yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
Thank you for giving me this info. I have uploaded a newer version of the Ubuntu MATE image with these changes in mind. I'm not sure of how to enable the extra parameters you gave me, but at least you encouraged me to get audio working again.

Changes:

Kernel version upgraded to 5.14.0-rc1.

Most extra packages for the Raspberry Pi family of computers have been removed, including the kernels.

The PPA at https://launchpad.net/~grate-driver/+archive/ubuntu/ppa is pre-configured to be accessed. Most packages from this repository, including the opentegra driver, come preinstalled. They currently are enough to get 2D acceleration working, but not for 3D acceleration.

Except for what has been mentioned above, any packages shipped may have to be updated once an internet connection is established.

To get sound working again for existing images, edit the file at /etc/modules and add to this file:

snd_soc_tegra20_i2s
snd_soc_tegra_pcm
snd_soc_tegra_wm8903
snd_soc_wm8903
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Kernel 5.14-rc3 support usb-otg now. I think I could use your Archlinux built to port other distros on tegra30
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
Ever since this device is officially supported by postmarketOS, I use their prebuilt packages for all the images. When a newer version is packaged by them, I'll test to see if USB-OTG works. However, I can check to see if 5.14.0-rc1 already has USB-OTG support - and USB-OTG doesn't work with this version. It's okay, because I have a USB-A port instead I can use!

I've actually been considering creating more images based on other distros, as long as they have ARM versions available. I'm just stuck on which desktop environment should come preinstalled on these images. If I were doing it, I would be doing ones based off of major distros first, latest versions to be used, including:

Debian 10 or 11

Fedora 34

Gentoo (source-based distibution; compilation may be slow)

openSUSE Leap 15.3

Slackware 15.0 (once released) or current
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I tested grate-driver 3D accelerate mesa packages on launchpad.net. It had partial work on Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 LTS, es2gears run good, glmark2-es2 still has black-screen. Here is my video:
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
Anyone tried installing it on emmc? The fastboot I am using (Skrilax_CZ's V9) is rather buggy. I kept getting this while doing the command ' pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel --partition secboot '

output:

b83c~/builds/pmbootstrap/ppp pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel --partition secboot
[14:45:29] Update package index for armv7 (4 file(s))
[14:45:51] Update package index for x86_64 (4 file(s))
[14:46:06] (rootfs_acer-picasso) mkinitfs postmarketos-grate
[14:47:34] (native) flash kernel postmarketos-grate
couldn't parse max-download-size 'ؼ#'
Sending 'secboot' (6344 KB) OKAY [ 0.734s]
Writing 'secboot' OKAY [ 0.981s]
Finished. Total time: 2.160s

neither was ' pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs ' working

output:

b83c~/builds/pmbootstrap/ppp pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs
[14:53:13] (native) flash rootfs image
couldn't parse max-download-size '0002e034'
Sending 'system' (642048 KB) OKAY [ 56.007s]
Writing 'system' FAILED (remote: '(00030003)')
fastboot: error: Command failed
[14:54:26] NOTE: The failed command's output is above the ^^^ line in the log file: /home/b83c/.loc
ootstrap/log.txt
[14:54:26] ERROR: Command failed: (native) % fastboot flash system /home/pmos/rootfs/acer-picasso.i
[14:54:26] See also: <https://postmarketos.org/troubleshooting>
Run 'pmbootstrap log' for details.

Would someone mind guiding me through this?
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I saw the boot and rootfs image size did not matching with eMMC size(secboot partition and system partition)

when you finished built kernel and pmOS_rootfs, export it to /tmp

pmbootstrap export

then try:

fastboot flash secboot boot.img

because of fasboot flash boot partition only, you want to try flash secboot partition

for flash rootfs, please try in twrp, Advance -> Terminal

df

umount /dev/block/mmcblk0p--- (with --- is number of data partition with df command)
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
Thanks for the reply but I got it working yesterday by simply flashing the rootfs onto the userdata partition with the kernel on boot (lnx)

