Hi, guys!

I'm interested in purchasing LG Nexus 5 device to use it with Ubuntu Touch and found it somewhere on eBay. A seller tells me that it's shipped with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) but can be upgraded to 6.0 (Marshmallow). Here is the reference:

https://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-5705.php

I saw that devices with Android 5.1 and Android 7.1 only are supported to install Ubuntu Touch on (unfortunatelly, I unable to recognize where). Could you, guys, please, clarify these things?

• Is it possible to upgrade Android 4.0 to Android 5.1 (Lollipop) on this phone while Android 6.0 is mentioned for upgrade?
• Do I really need to upgrade Android 4.0 to Android 5.1 (Lollipop) before installing Ubuntu Touch?

Thanks in advance!

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.

@Conner Me and my wife are using Nexus 5 on daily basis. I bought two NEW items on eBay and they are still available there. We also have NEW BQ M10 HD (cooler) and it's still also available on eBay.

The downside of new Nexus 5, however, is that it's quite old and I had to replace original battery (made on January of 2014) after two months of usage. Another known issue is it's power button that may cause a boot loop year or two later.

@advocatux, thanks for the reply. And for firmware reference!

Relying on your answer I can update to 6.0.1 but not to 5.1. Ok, will purchase the item and do it then.

@Flohack, could you please merge Russian translations for TELEports from Weblate? I updated these translations in November fixing many issues such as this date formatting one. My wife, like me, uses Nexus 5 with UT as daily driver so this app is really important for us, and I'm ready for further contribution!

Maximum respect to all of you guys making this amazing work! It's incredible!!!

@PINE64 Are there any news when accessories such as flip cases and screen glass protectors will be available for PinePhone? Me and my wife plan to use PinePhones on daily basis as a replacement to our Nexus 5 phones, and this kind of accessories are very important for us.

@dobey, you are right about 4.0 version, it doesn't exist according to the provided specs. Seller mixed up the info. Finally, I purchased two items. One with Android 6.0.0 and unlocked bootloader, and another with Android 6.0.1 but locked bootloader. So I don't need to flash Android firmware first.

Installation to 6.0.0 was smooth and done in five minutes! This is awesome!

Installation to 6.0.1 took an half of an hour due to locked bootloader, and Ubuntu didn't start after the first attempt of flashing. It was Google logo on the screen and nothing happened. Fortunately, the second attempt was successful and also done in five minutes! Thanks to all of you, guys, all developers and ubports-installer-0.4.11-beta that also helped to unlock a bootloader in easy way!

When video playback will be fixed? UT can't play any kind of videos even the ones recorded by the phone. Each time it gives the following error message:

It doesn't work on all of my devices (Nexus 5 and Aquaris M10HD), still the issue in OTA-12 RC.

@AppLee, no, I didn't check privacy settings yet but other users including maintener of the app have also confirmed the issue. Probably, it has been occurred due to recent refactoring.

Wow, guys, you're the best!!!

@Emmelyne, thanks for your answer.

Probably, there were some issues related to my Internet provider. I just reconnected right now and everything seems to work again.

@Flohack I didn't find any proxy related tickets there so created a new one.