How easy is it to install Android 9 in preparation for Ubuntu Touch?
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I would like to buy an x605f that comes preinstalled with Android 8. Since the port uses Halium 9, I will have to install Android 9 on my tablet prior to installing Ubuntu Touch.
How easy is that process? Do I need to flash an image? Can I upgrade manually?
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@metrobokke The X605f comes with Android 9. I don't think it went past that.
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Bought a used one that came with Android8. Had to wait a few hours and it updated to A9 automatically.
Bought another one recently that came with A9.
Two important things:
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Do not buy the 2 GB/16 GB device! It will not be able to update new OTAs because it is impossible to boot to recovery.
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When installing by ubports-installer and your device is not recognized so you have to select it manually: You will as well have to change the channel from "stable" to "rc" (or "devel"). Else you end up with an error because the device doesn't update on "stable" (see https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/x605/ "Release Channels"). Took me some time to get that
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Sorry for the silence - my tablet finally arrived (I got the 3 GB/32 GB version). I let it update to Android 9 and flashed Ubuntu Touch successfully - works like a charm!
I had to fiddle around a bit to get it to work - nothing big, mostly mashing buttons to make it reboot properly. I did notice those things though:
- When installing, one fastboot command failed and the error message (reported as JSON) said a different command needed to be run to finish unlocking the bootloader. Running that command manually and retrying worked. I don't have the command as I'm currently not next to the computer I used to flash, but I noted the command somewhere and I'll post it here whenever I can.
- When shutting down my tablet while leaving it plugged in, it can't "boot" to the battery charging screen; it stays stuck to the "Lenovo - powered by android" screen forever, which means it stays on all of the time it's plugged in for charging.
- This might be a problem with Ubuntu Touch rather than this port, but when I go to the lock screen, I can hide the side panel, but when I try to type in my password, the keyboard has a slight offset to the right, large enough to contain the side bar, even though I hid it.
I also have the classic issues (can't use adb and so on) but for the rest, it works amazingly well!
If the devs are around, I remain available for testing, so if there's something useful I could do to help, please let me know.
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@metrobokke hey, I just made usb-mtp work and after booting it should not be in desktopmode anymore. Please update through Systemsettings (devel-channel) and check it out.
Sadly, I still could not make adb work.
The issue with the sidepanel and keyboard is OS specific and connected to the desktopmode, since there the panel can be hidden, but the keyboard is not automatically resizing itself.
You could mention the issue at the offical bugtracker at https://github.com/ubports/ubuntu-touch/issues, if it is not already there.
