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Ubuntu / Linux on Transformer - Performance Test / Reviews

Hey guys,
as some of you may know, it shall be possible to run Ubuntu on the EeePad Transformer (for those who don't know, look here for instruction). Even though, it doesn't boot natively (yet), it should be a full Ubuntu.
Does anyone of you made some (performance)tests with that? Here are some things, I would really like to know:
- How is performance/ usability in general?
- How "usable" are programs like OpenOffice, internet browsing or maybe IDEs like Eclipse?
- Is the keyboard dock fully supported?
- Is it possible to use an USB-Mouse in Ubuntu?
- Is it possible to "switch" between Android / Ubuntu?
- Is it possible to use Ubuntu 11.04 - with all of the touchscreen features?
If some of you would make some tests (maybe with a video), it would be realy awesome!
I think I'm not the only one who is really interested in these things.
Since I'm going "back" to college, I need a device (cause I can't afford 2 ), that can handle all of those basic things you need in college.
Thanks a lot guys!

Apparently I was wrong before. It should be possible to boot in ubuntu. See here and here for instruction. In genereal it deals with ubuntu on tegra 2 platform.
But before dual-boot is possible, I'd rather choose the VM.
Doesn't anyone tried ubuntu on the Transformer?

Are you sure you linked the right article?

You're right, I forgot to post the second article. I edited my post, those instructions are more general for tegra 2 devices. Don't know why I mixed these things up.

Well, I couldn't resist Just ordered one. I'll keep you guys updated on the ubuntu thing, gonna make some tests when I got mine.

The El said:
Well, I couldn't resist Just ordered one. I'll keep you guys updated on the ubuntu thing, gonna make some tests when I got mine.
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Thanks...anyone know if running Ubuntu will mean we can play mkv's??

adam18488 said:
Thanks...anyone know if running Ubuntu will mean we can play mkv's??
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It could be done but Tegra2 is not in to movies

The El said:
Well, I couldn't resist Just ordered one. I'll keep you guys updated on the ubuntu thing, gonna make some tests when I got mine.
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Well? How is it going with ubuntu? I'm searching some benchmarks or at least users feelings about ubuntu performance on transformer.
BTW which one do you have? Tf201 maybe? I'm going to buy one. I would wait for tf700t but do not know if I can wait that long...

Why do you do chroot when here is native Ubuntu > http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1191141 ?

Windows 8 on XOOM?

Hi
Am I being wholly unrealistic on this or could we hope to see Windows 8 run on these sluggish XOOMs ?
It seems like the hardware is not massively different?
Possibility or impossibility?
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live

Would be nice, no idea what the requirements are for Win8 tho..

I can't believe no one else seems to be thinking about it ... couldn't find anything on the web suggesting they were though.
I just hope someone comes up with something to make me excited to own a xoom again. I was excited when I bought expecting to be on a wave of development but there has been only one small set of bug fixes/features that should have been on release version.
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live

s.t.s said:
I can't believe no one else seems to be thinking about it ... couldn't find anything on the web suggesting they were though.
I just hope someone comes up with something to make me excited to own a xoom again. I was excited when I bought expecting to be on a wave of development but there has been only one small set of bug fixes/features that should have been on release version.
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live
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Tiamat is pretty darn fast.... then ADW ex makes it even faster.

Id be happy with a chroot of win8
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium

With the dev preview only being x86/64 at the moment we will have to wait for the ARM version to be released before anything can be done on the Xoom. I cant wait to see if there are any devs that can get it going.....a dual boot with ICS would be fantastic

I am sure it is faster when rooted and overclocked ... just haven't got round to doing it yet ... kind of resent having to do it to get a user experience that might be close to acceptable
I know that there is no arm preview yet but I believe the min spec is detailed ... are there any things we fall short of?
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live

guys, I'd hate to burst your bubbles, but there were around 4 posts about win 8 on the xoom and all of them came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work, or at least, very unlikely. Windows is closed source. Its not like Ubuntu or any other Linux distro that we can modify.
---------- Post added at 02:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------
s.t.s said:
I can't believe no one else seems to be thinking about it ... couldn't find anything on the web suggesting they were though.
I just hope someone comes up with something to make me excited to own a xoom again. I was excited when I bought expecting to be on a wave of development but there has been only one small set of bug fixes/features that should have been on release version.
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live
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There was a bunch of windows 8 topics on xoom but not looking good. And development will get better overall on xoom when ics comes out because you have to remember, honeycomb source wasn't released and never will be. Ics will be open source though.

