[APP] Linux-on-Android project (Complete Linux Installer)

[devwithzachary]

We now have a Q&A thread HERE please use this for questions about the project. This thread is for development only!

This project started off in this forum here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390351

However since then the project has grown and just keeps growning! Featuring a ever growing range of distros

The TEAM!
The team consist of:

• zacthespack
• tuxling
• WEM97 [DONATE]

Think you have something to bring to the team? then contact me and we shall talk

What is this all about?/Why put this on my device?
This projects aim is to bring a range of linux distros to your android device through a method known as 'chroot', see it has running a linux distro within a virtual machine on your phone (Although its not! its using native ARM ports and the Android kernel) . You can access this virtual machine and run it on your phone without causing any damage to your device, or having to overwrite anything. Why might you want this? well my apps are designed to make the install and set up process as easy as possible while still giving you some flexibility. Once you have the distro up and running then you can pretty much run and install any linux software you like (so long as there is a arm port or it is not architecturally dependent).

Wait this uses VNC why shouldn't I just VNC to a computer?
VNC is used to access the GUI as at the moment I have not yet implemented a native way of viewing the GUI. But the Linux distro itself is running within the phone and can be controlled via the terminal app so if your a seasoned Linux user you may never even want to use the GUI

What is Chroot?/How does this work?
"A chroot on Unix operating systems is an operation that changes the apparent root directory for the current running process and its children" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

This method of running linux distros with android has been around for some time. I have worked on my scripts to make the process more user friendly and give you far more options from the word go.
The scripts start by mounting the linux image file within the android file system and then mounts the sdcard and if you have it internal memory within the linux file system.
Chroot is then used to change the root directory to that of the mounted linux and a bash shell is then opened to allow you to control linux this is kind of like 'booting' the OS.
The likes of VNC and SSH are then set up when linux is 'booted' to allow you to connect to the GUI if you require it.

Interested?
Ok so you want to get one of the support linux distros on your device, great welcome to the team
But first you will need to find out if your device is compatible with the method before anything else, this method 'should' work with pretty much any device but some ROM's/kernels will not work as they do not have loop device support etc.
HERE is a list of working devices and ROM's/kernels but remember just because its not on the list simply means no one has told me its working, it could still work!

Free Apps/Files
App
The App can be download via google play or the open source version can be download via source forge.



Distro Images
Below are our currently supported distros, click the distro of choice to go to its image download page on our source forge site (including torrent downloads)





Kali Linux


Donation keys
The donation keys allow you to support the project and unlock the configure menu within the launcher, this allows you to set and edit your VNC/SSH settings from within the app instead of on the command line!

This are also*available*to buy on the playstore or via paypal



Or if you donate more than £1 via paypal I shall send you a custom Donate key to unlock the extra features (if you donate more than £5 you will be added to the contribution list here and on the blog)
You can donate via paypal HERE Or my bitcoin wallet is: 13XxX4R2UFSkyCRyPMDXV1fT6VqzFi9d9T


Something not working?
Please first read through the FAQ pages HERE

Then if you still have issues check out the Q&A thread HERE. If you sitll can not find your answer, post in the that thread or email us [email protected]

 

[devwithzachary]

Love the project?
Well there are plenty of places you can show your support, of cause you can buy the paid apps, but you can also 'follow' the project on a range of social networks and also keep up to date with news on the projects blog!

Main Site

Sourceforge Site (Where all the free apps files are kept )

Facebook page

Twitter page

Google+ page

IRC Channel = #linuxonandroid-dev (This is only for development not support!) #linuxonandroid-help (for help!)

banner for users of the project if you so wish to show your support by having the project in your signature.

