don't, but don't hold me to that. Also it installs to the root directory of the drive so it would suck to remove it later.
No CD drive? Are you using a "slim" laptop?
If you have a floppy drive, you could do the "oooold school" install with 40+ floppies, ha ha ha.
If you have access to a second PC, couldn't you network 'em via an ethernet cross-over cable (or hub) and install over the network?
I'm gonna recommend going and buying a $10 thumb drive.
Then, as long as you're running Linux anyway, I'm gonna shamelessly plug Fuduntu.
ST3ALTHPSYCH0 said:
Then, as long as you're running Linux anyway, I'm gonna shamelessly plug Fuduntu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ever happened to RedHat? Is it still around these days?
At risk of total thread derailment:
Red Hat still sponsors the community development of Fedora and actively deveopes and supports RHEL (RedHat Enterprise Linux).
Fuduntu is a Fedora spin, for which I'm a dev (very junior though I may be).
zuriken said:
What ever happened to RedHat? Is it still around these days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its still around- a popular distro of it is fedora- it just seems most people, especially working with android go debian based instead of anything else like rpm(redhat)
Edit- and I should have refreshed the page before I responded.
di11igaf said:
Its still around- a popular distro of it is fedora- it just seems most people, especially working with android go debian based instead of anything else like rpm(redhat)
Edit- and I should have refreshed the page before I responded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fedora 14 user here.
Returning to the original idea
Well, maybe you could format your card with one of the tools Linux provides to create bootable USB drives.
The problem starts when you turn on your computer to boot from the drive, as you would have to force your phone to USB drive mode and I'm not sure if the detection process will be fast enough so the PC catches the phone as a pen drive.
However, if you have no other choice at the moment (when I formatted a netbook I preffered to buy a 8GB pendrive and forget about any other trouble) you might give it a try. If it works please post back...

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