[Discontinued] Linux on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, 2022 edition

[Baonks81]

Thank you for giving me this info. I have uploaded a newer version of the Ubuntu MATE image with these changes in mind. I'm not sure of how to enable the extra parameters you gave me, but at least you encouraged me to get audio working again.

Changes:

• Kernel version upgraded to 5.14.0-rc1.
• Most extra packages for the Raspberry Pi family of computers have been removed, including the kernels.
• The PPA at https://launchpad.net/~grate-driver/+archive/ubuntu/ppa is pre-configured to be accessed. Most packages from this repository, including the opentegra driver, come preinstalled. They currently are enough to get 2D acceleration working, but not for 3D acceleration.
• Except for what has been mentioned above, any packages shipped may have to be updated once an internet connection is established.

To get sound working again for existing images, edit the file at /etc/modules and add to this file:

snd_soc_tegra20_i2s
snd_soc_tegra_pcm
snd_soc_tegra_wm8903
snd_soc_wm8903

 

[Worldblender]

hi i have compiled the 5.15.0_rc4 kernel

21.86 MB folder on MEGA

2 files

mega.nz

always password error

The password you have to use is the one that was entered during the pmbootstrap setup phase. It can't be seen during this time, so you have to make sure to not make any mistakes, even during the second time. You can use something easy like '1234' if you're in fear of making mistakes. It it possible to chroot into the filesystem after installation to change the user password, in case this doesn't work, however.

Let's do it

A new image with a newer kernel? Maybe. I've found myself less motivated to work on this and related images, because of the lack of NEON that prevents me from being able to run certain programs such as Firefox 57 and newer. However, I'm open to letting others reproduce the images I made, including newer versions, and this might have to be done should I find myself with less free time later on.

 

[Baonks81]

The password you have to use is the one that was entered during the pmbootstrap setup phase. It can't be seen during this time, so you have to make sure to not make any mistakes, even during the second time. You can use something easy like '1234' if you're in fear of making mistakes. It it possible to chroot into the filesystem after installation to change the user password, in case this doesn't work, however.

A new image with a newer kernel? Maybe. I've found myself less motivated to work on this and related images, because of the lack of NEON that prevents me from being able to run certain programs such as Firefox 57 and newer. However, I'm open to letting others reproduce the images I made, including newer versions, and this might have to be done should I find myself with less free time later on.

Ok, I just replace kernel 5.15.0-rc4 from @bascore , following your guide. I hope it'll work, I didn't have Acer Iconia device to test those images

acer-picasso - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[bascore]

Ok, I just replace kernel 5.15.0-rc4 from @bascore , following your guide. I hope it'll work, I didn't have Acer Iconia device to test those images

acer-picasso - Google Drive

drive.google.com

Ok, I just replace kernel 5.15.0-rc4 from @bascore , following your guide. I hope it'll work, I didn't have Acer Iconia device to test those images

acer-picasso - Google Drive

drive.google.com

hello keyboard function not

 

[Baonks81]

hello keyboard function not

I wish I can test, I didn't have Acer Iconia A500 device to test. So sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[bascore]

I wish I can test, I didn't have Acer Iconia A500 device to test. So sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I managed to compile kali linux the keyboard works the wifi too

IMG20211101152438

Image IMG20211101152438 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152616

Image IMG20211101152616 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152621

Image IMG20211101152621 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[Baonks81]

I managed to compile kali linux the keyboard works the wifi too

IMG20211101152438

Image IMG20211101152438 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152616

Image IMG20211101152616 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152621

Image IMG20211101152621 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Will it have grate-driver GPU accelerate!?

 

[bascore]

Will it have grate-driver GPU accelerate!?

