Saw you could find an ARM platform that did not have secureboot forced on. Assuming the peripherals are similar (i.e. the included drivers work), shouldn't windows rt boot on that hardware?
Once you got it to boot without secureboot enabled on the hardware, shouldn't it be trivial to do some binary slicing and dicing to cut the signature checking out of the kernel?
It seems too easy. Where does my line of though fail?
In theory, yes. "Trivial" is hardly accurate, but it would be relatively easy. Of course, on hardware without Secure Boot enabled, you wouldn't need to do that in the first place; there are ways to disable the signature checks at boot time (but Secure Boot blocks them).
In practice, good look finding anything that *isn't* a Windows RT tablet but which has firmware Windows RT can run on. ARM isn't much like x86, where everything is designed to be compatible with everything else. Even relatively simple ports of open-source OSes (Linux, including Android, for example) are difficult and typically fraught with driver issues. RT is not open source, and is targeted at very specific hardware. Frankly, I would give poor odds of success. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try, if you get the opportunity, but don't hold your breath or expect somebody to do it for you just because it's "easy".
GoodDayToDie said:
In theory, yes. "Trivial" is hardly accurate, but it would be relatively easy. Of course, on hardware without Secure Boot enabled, you wouldn't need to do that in the first place; there are ways to disable the signature checks at boot time (but Secure Boot blocks them).
In practice, good look finding anything that *isn't* a Windows RT tablet but which has firmware Windows RT can run on. ARM isn't much like x86, where everything is designed to be compatible with everything else. Even relatively simple ports of open-source OSes (Linux, including Android, for example) are difficult and typically fraught with driver issues. RT is not open source, and is targeted at very specific hardware. Frankly, I would give poor odds of success. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try, if you get the opportunity, but don't hold your breath or expect somebody to do it for you just because it's "easy".
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Nah, I'm the hardware guy. This hairbrained idea is all on me.
From what I see, RT uses class drivers where it can, to keep function as generic and widely supported as possible. That should help with a good bit of it. Far as the rest, there are a LOT of drivers for it out there between windows phone and windows RT and not that much ARM hardware that is a suitable factor. That should help narrow it down a lot.
I'm gonna make an order from china and warm up my heat gun...
Good luck! Let us know.
BTW, not sure how useful WP8 drivers will be. Even leaving aside the fact that most tablets won't have much phone hardware (possibly some, though) the kernel is pretty different. They're both technically NT 6.2 (or 6.3) and so drivers may be compatible at the ABI layer, don't be too sure. The phone kernel is very slimmed down and missing a lot of stuff. Win32k.sys, for example, only has about 1/3 the entry points that it does on the desktop (or on RT).
GoodDayToDie said:
Good luck! Let us know.
BTW, not sure how useful WP8 drivers will be. Even leaving aside the fact that most tablets won't have much phone hardware (possibly some, though) the kernel is pretty different. They're both technically NT 6.2 (or 6.3) and so drivers may be compatible at the ABI layer, don't be too sure. The phone kernel is very slimmed down and missing a lot of stuff. Win32k.sys, for example, only has about 1/3 the entry points that it does on the desktop (or on RT).
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If RT has more entry points than WP (and the drivers don't use to WP-unique parts of the kernel), then they should plug in fine. At least as far as that goes. I would expect the other way around (RT driver on WP, assuming signing is turned off) would not have a chance of working though. It is POSSIBLE that something as simple as the Bluetooth HID binaries would work, given that WP already has more BT support and HID support. But I wouldn't spend the time on anything more complex than that, going that way.
Related
Just wondering if slax could be ran on rt considering it can be ran from a sdcard. On you phone or usb I was wondering if any dev has looked into it sorry if this is in the wrong section
Did you do any research before asking this?
Slax is an operating system. Specifically one compiled for x86. RT devices use ARM CPU's not x86. Who cares about SD cards etc when CPU architectures are in the way.
Slax being open source could be ported to arm but this is non trivial as there are drivers etc that are device specific. Even so, the bootloader on RT devices is locked down so you can't run anything that isn't signed with microsofts certificates. Funnily enough microsoft have only issued a certificate for windows RT and you can't get this certificate yourself.