Android may soon do more than windows can. By the time WIN8 comes out in arm form android will be on key lime pie.

What really is needed is a full Linux version for the Xoom. Linux is already available for ARM CPUs. But what is needed is the kernel patch for the Xoom, and the hardware drivers.
Stop pining for windows, as there are already plenty of gadgets with it on it. I just purchased a Azpen X1 tablet. The 16GB drive is so small, that I ran out of space the first time that I ran the windows update!! I got a 32GB drive for it, and will install Ubuntu on it. I use Linux for everything, and found that windows is very over rated.

Not sure how Windows is "over rated" ... it seems everyone is out to say mac/ios/linux is better than it. If linux is so great why are you giving it double the storage space the windows install was offered ;-)
I know windows is closed source ... but the hardware appears to be very similar to other tablets that run windows, it would just be a case of suitable drivers?
ICS may improve things but it still doesn't feel like the direction android is headed in is where I hoped/expected in terms of offering tablet optimized/specific applications.
Windows 8 looks a lot more like the tablet os I would like to use ... I guess time will tell.
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live

s.t.s said:
If linux is so great why are you giving it double the storage space the windows install was offered ;-)
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At first I intended to give 16GB to each OS. But since widows barely fits on 16 GB, I decided against it.
s.t.s said:
I know windows is closed source ... but the hardware appears to be very similar to other tablets that run windows, it would just be a case of suitable drivers?
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What other tablets like the Xoom run windows? Windows only runs on the Intel family of CPUs (and clones), while most tablets have an ARM CPU.

samsung has a dev tablet out that runs windows 8. they gave it out at some convention.

patass said:
samsung has a dev tablet out that runs windows 8. they gave it out at some convention.
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Yes and nobody is going to sit down and spend the time and write drivers for a closed source OS. Especially from scratch. Not to sound like a jerk, but if you're bored of your xoom, sell it and get a windows slate

kenfly said:
Yes and nobody is going to sit down and spend the time and write drivers for a closed source OS. Especially from scratch. Not to sound like a jerk, but if you're bored of your xoom, sell it and get a windows slate
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lol i never said i was tired of it, but windows 8 from what I played with it on the desktop is a more practical platform. Often times I'm using splashtop to access my desktop at home. You're mad.
also people write custom drivers for windows all the time. custom graphics card drivers, controller drivers, etc.

patass said:
lol i never said i was tired of it, but windows 8 from what I played with it on the desktop is a more practical platform. Often times I'm using splashtop to access my desktop at home. You're mad.
also people write custom drivers for windows all the time. custom graphics card drivers, controller drivers, etc.
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Look at it this way, most other hc tablets have a port of Ubuntu, which is open source, and we don't. If nobody wants Ubuntu enough to work with the open source os, who is going to work with closed source windows 8?

That is another thing that I just dont get ... it really feels like my best informed choice to get the XOOM was the wrong one. Moto are not pushing the development and user experience like I had hoped and the dev community hasn't been set alight either :-(
Still I hope we see some stuff soon. For now I will just have to try one of the few android roms
sent from my mz604
you live and learn ... at any rate you live

Is it possible to natively run Linux rather than on top of Android for Nexus One?

I've bought a new phone however I do not want to waste my Nexus One. The idea came to my mind firstly was to make it a small 'server' running at home.
Technically I bet it's possible however I don't have a clear path to do that... I've googled for a while and I saw a lot tutorials about how to run Ubuntu on top of Android. However what I want is to get rid of Android and run Linux directly on the hardware.
I think that should have been done by some guys... any help thanks in advance!

zhangxiao83 said:
I've bought a new phone however I do not want to waste my Nexus One. The idea came to my mind firstly was to make it a small 'server' running at home.
Technically I bet it's possible however I don't have a clear path to do that... I've googled for a while and I saw a lot tutorials about how to run Ubuntu on top of Android. However what I want is to get rid of Android and run Linux directly on the hardware.
I think that should have been done by some guys... any help thanks in advance!
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IIRC, Android is Linux.
If you mean the computer OS, I have no idea.

Theshawty said:
IIRC, Android is Linux.
If you mean the computer OS, I have no idea.
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Yes I understand that - However I meant Linux such as Ubuntu or Arch distribution...

zhangxiao83 said:
Yes I understand that - However I meant Linux such as Ubuntu or Arch distribution...
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Running Ubuntu has been deemed possible.

