Debian on the Vogue

I've been running Debian natively from my SD card for a while, so I decided I'd share the [relatively easy] instructions. First, though, here's the status of the hardware support...

* X11 is working quite nicely. 480x640 resolution is best for using E17.
* I'm trying to think up a solution for the 3D accelerator. LLVMpipe works but it's not much faster than classic Mesa. Maybe that's because I'm only testing performance with Mupen64Plus and SuperTux Ideally we would have an open-source OpenGL ES 1.0 driver with an OpenGL 1.3 wrapper/Gallium state tracker, but unfortunately Qualcomm closed it
* The hardware buttons don't generate input events (except the power button, which apparently makes SDL windows fullscreen).
* USB function ether works. This means you can SSH into it or update packages without a data connection (I don't think data even works).
* Sound doesn't work because Android doesn't use ALSA - or maybe because DZO hasn't written the proper driver...
* Camera(s) would need a Video4Linux driver; again, not my area
* Bluetooth is untested.
* GPS needs userspace work (gpsd?) - maybe the HTC Dream page at HTC-Linux.org has info...
* Calling - untested because: 1) I doesn't got the software, and 2) even if it worked, I have no one to call

If you're willing to wait indefinitely for those things to be fixed (or if you don't care), all you need is a Debian chroot on an EXT2-formatted SD card and my special NBH. The NAND should also work*, but Debian probably wouldn't fit on it. These instructions should also work for Ubuntu, Gentoo, FSO/OpenMoko, Angstrom, ARMedSlack, Fedora, or what have you - the only requirements are ARMv6 or lower and a semi-standard root filesystem layout (i.e. /sbin/init).

For those of you who don't trust binaries, I've uploaded my patches to the kernel and tinboot needed for Debian to boot. For everyone else, I have NBH files ready. Just flash the NBH, insert your SD card, and it should boot.

Links:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mnv2memddug (source)
http://www.mediafire.com/?immywzmmqjn (binaries)

*LogFS patch included and enabled in my NBH.

Debian Root

Instructions to build your own RootFS follow. If you're lazy, Google for a pre-built one.
If you're on Ubuntu:


Substituting "unstable" for "stable" or "testing", "root/" with the the path to the directory you want the rootfs in (probably your SD card mountpoint), and your country code in ftp.??.debian.org (or another mirror). You might also need to do to your SD card (which, again, should be ext2-formatted) for debootstrap to work.

Then to complete the bootstrap:

From inside the chroot, do Then, apt-get install whatever you want on the phone (after configuring /etc/apt/sources.list), exit the chroot, unmount the card, insert it in your phone, and boot!

You'll need - at the very least - xserver-xorg-video-fbdev and xserver-xorg-input-evdev *WITHOUT* installing the other video or input drivers. And a desktop/window manager. If you haven't used Debian before, try e17.

Try "lenny" instead of stable.

Look closely - the mirror URL doesn't contain "debianc", does it?

This step is essential - without qemu-arm-static in your chroot, you won't be able to run/emulate any ARM binaries (in this case, Debian-armel's /bin/bash).
Yes, you do need the static version. Last I checked it was actually in the Ubuntu repositories, so look again...

As far as what packages to install, here you go.
Essential packages: xserver-xorg-{video-fbdev,input-{mouse,keyboard}}
Essential desktop packages (pick one): e17 fluxbox lxde xfce4
Recommended packages: cellwriter xfce4-goodies
Suggested packages: Whatever floats your boat.
Packages I installed even though having no sound makes them useless: zynaddsubfx supertux sopwith bomberclone