Theoretically the hardware could be made to run SLAX.
In practise locked bootloader and a non trivial porting process make this impossible.
SixSixSevenSeven said:
Did you do any research before asking this?
Slax is an operating system. Specifically one compiled for x86. RT devices use ARM CPU's not x86. Who cares about SD cards etc when CPU architectures are in the way.
Slax being open source could be ported to arm but this is non trivial as there are drivers etc that are device specific. Even so, the bootloader on RT devices is locked down so you can't run anything that isn't signed with microsofts certificates. Funnily enough microsoft have only issued a certificate for windows RT and you can't get this certificate yourself.
Theoretically the hardware could be made to run SLAX.
In practise locked bootloader and a non trivial porting process make this impossible.
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Well I read alittke about it and now I dont now much about computers im trying to learn. But I work 60 to 70 hrs aweek at a very demanding job I have to kidds so it doesnt leave much time to teach your self decades worth of computer knoledge but im trying I bought this asus vivo for my little girl for christmass thinking about family also and thinking I was getting a real windows 8 I was this slax on my android phone and since you can run it from my phone to which is arm to a computer I was trying to be hope ful thats why I ask maybe someone alot smarter than my self would now hopeing that maybe this option has been over looked
It's a beta! It's buggy, it's slow (at least on a Surface RT).
If you use your tablet daily, stay away from this thing. Wait for the full release.
SilverHedgehog said:
It's a beta! It's buggy, it's slow (at least on a Surface RT).
If you use your tablet daily, stay away from this thing. Wait for the full release.
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expecting bumps. so far it's good and I am not experiencing any hiccups yet. I very much like the changes.
cheers
Well, I found it rather buggy - though considering how I use it, I'm rather surprised how well it works in 8.0. Still, a warning might be a good idea - I'm sick of people attacking companies when beta software is behaving like beta software.
It's also so limited in terms of the number of devices and regions it will actually install in, I rather get the impression it was a real rush job to try and show that improvements are at least coming at some point.
SilverHedgehog said:
It's a beta! It's buggy, it's slow (at least on a Surface RT).
If you use your tablet daily, stay away from this thing. Wait for the full release.
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I don`t stand by you .I think the RT 8.1 is perfect。The experience on my surface RT is nice
seven7xiaoyang said:
I don`t stand by you .I think the RT 8.1 is perfect。The experience on my surface RT is nice
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I second that.. My Surface is faster and smoother now. Especially with IE11. I have no more lags or getting the Browser to freeze. I love it!
I have the 8.1 Preview on my Surface RT and it seems fine. I wouldn't caution anybody against it based on what I've seen so far.
Tk
ToddKlindt said:
I have the 8.1 Preview on my Surface RT and it seems fine. I wouldn't caution anybody against it based on what I've seen so far.
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Jailbreak. 'Nuff said.
Using Spotify crashes the browser - worked perfectly in 8.0.
A reminder to all who find bugs: PLEASE report them to MS! This is our last chance to ask Microsoft to fix things while the software is in development. Once it ships and gets handed off to a maintenance team, changes will be much slower to arrive.
Note: while the continued restriction on running our own desktop apps is not strictly a bug, this is also a good time to complain to MS about that; it's a very easy policy for them to change, if they decide it would be worth it!
So far my experience with windows rt. 8.1 is very nice. I like the outlook 2013, the keyboard and the response time of the tablet.
GoodDayToDie said:
A reminder to all who find bugs: PLEASE report them to MS! This is our last chance to ask Microsoft to fix things while the software is in development. Once it ships and gets handed off to a maintenance team, changes will be much slower to arrive.
Note: while the continued restriction on running our own desktop apps is not strictly a bug, this is also a good time to complain to MS about that; it's a very easy policy for them to change, if they decide it would be worth it!
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You need to read up on win32 vs. RT as well as some basic application architecture, then you will see why your complaint isn't valid.
