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

mrmrmrmr · Oct 26, 2011

how can I backup my current UBT partition to an img file ?
as I had to work on it for 3 nights, I'd like to keep it somewhere.
And if anyone requires to have a working Ubuntu 11.10 partition, I can share...

aldur999 · Oct 26, 2011

rdnetto said:
That's odd, all CWM does is dd the blob to the partition (mmcblk0p4).

Ok, after compiling once again kernel, I flashed it through CWM, and everything works fine

I really thank you for your help, and I cannot believe to have the wireless scanning too

mrmrmrmr · Oct 26, 2011

"ROM manager" doesn't support Transformer.
So I decided to write a dd script for swapping recovery partition.

I will use some command like:
dd if=/sdcard/linux.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409

but I am not sure which is the recovery partition. It seems it's not mmcblk0p4 anymore. Any ideas ?

lilstevie · Oct 27, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
"ROM manager" doesn't support Transformer.
So I decided to write a dd script for swapping recovery partition.

I will use some command like:
dd if=/sdcard/linux.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409

but I am not sure which is the recovery partition. It seems it's not mmcblk0p4 anymore. Any ideas ?

mmcblk0p4 is the staging partition not the recovery partition, the kernel needs to be packed into an nvidia update blob

Danzano · Oct 27, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
how can I backup my current UBT partition to an img file ?
as I had to work on it for 3 nights, I'd like to keep it somewhere.
And if anyone requires to have a working Ubuntu 11.10 partition, I can share...

Is this a re-work of lil stevvys ubuntu image but with fixes?

I read wireless scanning is working?

Is network manager working or still through terminal?

rdnetto · Oct 27, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
how can I backup my current UBT partition to an img file ?
as I had to work on it for 3 nights, I'd like to keep it somewhere.
And if anyone requires to have a working Ubuntu 11.10 partition, I can share...

Use dd (it's mmcblk0p8) under Android. I suggest piping it through gzip or something similar.

aldur999 said:
Ok, after compiling once again kernel, I flashed it through CWM, and everything works fine I really thank you for your help, and I cannot believe to have the wireless scanning too

You're welcome. But you shouldn't have scanning - at least, I don't.

mrmrmrmr said:
"ROM manager" doesn't support Transformer.
So I decided to write a dd script for swapping recovery partition.

I will use some command like:
dd if=/sdcard/linux.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=409

but I am not sure which is the recovery partition. It seems it's not mmcblk0p4 anymore. Any ideas ?

p4 is where the blobs are loaded from for installation.
p9 and 910 are SOS and LNX, and are inaccessible while the OS is running. To flash both, you'll need to create a blob (use blobpack) and write it to p4.

lilstevie · Oct 27, 2011

rdnetto said:
You're welcome. But you shouldn't have scanning - at least, I don't.

I am interested in why you do not have scanning, the latest versions compiled from git should have scanning as that is what was merged in from VHDA

rdnetto · Oct 27, 2011

lilstevie said:
I am interested in why you do not have scanning, the latest versions compiled from git should have scanning as that is what was merged in from VHDA

Interesting. 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan' produces no results, but the Gnome GUI detects them. I didn't notice until now because I'm using KDE. I'm still on natty, if it's relevant.

I also seem to be getting some errors from AppArmor, but I don't think that's relevant.

mrmrmrmr · Oct 27, 2011

rdnetto said:
Use dd (it's mmcblk0p8) under Android. I suggest piping it through gzip or something similar.

I didn't understand that. Why do I need gzip ? Just dd wouldn't be enough ?

You're welcome. But you shouldn't have scanning - at least, I don't.

I have wifi scanning as well. I compiled the kernel with your instructions on page 103.

p4 is where the blobs are loaded from for installation.
p9 and 910 are SOS and LNX, and are inaccessible while the OS is running. To flash both, you'll need to create a blob (use blobpack) and write it to p4.

I don't understand. Shall I use p8 ?
if so, what do I need p4 , p9 and p10 for ?
I'm really confused...

rdnetto · Oct 27, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
I didn't understand that. Why do I need gzip ? Just dd wouldn't be enough ?

dd alone is enough, but the image will be massive. Because it's mostly empty space, compressing it with gzip will result in a much smaller image. The alternative is to run resize2fs before and after, but generally you want to avoid modifying the partition when making a backup.