Yes, but why and who will make a port (isn't this simple)? And not all drivers are open source and available to public.
BTW, android is linux and you can even port some applications (a time ago sometime is talking about porting glibc to android, don't remember if this get done, but I think is useless somehow).

It will happen
Word on the street is that Android drivers are being merged back into the development branch of the Linux 3.3 kernel. It's not too surprising considering Android developers were working with the Linux kernel developers until the 2.6.33 Linux kernel.
I bet we will see Debian or Ubuntu running on our N1s eventually. The N1 has a great developer backing since it was pitched as a developer phone, so I bet one of the many talented developers out there will eventually cook up a native Linux ROM. Besides, there are native ports for other devices out there so they can't be too far off.

You can currently install Ubuntu on your N1 but honestly it's pointless. Yes There are great apps to use but compatibility isn't 100% on the phone AND the apps run too slow to actually be useful.
You'd have better chances developing an app for android to do what you want lol.
If this helped hit THANKS

http://nexusonehacks.net/nexus-one-hacks/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-your-android/ Check this link for a how-to.

Official Ubuntu for the N7?

I just watched a video on Ubuntu where the head of Canonical showed a Gnex running official Ubuntu (which I think they'll discuss at CES), but you think the N7 will get it?

The nexus 7 is the device which has ubuntu even as first...
Getting ubuntu to run on a nexus 7 is already done by canonical and you can run it yourself too: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nexus7

Are you joking? There is already a official and a dualboot option for the nexus 7!
Dualboot option (sorry im on tf101 ubuntu and english layout, cant find doubepoint xD)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2011403[/url
Sorry, you bet me in speed...

These guys are silly....they obviously don't pay attention to up-and-coming mobile OS's.
Yes, I think it'll come out for the Nexus 7. I'm going to try it but the only way I'd keep it as a daily driver is a noticeable increase in battery life.

Wafflcopterz said:
These guys are silly....they obviously don't pay attention to up-and-coming mobile OS's.
Yes, I think it'll come out for the Nexus 7. I'm going to try it but the only way I'd keep it as a daily driver is a noticeable increase in battery life.
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If Ubuntu already exists for the N7, what was the countdown for? Unless I'm mistaken, the Ubuntu the two other guys were talking about was some pc port?

Theshawty said:
If Ubuntu already exists for the N7, what was the countdown for? Unless I'm mistaken, the Ubuntu the two other guys were talking about was some pc port?
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the phone stuff, I watched the online keynote, looks great, I'll def be trying it once the images get posted for the gnex

Theshawty said:
If Ubuntu already exists for the N7, what was the countdown for? Unless I'm mistaken, the Ubuntu the two other guys were talking about was some pc port?
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countdown was for "ubuntu phone" .
But there is already full blown ubuntu for your nexus.
If you want only UI of ubuntu for phones, then you have to wait.
If you are intrested in Linux/Ubuntu OS itself, then it is already here. Just without phone friendly User Interface.
It is basically PC port. But more it is the same Ubuntu that runs on PC-s.
read more here
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nexus7

[request] Ubuntu Touch for Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 GT-5100/Gt-5110

Ubuntu Touch has been ported the Note 2 and Note 10.1 (2013 version) with nearly identical internals. Ubuntu Touch is also based on CM 10 and requires a CM 10 port, the Note 8.0 already has a CM 10 port http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2457346 I see no reason why an Ubuntu Touch for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 would not be possible.

I agree with you...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I might try my hand at this after I've sorted my university stuff - its been a while since I've done any ROM stuff

Thanks in advance if you're willing to try to port it, I'm really looking forward to this
Kernel and other stuff are the same, so theoretically you could use my sources (kernel, hardware, etc) with the n5110 device repo, and maybe it would work.
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Quoting OP of the Ubuntu Port thread for Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2168999
And is it possible to make it dual boot between Ubuntu Touch and Android?
PS. Please port Ubuntu Touch for GT-N5110

So is this project starting or has it begun?
Or how is the process going?
Sent from my GT-N5110 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I might start it this week, but theres a few things im not sure on
If bricked, how would I unbrick it? I'm experienced with HTC's and somewhat with Nexus, but not samsung at all
Would there even be any demand? I mean it won't support the S-Pen and all, and development is relatively slow as it is

My guess is yoou would just use Odin to reflash your device. And I know personally this is something I would back and be willing to test should you need someone.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

techhead11 said:
My guess is yoou would just use Odin to reflash your device. And I know personally this is something I would back and be willing to test should you need someone.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
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wow to have a fully capable linux operating system working on our note 8 would be great!! but are there any apps like onenote from microsoft available for linux yet???

