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[WIP] Novo 7 Elf Dual-Boot Elvish 0.3/Ubuntu 12.04

29K views 29 replies 17 participants last post by  Quacsokottl 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Originally posted here: http://www.flashmyandroid.com/forum/showthread.php?573-WIP-Novo-7-Elf-Dual-Boot-Elvish-0-3-Ubuntu-11-10

Standard disclaimer: Use at your own risk

This dual-boot image includes Elvish 0.3 and Ubuntu 12.04.
The Ubuntu system is a minimal install with LXDE, Chromium web browser, and Wicd for network management.

A USB keyboard is required for Ubuntu (This one is nice)

Downloads:
Version 0.2:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-PSbqQESZw9UXhOOTRlako4T28
md5: 11cb0cefe0b69df83d7ad41f3cc8eeeb

mirror: http://www.mediafire.com/?dcudii4adhmf08y,m78ep4k2q9j8ztl,bfwgte893ystucg,c9zdkqbjde0d6yu

Changes:
-Upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 ARM hard float binaries
-Changed CPU governor to fantasy
-New login:
Username: ubuntu
Password: ubuntu

Minor issue, Wicd network manager doesn't automatically detect the wireless interface for some reason.

Fix:
-Open Wicd
-Go to preferences
-In the Wireless interface box type "wlan0"

Version 0.1:
ATF: (having problems uploading, I'll try again later)
Google drive mirror: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-PSbqQESZw9NUNGcjdNZUE4bzQ
Minus.com mirror: http://minus.com/moKoHcgq3/1f
Mediafire mirror by Dave S:
Dave.S;4355 said:
Novo 7 Elf Dual-Boot Elvish 0.3/Ubuntu 11.10

Mirror Download Links:

http://www.mediafire.com/?29s42gmh6botqo3
http://www.mediafire.com/?77a3pzfpe79cpbl
http://www.mediafire.com/?fu2uazy0mny6b30
http://www.mediafire.com/?b84vut2azaba5tx

Please download all four files into a folder; Then right click on the zip file and select extract.
The extracted file includes the firmware image. Follow the OP for installation instruction.
Don't forget to thank the Developer of this great release :unconscious:

Dave
Install with LiveSuite (http://www.flashmyandroid.com/forum/showthread.php?86-TOOLS-LiveSuitPack_v1-07), make sure to force format.

Booting secondary OS (Ubuntu):

  • Make sure the tablet is turned off
    Press and hold the Power+Back keys until you see the screen light up (usually takes about 20 seconds on my tablet)
  • When you get to the log in screen, click "more" and type:
  • User: ubuntu
  • Password: ubuntu

ICS boots by default

Thanks:
FMA, ainolmodder, Dave S, nikita_niki, Dansplans, Matt, and Tom Cubie

The procedure to restore your tablet to a single-boot is here:
http://www.flashmyandroid.com/forum/showthread.php?385-Guide-How-to-install-Roms-for-the-Elf

See also:
http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/
http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/a10_image/
 
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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ubuntu on Elf current status

Working:

Touch screen (no multi-touch)
USB devices (keyboard, mouse tested)
Wifi
Sound
Microphone
HDMI output (with script.bin mod) edit: HDMI sound does not
Probably other things

Not working:
Video acceleration (waiting for Mali xorg driver, even without this LXDE is quite usable and I am pleased with the performance)
Lxbattery monitor (always says low battery, haven't tried any others yet)
Update: For now you can use this to check your battery status:
Code:
<br />
cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/capacity<br />
Standby (or maybe it does but I don't know how to wake it up)
Probably other things

To improve responsiveness (at the cost of battery life):
-Open the terminal (Menu>Accessories>Lxterminal)
-Type:
Code:
<br />
echo fantasy > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor<br />




 
#3 ·
Steev,

This is nice! I don't suppose that there is any chance it can run Libreoffice presentation for editing powerpoint slides, is there? I mean this is probably not the full desktop ubuntu, but the mobile version of ubuntu, isn't it?

It would be really great if it can handle Libreoffice suites, especially its powerpoint (presentation)!

Hope to be pleasantly surprised! Then no need to bring notebook pc outside the home anymore.
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
This is full desktop Ubuntu and should run Libreoffice fine.


But you might not be able to fit the whole libreoffice suite.

There is only 1 GB of space available to Ubuntu because LiveSuite seems to have problems with larger images.
I am trying to work around it.

I will try installing libreoffice-impress and let you know if it fits.

edit2:

I installed with:
Code:
<br />
apt-get install libreoffice-impress<br />
apt-get clean # deletes downloaded debs<br />
It fits, with 215MB of free space left after installation.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Steev,

Great and pleasantly surprised that this is the full ubuntu. Will Libreoffice impress run ..edit slides? Amazing! I never imagined that the arm based processor can run the full ubuntu. This is good news.
 
#11 ·
CWM is installed as part of Elvish 0.3, but the only way to boot into it is with reboot-recovery.sh since Ubuntu takes over the Recovery key.
It's probably not very useful on this dual-boot ROM anyway, I kind of broke it by changing the partition layout.
 
#15 ·
There are some tricks I did (they only seem to work on 0.1 tho).

