Manual Ubuntu Touch + Anbox Installation @ MeizuPro5

pe3noATo2DOTpl · 15 Nov 2023, 23:33

Hello, Dear UBports Friends

1). I'm trying to manually install Ubuntu Touch + Anbox, using "https://github.com/wdbm/TFLOSSH/blob/master/turbo.md"

2). Just FYI (points: 2-6) because I suppose that someone may ask "but why do you want to install manually instead of using the ubports-installer or the old good ubuntu-device-flash?".

3). I gave up with using ubports-installer / ubuntu-device-flash because the adb for some reasons really does not want to work on my MeizuPro5, I googled and I read that some people had the same problem and nobody was able to help them...
$ adb devices
List of devices attached <= {always empty}.

4). There was only 1 time when after having installed the old 15.04 at my MeizuPro5 the USB Debugging popped up when I pinged the phone with adb devices. That time I was able to flash my MeizuPro5 using the below command but I was not able to find the trick (I suppose) and I gave up with this method and I hope that manual installation, using microSD card, where I want to put the required files and the TWRP terminal will give the success
$ ubuntu-device-flash --server https://system-image.ubports.com touch --device=turbo --recovery-image recovery-turbo.img --channel=ubports-touch/16.04/devel --bootstrap

5). Under Flyme it was properly showing always the below result and under Ubuntu Touch 15.04 only 1 time I was lucky, otherwise I had the Developer Mode activated but I never was able to manage the MeizuPro5 using adb...:
$ adb devices
List of devices attached
86HBDMT223J5 device

6). The FastBootMode works fine:
$ fastboot devices
060f0e896a48 fastboot

7). Back to the topic, I did successfully till this moment "mke2fs -t ext4 -m 0 /dev/block/sda43" in "https://github.com/wdbm/TFLOSSH/blob/master/turbo.md" Tutorial.

8). Now, I need to consult you, Dear UBports Friends, because some elements are unclear for me, please

9). I read: "A UBports Ubuntu Touch 16.04 filesystem can be downloaded here (https://ci.ubports.com/job/xenial-rootfs-armhf/)"

10). I'm trying to guess which of these files I need to download and what to do with them furthermore... I suppose that I need to flash them probably but how and where and which of them...?

11). Then I read: "Now some images must be flashed in order to enable the device to boot. Recovery is optional but required for OTA updates." and I would like to ask if the below commands cover all the flashings that must be done or maybe additional images must be flashed? How, which files and where, if so?
dd if=/partitions/boot.img of=/dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/bootimg
dd if=/partitions/logo.bin of=/dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/bootlogo
dd if=/partitions/dtb of=/dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/dtb
dd if=/blobs/ldfw of=/dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/ldfw
dd if=/partitions/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/15570000.ufs/by-name/recovery

12). I would be thankful for any additional hints because I'm not an Expert and I suppose that for you the missing/implicit things might be clear, so please share that in a simple way, for a dummy like me... please.

I wish you All the Best, hanks in advance for your help and kind regards ~~ Piotrek~~pe3no

pe3noATo2DOTpl · 18 Nov 2023, 04:34

Dear UBports Friends - hello again
13). After many attempts and a lot of time spent I'm two steps ahead but I still cannot get work the final one...

14). When I do "anbox-tool install" or "anbox-tool upgrade" I get: "Anbox has not been enabled for this device". Please consult the device maintained...

15). Does that mean that the Anbox Features have been withdrawn?

16). How can I enable them or who should I contact with this problem?

17). Alternatively, where can I find the old good 85 version, with which the Anbox was working at MeizuPro5?

I wish you All the Best, thanks in advance for your advice and kind regards ~~ Piotrek~~pe3no

matteo · 18 Nov 2023, 12:59

@pe3noATo2DOTpl hi Piotrek, I used to have the Meizu Pro5 and really liked that device but I got it soon broken and needed to move to other device. I don't understand if you can get into the OS environment to install Anbox? If so, are you on Xenial 16.04? If confirmed, I would like just to point you out, in case you weren't aware, that Anbox is deprecated since few years and the supported way to install Android app is via Waydroid application, if available for your phone.

