[Q&A] Ubuntu on the Transformer (eMMC install)

lilstevie · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
Oops, my bad. While I've got you, you wouldn't happen to have any ideas about that kernel panic I mentioned earlier, would you?

yeah, it is a change in the way the ramdisk is handled, it is specific to jhintas initrd for some reason

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

lilstevie said:
yeah, it is a change in the way the ramdisk is handled, it is specific to jhintas initrd for some reason

OK, so how do I get an initrd that works with your kernel? Is there some script or command I need to run?

mrmrmrmr said:
thank you.
what is the tool to use for creating a full backup ? (is it nandroid or something else ?)
also, what shall I use for resizing the partition ?

I have :
system.img
data.img
cache.img
on my nandroid backup...

Ok, that should be fine. Run the flash kit, then restore the nandroid backup and you should be fine.

I don't know if you'll need to resize the partition file, since I'm not familiar with how nandroid works. Try it without the resizing and see if it works.
In case you do, here're the instructions:
Use resize2fs then dd to create a copy of the file without the uneeded zeros at the end.
e.g. if you've used resize2fs to reduce it to 4 GB, then 'dd if=original.bin of=smaller.bin bs=1G count=5' (while you probably only really need count=4, I prefer to go a little over in case there's some overhead).
Note that once the file has been restored to the transformer it'll only be 4GB until you use resize2fs under Ubuntu to expand it to fit all available space. This can be avoided by only shrinking it to the new size of the partition instead of the smallest possible size, but increases the amount of time it takes to restore the backup.

(This has to be done under Linux because Windows doesn't understand Linux filesystems).

megacoolrock said:
i need help with the wpa supplicant, ive tried to do this and i saw a guise for transformer ubuntu, but it was the wrong format, can anyone give me a sudo command or something that will work? the connection i have is a wep

I'd suggest upgrading to WPA since WEP is extremely insecure, but here're some general instructions on wpa_supplicant and here's an example of how to do wep.

lilstevie · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
OK, so how do I get an initrd that works with your kernel? Is there some script or command I need to run?

Ok, that should be fine. Run the flash kit, then restore the nandroid backup and you should be fine.

I don't know if you'll need to resize the partition file, since I'm not familiar with how nandroid works. Try it without the resizing and see if it works.
In case you do, here're the instructions:
Use resize2fs then dd to create a copy of the file without the uneeded zeros at the end.
e.g. if you've used resize2fs to reduce it to 4 GB, then 'dd if=original.bin of=smaller.bin bs=1G count=5' (while you probably only really need count=4, I prefer to go a little over in case there's some overhead).
Note that once the file has been restored to the transformer it'll only be 4GB until you use resize2fs under Ubuntu to expand it to fit all available space. This can be avoided by only shrinking it to the new size of the partition instead of the smallest possible size, but increases the amount of time it takes to restore the backup.

(This has to be done under Linux because Windows doesn't understand Linux filesystems).

I'd suggest upgrading to WPA since WEP is extremely insecure, but here're some general instructions on wpa_supplicant and here's an example of how to do wep.

can you post the bootimg that you are having issues with

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

lilstevie said:
can you post the bootimg that you are having issues with

See attached.

lilstevie · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
See attached.

if that is a boot.img it is amazing it even goes that far, the bootimg is fubard

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
Ok, that should be fine. Run the flash kit, then restore the nandroid backup and you should be fine.

I don't know if you'll need to resize the partition file, since I'm not familiar with how nandroid works. Try it without the resizing and see if it works.
In case you do, here're the instructions:
Use resize2fs then dd to create a copy of the file without the uneeded zeros at the end.
e.g. if you've used resize2fs to reduce it to 4 GB, then 'dd if=original.bin of=smaller.bin bs=1G count=5' (while you probably only really need count=4, I prefer to go a little over in case there's some overhead).
Note that once the file has been restored to the transformer it'll only be 4GB until you use resize2fs under Ubuntu to expand it to fit all available space. This can be avoided by only shrinking it to the new size of the partition instead of the smallest possible size, but increases the amount of time it takes to restore the backup.

(This has to be done under Linux because Windows doesn't understand Linux filesystems).

