Focal and Waydroid news for Lenovo X605

muskist

@Luksus said in Focal and Waydroid news for Lenovo X605:

there are first working focal-builds for the X605.
Who want's to try it, needs to download the devel-flashable-focal:archive of the latest focal branch build, from this site:
https://gitlab.com/ubports/porting/community-ports/android9/lenovo-tab-m10-fhd/lenovo-x605/-/pipelines

Is it possible to try and flash the latest devel-flashable-focal:archive, e.g. #860314125 from "three months ago"?

Does it even make sense? You are constantly improving, I suppose.

Luksus

@muskist I just started a new build, so that you can try the latest devel focal build.

But I am currently not working on it, because I need the tablet in a usable state (with android).
So the only missing feature (I know of) is still the camera.

muskist

@Luksus Thanks, got it installed (after the usual boot problems). Everything seems to work fine (except camera).

gzagatti

@Luksus Thanks for putting this port together! What a tremendous effort!

First, I installed Ubuntu Touch with UBPorts installer. After installation, I realized that it came with Ubuntu Touch xenial which was slightly disappointing. Apart from this, the UBPorts installer was really helpful in showing me the ropes.

Next, I found your Git repo with the source code. I saw that there was a branch to build Ubuntu Touch focal. I managed to build the whole thing after a few issues. However, when it came to flashing the image to my device it didn't work. I managed to get past the Lenovo boot screen but my installation got stuck forever on the Ubuntu Touch loading screen.

Finally, I found this thread which saved my day. Thanks for sharing the link with the pre-built versions of Ubuntu Touch focal. I was then finally able to successfully install the OS on my device.

The last step of the installation is the trickiest one. Like @muskist, everything seems to work fine, except for the camera which was expected.

One last thing, I also faced the usual boot problems. I would like to understand the flashing steps on the README file better. The main branch includes the following line.

fastboot format:ext4 userdata

But the focal branch doesn't. Could you clarify whether this line should be added to focal.

After I followed the flash instruction of the focal README file, I couldn't boot. So, I restarted the device in bootmode and issued the following additional commands.

fastboot format:ext4 userdata
fastboot -w
fastboot flash boot out/boot.img

Then, there was a lot of turning on and off --- including in bootmode --- until it magically booted to Ubuntu Touch. I wish I could say what the right incantation of flash commands was, but I can't.

Luksus

@gzagatti thanks for your report.

I am not sure, why the format:ext4 command is not included in the focal branch, maybe I just forgot it.
At least, for UT to work, userdata should be formatted with ext4.
Beside this, I found that doing a wipe of userdata sometimes fixes the unreliable boot issue, at least for the first boot, thats why I included it in the readme.

It seems you have some development skills, if you managed to build it yourself.
It would be great to have somone who could help in resolving the remaining issues.

gzagatti

@Luksus thanks for your response.

I hope I can start helping once I get to know more about Ubuntu Touch. This is my first time using it, but I have some experience with Ubuntu.

I would like to report on my experience so far. After installing Focal, I spun a Libertine container up. First installation didn't complete successfully. I spun a second time successfully. To avoid the system from hibernating while spinning a new container you want to turn off the Lock when idle settings in the Settings > Battery.

However, I still had issues with the Libertine container as my X11 apps were not working (such as Firefox). I described the issue here.

I also experimented with Waydroid. Apps that require Waydroid take a while to launch. They do work, but the experience is a bit off because it is running from inside a container emulating an Android System.

I noted that everything is a bit slow in my Ubuntu Touch. For instance, when searching for updates the first time. It took about a good 10 minutes for the check to complete. Similarly, building a Libertine container and common apt commands inside of the container takes time as compared to my laptop. Do you think this is due to the limited Hardware or is it a Software issue?

I also had issues with apps suddenly quitting which is something that I don't experience on my regular Ubuntu. Again, I wonder whether this is a Hardware or Software issue?

Apart from the limitations above, I was having a very pleasant experience with Ubuntu Touch. That is, until yesterday when the tablet ran out of battery. I re-charged, but the tablet refused to reboot. I was left with re-formatting the disk by issuing the following commands using fastboot:

fastboot format:ext4 userdata
fastboot flash boot out/boot.img
fastboot reboot

I managed to reboot the tablet but it was reset to factory settings. I lost all my data (which was Ok because I am only using the tablet for entertainment). Do you have any idea what could have caused that? This kind of experience could be devastating for some users. It is also a pain in the ass to re-install everything.

