Focal and Waydroid news for Lenovo X605
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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.
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@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
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@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).
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@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.
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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-TtUnIgbgI wish All the Best to all of you, thank you very much and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
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Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5. -
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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
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@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?
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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.
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@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
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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.
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Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5.
Soon/hopefully ... X605L -
@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.
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Dear @Luksus,
43.1). Sorry for my crazy behavior while expressing the emotions of happiness for the only UT 4G tablet, which you develop for all of us, and the inconvenience I caused... I'll try to keep it in mind.
43.2). I was asking about a separate X605 for the development because I actually can see two "X605L 4GB/64GB" items.
43.3). Thank you again for sharing the 2GB/3GB RAM concerns for X605. Now I'm sure I want to look for rather the 4/64 version, to have the TWRP and the OTA available.
Dear @Luksus , I wish you All the Best, thank you again and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
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Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5.
Soon/hopefully ... X605L 4/64 -
@pe3noATo2DOTpl hey, could you share a link to your 4GB versions?
I am pretty sure, there is none for the x605f/l.
See: https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/p/tablets/android-tablets/lenovo-tab-series/lenovo-tab-m10/zzitztatbax#tech_specsMaybe it is a 605fc/fl?
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Dear @Luksus,
45.1). I'm a crazy UT Ambassador, challenged by a group of young Android fans, so I continuously search the strongest possible hardware, to be able to present the best User Experience with our Great OS!
45.2). Initially, I was also able to find only the 2/3GB RAM versions, according to what the official specifications present but I was tireless in looking for the 4GB version of X605L, based on the information in this thread, that the X605 with 4GB or RAM exists.
45.3). As I was unhappy for my initial research results, so I extended its range and the first positive results I found outside of my country, i.e. here: https://mobileplanet.ua/ua/lenovo-tab-m10-10-1-lte-4-64gb-polar-whi-155443
45.4). I translated it in Chromium Browser and it confirms that X605L 4/64 actually exists:
45.5). However, as there seem to be no more companies who have any brand new items in stock, I'm trying to get in touch with private owners of X605L 4/64.
Kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
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Devices : MeizuPro5, Mx4 & BqAquarisE5.
Soon/hopefully ... X605L 4/64 -
@pe3noATo2DOTpl
Hey, I just want to mention here, the upcoming much more future proof Lenovo option: The X306F (Lenovo Tab M10 (2nd Gen) WiFi)See here: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/9673/lenovo-tab-m10-hd-wifi-x306f
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Dear @Luksus,
47). Reading your last message, should we worry about your current/future UT X605L Implementation/Porting Involvement ... ?
47.1). Well, the "funny" thing on my side is that right now I can finally/officially confirm that X605L 4/64 exist and I'm learning to install UT on it.
47.2). Well, yes... it's a shame... I'm not strong in the internet research... so sorry it took me so loooooooooong to find something... relatively easy to find.
47.3). Moreover, I must say that this was helpful to physically buy the 4/64 version of X605L:
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490160SE
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490158SE
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490161PL
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490162PL
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490157RU
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo Tablets/Tab_M10?M=ZA490159RU47.4). Now I'm trying to improve my skills. The installation of 16.04 went smoothly, using the UBports-Installer.
47.5). I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly but anyway today I tried to install your 20.04 and now I'm trying to boot it.
$ fastboot flash boot 20230922_012725_UT2004_X605_F_L_by_Luksus_1013489143_artifacts_zip___boot.img
$ fastboot flash system 20230922_012725_UT2004_X605_F_L_by_Luksus_1013489143_artifacts_zip___ubuntu.img47.5). Dear @Luksus I'm happy for all that and I would be happy if you would continue your Project, which for the moment continues to be the only one UT 20.04 Implementation for a tablet with a SIM based internet, which for me is Great and I want to get involved in that !
Thank you and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
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Dear @Luksus and Dear other UBports Friends,
48). I would like to share with you the workaround/s to boot the UT 20.04 of Luksus, which has/have worked for me, at my X605L 4/64 (other versions not tested).
48.1). I did a lot of actions/tests and now I'm trying to reconstruct/collect all the steps which I performed.