Please excuse me if I'm sounding too novice.
I didn't understand how this works; how will I know which partition file to resize (if it needs to be resized) ?
How can I understand if nandroid needs resizing before I restore ?

Also, I have a few questions before doing that operation and taking the risk of losing my Android ROM:
1. how shall I update Android rom once I have dual boot ? (How to gointo recovery)
2. is there a windows toolkit to use under Windows ? (I only have Linux setup under my VMware environment, would that work with the Linux toolkit ?)
3. Once I have Ubuntu running, shall I be able to upgrade to latest Ubuntu (11.10) ?

Thank you sir...

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

lilstevie said:
if that is a boot.img it is amazing it even goes that far, the bootimg is fubard

Odd, I just used abootimg with the same commands as in the flashkit. We are talking about the file inside zip, right? I ran it on the netbook, but it shouldn't make that much difference...
I've been using the latest copy of abootimg from the git, so I don't think it's that..

mrmrmrmr said:
Please excuse me if I'm sounding too novice.
I didn't understand how this works; how will I know which partition file to resize (if it needs to be resized) ?
How can I understand if nandroid needs resizing before I restore ?

Also, I have a few questions before doing that operation and taking the risk of losing my Android ROM:
1. how shall I update Android rom once I have dual boot ? (How to gointo recovery)
2. is there a windows toolkit to use under Windows ? (I only have Linux setup under my VMware environment, would that work with the Linux toolkit ?)
3. Once I have Ubuntu running, shall I be able to upgrade to latest Ubuntu (11.10) ?

Thank you sir...

0. If none of the files are >5GB, just skip the resizing step. If they are, the biggest is the one to resize.
1. Recovery/CWM works the same as always. It's actually used as an (interim) boot manager.
2. There's a Windows flashkit, and you can use the copy of nvflash included to do backups, etc. if you convert the .sh files into .bat ones. (This is only possible for simple scripts like the backup.)
I'd suggest trying to make it work with the Linux one though (either through the virtual machine or with a live CD) since I had no end of problems getting the drivers for nvflash to work under Windows.
3. You can, though I haven't tried it. To be perfectly honest, you're probably better off just installing 11.10 now. To do so, create an image with rootstock and use it as the root filesystem. After that run the driver injection script, get wifi working, then run 'apt-get install ubuntu-desktop'. (alter as required if you prefer a different desktop environment). Keep in mind you'll need to do all that in the terminal, since until you install it there won't be a GUI.
Alternatively you could use the official rootfs for Tegra 2 systems. That would be a lot easier, but AFAIK no-one's tested it with the transformer yet. Since there are some differences between the systems, I don't know how that would turn out.

For reference, here's the command to create a new root filesystem:

Code:

sudo rootstock -f TF101 -l user -p mypassword --seed build-essential,openssh-server,nano,aptitude --imagesize 8G --components main,restricted,multiverse,universe --notarball -m http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports -d oneiric

lilstevie · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
Odd, I just used abootimg with the same commands as in the flashkit. We are talking about the file inside zip, right? I ran it on the netbook, but it shouldn't make that much difference...
I've been using the latest copy of abootimg from the git, so I don't think it's that..

yeah that was a mybad, was using the wrong tool, however I can confirm that your initrd is buggered

Code:

lilstevie@lilstevie-VirtualBox:~/android_linux$ file initrd.img.gz 
initrd.img.gz: gzip compressed data, from Unix, last modified: Tue Jul 26 14:04:33 2011
lilstevie@lilstevie-VirtualBox:~/android_linux$ gunzip initrd.img.gz 

gzip: initrd.img.gz: unexpected end of file

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

lilstevie said:
Code:

lilstevie@lilstevie-VirtualBox:~/android_linux$ gunzip initrd.img.gz gzip: initrd.img.gz: unexpected end of file

Ah, so that's how you test it. My original copy of the initrd had gotten corrupted (not sure how), which explains why none of my attempts were working. Redownloading the flashkit fixed it. Thanks for that.

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

rdnetto said:
Odd, I just used abootimg with the same commands as in the flashkit. We are talking about the file inside zip, right? I ran it on the netbook, but it shouldn't make that much difference...
I've been using the latest copy of abootimg from the git, so I don't think it's that..