So I guess this is just a lost hope huh?
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

Any news about this port? Now I try the news nightly cm10.2 and work fine.

Krumbalu said:
wow to have a fully capable linux operating system working on our note 8 would be great!! but are there any apps like onenote from microsoft available for linux yet???
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From what I know, Ubuntu Touch is just cyanogenmod with an Ubuntu UI. It is no more a full linux OS than Android, and in fact, both run on the Linux kernel and Ubuntu is basically a modified version of Android. I really don't understand why people are having wet dreams over the prospect of running Ubuntu Touch on their tablets. You're getting nothing in return except a different look and design of the OS and probably no access to Google Play. Oh, and all the bugs associated with CyanogenMod, and none of the functionality that is unique to the Note 8. I am all for giving people options, but Ubuntu Touch seems like the most unnecessary development to hit Android devices to date.

sputnik767 said:
From what I know, Ubuntu Touch is just cyanogenmod with an Ubuntu UI. It is no more a full linux OS than Android, and in fact, both run on the Linux kernel and Ubuntu is basically a modified version of Android. I really don't understand why people are having wet dreams over the prospect of running Ubuntu Touch on their tablets. You're getting nothing in return except a different look and design of the OS and probably no access to Google Play. Oh, and all the bugs associated with CyanogenMod, and none of the functionality that is unique to the Note 8. I am all for giving people options, but Ubuntu Touch seems like the most unnecessary development to hit Android devices to date.
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I may be wrong bjt im oretty sure that you actually have full access to the ubuntu software center for apps and such.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

techhead11 said:
I may be wrong bjt im oretty sure that you actually have full access to the ubuntu software center for apps and such.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
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I would say you're wrong only because Ubuntu and Ubuntu touch are designed for different architectures (x86 vs ARM). This is no different than windows 8 vs windows RT in that you can't share apps between the 2 systems. Point is, if an application such as OpenOffice is not reengineered to run on ARM, it's not going to run on Ubuntu Touch. Ubuntu Touch is built on top of Android, and while it may have access to the ubuntu software center, it's still not going to have the apps to make it worthwhile unless it also can access google play. And I doubt that it will. But if I am wrong, please correct me.

sputnik767 said:
I would say you're wrong only because Ubuntu and Ubuntu touch are designed for different architectures (x86 vs ARM). This is no different than windows 8 vs windows RT in that you can't share apps between the 2 systems. Point is, if an application such as OpenOffice is not reengineered to run on ARM, it's not going to run on Ubuntu Touch. Ubuntu Touch is built on top of Android, and while it may have access to the ubuntu software center, it's still not going to have the apps to make it worthwhile unless it also can access google play. And I doubt that it will. But if I am wrong, please correct me.
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In a sense yes, but just like any new operating system, the app market will start out slow and as more interest grows, people are going to develop more and more apps for the market.

techhead11 said:
In a sense yes, but just like any new operating system, the app market will start out slow and as more interest grows, people are going to develop more and more apps for the market.
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You are assuming that interest is actually going to grow, and I can probably think of more new systems that are failing or have failed, than succeeded. And again, Ubuntu Touch is a port of Android with a questionable future. It brings nothing new in terms of the actual operating system to the table, and if a current dev who is making programs for Linux is not making similar programs for Android now, what would make them start coding for Ubuntu Touch? Likewise, why would a current Android dev start porting their apps to Ubuntu when they have a massive user base on iOS and Android? Look at BB and Windows Phone, which are actually very good, polished systems and not half-ass ports, and see how small their app ecosystems are.
But ask yourself this question: are you going to give up Android 4.2.2 on your Note for a half-ass port of Ubuntu Touch (pretty much all ports of CM are half-ass), lose the functionality of the S-Pen, and lose access to Google Play along with all of apps that make Android something more than just a device to browse the web? Because that's pretty much what you will end up with as it stands now. I will not discount the possibility that Ubuntu Touch will carve itself a niche market somewhere, but even if you can sideload Android apks, it is far more effort than most people will be willing to put up with.

I know this is an OLD thread, but I want to correct the people saying the x86/ARM difference means that software won't run on Ubuntu Touch. This is completely false. Ubuntu maintains repositories for all manners of architectures, including ARM. ALL OSS applications with full source will run under ARM (you can even do this on a Chromebook, which is amazingly nice.) as long as they have no proprietary binaries. This means that if you can download the source code, it can be compiled to work on ARM, and even done on the fly with apt.