48.2). My description might not be fully accurate, so please be patient and ask, if something is incomplete and/or incorrect, please.
48.3). WORKAROUND SHORT VERSION:
48.4). Flash the boot.img and ubuntu.img in FastBootMode (uplodaded by Luksus on 2023-09-22 01:27:25 as the #1013489143 artifacts_zip).
48.5). During the first boot of UT 20.04 on X605L 4/64, you need to have the empty tray inserted into the tablet (without SIM nor microSD cards but the tray should be insterted).
48.6). The Lenovo Logo should disappear after some time and tablet should boot in the optimistic scenario. Sometimes it can get stuck at Lenovo Logo or after it disappears, the screen can be black but you can notice that the lighting of the screen still works. If it's stuck for longer, press the Power button once and it should immediately Power off. Press the Power button again and this time it should properly boot. That's the tricky part and especially here, please forgive me if I might describe it not fully properly, as I'm trying to remind myself the steps which I did in several attempts...
48.7). When the language selection list appears, press long the physical Power button and select "Power Off" on tablet's screen. X605L 4/64 is turned off.
48.8). Put the SIM and microSD cards into the tray and re-insert into the tablet.
48.9). Press the Power button and since this moment the X605L 4/64 should boot every time normally, with the SIM and microSD inserted. I haven't tested other combinations. My microSD card is 256GB but I suppose that the size and type does not matter.48.10). Well, it seems to be so simple and... actually I'm having a bit of a problem with that... because I'm still a beginner, full of Respect and Appreciation to you, Dear @Luksus, who have developed and shared this X605 UT 20.04 port with all of us! Well, I'm trying to refrain from expressing all what I feel in a manner which I would really like, having in mind what you asked me some time ago ... so I say only: Thank you very much! I'm so happy
48.11). WORKAROUND LONG VERSION:
48.12). Some of the steps/actions seem to be not needed or optional but anyway I describe them for you here, if the short version would not work. I can also provide additional details, based on your questions.
48.13). I started with the X605L 4/64 which had the Android 9 installed.
48.14). I unlocked the bootloader.
48.15). I downloaded twrp-3.7.0_9-0-X605F.img from https://twrp.me/lenovo/lenovo_X605F.html and I installed it in FastBootMode.
48.16). Being in FastBootMode i pressed VolumeUp+VolumeDown+Power and at the same time i pressed enter, having "fastboot reboot" in terminal of my PC.
48.17). Tablet started to reboot and I was keeping pressed VolumeUp+VolumeDown+Power.
48.18). When the Lenovo Logo appeared, I released Power but I continued to keep pressed VolumeDown+VolumeUp until TWRP appeared.
48.19). Being in TWRP I selected Reboot > Bootloader, to come back into the FastBootMode.
48.20). Being in FastBootMode I flashed the boot.img and ubuntu.img (mentioned in "48.4).".
48.21). In TWRP I did Reboot > Power off.
48.22). Then I did the "48.5)." : "48.9).".48.23). To be more precise, I should maybe add some additional steps in between, which would describe my UT16.04 installation, which I started being in Android 9 and which was performed using UBports-Installer (Ubuntu 20.04). TWRP was replaced by the Stock Recovery so I had to reinstall it in the FastBootMode. Moreover I was doing some backups and restores also. However, I didn't want to complicate the things, so I decided to skip these steps and to mention them only here because I suppose that they are not necessary as a part of the workaround.
Thank you in advance for your Feedback and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.
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@pe3noATo2DOTpl said in Focal and Waydroid news for Lenovo X605:
Reading your last message, should we worry about your current/future UT X605L Implementation/Porting Involvement ... ?
Not really, but I am currently doing anything actively for the port.
Nice (new) boot-approach BTW. The thing with the sim-tray is new... I will try this.
And I am still confused about that 4GB version, but cool that it really exists and also works with UT.
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Hey @All
I've created another (more current) focal build.
You can find and test it here:
https://gitlab.com/ubports/porting/community-ports/android9/lenovo-tab-m10-fhd/lenovo-x605/-/jobs/5951873058/artifacts/download?file_type=archiveI did some changes to the kernel, maybe it helps to address the boot issues... but also maybe not.
