[WIP] Ubuntu on the Thrive!

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DeMiNe0

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2007
271
100
Hey guys!

A friend of mine who is into phone roms and modding, showed me Ubuntu running on his Nexus Android Phone, and thought about how cool it would be to get Ubuntu Running on the Thrive! With a bit of Research I found that there is an ARM port of Ubuntu. The reason why that is an awesome thing is because Linux has this cool thing called chrooting. chrooting is the process of running another version of linux within another running linux OS instance. The downside of chroot is that you can chroot an os made for your phones architecture. In this case, the Terga 2 IS Arm based, so we're all set to go on that. With a few hours of toying around, I have successfully gotten Ubuntu running on my Thrive.

What you'll Need:

- Basic working knowledge of linux.

- The Arm Port of Ubuntu. ubuntu.zip
Original Dev's Site: Download File - ubuntu_zip - DownloadAndroidROMs.com
Mirror 1: MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service
Mirror 2: http://www.zettech.net/ubuntu.zip
Mirror 3: ubuntu.zip - download now for free. File sharing. Software file sharing. Free file hosting. File upload. FileFactory.com

- A *ROOTED* Thrive, with busybox installed and atleast 3gb of spare space in the *INTERNAL* storage... Not the SDCard Storage. You can find out how to do this all at this thread: http://www.thriveforums.org/forum/t...ment/1399-full-working-rooted-thrive-now.html

- A computer with adb setup and the correct working drivers for your thrive. If your Thrive is rooted, than you should have working drivers, unless you rooted it from another pc, in which case you can look at the root thread in this development forum for help. You can check to see if ADB is working by typing "adb devices" at the command promt. A few lines that look like this should pop up.
List of devices attached
286416746464667 device
^ The numbers will look different. Thats OK. If the list is empty, you have a driver issue or connection issue with adb.

How to do it:

1. Download and extract the ubuntu.zip file from one of the above links to your hard drive.

2. Connect your thrive to the PC and Connect your Thrive to a Wifi Access Point.

3. A new storage device should show up. This is your thrive. Now place the ubuntu folder you just extracted in the root of the thrives storage device. NOTE: This is *NOT* actually the sdcard your storing the files on. This is the devices internal memory. (don't put it in the /sdcard-disk0 folder.)

4. Open up an adb shell. Do this by typing "adb shell" at the command promt. A "#" should appear, indicatng you are at a root shell on your thrive.

5. Type "cd /sdcard/ubuntu"

6. Type "sh ubuntu.sh" This is the script that sets all of the permissions for the ubuntu image. You *WILL* see errors on this part. Ignore them.

7. Type "bootubuntu". You should now see a command line that looks like this:
# bootubuntu
bootubuntu
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1
Setting /etc/resolv.conf to Google Open DNS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Setting localhost on /etc/hosts
READY TO ROCK AND ROLL BABY!
Brought to you by NexusOneHacks.net and the open source community!

* Congrats. You have Ubuntu running on your thrive now... Now for a better way to control it...

8. Update the OS:
Code:
apt-get update

9. Change the root password:
Code:
passwd root
^ Set this to a secure password. Wouldn't want anyone sploit'en ya eh?

10. Find your Thrives IP Address:
Code:
ifconfig
^ It should be listed as "inet addr" under the wlan0 interface. (See? Told ya you would need basic linux skills. :p).

11. Install SSH:
Code:
apt-get install openssh-server
^ Once thats installed, you should be able to ssh to your thrive by either connecting to 127.0.0.1 from a terminal emulater on the thrive, or your thrives IP from a PC on the same network.

12. Install and start a VNC Server:
Code:
apt-get install tightvncserver
Code:
export USER=root
^Tell's what user to start VNC as.
Code:
vncserver -geometry 1280×720
^This starts the VNC server. It will ask you for a password. Remember this password. You may also try 1280x800 if 1280x720 gives you issues.

Now that VNC is installed and running. You should be able to connect to it from a VNC client on port *5901*. If connecting from the Thrive itself, you can connect to 127.0.0.1, or you can connect from a PC by using the thrives IP.


What the issues are:

Ok... So I literally *JUST* got VNC up and running as I am writing this post. I'm actually just on my way out the door to go home for the weekend hahah, so I'm sure alot of these issues can be fixed with minor tweaks. I'm also sure there are more issues out there. I just wanted to get this posted up though so that people can start playing with it.