Anyway, what is the recommended browser to use on this machine? Most of the modern browsers I tried can neither be found nor used. But at least w3m is working :/
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
@Worldblender is it possible to flash another distro right onto the emmc without sdcard?
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I'm using firefox 90.0.2-r0 and midori or netsurf

sudo apk add firefox midori netsurf

I read on grate-driver which chromium-browser work but I tested to install chromium-browser 85 failed on ubuntu mate 20.04.1 lts ;)
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
3 of which u tried were on the stock pmOS? Or did u use another distro. I really hope @Worldblender had made an option for nonsdcard users
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
It is possible to install to the eMMC onto one of the partitions, but care must be taken, as it is possible to alter the partition layout such that Android ROMs cannot be installed without reflashing an OEM image. An installer image such as the Debian installer ones can help. In addition, the boot image is hard-coded to search for partitions named 'pmOS_boot' and pmOS_root',

I have never gotten Firefox to work before, as the Tegra 2 CPU lacks NEON, causing it to crash. Chromium may still work, but by now its performance will not be good, despite that it does support touch gestures. I have the following browsers installed for my use:

Falkon (formerly Qupzilla, changed name after becoming a KDE project)

Konqueror (dual-purpose file manager and web browser)

Epiphany (also known as GNOME Web)

Midori

Netsurf

It's possible to get certain Qt programs running after exporting some environment variables found in one of my previous posts. It basically involves telling them to use software rendering instead of GPU rendering. Though performance may slightly suffer, this will allow them to run at all.
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
Alright, just got your arch image run on the emmc.

What I did was:

Adding another partition to the partition table and installing the boot partition on it. Having done so, I then had the arch rootfs along with the embedded boot partition written onto another partition by means of nvflash ( specifying in the cfg )

And viola it works without having to muck around with the partition label ( which I did with my own installation. It worked partially but not for the rootfs, just couldn't reason it out... ) since the label already existed within the image

Edit: the internet is slow tho, it never gets beyond 100kbps

Edit: I tried copying the void rootfs( musl & gnu ) into the pmOS_root partition but the thing just doesnt boot properly ( instead it shuts down after loading the roots )
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I used Android virtual memory and ktweak config. And I used Ondemand governor. Firefox 90 run smoothly, not firefox-esr 78. It run slowly sometime
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
I just tried running Firefox today. It fails with an "illegal instruction" message when run from a terminal. You might be using something that has a Tegra 3 CPU, which does have the NEON instructions. It doesn't matter, since it would run very slow on my tablet anyways.
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
What about corestuff, is it running fine on ur A500?

And wifi, is it fast enough on ubuntu? Here, brcmfmac is complaining about the lack of clm_blob, not sure whether it is the root cause of sluggish internet...
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
DIY. Try this ktweak latency branch with virtual memory and kernel parameters

I failed run firefox but when I try edit sysctl.conf and cpufreqs. Firefox work again, I think it optimize freq speed and gpu draw

Add this line in firefox profiles, pref.js

pref('general.config.sandbox_enabled', false);

KTweak/ktweak at latency · tytydraco/KTweak

A no-nonsense kernel tweak script for Linux and Android systems, backed by evidence. - tytydraco/KTweak

github.com
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
@Worldblender dude, mind telling me if u experience slow internet on ur Acer A500?
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
Sorry for the delay, I merely forgot. The internal Wi-Fi adapter only supports B/G speeds, and not anything newer. You can get around this by using a USB ethernet adapter that provides at least 100 MB/s speeds.
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
But does that mean a download speed of as high as 1mbps(bits) is normal?
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
After looking at kernel logs today, they do say that the lack of clm_blob means that "device may have limited channels available", which can mean lack of access to faster channels. I've not yet located where the clm_blob is at, not even in the original OEM Android images.
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
I tried it today, and that didn't solve anything about me being unable to run Firefox at all. Really, Firefox 57 and newer are compiled with mandatory usage of NEON instructions for ARM architectures, and nothing software-wise can allow me to run more recent Firefox versions. Really, I only have a few options if I still want to run Firefox:

Replace my Acer Iconia Tab A500 with a newer hardware tablet.

Stay on Firefox 56, which is the last pre-Quantum version, but which doesn't receive security updates.

