Viewing topic HOWTO: Running Linux on your Android Phone

HOWTO: Running Linux on your Android Phone

Avehicle7887 Dec 30, 2018

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I've been searching a way how to do this for a while now, thought I might share some info how it's done. My Phone is a Nexus 5X (upgraded to Android 8.1), not rooted. I don't have much experience with this so your mileage may vary. Also make sure you have at least 4-5GB space.

Apps you'll need (both are open source and no google play store required):

UserLAnd (ULA): https://userland.tech/ (Git: https://github.com/CypherpunkArmory/UserLAnd )
bVNC_Free: https://github.com/iiordanov/remote-desktop-clients/releases

After installing both software, a simple desktop can be setup with more or less these steps:

1) Open up ULA > choose a distro (I chose Debian)
2) Wait for the initial setup to finish and it will boot you to a simple Window system with a terminal.
3) From there type "su" to switch over to the "system's root" (not actual phone's root).
4) type: apt-get update > when done > apt-get install lxde (for lxde desktop).
5) Wait for all the packages to download and setup (may take a while and have your charger readily available).
6) When all is done go into ULA > go to Sessions list > Kill service on your OS > relaunch it and should boot you to the desktop.

Desktop Resizing:

If the desktop size doesn't fit your screen, in your new Linux home folder create a new file named ".vncrc" and inside add a custom resolution line such as: $geometry = "1280x720";

Restarting the X Server should reload with the correct display settings.

A screenshot of what you can expect:

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Shmerl Dec 31, 2018

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I'm running SailfishOS on Sony Xperia XA2. No need for chroot and such, but it does rely on libhybris hack. For normal Linux with proper upstream drivers, we'll have to wait for Librem 5.

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Salvatos Dec 31, 2018

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If only I knew for sure that the Librem 5 can handle office work and a bit of multitasking, I could see it as a replacement for my aging laptop and justify the cost of what could otherwise be a very nice PC upgrade. As it stands, call me old-fashioned but why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars for a phone that will be obsolete, lost or broken in a handful of years is still beyond me.

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Avehicle7887 Dec 31, 2018

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I've toyed with it for some more, most of it is functional however you can expect random errors around many corners. For example I can use Libreoffice,GIMP and Firefox without issues, but fails to apply a simple icon theme in Xfce and I have yet to successfully start pulseaudio.

It's a nice learning experience, but far from a desktop os in your pocket.

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Linacruise1467 Jan 21, 2019

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Quoting: ShmerlI'm running SailfishOS on Sony Xperia XA2. No need for chroot and such, but it does rely on libhybris hack. For normal Linux with proper upstream drivers, we'll have to wait for Librem 5.

Agree with you.

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Avehicle7887 Jan 21, 2019

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Quoting: chancho_zombienice tutorial. I'll give it a try, what's the difference with the other apps that also do the same like linux deploy.
anyway, the problem I had is that it was really slow, I have an old phone a moto e2.

I also tried sailfish os, it's a great, I like that it uses rpm packages, but unfortunately the port for my phone lacks the android alien subsystem, so there's lots of apps that don't run.

While the system works, be ready for a few errors here and there, it's usable but far from a pleasant mini desktop on your phone. A few of the issues I encountered: Can't apply themes and icon themes on Xfce, some programs refuse to run unless I open a
terminal > type "su" and then the name of the program and I have yet to get sound working.

On the good side of things, I've been able to run firefox and browse youtube (without sound), run Gimp and Libreoffice and basic programs like calculator and a text editor.

I also tried a couple of games but they crashed upon trying to create the window.

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