Ubuntu Touch aims to bring Linux to phones as a mobile operating system.
After Canonical abandoned Ubuntu Touch, the Ubports community took over maintenance. Around 20 devices are officially supported, and they provide a one-click installer.
This Redmi Note 5 is not officially supported. It uses technology from the Halium Project, can coexist with Android, and can even install an Android emulator.
Redmi Note 5 + Ubuntu touch test items:
- WIFI
- Bluetooth
- 4G network
- Flashlight
- Screen rotation
- GPS
- Vibration
- Camera
- Audio
- Fingerprint
1. Required Tools#
Phone: Redmi Note 5 (whyred), MIUI 11
Recovery: TWRP 3.5.2.
ROM & halium-boot.img: choose one to download. Each has its own bugs, and none of them pass every test item.
The version on Github has weird camera and timezone behavior: https://github.com/Linux-On-Sdm6Series/Linux_manifest/releases
The version built by parasparihar0 on the Ubports forum has no audio: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/5128/redmi-note-5-pro-whyred
2. Installation Steps#
Android seems to have partition encryption issues that prevent Ubuntu Touch from booting. If you run into that, you can only format the data partition and then install Ubuntu Touch.
Enter TWRP Recovery and back up the boot partition.
Flash
halium-boot.imgto the boot partition.Flash the Ubuntu Touch system. It will be installed to the /data partition.
Boot into the Ubuntu Touch system.
After setting the language and region during first boot, enter the desktop. There will be a basic usage tutorial.
The default login account is
phablet, and the password is alsophablet.To boot back into Android, just restore the original boot.img. Github also has a zip file for completely uninstalling Ubuntu Touch.
3. Applications#
Controls: swipe inward from the right to enter multitasking mode, and swipe inward from the left to open the launcher. Swipe down from the top-right corner to open the quick settings menu.
The Ubuntu Touch screenshot shortcut is pressing the volume up and volume down buttons at the same time.
Lock screen.
The camera can take photos normally, but occasionally crashes.
Opening the terminal always requires entering the password.
The built-in Morph browser is based on Chrome 77. It does not seem to have hardware acceleration, and it opens desktop websites by default.
Apps are downloaded from the OpenStore app store.
The Godot 3D app works normally, so I tested 3D performance (this phone uses the s636 processor).
There is also a UI Tweak Tool app, which can force the system into large-screen desktop mode.
In phone mode, normal Linux GUI apps cannot be opened. They have to be installed through a Libertine container.
4. Notes#
The biggest problem is that the firmware in these ROMs is unstable. Apps can start crashing as soon as they get updated.
Linux programs also have to run in a container, and there are not many native apps to use.
Maybe installing chroot on Android is more practical…
