[Guide] preparation guide to running Ubuntu/debian on desire z

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Ok , I know there is thread about debian running fine on desire z but the tutorial there is highly unfriendly and there are some other stuff you need to do to your desire z. This is my first guide. The reason for posting in dev thread is because chroot and loop requires specific kernel support to power Ubuntu.

Just to explain certain terms here...

Kernel - the interface for android to access hardware. Note that andorid is stripped down version of ubuntu and it does not have loopdevice support

Loopdevice - Imagine virtual disk mount program such as Daemon tools. This requires specifically supported kernels such

Following tutorial will void your warrenty (root and s off) but you can change to warrenty friendly state of course XD Check out xda wiki for more info( study to know what you are doing there.)

There are plenty of guides to get su and busybox( allows android system to be able to utilise more advanced commands) so check out comprehensive guides for g2 and desirez in this wiki below is my version
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If your phone is stock, do a lot of research before doing root and s off. cyanogenmod has good guide on wiki for you to s off and get permanet root. Just for you to know, s off is to disable security for us to flash new kernel with loopback support and root is well... needed for most of hacks in XDA XD

*note for noobs: this is tested with desire z but G2 should not have problems. just be careful of which device's gfree you are using to s off.
ENGINEERING HBOOT IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR YOU TO DO SO AS IT MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE PROBLEMS FLASHING CUSTOM ROM/KERNEL WITHOUT IT (guides are confusing if custom roms require flashing hboot)

Preparation:

1. busybox (install titanium backup and under problems? you can install busybox in a easy way)

2. Recommended: Clockwork recovery(rom manager in market)

3.Root and S off

4.Optional : remove or move sd card installed apps to internal memory or else LOOPDEVICE may be occupied and you may not be able to mount ubuntu. Do this if you encounter error (caused by app2 sd) please note that recent builds in xda mount loop device as 255 to avoid this problem.

You might want to use adb if necessary

5. android terminal from market

6. 2gb free space in sdcard (certain builds use 4gb as storage image, which is limit for fat32 system)

---------Kernel preparation ---------------------------------

Flashing necessary kernel

1. Download suitable kernel with loop device support. I am using cyanogen -> virtuous-kernel-cyanogen kernel from ://files.virtuousrom.com/vision/kernels/
(add http infront) on Stock HTC Sense Rom

2. To flash this, from rom manager, boot into clockworkmod recovery and select zip file to flash. Nandroid backup is recommended beforehand

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Now your phone has loopback support to chroot into UBUNTU or DEBIAN

Well, this method is not native ubuntu but it works fine.

You can now follow any guide on XDA like G1,nexus 1etc on running linux in android. I recommend nexus 1 hacks .com for ubuntu setup or thread "Debian for Desire" for debian setup (note debian seems to have problem with vnc) there are a lot of newbie frendly guides to do this without partitioning your sd card.

What can you do with them? You can use full android terminal , use vim , open office, gcc or eclipse etc ... makes your HTC Vision true small computer with keyboard . Enjoy

Possible solution to errors you encounter while following chroot tutorial for other android devices:

-----------------trouble shoot--------------------------------
Errors:
/device/loop is busy etc.... chroot: cannot execute /bin/bash etc... shutting down ubnutu etc....

Solution: 1. Get loopback support by flashing above kernel i mentioned
if not 2. TYPE SU BEFORE YOU RUN BOOTSCRIPT ON ANDROID TERMINAL
or if they say the bootscript is not found then type sh ./*your boot script name*
if not 3. move sd apps to phone as i mentioned eariler

Other errors could be from not installing busybox.

Note that in some cases, busybox is included inside the custom rom so you dont need to install it.

Post names of kernels with ability to run ubuntu for others to know.I did not test all of them.

This is my first guide on xda and i hope this helped xda in constructive way...

Post script: I will try my best to maintain quality of the posts to be up to xda standard. Thank you for constructive feedbacks...

quick problem i noticed
I'm running post ota de-odexed and I installed virtuous-kernel_vision_advanced-v1.0.9.zip in attempts to get loopdevice but now my phone doesn't react to an touch... hahaha it's no biggie I can't fix, just wanted to state out a weird outcome I have never seen before

But hey! Your prep guide is much appreciated!