Just because it has a pretty desktop and a run box doesn't mean apps magically work... Code for winform apps has to be compiled for arm vs x86/x64 to function and that just isn't going to happen. Explorer is there for a shim/stopgap.. By win9, will likely be gone for good.
This is like winnt on alpha and 2008 on titanium all over again... Except its now in the hands of consumers that don't understand what's going on under the covers.
MS should have never put a traditional desktop/explorer in RT and just finished the port of apps to modernui because its confusing to the average user.
Just think if apple had a shortcut in iOS to give you a macosx desktop that didn't run Mac apps..
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
@libbycm: Despite being here even longer than I have, you appear to have no idea who you're talking to *or* what you're talking about.
I maintain the Ported Apps thread for RT, and have ported a few of them myself (and should get back into it with something more realistic than Chrome, which I still hope to get working Some Day Soon Now). I am quite *personally* familiar with the requirements of porting, the difficulties of working around missing functionality (almost all of which, it should be noted, is missing by design and not neccessity), and the realities of what an ARM processor can and cannot do.
First of all, .NET apps (including WinForms ones and even once that use COM or P/Invoke to system libraries) work just fine, no recompile needed. That's a pretty small portion of the overall Windows software ecosystem, of course, but it's a growing one and also it's one that would be seen as worth targeting by more developers if they saw an actual benefit to architecture-independent toolchains on Windows.
Second, and related to the first, .NET is far from the only architecture-independent language. Java (though IKVM, though .NET) kind of works on RT already; it wouldn't take much to make a serious platform worthy of an official port. Same for Python, and we already have Perl. Yeah, that's still miniscule next to the bulk of legacy x86 code, but it would nonetheless make RT a far more popular platform (for example, many of the Windows bittorrent clients are either Java or Python code, and some very popular games are written in those languages).
Third, even with the crippled tools that we have cobbled together to do our porting, and despite the fact that it's all done on our own time, we've managed a fair number of native ports already. There'd be far more if it weren't for the fact that we can't port closed-source programs (and many open-source ones don't happily compile under MSVC, which is the only RT-targeting compiler we have right now). Already, a growing number of programs are natively available on x64 - after all, it's just a drop-down selection and another click on "Build" in Visual Studio. Well, the same is true of RT. It wouldn't get legacy software, but there's no reason that *new* software released in the last half year - even proprietary commercial stuff - couldn't support RT. After all, it's more customer base for almost no additional work (supporting x64 is sometimes actually more work than supported ARM; at least ARM uses the same-width pointers as x86).
Fourth, legacy code is - by its very nature - older code and generally suitable for running on less-powerful systems. You mentioned Apple... but you failed to mention that when Apple went from 68k CPUs to PowerPC CPUs, and then from PPC to x86, they used mostly-transparent emulation layers to bridge those gaps. Yeah, the code ran slower, but it ran well enough for most purposes. Yeah, ARM is *less* powerful than x86, not more powerful (although you could argue that the same is true for some use cases when going from a G5 to a first-gen Core Duo), but we've also gotten better at this emulation thing. When Apple did it before, they hired the best folks in the business, and pushed the entire field of CPU emulation forward with their need to make it work. When Microsoft declined to do that, one guy on XDA took it upon himself, in his free time, with only a partial toolchain and no access to Windows internals, hacking on open-source pieces, and built a transparent emulation layer for RT. Microsoft's Windows application compatibility team almost certainly loses more man-hours in one day's bathroom breaks than @mamaich has been able to spend on that project to date, and yet some of those very same people who pushed the whole industry forward at Apple, doing things like inventing what is today called dynamic recompilation, now work at Microsoft. They have the expertise to make it work if they'd wanted to.