- VNC Resolution and colors are set incorrectly. This I believe is just an issue with the default configuration file for VNC. I believe the color quality setting just needs to be raised and the resolution adjusted to the native resolution of the thrive.

- Has to be install to Main memory: This is because the script that sets all of the permissions is hard coded with /sdcard/ubuntu as the location for the installation. /sdcard/ isn't actually the sdcard on the thrive. It's internal memory. I'm certain that a quick edit of the sh script will fix this. Is it really a good idea to run ubuntu off a slow, and limited write capacity sdcard?


All of the above issues i'll look at tonight when I get home! Happy hacking guys!
 
Last edited:

Boogersugar83

Senior Member
Jun 13, 2010
50
2
What you mean like the keyboard in ubuntu or while im in the vnc client
Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk
 

wrek

Senior Member
Nov 1, 2007
153
3
Ankeny, IA
I mean, can I put ubuntu on the tablet and use the tablet as a Ubuntu tablet or do I need to hook up a keyboard or use VNC in order to use the tablet?

With Android, I have a keyboard built into the software. Does Ubuntu have one?
 

Boogersugar83

Senior Member
Jun 13, 2010
50
2
Im not sure I havent made it that far. But you need to use a vnc client

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk
 

DeMiNe0

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2007
271
100
I mean, can I put ubuntu on the tablet and use the tablet as a Ubuntu tablet or do I need to hook up a keyboard or use VNC in order to use the tablet?

With Android, I have a keyboard built into the software. Does Ubuntu have one?

You download a VNC Client for Android, and connect to your Ubuntu Instance via that. VNC should support whatever on screen keyboard you have installed.
 

DeMiNe0

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2007
271
100
Ok, so it's not really a "Ubuntu" I can walk around with... not yet anyway. ;)

Well to an extent it is. You can use VNC right from the Thrive to connect to Ubuntu. Ubuntu would still be running locally on the thrive as well. You can also use a terminal emulator to ssh to ubuntu as well.

In all Honesty, I only posted this to show that the thrive does indeed have the power to run Ubuntu. The version of Ubuntu it runs is the ARM version; which doesn't have many working applications for it yet.
 
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soreny

Member
Apr 27, 2011
18
0
hey i am stuck at root@localhost:/#
nothing happened on the tab, im not sure what to do..? help?:)
 

soreny

Member
Apr 27, 2011
18
0
past that..

okay so i am past the root@ blah blah blah... now i got an error saying
"chroot: applet not found

Shutting down ubuntu
failed.
failed.
failed.
failed.
losesetup: applet not found

any ideas.?
 

DarkPhoenix

Senior Member
Sep 6, 2007
534
68
Lebanon, TN
Is anyone still working on this? I am getting errors when I try to install openssh and tightvncserver.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
 

jayfrost10

Member
Jul 28, 2011
18
2
I already have ubuntu running on my thrive through vnc viewer. Its not optimized that well but I can download software and use the keyboard and everything.

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

I have a much easier method if you guys want it.
 

DarkPhoenix

Senior Member
Sep 6, 2007
534
68
Lebanon, TN
I already have ubuntu running on my thrive through vnc viewer. Its not optimized that well but I can download software and use the keyboard and everything.

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

I have a much easier method if you guys want it.

Easier is better. How did you do it?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
 

SbTro

Senior Member
Feb 17, 2011
522
200
sh ubuntu.sh
modprobe: module 'ext2' not found
←[H←[Jrm failed for -f, No such file or directory
rm failed for -f, No such file or directory
rm failed for -f, No such file or directory
rm failed for -f, No such file or directory
rm failed for -f, No such file or directory
mkdir failed for /data/local/mnt, File exists
←[H←[JUnable to chmod bootubuntu: Operation not permitted
←[H←[J
Ubuntu Chroot Bootloader v0.1
Ubuntu Bootloader is now installed!


i recive this failed when i type sh ubuntu.sh ... any sugestion ?
 

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    Ok, so it's not really a "Ubuntu" I can walk around with... not yet anyway. ;)

    Well to an extent it is. You can use VNC right from the Thrive to connect to Ubuntu. Ubuntu would still be running locally on the thrive as well. You can also use a terminal emulator to ssh to ubuntu as well.

    In all Honesty, I only posted this to show that the thrive does indeed have the power to run Ubuntu. The version of Ubuntu it runs is the ARM version; which doesn't have many working applications for it yet.