I have wifi scanning as well. I compiled the kernel with your instructions on page 103.

I'm guessing you're using Gnome as well?

I don't understand. Shall I use p8 ?
if so, what do I need p4 , p9 and p10 for ?
I'm really confused...

When you boot the transformer, the bootloader starts by checking if there's a blob in p4. If there is it executes it. The blob will then extract the images it contains to the relevant partitions.
p9 and p10 are (allegedly) the partitions corresponding to LNX and SOS, but we can't access these directly (with dd) so we have to use blobs. This means we can write to them, but not read.
p8 is your Ubuntu root partition, so don't write anything to it unless you want to lose your files.

*p4 = mmcblk0p4
Sorry if that caused any confusion.

mrmrmrmr · Oct 27, 2011

so, you say I can't access p9 and p10 from Android and I should access p4.
p4 seems to be a big partition. what else does it hold except the blobs ?

now, if I dd all p4 partition it will backup all partition. I just want to change the recovery partition to "clockwork" when I need that. and after I finish with recovery, I want to put the Ubuntu loader back.
how can I achieve this ?

moseskim · Oct 27, 2011

Webcam?

I've searched the two main threads and haven't been able to find anything about setting up the webcam. I've been able to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 with touchpad and wifi working on a Transformer with only an Ubuntu. Any ideas on where to start to set it up?

Also: I'd like to try to the CrOS kernel - do I need the custom uboot for it to work, or can I just compile the custom kernel from the github and have it work on my pure ubuntu setup?

Thanks!

rickatnight11 · Oct 28, 2011

rdnetto said:
This is a quick guide I've written for anyone who wants to use a different kernel, since the original one is now rather outdated and doesn't support the mouse.

Thanks for the guide. I started building the kernel on the Transformer, but I ran out of space on my Ubuntu partition (mmcblk0p8 - 3.9G). I'd like to grab some space from the Android partition (mmcblk0p7 - 24G), but when I try and run:

Code:

sudo resize2fs -p /dev/mmcblk0p7 20G

...I get this output:

Code:

resize2fs 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
resize2fs: /dev/mmcblk0p7: The combination of flex_bg and
!resize_inode features is not supported by resize2fs.

Tips?

lilstevie · Oct 28, 2011

moseskim said:
I've searched the two main threads and haven't been able to find anything about setting up the webcam. I've been able to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 with touchpad and wifi working on a Transformer with only an Ubuntu. Any ideas on where to start to set it up?

Also: I'd like to try to the CrOS kernel - do I need the custom uboot for it to work, or can I just compile the custom kernel from the github and have it work on my pure ubuntu setup?

Thanks!

Webcams I am not too sure about, all of mine are built into devices, and even then, I don't use them.

As of the latest commit you can run the CrOS kernel without needing u-boot, but be warned, it is nowhere near as friendly on the asus bootloader, the gained stability is at the cost of artifacting on the graphics, I am still working on solving all the problems with it

rickatnight11 · Oct 28, 2011

rickatnight11 said:
Thanks for the guide. I started building the kernel on the Transformer, but I ran out of space on my Ubuntu partition (mmcblk0p8 - 3.9G). I'd like to grab some space from the Android partition (mmcblk0p7 - 24G), but when I try and run:

Code:

sudo resize2fs -p /dev/mmcblk0p7 20G

...I get this output:

Code:

resize2fs 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010) resize2fs: /dev/mmcblk0p7: The combination of flex_bg and !resize_inode features is not supported by resize2fs.

Tips?

To add onto this I went ahead and built the kernel on the Android partition without any issue. Running the script "blobbed" it up and flashed it, and sure enough upon restart the blue meter filled up.

Then the Transformer rebooted and sat at the Asus screen. Eventually I rebooted into CWM Recovery, flashed the ZIP attached to the instruction post, and booted back into Ubuntu just like before. Two questions:

Any ideas as to what I did wrong in the build process?
I'm still running Android, and I didn't realize that the ZIP you posted would load Ubuntu as the default OS. I assumed it was the ZIP that let you boot Ubuntu from CWM. How can I restore Android as the default OS (I'm assuming I can bundle this kernel I've built into an Ubuntu-booting ZIP once I fix whatever's wrong with it.)

moseskim · Oct 28, 2011

lilstevie said:
Webcams I am not too sure about, all of mine are built into devices, and even then, I don't use them.

