Android M10 Install Video

[UBportsNews]

Nice install video for the weekend from Ernmander https://youtu.be/25aPxzchPtQ

[ezze]

Really thanks for sharing it! What version of Android should be installed on a device and does it matter?

I just purchased the same brand new BQ M10 HD with Android 8.1.0 preinstalled but read somewhere that only devices with Android up to 7.1 are supported due to current Halium restrictions that is used to port Anrdoid devices to Ubuntu Touch. Do I need to downgrade Android first? Or is it ok to start with 8.1.0?

Just to clarify things I want to be sure that understand the installation instructions properly.

1. I enable developer mode and USB debugging in Android.

2. I have to unlock bootloader manually. In order to do so I start by going to this page.

3. I download some old OTA-6 version of Ubuntu Touch from Canonical (why should we do it? is it a considired firmware upgrade from 8.1.0 mentioned above?).

4. I download the latest version of SP FlashTool.

5. I'm flashing the device with old Ubuntu Touch version using SP FlashTool (choosing FIRMWARE UPGRADE). I'm confused by these steps in the manual:

   • Double-check you chose “Firmware Upgrade” and not “Download” or “Format All”

     Warning

     If you select DOWNLOAD rather than FIRMWARE UPGRADE, you will end up with a useless brick rather than a fancy Ubuntu Touch device. Be sure to select FIRMWARE UPGRADE.

   • Turn your device completely off, but do not connect it yet

   • Press the button labeled “Download”

   • Perform a final sanity-check that you selected the “Firmware Upgrade” option, not “Download”

   1. What does it mean to "press the button labeled "Download"" (is it a tab?) and to not choosing "Download" (from dropdown list)?
   2. I saw that "Format All + Download" is selected in the video and some "Download Flash" occurred then.

6. After installing old version of Ubuntu touch I'm able to install a version from UBPorts using ubports-installer running from desktop Ubuntu.

[AppLee]

@ezze said in Android M10 Install Video:

only devices with Android up to 7.1 are supported due to current Halium restrictions

Hi, if I'm correct, the limitation is for devices first delivered with android 8.
Pre-existing devices (such as BQ M10) with software update to newer versions of android are fine.

If the device is modified and is not compatbile with halium anymore then it won't be possible to install UT on.

In the particular case of M10 HD I don't know if there is such evolution made ; if the serial number is the same as old ones then it's probably fine.

[L-00400]

This post is deleted!

[ezze]

I was able to install Ubuntu Touch on Aquaris M10 HD with pre-installed Android 8.1.0. I am not experienced in flashing mobile devices therefore some things shown in the video were unclear for me but still very useful. I don't know what was important so I'm posting these steps combined from the video and official instructions that were lucky for me. If there is something wrong with it, please, correct me. Hope that it will help other unexperienced users in the future.

1. Start pre-installed Android 8.1.0 on the tablet (hold "Power" button) and enable developer mode and USB debugging there.

2. Power off the device by holding "Power" button.

3. Start the tablet by holding "Power" button and "Volume Up" button to select device's boot mode.

4. Choose "Fastboot mode" by "Volume Up" button and then press "Volume Down".

5. Device doesn't reboot automatically. Power off the device by holding "Power" button for a few seconds and then start it again by "Power" + "Volume Up" buttons and select "Recovery Mode".

6. In recovery menu select "Reboot to bootloader" item using "Volume Up"/"Volume Down" buttons and press "Power" button. => FASTBOOT mode... text will be shown at the left bottom corner of the blank screen.

7. I guess it's time to flash the firmware, but it was unclear from the video whether I should power off the device or not. So according to these instructions I decided to power off the device (hold "Power" button for a few seconds).

8. Download recent version of Smartphone Flash Tool and extract it's files from the archive. I used version 5.1916 for Linux 64-bit. To be exact, I'm on Kubuntu 18.04.1.

9. Install missing library for SP Flash Tool:

   $ wget -q -O /tmp/libpng12.deb http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libpng/libpng12-0_1.2.54-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb \
   && sudo dpkg -i /tmp/libpng12.deb \
   && rm /tmp/libpng12.deb
   

10. Go to directory with SP Flash Tool and make it executable:

    $ cd ~/Downloads/ubports/SP_Flash_Tool-5.1916_Linux
    $ chmod +x ./flash_tool.sh
    

11. Start SP Flash Tool with root privileges:

    $ sudo ./flash_tool.sh
    

12. Download old Canonical UT image called cooler for M10 HD, unpack it and select Android_scatter.txt file from there in SP Flash Tool ("Download" tab => "Scatter-loading File").

13. Choose "Firmware Upgrade" from dropdown list.

14. Press "Download" button at the top left corner of "Download" tab.

15. Connect powered-off tablet to USB 2.0 port of the computer. "Magic happens" — old UT image will be downloaded into device and installed.

    I saw BQ logo with "Powered by Ubuntu" label at the end but unfortunatelly further UT loading was stuck. Nothing happened for a long time.

16. Download recent version of UBports Installer. It was deb of version 0.4.5-beta for me.

17. Start UBports with root privileges:

    $ sudo ubports-installer
    

    and follow it's instructions.

    When I ran "Reboot to bootloader" and saw => FASTBOOT mode like it was in 6, I didn't power off the tablet before connecting to computer. Everything was fine, I got rotating Ubuntu logo on the screen first, and working fresh Ubuntu Touch image three minutes later.