Switch to a pre-Quantum Firefox fork, such as Pale Moon.

The Tegra 2 CPU was affected by planned obsolescence from Nvidia from the start: by not including NEON instructions until Tegra 3, it is one of many cases that forces people to buy newer hardware once the majority of mainstream software stopped supporting it.
[Acer Iconia A500] Zarosky:
$ sudo adb push /tmp/postmarketOS-export/acer-picasso.img /dev/block/mmcblk0p8

adb: error: failed to copy '/tmp/postmarketOS-export/acer-picasso.img' to '/dev/block/mmcblk0p8': remote No space left on device

/tmp/postmarketOS-export/acer-picasso....1.3 MB/s (382140416 bytes in 278.703s)

how can I do to get the partition in, it says I don't have space?
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
TWRP -> Andvance -> Terminal

# df

if mmcblk0p8 is userdata partition, it had more space

# umount /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 (2 times)

Then back PC/latop:

# adb push /tmp/postmarketOS-export/acer-picasso.img /dev/block/mmcblk0p8

If it failed again, check your usb cable, i think 1.0 -> 2.0 support
[Acer Iconia A500] Zarosky:
Many thanks!

Now I have another problem, when you start for the first time ubuntu mate 20.04 you have to configure, but when it is finishing it says the keyboard configuration fails and the configuration is cut off. Do you know why this can happen? could you connect the keyboard at the time of setting username and password? should I have connected it before?
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
slide to block paragraph/text, and then copy/paste at create user, or you can connect micro-usb keyboard, kernel 5.14 support otg-usb. Nice tips when I stuck at oem setup abit ^_^!
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
Installing it is very simple.

But the prerequisites are:

Patched ICS bootloader v9 by @Skrilax_CZ ( or you can build the unreleased v10 version from his git repository )

Some Linux experience

Here's what I did to make the kernel easily upgradable in the future

Steps:

With the help of nvflash, I enlarged the boot partition(LNX) ( to maybe around 155MB ) and leave UDA as it is.

Then, in twrp, connected to adb shell, I executed make_ext4fs to format /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 ( as in LNX ) and /dev/block/mmcblk0p8 ( as in UDA ) followed by mounting them respectively to any empty folders.

Having done so, I pushed both acer-picasso-boot.img and acer-picasso-root.img (generated from pmbootstrap export after doing pmbootstrap install --split) to the anywhere on the device and mounted them.

Now, you only have to copy their content onto the previously mounted partitions respectively ( boot onto mmcblk0p2 and root onto p8 )

And the most important step is to label mmcblk0p2 as pmOS_boot and mmcblk0p8 as pmOS_root using tune2fs.

You are almost done. At this point, you would need to create a file in your mmcblk0p2 (LNX) partition. What I would do is to create one named 'menu' (so as to reduce the amount of codes needed to type)

In the newly created file, you write

[BOOT1]
title=postmarket OS
android=LNX:/boot.img-postmarketos-grate

Last but not least, boot into fastboot and on your PC do this :

fastboot oem set-boot-file LNX:/menu

Reboot, and voila!
[Acer Iconia A500] B83C:
have you tried doing :

fastboot flash userdata /tmp/postmarketOS-export/acer-picasso.img

?

I probably overlooked something, ignore this msg...
[Acer Iconia A500] Zarosky:
problem whit ubuntu mate 20.04 first boot, installer crash:

Installer: Configuring system locales... (takes about 5min)

Installer: Configuring keyboard...

Pop-up appears with title: Installer crashed (on Ubuntu).
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Do not connect wifi, bypass this step. And test again
[Acer Iconia A500] Zarosky:
never connect wifi

I tried to install it many times, and I always crash

Likewise, I think that with 1gb of ram it is very difficult to use this system, in the nexus 7 that also has a 1gb of ram, it is checked when you want to surf the internet, or with few open programs, you have to see if any version of puppy
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Well, I think you have to optimize sysctl.conf before run oem setup, Acer a500 iconia image has no change, sysctl file was empty
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
new kernel config for Acer Iconia A500

main/linux-postmarketos-grate: upgrade to 5.14.0_rc6, introduce new config (!2437) · Merge requests · postmarketOS / pmaports · GitLab