0. If none of the files are >5GB, just skip the resizing step. If they are, the biggest is the one to resize.
1. Recovery/CWM works the same as always. It's actually used as an (interim) boot manager.
2. There's a Windows flashkit, and you can use the copy of nvflash included to do backups, etc. if you convert the .sh files into .bat ones. (This is only possible for simple scripts like the backup.)
I'd suggest trying to make it work with the Linux one though (either through the virtual machine or with a live CD) since I had no end of problems getting the drivers for nvflash to work under Windows.
3. You can, though I haven't tried it. To be perfectly honest, you're probably better off just installing 11.10 now. To do so, create an image with rootstock and use it as the root filesystem. After that run the driver injection script, get wifi working, then run 'apt-get install ubuntu-desktop'. (alter as required if you prefer a different desktop environment). Keep in mind you'll need to do all that in the terminal, since until you install it there won't be a GUI.
Alternatively you could use the official rootfs for Tegra 2 systems. That would be a lot easier, but AFAIK no-one's tested it with the transformer yet. Since there are some differences between the systems, I don't know how that would turn out.

For reference, here's the command to create a new root filesystem:

Code:

sudo rootstock -f TF101 -l user -p mypassword --seed build-essential,openssh-server,nano,aptitude --imagesize 8G --components main,restricted,multiverse,universe --notarball -m http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports -d oneiric

what is "driver injection script" and where can I find it ?
also where can I find rootstock ?

edit: Ok; I got rootstock. But I still don't know what driver injection script is...

problem with rootstock:

root@ubuntu:~/tf/rootfs# sudo rootstock -f TF101 -l user -p mypassword --seed build-essential,openssh-server,nano,aptitude --imagesize 8G --components main,restricted,multiverse,universe --notarball -m http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports -d oneiric
I: Running on a i686 machine
Your debootstrap installation does not seem to have support for the oneiric distribution
root@ubuntu:~/tf/rootfs#

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
what is "driver injection script" and where can I find it ?
also where can I find rootstock ?

edit: Ok; I got rootstock. But I still don't know what driver injection script is...

problem with rootstock:

root@ubuntu:~/tf/rootfs# sudo rootstock -f TF101 -l user -p mypassword --seed build-essential,openssh-server,nano,aptitude --imagesize 8G --components main,restricted,multiverse,universe --notarball -m http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports -d oneiric
I: Running on a i686 machine
Your debootstrap installation does not seem to have support for the oneiric distribution
root@ubuntu:~/tf/rootfs#

Driver injection script is in the flashkit.

Are you running rootstock on a 11.10 installation?

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

no. I have an old ubuntu installation on VMware.
ubuntu 10

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
no. I have an old ubuntu installation on VMware.
ubuntu 10

Try running it off a 11.10 live cd (or installation).

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

no other way ?

rdnetto · Oct 23, 2011

Regarding kernel patches, I noticed that there are a lot of error messages during bootup regarding the Apparmor 2.4 compatibility patches with the kernel from linux_kernel_TF101. This seems to fix the problem, but I'll leave it to someone who knows what they're doing to commit it to the repo.

Also, a note to anyone who uses the patched kernel: you need to disable the network manager (it's in init.d) to connect with wpa_supplicant).

mrmrmrmr said:
no other way ?

Honestly, I haven't done it myself - that's just what I'd try. I can't imagine that running a live cd image would take too much effort though.

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

ok; I've downloaded a vmware image for 11.10 and it's working now.
installed rootstock and creating rootfs with the command you've suggested.

I assume the output of this will be an ubuntu.img file to be used with the toolkit and I won't need to use the ubuntu.img given in the first/second post of this thread ?

about the driver injection script, which file is that ?
inject-firmware.sh ?

when shall I run it ? in APX mode juyst after the flashing of Ubuntu ?

edit:
this is an 8GB image , will it fit ?
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8589934592 2011-10-23 15:54 qemu-armel-201110231514.img

wtf ?

