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Grouper Native Desktop Linux

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Lawrence Wu edited this page Jul 5, 2014 · 19 revisions

Thanks to Canonical's research on Ubuntu Desktop on Nexus devices, the Nexus 7 (2012) has very good support for full featured Desktop Linux, rather than just Android. The Nexus 7 is also capable of using a USB keyboard and mouse using a USB Host adapter, without the need for an external power supply.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu Desktop was discontinued after the rollout of Ubuntu Phone, and was never extended past the Nexus 7 (2012) with Tegra 3 processor.

Currently, the only distro that is set up to work out of the box is Mer + KDE Plasma Active. Arch Linux ARM is also well supported, though it requires more manual configuration than the typical distro (but a detailed manual is included).

Ubuntu Desktop requires quite a bit of extra hacking to make it usable again, and 13.04 is no longer supported, making the task a bit harder.

Supported Linux Distros

Discontinued

  • Ubuntu Desktop (Discontinued after 13.04)
    • Installation Steps: Download Ubuntu 13.04 image linked below. Put the image in the memory of N7 or to USB flash drive and go to recovery. Select Advanced -> MultiROM -> Add ROM and choose Ubuntu as ROM type. Then select the Ubuntu's image and confirm. Clean installation of Ubuntu is 1.5gb big, and takes a while (10 minutes?) to install.
    • Tegra3 rootfs image (13.04)
    • Wiki
  • Bodhi Linux (Discontinued)

Under Development

Ubuntu Desktop

YouTube Video

For more information, see the Ubuntu Desktop Nexus 7 Manual.

The Unity Desktop Environment is very buggy, slow, and just not a good fit on the Nexus 7. If you want to use Ubuntu on the Nexus 7, it is strongly recommended to replace Unity with KDE or LXDE.

Keyboard with USB Host

A USB keyboard is not required, but can be extremely helpful. Buy a USB OTG cable (not just any random microUSB to USB adapter), and the keyboard will work out of the box; no need for a powered USB hub.

A mouse can also be plugged in using a USB hub, but the keyboard is the most important

Installing KDE

Surprisingly, Desktop KDE works much better than Unity. The text and UI elements can even be resized to a more comfortable size.

Alternatively, KDE Plasma Active, a new interface built specifically for tablets, can also be installed.

First, make sure you have a WiFi connection activated.

Open a Terminal by pressing the 4-square icon at the top-right, clicking Show Onboard to open the soft keyboard, and tap the keyboard combination Ctrl-Alt-T.

To install, type this command to install a minimal version of KDE, and press Enter:

sudo apt-get install kde-plasma-desktop kubuntu-default-settings kde-config-gtk-style gtk3-engines-oxygen

If you want everything included in the typical Kubuntu distro (such as Libreoffice), use this command and press Enter:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Don't forget to type y and Enter again to confirm installation.

Eventually, halfway through the installation, the program will ask you whether you want to change display managers. It is recommended that you stick with Lightdm, so that the onscreen keyboard remains the same.

Next, configure Lightdm to start KDE by default instead of Unity:

sudo /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-set-defaults -s kde-plasma

Finally, log out (rather than restarting or turning off), tap the Ubuntu icon next to the user name, and choose KDE Plasma Workspaces. Then type in your password and log in. If you need an onscreen keyboard to type, tap the Accessibility Icon (a spread eagled man in a circle), and click Show Onboard.

KDE will now be started. However, it probably needs to be configured for optimal performance.

Configuring KDE for the Nexus 7

(needs work)

KDE needs a little more configuration on the Nexus 7 for optimal performance.

Here are a few issues that exist on 13.04 (according to Muktware, KDE ran perfectly in 12.10, so try that out). The fixes do exist and shouldn't be too hard, but people haven't made them yet.

  • Panel, Font, Icon Resizing - Can be easily resized, so that they are large enough to click and drag with a finger. Go to System Settings and experiment with the config that works for you.
  • Autorotate
  • Onscreen Keyboard - needs fixing
    • Go to the KDE Menu, System Settings, under System Administration click Startup and Shutdown, click the Add Program button, find Onboard under Utilities, and add it to start it up every time.
  • NetworkManager and Bluetooth - These need to be reconfigured.
  • Touchscreen issues - For some reason, sometimes the touchscreen is unable to click on the panel or desktop, even though the mouse works fine.

Removing Unity

Installing KDE Plasma Active/Kubuntu Active

YouTube Video

KDE Plasma Active is a special version of KDE specifically designed to be run on mobile devices, and has a far better suited multitasking Activities methodology, just like the Nokia N900, Palm Pre, or Android.

Now, Plasma Active can be installed as part of the experimental Kubuntu Active distro on Ubuntu 13.04 Desktop.

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-active

Unfortunately, mouse and touchscreen support doesn't work well during testing, so use the Mer variant of Plasma Active instead of on Ubuntu.

Recommended Fixes

KDE Plasma Active + Mer

Credits to lintz for the instructions

Recomended "fixes" after first install (Mer, Plasma ndr) :

Install custom keyboard (write this comands in terminal start with su and after the password for root by default mer)

zypper ar -G http://repo.pub.meego.com/home:/wonk...k:Testing.repo
zypper up maliit-active libmaliit-quick
killall -9 maliit-server

Update the system (use su and root password first)

zypper ref && zypper up

Install GUI package manager (same here su and root password)

zypper in apper

Creating Your Own .mrom Image

Sources

Add a custom sidebar
Clone this wiki locally