If you would like to add this to your signature

You can simply add this code:

[URL="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1585009"][IMG]http://zpwebsitefiles.com/images/loauser.png[/IMG][/URL]

Current Contributors

Project Developers
Zac Powell (myself) aka zacthespack
Martin Møller aka tuxling
William Means aka WEM97

App Translators
Marco Robles - Spanish Translation
Quentin Khan - French Translation
Stefanie Jung - German Translation
Ove Grunnér - Swedish Translation
Nikolay Suknyarov (NikolayS) - Bulgarian Translation

Other Contributors
Johan Vromans
Marshall Levin
Barry flanagan

Device Fund Donators (Those that donated to the device fund that ran from 26/08/2012 till 26/09/2012 and selected a perk)
scottlsteele
aceler
kailuuu
mja747
chrisindie
buki1
mharris867
never__sleep__again
joe95
jmoran1
fedebot
vichev.jordan
apadsethlang
1llu510n157lynx
innovateworld
karrth
AlexanderBalakersky
normenkdindiegogo
MORAZA.E7575
FilipJoelsson
brousch
igray78756
hawkinja
sullytrny

Donators (Those who have donated £5 or more to the project)
Davide Amatobene
Helder Carreiro
Aaron Coakley
Leo Barnard
Gregory Harrison
Chirado OHG
Infamous Webs
Matthew Collins
Rene Donker
David Marceau
Roberto Colistete Jr
cnbuff410
Javier Orozco
Jicaraca

 

[devwithzachary]

Show me some screenshoots!
Ok ok heres a few screen shoots of the apps/distros in actions!

Change logs
App

11/04/2013
v2.3.1
*Added tip about changing screen size for VNC in Tips page
*Added permission for SuperUser
*Adjusted news layout
*Widgets are now resizeable (Android 3.1 and up)
*Updated translations for German, Spanish and Ukrainian

30/03/2013
v2.3
*Fixed bug that downloaded wrong fedora torrent
*Now building app against newest android version
*Included Kali Linux beta image for donation key users
*More force close fixes (thanks for the reports!)

23/03/2013
v2.2
*Included Fedora beta images for donation key users
*Removed Kickstarter widget, thank you to all those that donated!
*Updated Translation for Portuguese, Ukrainian, German and Norwegian
*Most force closes and crashes fixed!

21/02/2013
v2.1.1.1
*Fixed crash on startup

v2.1.1
*Code cleaned up and some of the experience crashes/freezes should be fixed
*Added kickstarter project to about page so you can keep track of progress!
*Added kickstarter project to the splash screen. 

10/02/2013
v2.1
*Improved side menu with smaller text and better icons
*Fixed crashes when adding/editing images
*Fixed donation keys not working
*New Portuguese, Chinese translation 

25/01/2013
*First bug fix, should take care of alot of the crashing (possible not all)
Please bear with us while we get to the route of these issues and iron out the new app.
If you do get any more crashes do please send in a report and let us know what you where doing when it crashed.
Thank you

24/01/2013
V2 Update!
Huge reworking of the app from the ground app, everything is optimised and new features including:
*Removed 'dashboard' UI in favour of a side opening menu to make switching between menu items much quicker
*Tabs used in Install guides to make moving through the install process easier (you can also swipe from tab to tab)
*New First 'boot' loading screen to give user information about what the app is doing on first boot, which stops freezing
*New way of handling donation keys should stop the app from not seeing a key when its installed (keys DO NOT need updating)
*Fixed ubuntu 10.10 linked to the wrong location
*Moved News to AsyncTask to stop it freezing
*Reworded All text to be easy to translate and fixed all grammar and spelling mistakes
*New File Manager to select image file in launcher
*Updated 1x1 widget to use file manager and improve its usability
*New Finnish, Danish, Korean, Norwegian, Ukrainian, Spanish and German translations

14/10/2012
*Includes new danish translation
*Change Ubuntu 10.10 links to there new location

11/10/2012
*Updated to include backtrack v10 image (See image change log)

01/10/2012
*Added French translation
*Added support for the custom donation keys from the indiegogo device fund

27/09/2012
*Removed old outdated translations
*Included new up to date Finnish and Italian translations
*Added a busybox reinstall option in the launcher menu, this will allow users whos busybox install fails to be set to executable to reinstall busybox
*Removed the device fund ad, we hit $600 and where able to get what we needed, thank you very much to all that donated

27/08/2012
*Changed news feed to our brand new website!
*Added Popup on first launch about our Device Donation Fund! (http://www.indiegogo.com/Linuxonandroid)

19/08/2012
*Fixed Archlinux downloads pointing to Debian downloads(Arch torrents and large image shound now download fine)