Changes in kernel package: Update to 5.14.0_rc6; support for WiFi (contributed by @jenneron) and...

gitlab.com
[Acer Iconia A500] PsychosisNC:
I have tried the Ubuntu Mate image on 2 different sd cards and each time it gets to configuring system locales and the installer crashes. Can't login using the username and password I chose. Have tried connecting to wifi or not. Any thoughts?
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hello me too I have tried the Ubuntu Mate image on 2 different sd cards and each time it gets to configuring system locales and the installer crashes. Can't login using the username and password I chose. Have tried connecting to wifi or not. Any thoughts? always blocked for keyboard configuration
[Acer Iconia A500] PsychosisNC:
When you get to that message don't click ok. Hit ctrl+F4 I think it is and login on the command line using oem for user and pass. Then adduser {yourusername}. Set up your user and password and then reboot. It should boot in then next time and not go through the setup. Make sure you do it at the last error and not the first.

The problem I am having now is finding a browser that will work. Firefox is not working and none of the others will install.
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
nothing to do
[Acer Iconia A500] PsychosisNC:
Re-install by re-imaging the sdcard. This don’t work on 2nd boot or beyond. Has to be when it errors during install.
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I think the new kernel 5.15.0-rc4 linux-postmarketos-grate will have firefox working. Because I install 5.14.0-rc6, firefox made tablet rebooting immediately
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hello there is a link from boot 5.15.0-rc4 linux-postmarketos-grate

hello there is a link from boot 5.15.0-rc4 linux-postmarketos-grate
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Using pmboostrap for Acer Iconia Tab to build new kernel 5.15.0-rc4

Acer Iconia Tab A500 (acer-picasso) - postmarketOS Wiki

wiki.postmarketos.org

About version of linux-postmarketos-grate on gitlab

Files · master · postmarketOS / pmaports · GitLab

postmarketOS package build recipes

gitlab.com
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hi i have compiled the 5.15.0_rc4 kernel

26.37 MB folder on MEGA

3 files

mega.nz

always password error
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Let's do it
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
yes, it's work
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
The password you have to use is the one that was entered during the pmbootstrap setup phase. It can't be seen during this time, so you have to make sure to not make any mistakes, even during the second time. You can use something easy like '1234' if you're in fear of making mistakes. It it possible to chroot into the filesystem after installation to change the user password, in case this doesn't work, however.

A new image with a newer kernel? Maybe. I've found myself less motivated to work on this and related images, because of the lack of NEON that prevents me from being able to run certain programs such as Firefox 57 and newer. However, I'm open to letting others reproduce the images I made, including newer versions, and this might have to be done should I find myself with less free time later on.
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Ok, I just replace kernel 5.15.0-rc4 from @bascore , following your guide. I hope it'll work, I didn't have Acer Iconia device to test those images

acer-picasso - Google Drive

drive.google.com
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hello keyboard function not
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I wish I can test, I didn't have Acer Iconia A500 device to test. So sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
I managed to compile kali linux the keyboard works the wifi too

IMG20211101152438 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG20211101152438 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152616 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG20211101152616 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG20211101152621 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG20211101152621 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Will it have grate-driver GPU accelerate!?
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hi no GPU accelerate grate-driver! how to install eMMC rootfs kali
[Acer Iconia A500] ohiotech:
Would much appreciate some help please. My Linux skills are intermediate. I want to try one of these linux images, but I can't get past the first step of getting a file manager installed to get the CPU ID. All I find says to go to the play store. Now that everything is https and tls 1.2, I can't get this old browser to connect for a download/install. Even tried apkpure.com hoping to get a 3rd party download, nothing works. Would setting up local ftp server work? Thanks in advance. Ohiotech
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
Using adb push to /userdata partition on PC and twrp -> advance -> terminal -> df -> umount mmcblk0p--

But you have to make sure which mmcblk0p-- was /userdata partition. Its can be brick your device

Btw, I didn't have Acer Iconia A500, so I can't test those steps
[Acer Iconia A500] Baonks81:
I'm new in linux too. But I try to search and learn more on internet, why could you do like us!? Try hard :)