Fifth, Windows on Itanium failed (mostly; it's still being used, just not developed) because Itaniums were targeted specifically at the enterprise market but weren't very good even there; there's plenty of software for that instruction set in the aforementioned market. Alpha (never mind Windows on Alpha, which I actually know people who used and worked on) failed because DEC wanted outrageous sums of money for it, seeking high-end margins instead of embracing the commodity market. Had they done otherwise, they might even still exist as a company today. NT on MIPS and PPC was similarly niche, targeting brand new (and poorly-merketed) segments that didn't have great penetration in the ecosystem (NT for PPC was a server/workstation OS, not a MacOS alternative). Unlike all those achitectures, though, ARM is well established in the consumer market for commodity computers, and its market share there is growing. If Microsoft is serious about succeeding with RT (and I think they are), they should look at the success story in that market... and it's not Apple anymore. Despite Apple's huge first-mover advantage with the consumer market, Android is rolling over them. Yet Microsoft seems determined to repeat many of Apple's mistakes, despite having precious few of its advantages. They need to make themselves a better Android, not a me-too Apple clone.
Sixth, while Microsoft has made no secret of their desire to move to WinRT, I don't really forsee them having much more success with that than with their prior effort to move people to .NET; lots of small developers will go, but the big programs that are the movers and shakers of the Windows world will stick with the vastly more powerful, flexible, and (frankly) useful Win32 API. Porting an app to RT is a hell of a lot harder than porting x86 native code to ARM, though...
I have been trying to find out any definitive info on what I can and cant do with my surface. Im hoping that I can install something other than Wins 8 RT. It has not looked hopeful in the past, I was given the device as a promo training gift 3 years ago. Im tired of the neutered and damn near useless ness of this tablet. Im looking to install ubuntu or an android flavor of some sort.
As far as I know from scouring the web. Nothing as far as dual booting with an alternate OS is viable at this point. Everything has come to a halt. Surface and the RT OS is basically the Apple Powerbook of the x86 side of the world now.
In my opinion Windows RT 8.0 with the jailbreak is about as good as it's going to get (though there might finally be the possibility of an 8.1 jailbreak). I don't know if you've tried the jailbreak (not sure if you have an original Surface RT or the Surface 2) but for me it filled in most of what I was missing on RT, and has kept the device useful.
It is unfortunate that installing a non-Microsoft OS isn't possible.
domboy said:
In my opinion Windows RT 8.0 with the jailbreak is about as good as it's going to get (though there might finally be the possibility of an 8.1 jailbreak). I don't know if you've tried the jailbreak (not sure if you have an original Surface RT or the Surface 2) but for me it filled in most of what I was missing on RT, and has kept the device useful.
It is unfortunate that installing a non-Microsoft OS isn't possible.
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Would be great to install linux in this tablet
I found a link with this method. Does anyone else know if this is actually doable or works? And could this apply to a windows RT tablet like the 2520?
makeuseof.com/tag/install-android-windows-8-tablet
There are times I would like to elements or apps from andoid on my windows tablet and am also looking for a dual boot solution.
rman99 said:
I found a link with this method. Does anyone else know if this is actually doable or works? And could this apply to a windows RT tablet like the 2520?
makeuseof.com/tag/install-android-windows-8-tablet
There are times I would like to elements or apps from andoid on my windows tablet and am also looking for a dual boot solution.
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Click to collapse
Unfortuanately your answer is in the article you mentioned:
Although the process of installing Android on your Windows tablet – and by this I’m specifically referring to an Intel x86 device here rather than one equipped with an ARM processor (such as the Microsoft Surface RT) – will differ from device to device, the general approach is the same.
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It is talking about Windows 8 tablets, i.e. x86 devices. RT devices unfortunately have a locked bootloader, and so far no one has found a way around that, nor have OEMs released anything to unlock them, so RT devices are pretty much stuck. I hate the fact that Microsoft made that a requirement for RT devices.
I wasted my money on a Surface RT. If Microsoft had updated the platform to Windows 10 with universal apps they would have restored my faith in their hardware. Never again. Now for AMD to release a proper tablet SOC that I can actually play games on.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I never used Linux never knew anyone who has. What can you run on Linux game wise? Can you play any Windows games on Linux? What is the newest version of Linux? How do you buy computer parts to make a Linux computer? All I ever seen is Windows logo on parts. Whats the advantages compared to Windows? How does one get it one a computer does if come on a disk or flash someplace?