16/08/2012
*Allow creation of 1GB SWAP file for Donation users (kernel must support it)
*Added beta Archlinux images for Donation users (once out of beta will be avaible for all)

23/07/2012
*Added a popup window if the terminal app can not be found (the reason behind the app crashes when you try and launch linux)

16/07/2012
*Added 3 new buttons ready for future distros (have a look to see what the next distros will be ;) )
*Removed the links to the donation at the end of the guides
*Added small image 'ad' for the donation keys at the button of the install guides

09/07/2012
*New News section with a news feed right from the blog so you can keep up to date from within the app
*Bulgarian Translation added, thanks to Nikolay Suknyarov (NikolayS)
*Added links to donation keys at the end of the install guides (in free mode only)

03/07/2012
*Complete Linux Installer now free with 'donation' key apps
*App now checks for donation key and unlocks extra features if found (and passes validation)
*Extra features currently include Linux editor (to change screen size and mounts etc.)

11/06/2012
*Added a config screen on the launcher.
*Added a mount editor to the config screen where new mounts can be added.
*Added a option to turn on/off start of SSH and VNC servers.
*Added resolution settings to the config screen.
*Added auto run options, the image can now be mounted automatically when android has booted.
*Added Danish translations.
*The launcher now warn you if the image path is wrong and hide the config and start button.
*Changed the widgets and launcher to use a full image name instead of the path and script name.
*Fixed grammar and spelling for English text
*Added torrent downloads for debian and backtrack

07/05/2012
*Complete rebuild of app (looks the same but will make updates and change ALOT easier to implement)

03/05/2012
*Added torrent links and uploaded 1204 images to v2 and boot script to v7
*Added built in busybox so no longer need to install it yourself! (only working with 1204 v7 boot script, will work with other distros in next update)
*New changelog viewer, not much to see but it will be much easier updating it in the future.

20/04/2012
*Install guide updated to reflect the new Ubuntu images, and the fact that Ubuntu 12.04 is now stable
*Launch button and widgets updated to reflect the changes made in the terminal app (fixed bug that stopped widgets from working)

13/04/2012
*New onclick boot system that lets you set the location of your image file and boot script (so it no longer has to be in sdcard/ubuntu etc.).
*Brand new widgets that also let you set the location of your files
The new boot system was design by Martin Møller who kindly donated it to the project.

31/03/2012
*Includes install guide for Debian
*One click boot for Debian
*Boot widgets still not working will be fixed in next release

30/03/2012
*First release featuring all the features of the paid backtrack and ubuntu apps

Script

27/09/2012
*Fixed error with script not starting off using the apps busybox which causes errors on devices that dont have another busybox installed

16/08/2012
*Removed SU check, caused cut error on many devices
*Added support to create a 1GB SWAP file and use it

11/07/2012
*Fixed md5 sum file not deleting after checking
*fixed script not using the busybox built into the new app

11/06/2012
*Changed the script so it now look for any of our apps and use busybox from there. If none of the apps are found it will use /system/xbin/busybox instead.
*Changed the shutdown part to use the apps busybox, now it should shutdown for everyone.
*Now we write hosts and resolv.conf file only once when the image first boots. This allow changes to those files to survive restart of the image.
*Plus a lot of small changes to support the new config system.

03/05/2012 - Ubuntu v7 script
*md5 file checking if found in the same directory as the image (md5 file now included in zip of each image file) This can take some time to excute but will make sure the image is not currpt! (will only do it on first use once its checked the md5 file is deleted)

30/04/2012 - Ubuntu v7 script
*Improved error handling

31/03/2012
*Includes Debian boot script V1

Images

30/03/2013
Kali Linux
*New beta image for Kali linux

23/03/2013
Fedora
*New beta images for fedora
11/10/2012
Backtrack
*Fixed user not being able to use sudo
*Fixed S and M being used as keyboard short cuts
*Backtrack 5 wallpaper included again (by popluar demand!)
*Dare I say it Backtrack should now be completely stable

16/09/2012
Backtrack
*Fixed md5 miss match

16/08/2012
Backtrack
*fixed "error creating child process for terminal" when launching a terminal in backtrack
*Now asks for a password for VNC on first start up
*Removed some typoes in the script

ArchLinux
Core
*Updated to beta
*Internet working
*All updates and fully working pacman