Will it have grate-driver GPU accelerate!?

hi no GPU accelerate grate-driver! how to install eMMC rootfs kali

 

[ohiotech]

Would much appreciate some help please. My Linux skills are intermediate. I want to try one of these linux images, but I can't get past the first step of getting a file manager installed to get the CPU ID. All I find says to go to the play store. Now that everything is https and tls 1.2, I can't get this old browser to connect for a download/install. Even tried apkpure.com hoping to get a 3rd party download, nothing works. Would setting up local ftp server work? Thanks in advance. Ohiotech

 

[Baonks81]

hi no GPU accelerate grate-driver! how to install eMMC rootfs kali

Using adb push to /userdata partition on PC and twrp -> advance -> terminal -> df -> umount mmcblk0p--

But you have to make sure which mmcblk0p-- was /userdata partition. Its can be brick your device

Btw, I didn't have Acer Iconia A500, so I can't test those steps

 

[Baonks81]

Would much appreciate some help please. My Linux skills are intermediate. I want to try one of these linux images, but I can't get past the first step of getting a file manager installed to get the CPU ID. All I find says to go to the play store. Now that everything is https and tls 1.2, I can't get this old browser to connect for a download/install. Even tried apkpure.com hoping to get a 3rd party download, nothing works. Would setting up local ftp server work? Thanks in advance. Ohiotech

I'm new in linux too. But I try to search and learn more on internet, why could you do like us!? Try hard

Acer Iconia Tab A500 (acer-picasso) - postmarketOS

wiki.postmarketos.org

 

[bascore]

Would much appreciate some help please. My Linux skills are intermediate. I want to try one of these linux images, but I can't get past the first step of getting a file manager installed to get the CPU ID. All I find says to go to the play store. Now that everything is https and tls 1.2, I can't get this old browser to connect for a download/install. Even tried apkpure.com hoping to get a 3rd party download, nothing works. Would setting up local ftp server work? Thanks in advance. Ohiotech

hi i will make an img that works for you help

 

[ohiotech]

hi i will make an img that works for you help

Hi Bascore, and thank you for offering to help. Ohiotech

 

[bascore]

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : ./fastboot.o : dans la fonction « fastboot_main » :
fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x88) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x168) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x196) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x1c4) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x350) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : ./fastboot.o:fastboot.c.text.fastboot_main+0x404) : encore plus de références indéfinies suivent vers « fastboot_status_ok »
make: *** [Makefile:83 : bootmenu.elf] Erreur 1

 

[mariohce]

Hello Worldblender, it would be possible for you to put a complete tutorial explaining step by step how to install linux on the Acer A500. I mean detailing everything necessary and step by step what should be done, I know I ask too much but I'm a novice in all this. Thank you very much for your work.

 

[Worldblender]

Hello Worldblender, it would be possible for you to put a complete tutorial explaining step by step how to install linux on the Acer A500. I mean detailing everything necessary and step by step what should be done, I know I ask too much but I'm a novice in all this. Thank you very much for your work.

I'll help out as best as I can, even though I'm finished with this tablet model. Some of the steps are not easy to perform in Windows, so you'll might want to use a liveUSB or liveCD Linux distro if Windows is your primary OS. The process below also assumes that you've already installed the custom bootloader necessary for loading non-Android operating systems. If your tablet is still on stock, follow the process at https://forum.xda-developers.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271 before returning here; it's too much to explain here. I can alter the instructions for you if you tell me the operating system you use.

1. Go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pMqaS5GaM6N9TAKlNGQZWCG8UTiRn4pK?usp=sharing, where there will be two image files.
2. Download the Ubuntu MATE 20.04 image, named ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+acer-picasso.img.xz.
3. Flash the downloaded image (decompress if necessary) to a microSD card of at least 8 GB. A program like Rufus or balenaEtcher will suffice.
4. (best done on a Linux distro) The microSD card will have two partitions, pmOS_boot and pmOS_root. The former has the boot image files, while the latter has the operating system image files. You'll want to mount the former, as it has the boot image needed for flashing.
5. Put the tablet into fastboot mode, then connect it with a microUSB cable to your host computer. Assuming you have the Android debug tools installed (the link above can lead you to them if not installed), run

   fastboot devices

   . If the tablet is detected, then run

   fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img]

6. Insert the flashed microSD card into the tablet, reboot the tablet and have it boot from the secondary partition. If successful, the postmarketOS logo will show while loading. A setup screen will eventually show, where you will be prompted to finish the setup, including a username and password.
7. The tablet with microSD card is now usable with the Ubuntu MATE image. You'll be left to yourself as to what to do next after login.

