Re: Installing Debian on an android device
On Wed, Jul 5, 2017 at 8:58 AM, Fungi4All <fungilife@protonmail.com> wrote:
> Although I despise such devices, my only experience has been
> helping a friend out locating certain settings and installing the proper
> software for specific uses.
> Lately, a problematic one, ended up in my hands as the owner
> gave up on it and purchased a better one. The problem seemed
> to be either bad ram cells that the system couldn't probably read
> after writing, insufficient ram, or bugs on the system utilizing ram
>
> I thought maybe a debian installation could possibly identify the
> issues.
If only we had a common BIOS for the ARM devices.
Unfortunately, we don't. So we can't just boot a CD/USB/SD.
> It seemed possible, even though there is no root access
> on the system.
I don't know why you would think it possible without root.
> I managed to install debian with a package of
> gnu-debian.
>From the playstore, I presume? Maybe gnuroot debian?
I used no-root debian or some such for a while.
> Then, after it seemed as a painless successful installation, I
> tried to get some gui action. I installed an x-server and up it went.
>
> 1 The pointing device doesn't seem to work as described.
Unfortunately, the touchscreen user interface has been redesigned,
and does not cooperate well with the mouse paradigm.
I was able to use a usb mouse through a usb hub on no-root debian.
> 2 Through browsing the system from debian I can't find where
> android is stored as only the debian installation seem to exist,
> although it is clear that android runs as a base still.
Without root, an install of another Linux environment is just the
environment only, linked up so the Android kernel and system tools
substitute for the Debian kernel and some of the Debian system
tools.
It's incomplete, and it's in a sandbox or jail. You aren't allowed
access to the real system.
You can compile and such things, but the object you get runs in the
sandbox with the rest of gnu-root debian.
> 3 Would anything past jessie work? Should I try it?
It's a rather fragile arrangement, and requires a lot of work to get as
much as you have. Odds are very good you'll break something if you
try that. But, most likely, only in the debian environment.
> 4 It feels like running in VM but it isn't. No root no logins
> no user.
Exactly.
Installing a real debian will require first jailbreaking the device,
then getting access to the drivers that the manufacturer provides
and customizing them for Debian, then cross-compiling a lot of stuff ...
It isn't easy, and that's why we don't find a debain architecture for
any android devices.
--
Joel Rees
One of these days I'll get someone to pay me
to design a language that combines the best of Forth and C.
Then I'll be able to leap wide instruction sets with a single #ifdef,
run faster than a speeding infinite loop with a #define,
and stop all integer size bugs with my bare cast.
http://defining-computers.blogspot.com/2017/06/reinventing-computers.html
More of my delusions:
http://reiisi.blogspot.com/2017/05/do-not-pay-modern-danegeld-ransomware.html
http://reiisi.blogspot.jp/p/novels-i-am-writing.html
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