Luksus

@gzagatti of course, if you format userdata all your data will be gone

So the solution would be, that you will find ways to get it to boot again, without formatting userdata.
There are already a lot of things the users tried, and seemed to work. Like booting to fastboot and issue the fastboot command fastboot continue or boot to recovery, mount system, reboot to recovery and then reboot the system.... and such things. Or just reflash boot and system...

But in the end, there is still no 100% working Workaround.

Yes, that's the great miracle of that device: "why doesn't it boot sometimes?".

I know one thing, which makes the device not to boot anymore very reliable: Mounting the rootfs writeable and not mounting it read-only again before rebooting.
But thats only a part of that issue, because in normal usage scenarios, the rootfs always stays read only.

gzagatti

@Luksus Thanks for your response. It does indeed look very strange. I will keep your techniques in mind and report again if I discover anything new.

pe3noATo2DOTpl

Dear @Luksus and Dear other UT Friends

31.1). I would like to buy a tablet with SIM based internet and X605L seems to be the only one which supports Ubuntu Touch (?)

31.2). Would you help me to take the decision if it's a good idea to spend 170+ EUR for such a 3GB/32GB X605L, please?

31.3). Is there a chance that X605L might be ported to UT 24.04 in the future? Or maybe the 20.04 is the last one Release for X605L ... ?

31.4). Do you know maybe about any other SIM tablet/s which might be ported soon to UT 20.04?

Thank you for your Great Effort and I wish you All the Best and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.

muskist

@pe3noATo2DOTpl
Whatever you do do NOT buy the 2GB version of Lenovo.

I'm happy with my 4GB device and I would purchase one for 170.
But if you do so be prepared for some booting problems. See some threads in this subforum.

20.04 is the latest but hopefully not the last UT version for it. None of the UT devices has 24.04 (yet).

HTH

Luksus

@pe3noATo2DOTpl to be honest, currently I would nobody advice to buy this tablet, as long as it has this booting issues with UT.
It can be rather frustrating, especially if you buy it for a specific usecase and then you have to tinker around with this booting issues...

And I can say for myself that I am not even close to a solution for this, nor I have the time currently, to investigate that issue (again).

gzagatti

@pe3noATo2DOTpl I have the X605F with SIM card and 3Gb Ram.

First, I installed Ubuntu Touch 16.04 with the official installer which was very easy and then Ubuntu Touch 20.04 with Luksus installer which is more advanced. The rebooting issue is a real pain in the ass, but if you have patience and know how to get yourself around Linux you will eventually get everything installed and booted. Nowadays I keep the device always charged, so that I don’t have to reboot. But even if I have to reboot, it eventually reboots to Ubuntu after some trial-and-error fiddling with key combos on start up.

The tablet works well for basic functionality such as browsing the web and some light text editing. However all apps are somewhat unstable, so I’d only use the tablet for entertainment purposes. Sometimes the browser or terminal will suddenly close, especially when switching between apps. I’m not sure if this is a memory issue or the OS being unstable.

In terms of performance, I find the tablet quite slow compared to contemporary hardware. Again you need patience and keep your expectations low. For instance, the browser cannot handle a lot of open tabs and will often reload unused tabs which is annoying when switching between them. It is significantly slower when opening webpages compared to my phone. That being said, you can definitely enjoy it for long reads online. And because it is slower, you don’t get tempted to switch between tasks.

I love the keyboard. It is responsive and has an additional input method just for editing text which is quite useful. On the other hand, scrolling is not so smooth, and sometimes feels a bit jagged.

My main pain-point at the moment is X11 support. I still haven’t figured out how to properly setup X11 so that I can open apps like Firefox. At the moment, X11 apps appear as a black window.

pe3noATo2DOTpl

Hello my Dear UBports Friends: Dear @muskist, @Luksus and @gzagatti

35.1). Dear @muskist, thank you for your X605 Tips, related to the Purchase and to the Pain Points
35.2). I cannot find any 4/64 X605 anywhere... and there are only very few of the 3/32 ones available so I'm thinking to maybe buy one of them... and to avoid 2/16, as you suggested
35.3). I will read and learn about the booting problems and if I buy it, I'll use the Workarounds mentioned there
35.4). Well, I understand that none of the devices has UT 24.04 yet. I was simply trying to ask what are the possibilities for the X605 and the potential future effort to port the X605 to UT 24.04 in the future...?