Let me know if you need further clarification at any point in the process. I can't fully explain the process of going from a stock tablet to getting Linux on it, as that would be too much to explain here.

 

[Worldblender]

I have a major announcement that will affect the creation of new images.

The lack of NEON on the Nvidia Tegra 2 of this tablet (which more and more applications are using these days, including the Firefox web browser) has made me consider selling my Acer Iconia Tab A500. Though I enjoyed using a mainline Linux kernel on a real ARM tablet, frequent issues of running out of memory especially during web browsing have also plagued me. I won't be making anymore images from this point on for this tablet (I can still make them, but I won't have the real hardware with me to test them on), but the existing images will still be available for download for as long as I leave them up.

Even though I enjoyed my time repurposing this tablet to become a Linux one, I think it's time that I move onto some more recent hardware. I know about planned obsolescence, but when most manufacturers are including NEON support in their ARM SOCs, and most mainstream applications are taking advantage of it, I can greatly feel the effects of this. Again, I'm grateful for all the mainlining efforts done, them being the reason why I could get postmarketOS supported for this tablet.

If anyone is interested in buying this tablet from me, just contact me and I'll try to work something out.

 

[mariohce]

I'll help out as best as I can, even though I'm finished with this tablet model. Some of the steps are not easy to perform in Windows, so you'll might want to use a liveUSB or liveCD Linux distro if Windows is your primary OS. The process below also assumes that you've already installed the custom bootloader necessary for loading non-Android operating systems. If your tablet is still on stock, follow the process at https://forum.xda-developers.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271 before returning here; it's too much to explain here. I can alter the instructions for you if you tell me the operating system you use.

1. Go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pMqaS5GaM6N9TAKlNGQZWCG8UTiRn4pK?usp=sharing, where there will be two image files.
2. Download the Ubuntu MATE 20.04 image, named ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+acer-picasso.img.xz.
3. Flash the downloaded image (decompress if necessary) to a microSD card of at least 8 GB. A program like Rufus or balenaEtcher will suffice.
4. (best done on a Linux distro) The microSD card will have two partitions, pmOS_boot and pmOS_root. The former has the boot image files, while the latter has the operating system image files. You'll want to mount the former, as it has the boot image needed for flashing.
5. Put the tablet into fastboot mode, then connect it with a microUSB cable to your host computer. Assuming you have the Android debug tools installed (the link above can lead you to them if not installed), run

   fastboot devices

   . If the tablet is detected, then run

   fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img]

6. Insert the flashed microSD card into the tablet, reboot the tablet and have it boot from the secondary partition. If successful, the postmarketOS logo will show while loading. A setup screen will eventually show, where you will be prompted to finish the setup, including a username and password.
7. The tablet with microSD card is now usable with the Ubuntu MATE image. You'll be left to yourself as to what to do next after login.

Let me know if you need further clarification at any point in the process. I can't fully explain the process of going from a stock tablet to getting Linux on it, as that would be too much to explain here.

Thank you very much for your prompt response, what is not clear to me is when doing "fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img], what is the path of that location??? so what should I write there. Thanks

 

[Worldblender]

Thank you very much for your prompt response, what is not clear to me is when doing "fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img], what is the path of that location??? so what should I write there. Thanks

[location of the boot image named boot.img] means the full path to the boot.img file, at the root of where pmOS_boot is mounted. This step would be better done in a terminal or command prompt. Since I haven't known about what operating system you use, I'll give you some examples of what I mean (these are not going to be what you'll actually use):

• Windows example: E:\boot.img
• Various Linux examples: /media/ubuntu/pmOS_boot/boot.img, /run/media/ubuntu/pmOS_boot/boot.img

 

[mariohce]

[location of the boot image named boot.img] means the full path to the boot.img file, at the root of where pmOS_boot is mounted. This step would be better done in a terminal or command prompt. Since I haven't known about what operating system you use, I'll give you some examples of what I mean (these are not going to be what you'll actually use):

• Windows example: E:\boot.img
• Various Linux examples: /media/ubuntu/pmOS_boot/boot.img, /run/media/ubuntu/pmOS_boot/boot.img

Thank you very much, I have managed to install linux on the Iconia A500, but when I start it asks for a username and password, what should I put as username and password???