The Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview is intended to be used for development and evaluation purposes only. It is an experimental development snapshot that can potentially brick your device. It does not provide all of the features and services of a retail phone and cannot replace your current handset. This preview is the first release of a very new and unfinished version of Ubuntu and it will evolve quickly.
This process will delete all data from the device.
Touch Developer Preview for Ubuntu is released for free non-commercial use. It is provided without warranty, even the implied warranty of merchantability, satisfaction or fitness for a particular use. See the licence included with each program for details.

Some licences may grant additional rights; this notice shall not limit your rights under each program's licence. Licences for each program are available in the usr/share/doc directory. Source code for Ubuntu can be downloaded from archive.ubuntu.com. Ubuntu, the Ubuntu logo and Canonical are registered trademarks of Canonical Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

"Touch Preview for Ubuntu" is released for limited use due to the inclusion of binary hardware support files. The original components and licenses can be found at:

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/drivers

What to expect after flashing
For detailed information check the release notes here

Shell and core applications
Connection to the GSM network (on Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4)
Phone calls and SMS (on Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4)
Networking via Wifi
Functional camera (front and back)
Device accessible through the Android Developer Bridge tool (adb)

Flashing the device

Step 1 - Desktop Setup

The following steps are required on your desktop system that you'll need in order to flash and communicate with the device.

Setup the Touch Developer Preview Tools PPA

The PPA has the tools and dependencies to support Precise, Quantal, and Raring. Add the Ubuntu Touch PPA by adding the following custom source list entry to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.

On your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+T to start a terminal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phablet-team/tools

or if add-apt-repository is not available, append the following to your sources.list:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/phablet-team/tools/ubuntu [dist-codename] main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/phablet-team/tools/ubuntu [dist-codename] main

*Note: replace [dist-codename] with precise, quantal, raring or saucy.

Then do the following:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install phablet-tools android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

Step 1.5 - Optional Android Backup

If not enabled, enable developer mode, by tapping Settings -> About phone -> Build number (x 7 times)
If not enabled, enable usb debugging in Settings -> Developer options -> USB debugging
Execute on your computer $ adb backup -apk -shared -all

This should hopefully create backup.ab with all of your apps, OS, and data. Later, after reflashing with android (or rooting / unlocking) you will be able to use $ adb restore backup.ab to restore all of your data

Step 2 - Device unlock

If the device is already unlocked, skip to Step 3. These steps will wipe all personal data from the device.

With the device powered off, power on the device by holding the Power button + volume up + volume down.
The device will boot into the bootloader.
Plug the device into the computer via the USB cable.
On your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+T to start a terminal. Type sudo fastboot oem unlock, followed by Enter
On the device screen, accept the terms of unlocking.
Boot the device by pressing the power button (pointed by an arrow with Start on the screen).

Device factory reset

If you get stuck in a bootloop rebooting the tablet after unlocking the bootloader... Here's what you do:

During the bootloop.. hold the power button + volume up + volume down button simultaneously to get yourself back into fastboot mode as you were previously.
In fastboot mode.. use the volume keys to scroll to Recovery and the power button to select it.
In Recovery (Android robot on his back with a red triangle)... tap the volume up button and the power button simultaneously which will bring you into stock recovery. Again.. Don't hold the buttons, just tap them simultaneously. Also make sure you're holding the correct volume button. Up will be the volume key on the right.
Once you're in Recovery.. perform a factory reset/data wipe and then reboot your tablet... you should now be back to the Welcome Screen.

Step 3 - Initial Device Setup

Follow these initial steps on your device:

If not booted, boot the device into Android
Enable USB debugging on the device
- on Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0) go to Settings and turn on USB Debugging (Settings > System > Developer options > USB debugging).
- on Jelly Bean (versions 4.1 and 4.2) you need to enter Settings, About [Phone|Tablet] and tap the Build number 7 times to see the Developer Options.
- on 4.2.2, (settings > about > tap on build number 7 times to activate the developer options menu item).
- On either Android version you must then enable USB debugging via Settings > Developer options > USB debugging. You will also need to accept a host key on the device.
  - On the workstation-> adb kill-server; adb start-server
Plug the device into the computer via the USB cable.
- Depending on the installed Android version, a popup will show up on the device with the host key that needs to be accepted for the device to communicate with the workstation
- Note, 'adb devices' should not show the device as 'offline'. If it does, unplug the device, run adb under sudo on the workstation (sudo adb kill-server; sudo adb start-server), then plug the device back in
Save the version of the current image on the device, if on Android, to use as a reference to revert back to. The version can be found by going to Settings > About Phone > Build Number.

