[DEV] Tutorial for installing ubuntu on Iconia

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sirzen

Member
Jul 23, 2011
18
14
santa clara
For those who want a tutorial, here's my experience in installing the system:

(PS: FOR those who want a really simple command-by-command tutorial, please see #26 post. That's part 1 of the tutorial on how to boot ubuntu up without wireless. If you need wireless working and want a command-by-command tutorial on that, just reply and I'll make it. )
I mainly referred to sp3dev's thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260

I've make ubuntu run on my iconia, but I cannot let bluetooth run so you'd better have a usb keyboard and (if you could find the trick to use the touch screen, no need of) a usb mouse.

Tools to prepare:
1. Ubuntu OS on PC with adb tool.
2. A >=4GB microSD card and make sure iconia can identify it.
3. USB keyboard and USB mouse
4. rooted iconia with acer recovery installer, busybox, terminal emulator.
5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

Files to download:
1. rootfs: http://www.dmmhosting.co.uk/tegra-rootfs.tar from Digitaldaz;
2. precompiled header: http://www.mediafire.com/?ucvk6x66129igzc from sp3dev;
3. itsmagic: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1121543&highlight=itsmagic from sc2k;
4. source code: https://github.com/astarasikov/iconia-gnu-kernel from sp3dev;
5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

Procedure to install ubuntu:
1. Use your computer to format your microSD card into two partitions: one is in FAT32, to be used as normal external storage. Suggested minimum size is 1GB, to store backup file in step 2. The other is ext4, to store root filesystem of ubuntu. Suggested minimum size is 3GB. Tools: fdisk, mkfs.vfat, mkfs.ext4. Using sudo when making filesystem. Refer to rkaszala's post for further information: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260&highlight=itsmagic&page=12
(Comment: I use computer to format while he/she uses iconia to format.)
Make sure the formatted sdcard can be recognized by iconia as /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 and /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 .

2. Backup all data using itsmagic link above. Be familiar with usage of itsmagic, esp. use it to recalculate the checksum.

3. use tools here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1126364 to flash the newrec.img file onto the /dev/block/mmcblk0p1, and use itsmagic to recalculate checksum.

3.1. on android system, use terminal emulator to copy /system/etc/nvram.txt out as bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt .

4. USING SUDO to unzip the rootfs tarball referred in Files:1 into the ext4 fs mentioned in step 1. If you do not use sudo, some device nodes will not be able to be created.

5. SUDO EDIT the etc/fstab IN YOUR UNZIPPED ROOT FILESYSTEM NOT IN YOUR OWN UBUNTU SYSTEM to one line:
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

6. compile source code using instructions by sp3dev here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260&highlight=itsmagic&page=9 in the middle part of the page.

7. copy the compiled bcm4329-fullmac-4.bin firmware (should be at lib/firmware/brcm/) to sdcard's root filesystem's location: /lib/firmware/brcm/ folder and copy the previous bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt here.

8. copy the compiled modules into sdcard's root filesystem's /lib/modules/ (I forget the name of the folder so be sure to name it correctly. )

9. insert the sdcard into iconia and reboot with wolume down key pressed (the way to boot into recovery img.)

and now, you should have reached what I have reached.

If you failed on some step please tell me. All I summarized is what I have done, so please refer to their original post for more information.
 
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T

Tautvaldas

Senior Member
Jan 4, 2011
141
12
can you make video tutorial, because some people don't understand how to do this things. Sorry for bad english
 
H

hellcat82

Senior Member
May 11, 2010
105
88
Melbourne
PhilipZ said:
My opinion: tutorial in first post is good enough. If someone don't understand is better not to try!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sorry if I've missed something here but I didn't realize your comprehension ability was the benchmark for tutorials being "good enough"

Troll or not, I hate attitudes like this. If everybody followed this line of thought we'd still be in the stone ages.

The whole purpose of a tutorial is to show people how to do something that is outside of there general knowledge. If adding more details to a tutorial will allow it to be useful a wider audience then surely that can only be a good thing for knowledge sharing and the author.

A video tutorial, if somebody can spare the time of course, would be great.
 