35.4). Dear @Luksus, first of all please accept my Enormous Thanks to you for your Great Effort in the process of porting Devices to Ubuntu Touch 20.04!!!!!!! I really admire all that
35.5). Well, I'm seriously thinking to buy a 3/32 X605L (or 4/64 in case there appear one for sale) because it seems to be the only UT 20.04 tablet which has the SIM built in... :), unless you would know that there's any other such tablet (with SIM socket for the internet), where there are high chances that it would be ported to UT...? BTW, I'm asking something similar here, where I even try to go one step further and I'm thinking of a big screen smartphone : https://forums.ubports.com/topic/9602/ubuntu-touch-ut-tablets-with-phone-functionality
35.6). Thank you also for being honest to underline the problems, which helps me to think it over more deeply, prior to make a potential purchase
35.7). Dear @Luksus, would you be so kind to tell me one more thing, as the X605 Porter, please? Will the UT 24.04 porting process very difficult and therefore are there low/medium/high chances that you would try to port X605 to 24.04, please...? Sorry for re-asking that question... and thank you in advance for your Great Patience for an UT newbie like me...

35.8). Dear @gzagatti, thank you for sharing your X605 experience
35.9). Did you attach an external SIM card modem via USB? I'm asking because the X605F mentioned by you seems to be the WiFi version - correct?
35.10). Thanks also for having suggested the step-by-step method, which I will probably also try (if I buy the X605) Is it possible to install a TWRP as the Recovery, to be able to easily backup and restore different version of the UT?
35.11). Yes, I confirm that trying to be the Ubuntu Touch Ambassador requires also from me a lot of patience and time but I don't complain and I don't call that "a problem" but rather I consider it "a challenge" and I'm happy if I manage to do any further step, as well as when I can share that with the other People. I'm also very happy for my every UBports Friends who (like All of you) share your Great Knowledge with me
35.12). Yes, I'm also keen on Linux and probably that's why I consider every UT device as something exceptional because such a smartphone or tablet has inside the power of a Linux Machine!!!
35.13). I also thought to keep the X605 always charged, in order to avoid the booting problems and I hope that someone will find a workaround too
35.14). Well, I don't expect the X605L 3/32 to be a "Stable Power Monster" and as I already mentioned, I'm patient and happy for every my and/or Ubuntu Touch Success so I'm going not to complain, as I was doing since the UT was released in 2015 and all over all these years
35.15). Dear @gzagatti, I'm not an UT Expert at all... but maybe for your FF attempts the Libertine would be a solution. From what I understood watching this film, it allows to run the desktop application in a UT container: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5-TtUnIgbg

I wish All the Best to all of you, thank you very much and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
......................................................................
Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5.

pe3noATo2DOTpl

This post is deleted!

DPITTI

So that's a luxury problem with this device. Why do you leave the tweak tool and stuff like that in the openstore A bit of fun, but I still wonder why they try to make UT run as a casstrated OS

Luksus

@pe3noATo2DOTpl
Bigscreen phone:
As already said in the other thread, the tablets are somehow limited to mobile data functionality. Even on Android.

24.04:
I think thats possible, as long as there are not lots of new kernel features needed.

In general, wouldn't be the pinetab 2 an alternative?

gzagatti

@pe3noATo2DOTpl

Regarding your points.

35.9). My tablet is actually the X605F. But I haven't added a SIM card to it. I don't need cellular data as I only use the tablet at home for light entertainment like browsing the web. Wi-Fi is enough for me.

35.10) Yes, it's possivle to install TWRP. In fact, I have done that when installing Ubuntu 20.04. But you don't really need it to install the OS.

35.11) There's no judgment of value when I say something is a problem. Every challenge entails a problem otherwise it would not be a challenge. There are few rough edges in UT, but the overall experience is quite positive and there's good support from the community. It's good to have an open mind and take UT as experimental for now. So, it sounds like you have a good approach to it.

