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ROADMAP for Linux on RK3066 Android TV players

42K views 55 replies 28 participants last post by  Groupers 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi everybody,
I thought I should post a roadmap for the coming few months so that we all know in which direction the development of Ubuntu Linux on RK3066 devices is going and at what pace.
So here it is.

Pre-Alpha 0.3 is now available with compatibility with the UG802, Rikomagic MK802 III, MK808, UG007, iMito MX1 and MX2 and probably a few more Android TV players.
Features are basically the same as Pre-Alpha 0.2, with a few more Ubuntu packages added to the Ubuntu 12.10 root filesystem.
Pre-Alpha 0.3 will be the last of the pre-Alpha releases which were intended as a proof-of-concept and a tool for developers.

Alpha 0.4 is coming in 10 days, it will have a much simpler installation procedure and a big change: there will be two "flavours", one for desktop use with XFCE and some extra eyecandy, and another for server use with as many server packages as possible.
Alpha 0.4 will be the first of the Alpha releases which are still intended for knowledgeable users, people who have some experience with Ubuntu on PCs, and developers.
Alpha 0.4 will also be compatible with a quite popular RK3066 Android tablet, the Pipo S1. Interestingly, the Pipo S1 is just $20 more or so compared to an RK3066 PC stick, and for that you get an LCD screen (800x480), camera (low res), battery, etc. And it has an HDMI output too.

Alpha 0.5, 0.6, etc.., will follow at 10 days intervals more or less, with fewer bugs/issues and added packages for each iteration, and a growing range of compatible RK3066 tablets and Android TV players. Special priority will be given to getting the internal WiFi going, so that an extra USB WiFi dongle is not required. And as many kernel drivers will be added as possible, after adequate testing of course.

So when do we get to the Beta stage? If you have been following my posts in the RK3066 kernel thread in the ArmTvTech forum, then you know that we are still missing the source code for quite a few drivers for the RK3066 kernel. I have been contacting various manufacturers to ask them to release the source code for their chips and also, who knows what Rockchip will decide as the competition heats up in this market? So, the idea here is that as soon as I am satisfied that I have a complete set of drivers for at least one RK3066 device, then I'll release a Beta.
Beta releases are intended for general consumption, with a simplified installation procedure, but are still considered as too buggy or untested for daily production use.

1.0 will happen if/when we have Mali and VPU drivers available for the RK3066, but that depends very much on Rockchip releasing some proprietary source code.

Just a note: I am looking for volunteers to help me with these releases, there is a lot of testing, development, documentation, etc, and I just can't do it all myself, the workload by far exceeds what a single person can cope with. So if any of you can spare some time to help, please PM me and we can coordinate the work as a team.

And finally: I am looking for sponsors, in principle people who sell or resell RK3066 devices (TV players, set top boxes and tablets) and would be interested in offering the option of having Linux and Android dual booting on their products. Please PM me if you are interested in sponsoring this nice community project!
 
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#3 ·
That is different: it uses a chroot to get Linux running under Android, with all the well-known limitations that this entails.
There have been in fact a few versions of chrooted Linux available on Google Play, this is just one of them. They all suffer from the same limitations:
- Requires a "rooted" Android device.
- A "Linux environment" (libraries, shell) is launched from Android.
- There is no direct access to a graphical environment. You are forced to run VNC or similar remote access server/client software on Android to access Linux in GUI mode. In terms of usability, this is a total disaster.

RK Android Tool v1.35 can be found in Bob Finless' ROMs, as mentioned in the installation instructions.
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Wow thank you. I like that part were you said there will be a server version. "Alpha 0.4 is coming in 10 days," "another for server use with as many server packages as possible." This is super news.

One of the things I want to run on it is pyTivo. It uses ffmpeg. It's very good taking about any video I put on my server and playing it on TiVo. I guess the UG802 will do it fast. But if you get drivers I guess ffmpeg would use the GPU in the UG802 to run even faster?

Thanks again.

-Raymond Day
 
#5 ·
I just uploaded Pre-Alpha 0.3, and updated the roadmap in the OP here in this thread.

Now I am going to take some time to coordinate the work of a small team of developers and we'll start working on Alpha 0.4 together. This should take 10 days or so.
 
#10 ·
The idea is to support all the hardware features in Linux. So in as much as Linux supports touchscreen operation, the answer to your question is: yes, given some time. Probably not in these first Alpha releases, but in a couple of weeks, definitely yes.
 