S

sirzen

Member
Jul 23, 2011
18
14
santa clara
Hi guys:

Sorry I'm really busy these days so I didn't have time to give more detail on that. This weekend I will reinstall the ubuntu on my Iconia and will post a more detailed command by command tutorial here. I don't have a camera nor a phone with good camera so I'm afraid I cannot make a video, but if u have any question pls just reply here and I will get an email notification and I'll reach back asap.

The installation is tough yet exciting so I understand your feeling of getting ubuntu running on your iconia, but my word now is don't expect too much, it's just running yet still slow and I didn't patch some drivers on (At least now I cannot get bluetooth and nvidia drivers work but wifi works!).

Anyway, even if you're new here, I recommend you to read the links I posted above as they're good place to learn stuff.
 
nycbjr

nycbjr

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2006
622
1,016
New York
I'm planning a video tutorial once I work the bugs out, right now still having wifi (it loads firmware but I'm not offered any networks, it statys "disabled") issues, and I'm working it out on Ubuntu 10.10 which doesn't have unity, unity is a POS, requires far too much of the gpu, and for our tab we can live without.

wish me luck!
 
R

rkaszala

Member
Mar 16, 2008
23
1
Nice thread i am still working thru the wireless card issues
You cleaned up most of thenative linux thread nicely. I am still struggling with wifi. I made a 250mb rootfs :) trying for minimalize size

ubuntuarm.jpg
 
R

rkaszala

Member
Mar 16, 2008
23
1
I originally couldnt get the rootfs posted by Digitaldaz to untar tons of symlink errors. So i installed Ubuntu 11 on a desktop , built rootfs using rootstock.
 
R

rkaszala

Member
Mar 16, 2008
23
1
Still havent been able to get the wireless to work, found out that the brcm-bcm4399 had to remove the brcm- from the front. No more firmware errors. just not getting any wlan0 , when i dmesg | gregp brcm no errors there. Any ideas what to try now?
 
R

rkaszala

Member
Mar 16, 2008
23
1
Get your wifi working? I did the bcm4329-fullmac-4.bin and nvram > bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt and then copied the 2 .fw files from the github. I am still not having any luck with wifi.

Wifi Update,
rfkill listall showed the wifi blocked , odd. So i did a rkfill unblock wifi and now i can get the wlan0 to ifup. But using wicd both wext and nl80211 i cant get it to do anything. thoughts?
 
Last edited:
S

sirzen

Member
Jul 23, 2011
18
14
santa clara
rkaszala said:
Get your wifi working? I did the bcm4329-fullmac-4.bin and nvram > bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt and then copied the 2 .fw files from the github. I am still not having any luck with wifi.

Wifi Update,
rfkill listall showed the wifi blocked , odd. So i did a rkfill unblock wifi and now i can get the wlan0 to ifup. But using wicd both wext and nl80211 i cant get it to do anything. thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

That's how I get my wifi work. I don't know more about the detail. I think Digitaldaz add something in his rootfs as his rootfs tarball is ~400MB while the rootstock stuff is less than 300MB.
 
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    S
    sirzen
    For those who want a tutorial, here's my experience in installing the system:

    (PS: FOR those who want a really simple command-by-command tutorial, please see #26 post. That's part 1 of the tutorial on how to boot ubuntu up without wireless. If you need wireless working and want a command-by-command tutorial on that, just reply and I'll make it. )
    I mainly referred to sp3dev's thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260

    I've make ubuntu run on my iconia, but I cannot let bluetooth run so you'd better have a usb keyboard and (if you could find the trick to use the touch screen, no need of) a usb mouse.