As of the latest commit you can run the CrOS kernel without needing u-boot, but be warned, it is nowhere near as friendly on the asus bootloader, the gained stability is at the cost of artifacting on the graphics, I am still working on solving all the problems with it

Actually that's what I meant - the built-in webcam wasn't working on mine (couldn't get it to detect in empathy). Is something wrong with my installation, or how do you suggest setting it up?

As for the new kernel, thank you for the heads-up. I really like what you've done so far and am looking forward to the stable release.

lilstevie · Oct 28, 2011

moseskim said:
Actually that's what I meant - the built-in webcam wasn't working on mine (couldn't get it to detect in empathy). Is something wrong with my installation, or how do you suggest setting it up?

As for the new kernel, thank you for the heads-up. I really like what you've done so far and am looking forward to the stable release.

it is one of the things on the list of non working devices

moseskim · Oct 28, 2011

lilstevie said:
it is one of the things on the list of non working devices

Yes I understand that, thanks. I'm interested in trying to set it up, do you have any constructive advice?

lilstevie · Oct 28, 2011

moseskim said:
Yes I understand that, thanks. I'm interested in trying to set it up, do you have any constructive advice?

fix the kernel driver

rdnetto · Oct 28, 2011

mrmrmrmr said:
so, you say I can't access p9 and p10 from Android and I should access p4.
p4 seems to be a big partition. what else does it hold except the blobs ?

now, if I dd all p4 partition it will backup all partition. I just want to change the recovery partition to "clockwork" when I need that. and after I finish with recovery, I want to put the Ubuntu loader back.
how can I achieve this ?

p4 only holds blobs, and once the blob is used the partition is formatted. You can't backup partitions with it - if you want to create a backup you have to use nvflash.
It will be a lot easier if you just keep CWM in the recovery (SOS) partition and use it to load the different bootloaders into the LNX partition. To restore CWM you can either use nvflash or a custom blob. blobpack is fairly easy to use compared to nvflash, the only limitation is you can't use it for partitioning.

rickatnight11 said:
Thanks for the guide. I started building the kernel on the Transformer, but I ran out of space on my Ubuntu partition (mmcblk0p8 - 3.9G). I'd like to grab some space from the Android partition (mmcblk0p7 - 24G), but when I try and run:

Code:

sudo resize2fs -p /dev/mmcblk0p7 20G

...I get this output:

Code:

resize2fs 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010) resize2fs: /dev/mmcblk0p7: The combination of flex_bg and !resize_inode features is not supported by resize2fs.

Tips?

You can't resize them like that. resize2fs only changes the size of the filesystem - it's still limited by the size of the actual partition, which can only be changed with nvflash (which formats the entire system in the process).

p7 is FAT32, so I'd suggest creating a 4GB file on it, formatting the file as ext2 and using that as a loop device.
I don't know how well compiling on FAT32 would go, since it doesn't support Unix permissions.

You may want to consider increasing p8 to 8 GB at some stage anyway, since 4 GB is really quite restrictive in terms of what you can do with it.

rickatnight11 said:
To add onto this I went ahead and built the kernel on the Android partition without any issue. Running the script "blobbed" it up and flashed it, and sure enough upon restart the blue meter filled up.

Then the Transformer rebooted and sat at the Asus screen. Eventually I rebooted into CWM Recovery, flashed the ZIP attached to the instruction post, and booted back into Ubuntu just like before. Two questions:

Any ideas as to what I did wrong in the build process?

I'm still running Android, and I didn't realize that the ZIP you posted would load Ubuntu as the default OS. I assumed it was the ZIP that let you boot Ubuntu from CWM. How can I restore Android as the default OS (I'm assuming I can bundle this kernel I've built into an Ubuntu-booting ZIP once I fix whatever's wrong with it.)

If it freezes on boot without any messages, then something is wrong with the kernel. There are too many things that could go wrong in the build process to specifically address all of them, all I can suggest is very carefully going over the instructions. A while ago I posted a copy of my kernel/blob, try with that and see if it makes a difference. One other poster found it only worked when using CWM to install the blob - maybe try that.

The zip I posted is one of the two CWM zips posted by Jhinta somewhere in this thread. If you search for them you should be able to find it.

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

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