Acer Iconia Tab A500 (acer-picasso) - postmarketOS Wiki

wiki.postmarketos.org
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
hi i will make an img that works for you help
[Acer Iconia A500] ohiotech:
Hi Bascore, and thank you for offering to help. Ohiotech
[Acer Iconia A500] bascore:
arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : ./fastboot.o : dans la fonction « fastboot_main » :

fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x88) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x168) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x196) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x1c4) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x350) : référence indéfinie vers « fastboot_status_ok »

arm-linux-gnueabi-ld : ./fastboot.o:fastboot.c:(.text.fastboot_main+0x404) : encore plus de références indéfinies suivent vers « fastboot_status_ok »

make: *** [Makefile:83 : bootmenu.elf] Erreur 1
[Acer Iconia A500] mariohce:
Hello Worldblender, it would be possible for you to put a complete tutorial explaining step by step how to install linux on the Acer A500. I mean detailing everything necessary and step by step what should be done, I know I ask too much but I'm a novice in all this. Thank you very much for your work.
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
I'll help out as best as I can, even though I'm finished with this tablet model. Some of the steps are not easy to perform in Windows, so you'll might want to use a liveUSB or liveCD Linux distro if Windows is your primary OS. The process below also assumes that you've already installed the custom bootloader necessary for loading non-Android operating systems. If your tablet is still on stock, follow the process at https://xdaforums.com/iconia-a500/a500-2019-2020-t4039271 before returning here; it's too much to explain here. I can alter the instructions for you if you tell me the operating system you use.

Go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pMqaS5GaM6N9TAKlNGQZWCG8UTiRn4pK?usp=sharing, where there will be two image files.

Download the Ubuntu MATE 20.04 image, named ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-armhf+acer-picasso.img.xz.

Flash the downloaded image (decompress if necessary) to a microSD card of at least 8 GB. A program like Rufus or balenaEtcher will suffice.

(best done on a Linux distro) The microSD card will have two partitions, pmOS_boot and pmOS_root. The former has the boot image files, while the latter has the operating system image files. You'll want to mount the former, as it has the boot image needed for flashing.

Put the tablet into fastboot mode, then connect it with a microUSB cable to your host computer. Assuming you have the Android debug tools installed (the link above can lead you to them if not installed), run

fastboot devices

. If the tablet is detected, then run

fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img]

Insert the flashed microSD card into the tablet, reboot the tablet and have it boot from the secondary partition. If successful, the postmarketOS logo will show while loading. A setup screen will eventually show, where you will be prompted to finish the setup, including a username and password.

The tablet with microSD card is now usable with the Ubuntu MATE image. You'll be left to yourself as to what to do next after login.

Let me know if you need further clarification at any point in the process. I can't fully explain the process of going from a stock tablet to getting Linux on it, as that would be too much to explain here.
[Acer Iconia A500] Worldblender:
I have a major announcement that will affect the creation of new images.

The lack of NEON on the Nvidia Tegra 2 of this tablet (which more and more applications are using these days, including the Firefox web browser) has made me consider selling my Acer Iconia Tab A500. Though I enjoyed using a mainline Linux kernel on a real ARM tablet, frequent issues of running out of memory especially during web browsing have also plagued me. I won't be making anymore images from this point on for this tablet (I can still make them, but I won't have the real hardware with me to test them on), but the existing images will still be available for download for as long as I leave them up.

Even though I enjoyed my time repurposing this tablet to become a Linux one, I think it's time that I move onto some more recent hardware. I know about planned obsolescence, but when most manufacturers are including NEON support in their ARM SOCs, and most mainstream applications are taking advantage of it, I can greatly feel the effects of this. Again, I'm grateful for all the mainlining efforts done, them being the reason why I could get postmarketOS supported for this tablet.

If anyone is interested in buying this tablet from me, just contact me and I'll try to work something out.
[Acer Iconia A500] mariohce:
Thank you very much for your prompt response, what is not clear to me is when doing "fastboot flash secboot [location of the boot image named boot.img], what is the path of that location??? so what should I write there. Thanks