Newer Nexus 10s have not booted fully after developer mode was enabled. If this occurs boot into the bootloader and do "fastboot -w", then proceed to the next step.

Step 4 - Downloading & Deploying Image to Device

To install the Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview on your device, you will need to execute the command below. Please note, this will wipe the contents of the device so ensure you have made a back-up. To install and get updates, you will have to run phablet-flash with a command and some flags; see phablet-flash --help for a list of commands phablet-flash name-of-command --help for a list of flags.

Currently available commands:

ubuntu-system	* official images * system is read-only * updates are done over-the-air * supports multiple channels
community	* if you have a community supported build, you can use this to flash it to your device
cdimage-touch	* deprecated; previous official images * read-write by default * no OTA update
cdimage-legacy	* deprecated; old pre-flipped images * boots into Android and launches Ubuntu bits as a container (current images do the opposite)

To bootstrap on the devel channel or reinstall afresh (wiping everything) the recommended command is:

    phablet-flash ubuntu-system --channel devel --no-backup

This step can take a very long time.

Note that there are other channels available:

channel	description
`devel`	alias to current development channel (`saucy`)
`devel-proposed`	alias to -proposed version of development channel (`saucy-proposed`)
`devel-customized`	alias to -customized version of development channel (`saucy-customized`)
`saucy`	latest development image which passed QA
`saucy-proposed`	latest development image before QA
`stable`	alias to current stable channel (saucy)

This will deploy the latest build onto your device. Your device should reboot into the Ubuntu Unity shell.

Notes:

Be patient - some steps like pushing the files over USB to the device take time. Just wait through any screens looking like input is required. Carefully read messages on the host and the device.
the files are saved in Downloads/phablet-flash.
If the deploy fails(ex boots to black screen), try wiping the /data partition on your device and redeploy
phablet-flash will not work unless you have booted your device (it must not be displaying the boot loader screen and "adb devices" should list your device).
if you get stuck at ' < waiting for device > ' and your phablet reboots into android, you may have to run phablet-flash under sudo

Further Examples

First run of phablet-flash on a newly rooted and developer-enabled device:

phablet-flash ubuntu-system --channel devel --no-backup

For the deprecated cdimage-touch images, use:

phablet-flash cdimage-touch -b

Conversion of device from cdimage-touch (flipped) to ubuntu-system (read only):

phablet-flash ubuntu-system

Running bleeding edge / untested images:

phablet-flash ubuntu-system --channel devel-proposed

or, for the deprecated images:

phablet-flash cdimage-touch --pending

Re-flash with a clean start, removing all apps and data:

phablet-flash ubuntu-system --no-backup

or, for the deprecated images:

phablet-flash cdimage-touch --wipe

If you have a nexus 7 3G, pass -d grouper:

phablet-flash ubuntu-system --no-backup -d grouper

Restoring Android

The Ubuntu Touch Preview image is not for everyone and may not suit your current needs (yet). The images can be found here. If you wish to roll back to an Android factory image, follow these steps:

Recall the version that was installed before flashing.
Download the factory image corresponding to your device's model and version (initial table has links).
Ensure the device is connected and powered on.
Extract the downloaded file and cd into the extracted directory.
run adb reboot-bootloader
run ./flash-all.sh (use sudo if lack of permissions on the workstation don't allow you to talk to the device).

If you want to lock the bootloader after restoring the factory image, follow these steps:

Power on the device by holding the Power button + volume up + volume down.
The device will boot into the bootloader.
Plug the device into the computer via the USB cable.
On your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+T to start a terminal. Type sudo fastboot oem lock, followed by Enter

Your device should boot into Android after the process is finished.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

How to Install Ubuntu Touch