pe3noATo2DOTpl · 19 Nov 2023, 14:38

Dear @matteo thank you very much for your message

19). My MeizuPro5 is almost brand new even if I bought it some years ago because I was continuously waiting for an Ubuntu Touch release which would be declared to be ready to use for a daily driver :). I promised myself that my first smartphone will be with Ubuntu and that's why I continue to use a simple phone with buttons. I took my MeizuPro5 from a drawer recently, after I noticed that 20.04 was Released and I started to learn how to install the System manually because the ADB really doesn't want to work on it for some reason...
20). Yes, I installed the 16.04 (development) 983, because the "version-85.tar.xz", used in the Tutorial, was no more available in the Repository. The Anbox is installed but when I do "anbox-tool install" or "anbox-tool upgrade" I get: "Anbox has not been enabled for this device. Please consult the device maintainer"...
The expected result, mentioned by the Tutorial's Athor is the following:
"Install done!
Anbox is ready to rock!"
21). Yes, I understand that Anbox is deprecated but I wanted to try it anyway because I need to run one application "trafficar", for the carsharing.
22).I assumed that it would be available only on 20.04...? :). Unfortunately, it will probably be NOT officially available for MeizuPro5... but I hope that it might be ported, as shown here: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/9051/try-to-upgrade-the-port-of-meizu-pro-5-using-halium-7-1
23). Thank you that you clearly pointed your Anbox question I actually found "Waydroid Helper" in the Ubuntu Store and I'm trying to install it... I will let you know later what was the result

I wish you All the Best, thanks in advance for your further advice and kind regards ~~ Piotrek~~pe3no

matteo · 19 Nov 2023, 15:06

@pe3noATo2DOTpl ok now it is more clear situation for Meizu Pro5, thank you for the insights. Apparently the port has been made but only for Xenial 16.04, if I'm not mistaken. To make Waydroid to work with your device, the maintainer should allow that specifically for this port, so I'm not sure about. But why don't you try yourself to install it from the OpenStore? There is a very nice app called "Waydroid helper" and if available for your device in the store, installing from that is a breeze.

pe3noATo2DOTpl · 19 Nov 2023, 15:32

Dear @matteo

25). I installed the Waydroid Helper, launched it and now I'm trying to install Waydroid. On MeizuPro5's screen I have continuously "Preparing to download system image" but no progress for about 30 minutes... so maybe you are right that "To make Waydroid to work with your device, the maintainer should allow that specifically for this port" but I don't know how to do it...? Who's the Maintainer of MeizuPro5's 16.04 port and how to contact them...? What additional information I need to collect for them?

I wish you All the Best, thanks in advance for your further advice and kind regards ~~ Piotrek~~pe3no

matteo · 19 Nov 2023, 21:12

@pe3noATo2DOTpl 30 minutes waiting doesn't sound good. The Meizu Pro5 maintainer/porter is the one you talked to in the other thread you pointed me out two messages above. Try asking him to enable Waydroid for your device; unfortunately I'm not aware of the steps to follow in order to make Waydroid available for your device. All the best for your quest. Matteo

pe3noATo2DOTpl · 21 Jan 2024, 17:37

Dear @kuailexs,

27). I'm trying to install Waydroid @ Meizu Pro 5 UT 16.04 devel 983 (2023-04-14) and it seems that the porter should allow/activate it for this device. Could you please help or if I'm doing something wrong, could you share how to properly install Waydroid on it, please?

28). When I try to install it using the Waydroid Helper, it's stuck on "Preparing to download system image".

29). When trying in terminal, I get the following messages:
Failed to load binder driver
modprobe: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod.c:586 kmod_search_moddep() could not open moddep file '/lib/modules/3.10.100-user-01771-g301b04f/modules.dep.bin'
modprobe: FATAL: Module binder linux not found in directory /lib/modules/3.10.100-user-01771-g301b04f
ERROR: Binder node "vndbinder" for waydroid not found

30). To be more specific, in terminal I was trying to install Waydroid in the following way:
sudo -s
sudo mount -o remount,rw /
apt update
apt install waydroid -y
waydroid init

Thank you and kind regards~~ Piotrek~~pe3no.

arubislander · 21 Jan 2024, 18:36

@pe3noATo2DOTpl

The Meizj Pro 5 never got support for Waydroid. Also 16.05 is out of support, so that version is not being worked on any longer.
Efforts to prepare to bring the Meizu Pro 5 up to 20.04 have also not gotten very far.