Thank you
Rbohannon89 said:
I never used Linux never knew anyone who has. What can you run on Linux game wise? Can you play any Windows games on Linux? What is the newest version of Linux? How do you buy computer parts to make a Linux computer? All I ever seen is Windows logo on parts. Whats the advantages compared to Windows? How does one get it one a computer does if come on a disk or flash someplace? Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used Linux directly in quite a long time but, the following threads may be helpful in understanding it a bit better. Don't be afraid to ask for some member guidance within one of them too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1459153
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2723240
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3300596
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3530696
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2885245
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1076138
There's others out there but, this will give you a good start...
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.
I looked at them but that didn't answer any my question.
There is Steam on Linux. And lot of games are available on Linux. You can't play all windows games on Linux .
http://store.steampowered.com/linux
Windows is like an LTS OS if compared to Linux.
So Ubuntu 16.04 is a safe.
Some OS are updated on daily basis like Arch , Debian.
Some every 6 months like Linux Mint & Ubuntu ,
Linux runs on everything. So basically , as long as you have a computing device.
As far as custom Linux PC is concerned, checkout System76.
https://system76.com/
There are nice builds and they come with good support.
karandpr said:
There is Steam on Linux. And lot of games are available on Linux. You can't play all windows games on Linux .
http://store.steampowered.com/linux
Windows is like an LTS OS if compared to Linux.
So Ubuntu 16.04 is a safe.
Some OS are updated on daily basis like Arch , Debian.
Some every 6 months like Linux Mint & Ubuntu ,
Linux runs on everything. So basically , as long as you have a computing device.
As far as custom Linux PC is concerned, checkout System76.
https://system76.com/
There are nice builds and they come with good support.
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Click to collapse
What is the advantages and disadvantages in having linux? Also what do most people use it for everyday personal use?
Rbohannon89 said:
What is the advantages and disadvantages in having linux? Also what do most people use it for everyday personal use?
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Click to collapse
Linux just works. Windows has lot of software. Mac is really optimized.
People use Linux to devlop software mostly. Cos it's has great support for development and most servers run on linux.
Windows is still for people who want variety of software and games.
karandpr said:
Linux just works. Windows has lot of software. Mac is really optimized.
People use Linux to devlop software mostly. Cos it's has great support for development and most servers run on linux.
Windows is still for people who want variety of software and games.
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Click to collapse
So can I can play Windows games somehow? I'm only asking cause I'm thinking of buying a older laptop to experiment with and always curious about Linux. Wanted to play with Linux and learn it. Thanks for the response.
Rbohannon89 said:
So can I can play Windows games somehow? I'm only asking cause I'm thinking of buying a older laptop to experiment with and always curious about Linux. Wanted to play with Linux and learn it. Thanks for the response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are lot of steam games for linux . Older games can be played using Wine or Crossover...
Don't expect to play newer games due to graphics card limitations. (DirectX and Video graphics drivers cause issues.)
Rbohannon89 said:
So can I can play Windows games somehow? I'm only asking cause I'm thinking of buying a older laptop to experiment with and always curious about Linux. Wanted to play with Linux and learn it. Thanks for the response.
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Click to collapse
An older laptop would be a good way to start. Since it's an older laptop I don't imagine there will be an expectation to play new games on it, Windows or otherwise. Still, remains a great way to dip in and and look at Linux's potential.
Also, the make and model of the laptop can determine how well it is suited for Linux (you have mentioned the Windows stickers earlier - especially recently manufacturers have been making it difficult to allow the switch to Linux), can do a web search with 'linux' in the search, or a distribution. e.g. ...
Code:
linux support lenovo t420
debian support lenovo t420
Lenovo, HP, and Dell are big names that appear to play nice (and System76 makes PC's for Linux). Others, can be like rolling the dice.
And when I hint at a difficult time, it's usually the wi-fi, sometimes the trackpad, maybe sound, rarely something very important like video.
Not saying this to discourage, only to suggest research when it comes to any equipment, old or new. Hopefully the toughest thing would be deciding which distribution to choose - I'm enough of an old fogey to stick to versioned, long-term releases like Debian and avoid the bleeding edge "rolling releases" provide.