    Tools to prepare:
    1. Ubuntu OS on PC with adb tool.
    2. A >=4GB microSD card and make sure iconia can identify it.
    3. USB keyboard and USB mouse
    4. rooted iconia with acer recovery installer, busybox, terminal emulator.
    5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

    Files to download:
    1. rootfs: http://www.dmmhosting.co.uk/tegra-rootfs.tar from Digitaldaz;
    2. precompiled header: http://www.mediafire.com/?ucvk6x66129igzc from sp3dev;
    3. itsmagic: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1121543&highlight=itsmagic from sc2k;
    4. source code: https://github.com/astarasikov/iconia-gnu-kernel from sp3dev;
    5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

    Procedure to install ubuntu:
    1. Use your computer to format your microSD card into two partitions: one is in FAT32, to be used as normal external storage. Suggested minimum size is 1GB, to store backup file in step 2. The other is ext4, to store root filesystem of ubuntu. Suggested minimum size is 3GB. Tools: fdisk, mkfs.vfat, mkfs.ext4. Using sudo when making filesystem. Refer to rkaszala's post for further information: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260&highlight=itsmagic&page=12
    (Comment: I use computer to format while he/she uses iconia to format.)
    Make sure the formatted sdcard can be recognized by iconia as /dev/block/mmcblk1p1 and /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 .

    2. Backup all data using itsmagic link above. Be familiar with usage of itsmagic, esp. use it to recalculate the checksum.

    3. use tools here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1126364 to flash the newrec.img file onto the /dev/block/mmcblk0p1, and use itsmagic to recalculate checksum.

    3.1. on android system, use terminal emulator to copy /system/etc/nvram.txt out as bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt .

    4. USING SUDO to unzip the rootfs tarball referred in Files:1 into the ext4 fs mentioned in step 1. If you do not use sudo, some device nodes will not be able to be created.

    5. SUDO EDIT the etc/fstab IN YOUR UNZIPPED ROOT FILESYSTEM NOT IN YOUR OWN UBUNTU SYSTEM to one line:
    proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

    6. compile source code using instructions by sp3dev here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1158260&highlight=itsmagic&page=9 in the middle part of the page.

    7. copy the compiled bcm4329-fullmac-4.bin firmware (should be at lib/firmware/brcm/) to sdcard's root filesystem's location: /lib/firmware/brcm/ folder and copy the previous bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt here.

    8. copy the compiled modules into sdcard's root filesystem's /lib/modules/ (I forget the name of the folder so be sure to name it correctly. )

    9. insert the sdcard into iconia and reboot with wolume down key pressed (the way to boot into recovery img.)

    and now, you should have reached what I have reached.

    If you failed on some step please tell me. All I summarized is what I have done, so please refer to their original post for more information.
    View
    3
    apapousek
    apapousek
    MikeyCriggz said:
    Guys, please take this to PM. Thanks.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Sorry, my bad. Now, back on topic. Would you care for me to write up a script to do all of the installation work?
    View
    2
    S
    sirzen
    Version 0.2: More details - Part 1

    I mainly explained the procedure not included in the links I referenced. So please reference to original post as I don't want to put duplicate code stuff here. If u feel confused pls mail me or original author.

    Tools to prepare:
    1. Ubuntu OS on PC with adb tool. See google's website about adb tools and how to use it.
    2. A >=4GB microSD card and make sure iconia can identify it.
    3. USB keyboard and USB mouse
    4. rooted iconia with acer recovery installer, busybox, terminal emulator.
    5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

    Files to download:
    1. rootfs: http://www.dmmhosting.co.uk/tegra-rootfs.tar from Digitaldaz;
    2. precompiled header: http://www.mediafire.com/?ucvk6x66129igzc from sp3dev;
    3. itsmagic: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1121543&highlight=itsmagic from sc2k;
    4. source code: https://github.com/astarasikov/iconia-gnu-kernel from sp3dev;
    5. Perhaps more that I didn't listed