For the onscreen keyboard try Onboard (sudo apt-get install onboard), it's a bit laggy but useable. (doesn't seem to work on v0.2)

For the login screen you just need to enable auto-login. (Again, couldn't get it to work on 0.2 even with the autologin account specified as ubuntu)

Open up /etc/lxdm/default.conf and up top where it says autologin=dgod change it to autologin=root and remove the # before that line.
This way LXDM will automatically log you in, so you won't need a keyboard to log in
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
http://www.linaro.org/linaro-blog/2012/01/26/linaro-12-01-release/
This software has mali400 gpu drivers in it and is based on ubuntu, you could maybe try to download the Snowball firmware and use the drivers from it

Closely following this thread, always wanted native ubuntu on my tablet


Oh and if you can get working gpu drivers from that firmware then the drivers from the following tablet will help for sure: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/e200-kde-tablet-to-ship-may-pre-orders-open-next-week/
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
How to give ubuntu more space using external sdcard:
in this example i am giving more space to /usr which is where all user apps are installed
1. run command blkid the only one with mmcblk0p* copy the uuid and put it in the stared code add this line
Code:
UUID=***** /media/sdcard vfat rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks 0 0<br />
to the end of /etc/fstab. then
Code:
mkdir /media/sdcard
and reboot this will make linux mount the sdcard and not do it automatically which is too slow for mounting the loop file
2. create the loop file by using command
Code:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/media/sdcard/ubuntu.loop bs=1024k count=4096
this will give 4GB, you can choose to give more or less it is up to you.
3. format the loop file
Code:
mkfs -t ext3 /media/sdcard/ubuntu.loop
4. mount the loop file to a temp directory for copying of usr dir first
Code:
mkdir /tmpdir
then
Code:
mount -o loop,rw /media/sdcard/ubuntu.loop /tmpdir
then
Code:
cd /tmpdir
5. copy files to newly mounted folder
Code:
mkdir /tmpdir/usr
Code:
cp -r /usr/* /tmpdir/usr
6. delete old /usr/ directory
Code:
cd /
Code:
rm -rf usr/
7. edit fstab again and add this to the end of the file
Code:
/media/sdcard/ubuntu.loop /space ext3 loop,rw 0 0
and next line
Code:
/space/usr /usr none bind 0 0
and run command
Code:
mkdir /space
8. run command
Code:
mount -a
the folder /usr should now be populated again.
9. reboot and enjoy

Note: there may be multiple ways to do this, you probably could format the whole sdcard for ubuntu if you wished
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
Okay, I successfully installed the Elfbuntu ROM, but when I get to the login screen and click "More ...", the username/password combo of "ubuntu" and "ubuntu" do absolutely nothing. No error message or anything helpful like that, just puts me back on the login screen.

Any ideas? Should I just install the Elfbunutu ROM again and see if that works?

Thanks in advance!

-Jim

EDIT: Just on a lark, I tried user: "root" and pass: "ubuntu", and it logged right on.
 
#24 ·
Hello, I just flashed the ROM, For the ICS the menu and home button are not configured to be Volume up and Down, the second issue is the internal SDcard mounted as external ( I used aurora rom before it was mounted as internal), as for ubunut i havent tried it yet, but is it possible to install on screen keyboard that allows us to write the login info, Thanks for your effort.

Regards.
 
#25 ·
Hey, Marmed:

I put my SD card in a computer running Linux Mint 13, and used GParted to create an 8GB ext4 partition, and left the rest as fat32. What would be the quickest route, using your method, to simply move /usr to that 8GB partition, as I would obviously skip some steps, and probably have to modify others?

Thanks!

-Jim
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
hmm, i'll test the exact way ubuntu handle this, however going on the assumption that ubuntu will auto mount the first and second partition automatically under /media/XXXXXXX , X being the uuid of each partition simply get the correct uuid from the 8GB partition and step 1 add line in the fstab should be
Code:
UUID=XXXXXXX /media/space ext4 rw 0 0
X being the UUID. save and reboot. skip step 2 and 3 and 4. step 5 you will be copying to sdcard or whatever you name the folder in media. this will be the next line you add on your fstab:
Code:
/media/space/usr /usr none bind 0 0
that should be it, I made some changes to my original post so make sure to check on the steps, these instructions are a little hectic, i'll try this out and post back with organized instructions like my original post once i try it out. but from my previous working on linux this should work
 
#27 ·
Hi,

thank you for providing this image.

I installed Gnome and 'can' use the 'Onboard' keyboard.
It does not load at GDM/that login-screen though.

I could format 12 gigs of internal memory into two partitions for home and usr and mount them via fstab.
Now Elvish demands an explanation for the "broken" (EXT4 is not recognized) internal SD. Gotta reformat that I guess


Where can I get that HDMI-mod-script and can I play sound via the other port?
 
#30 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello, it is me again.

I need help with the HDMI-mod for the script.bin
The battery of the Elf died on me and now I'm looking for a substitude use for the device.

How does one get the HDMI-output to work with Ubuntu 12.04? I'm not a professional HEX-dumper, any advice is welcomed.

Greetings,
Quacsokottl

edit:
I managed to use sun4i-tools and bin2fex/fex2bin to set the variables (in script.bin in the mounted filesystem /dev/nanda, with mount -t vfat /dev/nanda /sdcard) accordingly:
[disp_init]
screen1_output_type = 3
3 is hdmi
screen1_output_mode = 10
10 is 1080p
and my tv receives a signal. but ubuntu (xrandr, gui) does not recognize the screen.
help?


sources: http://linux-sunxi.org/Fex_Guide#12.1_.5Bdisp_init.5D
http://lundman.net/wiki/index.php/MeLe_A2000

edit2:
The solution to using only the HDMI-output. had to set
disp_mode = 1
1 is just use screen 1. this means no screen 0 is used anymore

I have a 1080p output on my tv, but no output on the device. So my next question would be: how does one manage to have two screens working?

Apart from that. sweet! low power tv-computer.
 
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