Hope this helps.
Oh (looking back to the first post), advantages (which are in the eye of the beholder since they can potentially hold a disadvantage):
Free (as in freedom). I like to be able to vote with my dollar, even though Linux users are rarely obligated to pay for software. This is a philosophical reason, and one can go deep down that rabbit hole, what I like is, nothing is hidden from the public eye since the software is often accompanied by source code, on request. Which makes it difficult for say, a search assistant to send unknown data back to the mother ship.
Variety of experience. If you don't like an application, a windows manager, heck even the init process, you can replace it with something else or even write your own.
Support for older hardware. Often the method to revive a five to ten (sometimes quite older - I occasionally run an up-to-date Linux-powered laptop from 2002 with very satisfactory results) year old device for a new life.
Thank you so much for the replies. What kind of hardware and era should I look for to make a smart decision to what kind of laptop to get? From someone who has never ever used linux or even seen it only used windows how hard is the learning curb? Can I load it on the the pc and just go for it or will I be massively confused?
Rbohannon89 said:
Thank you so much for the replies. What kind of hardware and era should I look for to make a smart decision to what kind of laptop to get? From someone who has never ever used linux or even seen it only used windows how hard is the learning curb? Can I load it on the the pc and just go for it or will I be massively confused?
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I would go for a once-mid-to-high-end laptop of about six years old (newer run but still holding the Windows 7 stickers), from a vendor I noted before. It does not guarantee complete compatibility so you would still want to cross reference the model number.
I am not a fan of "chiclet" keyboards (I have enough difficulty typing on laptop keyboards) and have fond memories of the IBM ThinkPads (I used to own the popular 600X) that I maintain one of the final bastions before Lenovo took design tips from Apple (by the way, I hear MacBooks can have reasonable compatibility as well, though there would be an extra premium there).
For a laptop longevity perspective (the second thing to look for), a "flagship" laptop from a vendor (especially from Apple or Lenovo) means better access to (and thus generally less expensive) spare parts. To identify this on the Lenovo side, it would mean part of the "T" or "X" lineup (both are business grade; the X models just have a smaller footprint). For what it's worth, business-grade HP laptops are the "ProBook" series.
From what I understand, the learning curve is not that difficult. There have been people who knew nothing about computers that learned Linux quite easily. The challenge for a Windows user trying Linux becomes "un-learning" specific workflow to make way for new ways of doing things. Apologies I can only be general - me trying to share my experience with the learning curve is difficult since that transition was about two decades ago and Microsoft drastically changed the typical user's workflow three times between the early 1990's of my first computer and the year 2000 (MS-DOS -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 -> NT5) that makes the transition from Windows 7 to 8 to 10 look like a food fight. The first year I was quite reliant on a guru (I was in the expectation to accelerate my knowledge for an upcoming project) until I was directed to not use that as a crutch. A bit sad to say, that moment I was told to "RTFM" for a simple problem was when I really started to learn.
But I would definitely not dive into the deep end (as they say) by wiping your main computer for Linux. For starters, even with decent backups (which you should be doing anyway), your data can be inaccessible (installing Linux on a fully set up PC means losing all your personal files there, and if your backup tool to other media is done by a Windows program, Linux may not support restoring that data).
It is also a quick way to become frustrated when hitting even a small roadblock. I would not use "confused" as asked above for this phenomenon. When you combine the impact of the problem with the time in which you would need it resolved by, it can create a sort of desperation on a forum when the answer could have been glaring back without realizing it. Depending on how well documented the issue's solution is (and when a problem that prevents the achievement of a deadline occours on short notice, blind spots tend to happen to even the best of us), would-be readers get frustrated as well and may criticize the lack of research. An exaggerated XDA example of this is when someone flashes a ROM on their daily driver, without any backups first, without wiping anything, and then frantic that their only phone has app force closures every five seconds - and the plane for their two week trip leaves in six hours. In short, a dedicated device to play on means you set the pace on how you want to learn.