Small
*All changes from Core included
*'Mostly' working vnc GUI
*LXDE Desktop included
*2GB file size
*Known Issues - LXDE dosnt render correctly, VNC does not let you change password, password set to 'backtrac'

Large
*All changes from Core included
*'Mostly' working vnc GUI
*KDE Desktop included
*3.5GB file size
*Known Issues - KDE# dosnt render correctly, VNC does not let you change password, password set to 'backtrac'


04/07/2012
*Debian and Backtrack images updated to fix user issues

11/06/2012
*It now asks if you want to start ssh and vnc at first boot and let you save the choices. (The complete installer app can change ssh/vnc start choices and change vnc resolution later, the free apps can do it by editing a file)
*Resolution and other settings are now saved the same place as the image itself so they are easy to edit. The file is called imagename.img.configs
*The permissions on /sdcard and /external_sd should be fixed now.
*Now the hosts and resolv.conf files are only written once, so changes the user make will now survive a restart.
*Plus a lot of changes to support the new config system, to many to mention.

03/05/2012
*Now boot using a normal user (called ubuntu), on first boot it will ask for you to set your own admin password for using running things as root. (thanks to barryflanagan for this!)
*Images now once again ask if you wish to save the screen size as default
*Ubuntu updated to newest updates
*Images include md5 files to check image
*+Plus possibly other tweaks I cant remember!

20/04/2012
*New Ubuntu 12.04 images. Core, small and full all updated to newest updates from ubuntus main stream
*Full image now include Unity desktop
*Firefox now working on both small and full images

31/03/2012
*Now includes Debian images (core/small/large) V1

 

[Lokifish Marz]

I have this feeling you are about to be in high demand if all the ISC Webtop 3.0 videos are accurate. It's looks like Moto killed Ubuntu and replaced it with tablet mirroring mode.

BTW- Played with this on an Epic 4G and really like it. Could have used this last year for the Evo Desktop PC.

 

[devwithzachary]

I have this feeling you are about to be in high demand if all the ISC Webtop 3.0 videos are accurate. It's looks like Moto killed Ubuntu and replaced it with tablet mirroring mode.

BTW- Played with this on an Epic 4G and really like it. Could have used this last year for the Evo Desktop PC.

really? well thats interesting, bring them on, everyones welcome here

 

[mrWax]

Runnin slow linux on android ? -> lets do Ultralight

Howdy, pardners!

I suggest ARM porting Puppy linux or some other other really light distro to gain maximum performace out of mobile device.

Also there ultra-light desktops . It seems that the best would be Ratpoison or Awesome. These are easy to incorporate into now available port of Ubuntu for android.

These should together provide fast and small display suitable linux env. for your mobile device!

see ya round!

 

[devwithzachary]

Howdy, pardners!

I suggest ARM porting Puppy linux or some other other really light distro to gain maximum performace out of mobile device.

Also there ultra-light desktops . It seems that the best would be Ratpoison or Awesome. These are easy to incorporate into now available port of Ubuntu for android.

These should together provide fast and small display suitable linux env. for your mobile device!

see ya round!

Yes I think your right, I will look at making my next support distro one of these amazingly light distros, get the most power we can our of our devices

 

[dustinhayes93]

In your opinion, which of these distros is the fastest? I have a single core device so need all the help I can get lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

 

[devwithzachary]

In your opinion, which of these distros is the fastest? I have a single core device so need all the help I can get lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

either ubuntu 12.04 with lxde or debian i would stay away from gnome it takes alot more memory . At the moment i love debian its my 'daily drive'

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

 

[dustinhayes93]

either ubuntu 12.04 with lxde or debian i would stay away from gnome it takes alot more memory . At the moment i love debian its my 'daily drive'

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Debian it is! Btw thanks for your work. Its amazing seeing full desktops in your pocket... Amazing work!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

 

[Andrioid.]

I got Debian to work on a Huawei U8800 Ideos X5 with the Aurora 2.0.4 ROM.
Everything was running smooth and great, but then I logged out from the system to see if I could switch DEs.
From there, all I saw was the wallpaper of the desktop and nothing else.
I exited with the terminal and tried again. Now I get this message:

VNC connection failed!
failed to connect to localhost/127.0.0.1 (port 5900):
connect failed: ECONNREFUSED (Connection refused)

Is there any way I could reset the cache and try everything again?