35.15) Libertine is the point of entry to install Firefox and any app that is not distributed as a native app. The video teaches the basic steps of installing apps with Libertine. Another good source is the documentation. Unfortunately, the problem is that Libertine apps that require X11 (like Firefox) shows a black screen to me. The app is definitely running, but everything is black and I can even touch where the Firefox address bar would be to get a keyboard to show up. I have opened an issue with regards to this problem here. If you have any other suggestion please share with that thread. I am really eager to get this fixed as it will open a lot of possibilities for my use of UT.

muskist

@pe3noATo2DOTpl said in Focal and Waydroid news for Lenovo X605:

35.2). I cannot find any 4/64 X605 anywhere... and there are only very few of the 3/32 ones available so I'm thinking to maybe buy one of them... and to avoid 2/16, as you suggested

Sorry, I was confused because I have both a 2 GB RAM and 3 GB RAM device. The latter has 32 GB of storage (not 64).

The 2 GB RAM has 16 GB iirc. Can't check because I'm going through the usual struggle of booting right now

pe3noATo2DOTpl

Hello again my Dear Friends, @Luksus, @DPITTI, @gzagatti, @muskist and @Resonus

Thank you very much , Dear @Luksus for your your message and again for the 20.04@X605 Development

41.1). I'm so happy that porting X605 to 24.04 in future is possible, in your opinion

41.2). Thank you very much for the "Big Phone" clarification ... I was dreaming simply of such a solution ... and when talking about PineTab2 or any other alternative... well, I'm / we're with you, our Great X605 UT Developer, with the hope that X605 will be ported further as you mentioned about 24.04. I'm trying to be ready with a X605L device ASAP, to get involved more and more deeply into this Wonderful Adventure with this only one UBports 20.04 Tablet, as of now

41.3). Reading your previous entries, could I please ask you, if you have/need additional X605 device to be able to develop UT on it more intensively? I'm asking that question because you wrote: "I need the tablet in a usable state (with android)." So I assume that you have only one X605 device and this is somehow blocking your 20.04@X605 development - correct...?

41.4). For me, being a noob, it seems a good idea for you to have at least two X605 devices because then you could have a separate/dedicated Development Environment...

Dear @gzagatti, thank you very much for sharing your X605 Experience and Tips

41.5). Well, for me the SIM slot and the 4G/LTE internet is important as I want to use the tablet outside, especially to be able to load the maps and use the UT Navigation Application, as well as to be able to have the access to the internet in a way which would be more comfortable than at a small smartphone's screen

41.6). For me the TWRP means that I can backup/restore many different versions of system/configuration very easily. From what I got to know the microSD is supported up to 256GB, so it gives a lot of space for such system dumps Well, additionally it's also a very easy way to share a UT System Image by someone who develops the system

41.7). Well... challenge <=> problems... it simply helps me that I call something "A Challenge" instead of "A problem". I notice that a "Challenge" motivates me while a "problem" might have pessimistic connotations...

41.8). When talking about FF, again I would to say that ... I'm a noob... so sorry that I might try to share with you the Tips of the others which might not work or might be specific to another device... anyway I try... Here for example I read that "You can install Firefox 76.01 in a Libertine container directly from the UBports default reposotories, and it works ok in OTA-12 in my tests."
https://forums.ubports.com/topic/3774/where-is-firefox/15

Dear @muskist thank you for sharing the information about your X605 2GB/3GB devices

41.9). From what I can see, the 2GB version can also be very useful, e.g.: for iirc

41.10). I find this topic very interesting - Would that be allowed to share more information about it in this Thread or is it an OT, so not allowed...?

41.11). I'm asking because I'm not sure what you exactly mean when saying about the iirc @ X605 ... and it's interesting to me because I had only one contact with irc in my life. The guys were sharing the Knowledge there and this irc channel did not have any public archive, so their discussions and the Knowledge there was volatile and nobody in the world will ever be able to benefit of that... sorry if that's an OT...

Dear Friends, I wish you All the Best, thank you in advance for your further Great Help and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.

......................................................................
Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5.
Soon/hopefully ... X605L

Luksus

@pe3noATo2DOTpl
First: please dont be so wasteful with praises and smileys. The praises make me feel uncomfortable and lots of smileys make your text hard to read.

I already have another x605f tablet for developing.

The 2GB version can run UT, but will never be able to do OTA updates, since we cannot get the recovery working for it. If I remember correctly, even TWRP is not working on this version.

Same applies, when using TWRP recovery on the 3GB version, you won't be able to do UT OTA updates.

So, whatever you do, don't go for the 2GB version.