A dedicated laptop would be the better way to go. For a no-cost (no additional hardware to buy) demo of Linux, can try a live CD (will also determine how your hardware can interact with Linux) or maintain a persistent instance through an install in Oracle VirtualBox or VMWare (which Linux will work even if your hardware does not play with Linux). Much further away from recommended territory we have the "cold turkey" method (gripes noted in previous two paragraphs), and finally - for a reason - dual-boot (which has to opportunity to hose one or both operating systems at any given moment - including your data - for as something as simple as a Windows Update).
This turned out to be longer than expected, but I hope this helps.
So it's been about 20 I don't know it's been about since 1997 that I played the Linux or Kali nethunter I was wondering if these are possible put on my smg900v or piece of crap that's the original smart phone from Samsung I don't remember the name but it still on Android Jelly Bean I believe was interested if I could take my two older phones and wipe the OS completely and make them nothing but Linux because I used to have a lot of fun with that we used to stay up and drink beers and play on it you know and then it went away in 2008 and I haven't had a cell phone in years because my work gave me one any advice would be appreciated but my youngest son would probably really be interested in it are you having dyslexia try to get him in anything also I found back in the day where they used to convert that phone to be 2G but I can't find anything but the source code and I don't know how to completely enter source code into an Android phone I had a computer I can do it on the computer but not a phone
averydiablo said:
So it's been about 20 I don't know it's been about since 1997 that I played the Linux or Kali nethunter I was wondering if these are possible put on my smg900v or piece of crap that's the original smart phone from Samsung I don't remember the name but it still on Android Jelly Bean I believe was interested if I could take my two older phones and wipe the OS completely and make them nothing but Linux because I used to have a lot of fun with that we used to stay up and drink beers and play on it you know and then it went away in 2008 and I haven't had a cell phone in years because my work gave me one any advice would be appreciated but my youngest son would probably really be interested in it are you having dyslexia try to get him in anything also I found back in the day where they used to convert that phone to be 2G but I can't find anything but the source code and I don't know how to completely enter source code into an Android phone I had a computer I can do it on the computer but not a phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The closest thing you can do is run linux with chroot.
Here is a good post to get you started.
https://www.xda-developers.com/guid...a-gnulinux-environment-on-any-android-device/
Hardware/software wise, open schematics, binary blob free?
Pretty much not open at all.
I believe it lacks mainline support, needs blobs (and they only exist for Android, so you need to use libhybris for other operating systems to work), and I'm not aware of schematics or freely licensed designs or anything of that sort.
You can unlock the bootloader, you can flash another OS to it. It's maybe on-par with a OnePlus phone in that sense, but quite a bit worse off in terms of popularity and community support.
The MediaTek SoC I think is the root of a lot of the issues. I think MediaTek devices tend to be hard to support. MediaTek themselves are probably rather anti-freedom.
The device and Planet Computers have been a pretty big disappointment in general. My Gemini collects dust at this point and is running a rather old Android version. The need of the specialized MediaTek flashing tool is quite a bother as well. Since I've got an Android and Debian dualboot on the thing, I can no longer get OTA updates for Android, and I haven't got the tool set up and working on any computers anymore.
If you don't already have a Gemini, I would suggest instead looking into the PinePhone. They're working on a keyboard addon, and it's already a lot more free than the Gemini. I run postmarketOS on a PinePhone and it's most of what I wanted out of the Gemini already, despite the rough edges.
If you do have a Gemini already, I think our best bet is someone very dedicated choosing to reverse-engineer the thing. Considering the hardware issues with the keyboard, it would take a lot to make this thing usable. If someone were willing to put in the work to make a replacement keyboard, they'd probably be better off hacking on a different device altogether. The Gemini is just e-waste at this point.
If you were interested in trying to get mainline support for it and such, it may be worth working with some of the postmarketOS guys. There's a page for the Gemini on their wiki, but support so far isn't great. Only one person is marked as owning it / working on it, and there haven't been any updates in a while. It also is replying on libhybris, which would ideally be avoided in favor of getting proper support working.