Code:

sending file: ./images/system.img
/ 536870912/536870912 bytes sent
./images/system.img sent successfully
./images/ubuntu.img is too large for partition
command failure: create failed 
root@ubuntu:~/tf/toolkit#

mrmrmrmr · Oct 23, 2011

After sending the system.img , the script hangs on sending ubuntu.img :

Code:

root@ubuntu:~/tf/toolkit# ./flash-linux-android4.sh 
reading config file ./ubuntu/bootcfg/bootimg.cfg
reading kernel from ./ubuntu/zImage
reading ramdisk from ./ubuntu/initrd.img
Writing Boot Image linux.img
Nvflash started
rcm version 0X20001
System Information:
   chip name: t20
   chip id: 0x20 major: 1 minor: 4
   chip sku: 0x8
   chip uid: 0x037c7043424162d7
   macrovision: disabled
   hdcp: enabled
   sbk burned: true
   dk burned: true
   boot device: emmc
   operating mode: 4
   device config strap: 0
   device config fuse: 0
   sdram config strap: 0

sending file: ./images/transformer.bct
- 4080/4080 bytes sent
./images/transformer.bct sent successfully
odm data: 0x300d8011
downloading bootloader -- load address: 0x108000 entry point: 0x108000
sending file: ./images/bootloader.bin
| 976013/976013 bytes sent
./images/bootloader.bin sent successfully
waiting for bootloader to initialize
bootloader downloaded successfully
setting device: 2 3
creating partition: BCT
creating partition: PT
creating partition: EBT
creating partition: BAK
creating partition: GP1
creating partition: APP
creating partition: CAC
creating partition: MSC
creating partition: USP
creating partition: PER
creating partition: YTU
creating partition: UDA
creating partition: UBT
creating partition: SOS
creating partition: LNX
creating partition: GPT
Formatting partition 2 BCT please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 3 PT please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 4 EBT please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 7 BAK please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 8 GP1 please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 9 APP please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 10 CAC please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 11 MSC please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 12 USP please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 13 PER please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 14 YTU please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 15 UDA please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 16 UBT please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 5 SOS please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 6 LNX please wait.. done!
Formatting partition 17 GPT please wait.. done!
done!
sending file: ./images/bootloader.bin
| 976013/976013 bytes sent
./images/bootloader.bin sent successfully
sending file: ./images/system.img
/ 536870912/536870912 bytes sent
./images/system.img sent successfully
sending file: ./images/ubuntu4.img

What is wrong with my setup ?

Danzano · Oct 24, 2011

sending file: ./images/ubuntu4.img
[/code]

What is wrong with my setup ?[/QUOTE]

I cant see anything wrong you sure you where not just being impatient i have a quad core laptop and it still took a good 20mins to complete the transfer it is a big file and nvflash communication isnt the quickest

Sent from my tf101 using xda premium 1.59Ghz

mrmrmrmr · Oct 24, 2011

ok; I might be a little impatient, but the counter for sending bytes did not even show up.
in the previous step system.img is being sent and the counter goes through from 0 to 500M.
When sending of the ubuntu.img began, the counter did not start.

And I'm not using the standart rootfs; it's a self created rootfs with rootstock. So I thought there might be something wrong.
Any ideas ?
When should I expect to see the counter ?

rdnetto · Oct 24, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
ok; I've downloaded a vmware image for 11.10 and it's working now.
installed rootstock and creating rootfs with the command you've suggested.

I assume the output of this will be an ubuntu.img file to be used with the toolkit and I won't need to use the ubuntu.img given in the first/second post of this thread ?

about the driver injection script, which file is that ?
inject-firmware.sh ?
when shall I run it ? in APX mode juyst after the flashing of Ubuntu ?

Yes, yes, and after Ubuntu has been booted.

Code:
edit:
this is an 8GB image , will it fit ?
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8589934592 2011-10-23 15:54 qemu-armel-201110231514.img

wtf ?

Code:

sending file: ./images/system.img / 536870912/536870912 bytes sent ./images/system.img sent successfully ./images/ubuntu.img is too large for partition command failure: create failed root@ubuntu:~/tf/toolkit#

You'll need to modify your .cfg file to increase the size of the Ubuntu partition. You can either use the one I posted a while ago (if you have a 32 GB drive) or read lilstevie's post on how to edit the file (it's not as simple as you'd think).

It'll take a bit less than an hour to copy, but you should see some feedback indicating that it is.

[Q&A] Ubuntu on the Transformer (eMMC install)

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