#12 ·
As long as we have a driver in the Linux kernel source for a device, and the driver works, then the device can be supported. The iMito MX1 uses a Mediatek chipset for both WiFi and Bluetooth. Mediatek has not released the source code for these devices to developers yet. So the answer is: not yet.
 
#13 ·
What are you going to have on the server part of it? I guess LAMP server at lest. Maybe Webmin. Take the desktop part out and make the terminal screen so it don't time out. Mine right now times out in 15 minutes.

I guess if any thing else like phpBB message board and WordPress.

Thanks again for doing this. It's grate to have Linux running on this.

-Raymond Day
 
#14 ·
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey Andrew

What about Cube U30GT-H?

I have it and ready to help to get it to work on this monster .. I unbricked it twice today


first flashed your recovery image to recovery didn't work then flashed to kernel and bricked and used the shorting steps to unbrick

with no hope couldn't get it to work

flashing recovery doesn't affect Android booting but kernel bricks the device

Any idea I will do my best to get it to work but I don't know what to edit ! and how to edit !

an introduction will help me get it to work


*Update* I got it to work LoL I found out that I'm flashing 0.2 kernel and using 0.3 linuxrootfs

But the problem is the screen .. some how over sized .. I'm trying to re-size it and what I can tell I get errors on boot it's something about unsuccessful SD mounting ! I only did one successful login and couldn't change the resolution
I can't copy error log because I can't actually boot but I will try

What amazed me .. I used Wireless Keyboard & Mouse (Microsoft 1000Dpi Optical) with both Android and Linux

I think I have to post my progress in Cube U30GT section
 
#21 ·
I think it's a little bit complicated to be called dual booting
but after all it's dual booting as long as you still can run android ..

I read that Andrew will make a real script that will make you choose your OS at boot

not sure but he can confirm this feature
 
#23 ·
When you do the server will you have it so can install it on a USB hard drive? To not even have a SD card in it.

Can you make it so it boots right in to the server and not Android, but still have a command can do to boot to Android if you like.

Looking forward to the server version. I am running the desktop one like that now and wow it's working real good and fast. I don't even boot to the desktop port.

-Raymond Day
 
#25 ·
hiho,

anybody got informations about the 0.4 version? andrew announced it for the 14th so i was wondering if there are any major bugs/problems preventing a release...

IMPORTANT!

this is not a post to complain about a delay or something like that! it's just to know if i (a linux noob) should try to install it with pre-alpha 0.3 or shpuld wait a couple of days for the 0.4! if you say it will take one week then i would give 0.3 a try, but if the release is near i would wait. so thanks for all ur hard work and don't rush.. it's done when it's done


cheers
 
#29 · (Edited by Moderator)
To day it's been 20 days from when he said "Alpha 0.4 is coming in 10 days" I am still running Alpha 0.2 just the server part. It's been working super good. I have not set it all the way up yet waiting for the server one. But do have a lot working on it. I just log in to see the uptime and here is what that said:

Code:
login as: root<br />
root@small3's password:<br />
Welcome to Ubuntu 12.10 (GNU/Linux 3.0.8+ armv7l)<br />
<br />
 * Documentation:  [URL=https://help.ubuntu]https://help.ubuntu[/URL].com/<br />
<br />
23 packages can be updated.<br />
8 updates are security updates.<br />
<br />
*** /dev/sdb1 will be checked for errors at next reboot ***<br />
<br />
Last login: Mon Dec 17 08:24:19 2012 from 192.168.2.4<br />
root@small3:~# uptime<br />
 06:40:36 up 10 days, 55 min,  2 users,  load average: 0.90, 0.45, 0.27<br />
root@small3:~#
I copied the Data base from were I had it runing on a Tonidoplug2 and all that data to. On the Tonidoplug2 I never got my gallery working. But it works on this UG802. It's fast too.

See the log in has updates. Seems like it gets a lot. I get do the update command.

Maybe he is waiting for drivers or X-mis to bring it out. Looks like AndrewDB has not been on here for about 20 days or so. I guess with all the help he found they are working hard on it and so it takes a lot moor then the 10 days he said. Or waiting to get the drivers. Can only guess because he has not been back on here.

Looked and "Last Active: Dec 09 2012 12:43 PM" on this Forum. On the ArmTvTech forum "Last visited: Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:54 pm"

-Raymond Day
 
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