    Procedure to install ubuntu:
    1.0 Boot into ubuntu on your own desktop/laptop. Insert the microsd card into it. Identify the device name for the sdcard you have just inserted. Usually it would be 'sdb' if u have one hard disk. Make sure no partition of the sdcard is mounted on i.e. Eject the sdcard partition(s) in your file browser.
    1.1 'sudo fdisk sdb'. If you get different device name on step 1, please use 'sudo fdisk [Your device name]'. after it enters fdisk, use 'd', choose a partition number, and delete all partitions.
    1.2 Use 'n' to set up two new partitions: choose 'p' to set up primary partitions. First one: Partition number 1, First cylinder 1, last cylinder is (Total Cylinder Number)*(Partition Size)/(Card size). If u want Partition size to be 1GB, just calculate the Last cylinder number. Recommended minimum size for the first partition is 1GB.
    1.3 Use 'n' again to set up another partition. For this partition, recommended minimum size is 3GB.
    1.4 After u have set ur partition, use 'p' to print partition table. Make sure they're correct, Use 'w' to write them into disk. You should not get trouble in writing partiton info to disk.
    1.5 Now in /dev you can see two more devices: sdb1 and sdb2. sdb1 should be the partition whose minimum size is 1GB, used as sdcard data partition for furtuer use; sdb2 use mkfs.vfat sdb1 to create fat32 filesystem on sdb1.
    1.6 Make two directory in /media/, namely /media/vfat/ and /media/ext4/. Use 'mount /dev/sdb1 /media/vfat' and 'mount /dev/sdb2 /media/ext4' to mount the two partitions u have just created. Make sure you could create files under /media/ext4 and /media/vfat i.e. ubuntu could access the two partitions.
    Now you have finished setting up filesystems and make ubuntu recognize them.
    1.7 Use 'umount /media/vfat' and 'umount /media/ext4' to unmount partitions and insert sdcard into iconia. Use terminal emulator to see if you have '/dev/block/mmcblk1p1' and '/dev/block/mmcblk1p2'.

    2.0 Back up all data using itsmagic: use the link above and use the automatic method. Seems the bat file only runs at windows. This would take a while so just let it go. it's not dead!
    2.1 use adb tool to push itsmagic into /data/local/itsmagic, and change the itsmagic file property to 755: use adb shell and cd to /data/local: use 'chmod 755 itsmagic'.

    3.0 use tools here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1126364 to flash the newrec.img file onto the /dev/block/mmcblk0p1, and use itsmagic to recalculate checksum.
    3.1 on adb shell or terminal emulator, 'cp /system/etc/nvram.txt /mnt/external_sd/bcm4329-fullmac-4.txt'

    4.0 Now get the microsd card back to your computer. We're now ready to copy ubuntu filesystem to microsd.
    4.1 cd into the downloaded tarball 'tegra-rootfs.tar'. Get to know where the >3GB ext4 filesystem is mounted on your system. use 'sudo cp tegra-rootfs.tar /media/[YOUR DISK NAME]/'. cd to the latter folder. 'sudo tar -zxf tegra-rootfs.tar .' to unzip it here.
    4.2 in the same directory, 'sudo gedit etc/fstab' (Pay attention not 'sudo gedit /etc/fstab'!!!), add one line after the first #-started line:
    proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
    4.3 insert sdcard back to iconia
    4.4 turn off iconia and restart, holding vol down key and power key to power up
    4.5 and now, after bundles of command lines, you'd probably see ubuntu's desktop in one or two minutes!!!
    View
    2
    apapousek
    apapousek
    MikeyCriggz said:
    We would all WORSHIP you like a god. Especially me :).

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Working on it now. Expect an alpha-level script by this weekend. I'm not too fond of the ubuntu rootfs supplied, so I'm getting one with 12.04 to run smoothly, etc.
    View
    1
    T
    Tautvaldas
    el.quechon said:
    Tautvaldas said:
    you need download this http://www.mediafire.com/?ycq1ro22vrwks6z then unzthen tryip in your home directory in iconia ubuntu then open terminal and type:
    $ sudo -i
    ~# mkdir /lib/firmware/brcm
    ~# cp /home/your directory/brcm/bcm4329... all 4 files /lib/firmware/brcm


    if your dont understand this i will make some video later. And dont forget your screen lock on your iconia it should be turn on. sorry for bad english

    I did everything you posted but still no internet
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Then try type in terminal this:
    $ cd /lib/firmware/brcm
    $ ls
    You should see your 4 bcm... files.
    If you have them then type this:
    $ sudo rfkill unblock wifi
    Then you should have wifi.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse
    View

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