EDIT: All of the 1.0.9 kernels seem to break my touch :/

you need virtuous-cyanogen 1.3 not standard vituous kennel. it is under cyanogen. Since it is developed for cyanogen, it should be fine for wide range of roms including sense roms but yes, it is buggy. I am looking for better kennel now....

Originally Posted by squarememory

Ok , I know there is thread about debian running fine on desire z but the tutorial there is highly unfriendly and there are some other stuff you need to do to your desire z. This is my first guide. The reason for posting in dev thread is because chroot and loop requires specific kennel support to power Ubuntu. Well, do not attempt this unless you can use computer well XD

Following tutorial will void your warrenty (root and s off) but you can change to warrenty friendly state of course XD Check out xda wiki for more info( study to know what you are doing there.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If your phone is stock, do a lot of research before doing root and s off. cyanogenmod has good guide on wiki for you to s off and get permanet root. Just for you to know, s off is to disable security for us to flash new kennel with loopback support and root is well... needed for most of hacks in XDA XD

*note for noobs: this is tested with desire z but G2 should not have problems. just be careful of which device's gfree you are using to s off.
ENGINEERING HBOOT IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR YOU TO DO SO AS IT MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE PROBLEMS FLASHING CUSTOM ROM/KENNEL WITHOUT IT (guides are confusing if custom roms require flashing hboot)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Preparation:

1. busybox (install titanium backup and under problems? you can install busybox in a easy way)

2. Recommended: Clockwork recovery(rom manager in market)

3.Root and S off

4.Optional : remove or move sd card installed apps to internal memory or else LOOPDEVICE may be occupied and you may not be able to mount ubuntu. Do this if you encounter error (caused by app2 sd)...

adb if you want to type things in cmd

5. android terminal from market

6. 2gb free space in sdcard

---------Kernel preparation (may not be needed in some custom roms)---------------------------------

Flashing necessary kernel

1. Download suitable kernel with loop device support. I am using cyanogen -> virtuous-kennel-cyanogen kennel from ://files.virtuousrom.com/vision/kernels/
(add http infront) on Stock HTC Sense Rom

2. To flash this, from rom manager, boot into clockworkmod recovery and select zip file to flash. Nandroid backup is recommended beforehand

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Now your phone has loopback support to chroot into UBUNTU or DEBIAN

You can now follow any guide on XDA like G1,nexus 1etc on running linux in android. I recommend nexus 1 hacks .com for ubuntu setup or thread "Debian for Desire" for debian setup (note debian seems to have problem with vnc)

What can you do with them? You can use full android terminal , use vim , open office, gcc or eclipse etc ... makes your HTC Vision true small computer with keyboard . Enjoy

Possible solution to errors you encounter while following chroot tutorial for other android devices:

-----------------trouble shoot--------------------------------
Errors:
/device/loop is busy etc.... chroot: cannot execute /bin/bash etc... shutting down ubnutu etc....

Solution: 1. Get loopback support by flashing above kennel i mentioned
if not 2. TYPE SU BEFORE YOU RUN BOOTSCRIPT ON ANDROID TERMINAL
or if they say the bootscript is not found then type sh ./*your boot script name*
if not 3. move sd apps to phone as i mentioned eariler

Other errors could be from not installing busybox.

Note that in some cases, busybox is included inside the custom rom so you dont need to install it.

Post names of kennels with ability to run ubuntu for others to know.I did not test all of them.

This is my first guide on xda and i hope this helped xda in constructive way...

it's KERNEL! not KENNEL!

Originally Posted by teh5abiking

it's KERNEL! not KENNEL!

Really dude? That was the only time he mispelled it and you the spelling police make a lousey post as if he mispelled it everytime...get a life

Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

Well thanks for spelling correction. English is not my primary language

Originally Posted by Spastic909

Really dude? That was the only time he mispelled it and you the spelling police make a lousey post as if he mispelled it everytime...get a life

Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

Tell it spastic tell it!

Originally Posted by xsteven77x

Tell it spastic tell it!

I thought you were insulting him XD

I have installed ubuntu without a hitch, but how do i fix the incorrect key bindings?

im thinking of using the technique that uses vnc to access ubuntu on my desire z. i am running 2.3.3 (cyanogenmod-7.1.0) on it. now forgive me for asking this its nearly 1am and im exhausted so my brain is not working right. which version of the kernel am i best getting for this? im a novice at it all but i do want to make sure i do it properly and dont brick my phone.