ALSO, after the sh-ing debian.sh, this is what I get:

Loop device exists
mount: mounting /dev/block/loop255 on /data/local/mnt failed: Device or resource busy
mount: mounting /sdcard on /data/local/mnt/sdcard failed: No such file or directory
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1
Debian is configured with SSH and VNC servers that can be acessed from the IP:
eth0: No such device

vncserver: geometry 800x480 is invalid
Starting OpenBSD Secure Shell server: sshd.

It was different than before, so I thought this would be useful information.

I have no idea what to do at this point.

 

[devwithzachary]

I got Debian to work on a Huawei U8800 Ideos X5 with the Aurora 2.0.4 ROM.
Everything was running smooth and great, but then I logged out from the system to see if I could switch DEs.
From there, all I saw was the wallpaper of the desktop and nothing else.
I exited with the terminal and tried again. Now I get this message:

Is there any way I could reset the cache and try everything again?

ALSO, after the sh-ing debian.sh, this is what I get:

It was different than before, so I thought this would be useful information.

I have no idea what to do at this point.

Hmmm looks like you broke vnc I would recommend reinstalling vnc do apt-get remove tightvncserver then apt-get install tightvncserver
then do a restart of your device and try again.
If you want to use a different desktop you need to configure it in in /root/.vnc/xstartup vnc dosnt run right if you log out of a session and thus is broke, didnt think vnc even let you log out but guess it will

 

[Andrioid.]

Hmmm looks like you broke vnc I would recommend reinstalling vnc do apt-get remove tightvncserver then apt-get install tightvncserver
then do a restart of your device and try again.
If you want to use a different desktop you need to configure it in in /root/.vnc/xstartup vnc dosnt run right if you log out of a session and thus is broke, didnt think vnc even let you log out but guess it will

Reinstalled vnc, rebooted phone, still not working.

 

[con_ritmo]

the speed and responsiveness of debian on a nook tablet / cm7 is great!

however, is there any way to get flash installed/working on debian's iceweasel?

 

[Bilgets]

what i was wondering is only, hows the battery?

as far as my lofic go, ubuntu on laptop is a battery drain.. and how if its running on a phone that majority has lower capacity of battery

 

[devwithzachary]

Reinstalled vnc, rebooted phone, still not working.

Hmm ok you might have to try using a new image?

the speed and responsiveness of debian on a nook tablet / cm7 is great!

however, is there any way to get flash installed/working on debian's iceweasel?

flash is not working very well on ARM linux, I do not think there is a official port and other 3rd party trys dont work well

what i was wondering is only, hows the battery?

as far as my lofic go, ubuntu on laptop is a battery drain.. and how if its running on a phone that majority has lower capacity of battery

really battery life not much more used than any other app running the whole time, of cause if you use the GUI none stop it will drain more but you should still get alot of life

 

[Andrioid.]

Hmm ok you might have to try using a new image?

Awesome! It worked! Thanks!
Is there any reason to get the complete linux installer for €2.40?

 

[devwithzachary]

Awesome! It worked! Thanks!
Is there any reason to get the complete linux installer for €2.40?

well it includes faster downloads of the files from a server not just source forge, you can boot by clicking a button in yhe app so no more typing commands, you will get all future distros and updates first and the best bit is you get this amazing feeling for helping a developer keep releasing amazing stuff (if i do say so myself )

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

 

[Andrioid.]

well it includes faster downloads of the files from a server not just source forge, you can boot by clicking a button in yhe app so no more typing commands, you will get all future distros and updates first and the best bit is you get this amazing feeling for helping a developer keep releasing amazing stuff (if i do say so myself )

Alright. I was just wondering if I'm missing out on something. Unfortunately I can't donate. :/
Anyway, here's a picture of Debian running on my phone:

 

[devwithzachary]

Alright. I was just wondering if I'm missing out on something. Unfortunately I can't donate. :/
Anyway, here's a picture of Debian running on my phone:

thats quite alright so long as you enjoy the app etc then my work here is done

Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium