Will we see a Linux OS on smartphones that can revive old devices like it can do with computers?

Posted by gtd_rad@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 39 comments

I'm a desktop user and needed a laptop for bench testing and didn't want to spend money just to buy a piece of crap laptop. So I dug out my Lenovo T400 from 2009and installed mint and bam, it's working like a charm! Even the after market battery I had like over 10 years ago surprising holds a charge which it didn't when I last installed windows eons ago.

Also recently, my pixel 7 pro battery swelled up so I ended up using my old Essential PH-1 phone all the way back from 2018. Albeit a bit slower it's still working and I don't even want to get a new phone.

That made me wonder if it's possible we will see an OS for smartphones we could reuse existing order hardware. Unlike computers, most smartphone applications aren't even that demanding. And doesn't Android run on some sort of a Linux Kernel?

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Cozym1ke@reddit

Major problem is that most phone manufacturers lock the bootloader

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gtd_rad@reddit (OP)

I once worked at an automotive company and they were using a chip with a highly encrypted bootloader but I didn't really know how it works. So not surprised it's a thing and unfortunately I don't know too much about it in nature. I know a bootloader is the first but if code that runs o a processor though. But how exactly do manufacturers lock it down and why is it such a make inhibitor to installing custom OS?

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danGL3@reddit

The bootloader has code that signature checks the device's partitions, if they aren't signed with the manufacturer's signature the device refuses to boot

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berickphilip@reddit

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but is this the path that Microsoft and the motherboard manufacturers want to try enforcing, and in that way making future PCs only be able to use their licensed and controlled operating systems? (serious question)

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etal19@reddit

Technically this like secure boot but without an option to turn it off and only the device manufacturer holds the signing key.

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Pedka2@reddit

and what's the reason for that?

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WildCard65@reddit

By enforcing integrity checks on key areas of the device that if they fail will block further execution beyond the bootloader.

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spaceman_@reddit

On UEFI, this is standardized as Secure Boot, and:

Vendors so far have almost always included the option to disable it
Microsoft offers a signing service for alternative OSes, signing kernels for Linux distributions etc with their key, which comes preloaded on most implementations
If neither of the above is acceptable, there are ways to enroll your own key on your system and sign your own images. This is already common practice on systems using Secure Boot but using DKMS or if you run a custom kernel image.

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vip17@reddit

the even bigger problem is the lack of drivers. Most of the phones that have custom ROM will lack or have issue in some features. The trickiest part is the wireless or LTE drivers

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Afillatedcarbon@reddit

Don't forgrt cameras

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YKS_Gaming@reddit

not just manufacturers, but carriers too

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the_bighi@reddit

I’m pretty sure that this is only true in the US. It’s not a normal problem on Android, it’s an exception on a single country.

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B1rdi@reddit

There is PostmarketOS and a bunch of others, but they won't be old phone revivers for a long time. Hardware support is severely lacking, it's heavy, laggy, buggy, clunky as hell and just not there yet.

BTW your Essential PH-1 has been out of security updates for almost 6 years, might want to take that into consideration. Luckily it's still officially supported by LineageOS so you can install that and get fresh and bloat free Android 15 on there. (Make sure you don't need anything with Play Integrity checks.)

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PureTryOut@reddit

Although there could be more supported, postmarketOS already is an old phone reviver. A bunch of people are using devices like the Pixel 3a and OnePlus 6 which both are quite old at this point. And I know people crazy enough to even still be using the Nokia N900.

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ZunoJ@reddit

I tried it on an older google device and it worked surprisingly well for everyday use

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B1rdi@reddit

Which Distro and GUI did you use? I tried both Plasma and Phosh on my OnePlus 6T and didn't really like either. Plasma was laggy and locked up multiple times in my short time with it, Phosh was a little better but still very rough.

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ZunoJ@reddit

PostmaketOs with phosh on a pixel 3a

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urgentapathy@reddit

Yes. The OOP should look at the Postmarket OS devices page. So much potential, but SOC support and driver support is not wide. Compare the non booting section to the booting section. I lucked out with a Pixel3a and OnePlus 6T.

What OOP should really wish for are dedicated specialists who offer their time and expertise to tinker with essentially dead platforms. Then OOP can see exactly how amazing the already completed work really is and why this situation won't be changing much in the future. That is unless there are some big changes on the manufacturing side going forward.

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gtd_rad@reddit (OP)

Yikes! Thanks for mentioning about security updates!

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yahbluez@reddit

We face locked boot loaders and closed source hardware without drivers.

That is the point where law makers need to enter the room and force companies to open source any hardware they stop to support.

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BrokenZX81@reddit

Unlikely.

Locked bootloaders.

No universal drivers / firmware.

And even if you overcome those, then there won’t be any app support anyway.

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IngwiePhoenix@reddit

Literally PostmarketOS

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Left_Revolution_3748@reddit

The closed hardware is the big problem

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SewerSage@reddit

Pixel Phones get 5 years of updates and have strong ROM support. Lineage OS supports all Pixel devices going back to the original.

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gtd_rad@reddit (OP)

That's amazing. I wish I hadn't bought the pixel 7 pro to begin with. That thing is like carrying a brick around.

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khsh01@reddit

Older xiaomi devices are kings when it comes to this. While you can run Linux on them, we all know Linux isn't ready for mobile use. However you can get a plethora of custom roms for these devices.

And if you're interested and the device trees are out you can compile your own os for the device and maintain it.

Personally I lean more towards an android desktop mode from which you use a proot distro with termux and termux x11 to basically have a lightweight Linux box in your phone for doing things that your phone can't.

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duck_butter@reddit

The one issue I see. Is that 2G is dead, so is 3g. Even if you can get it up and going. To what end, the cell radios are defunct.

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gtd_rad@reddit (OP)

That's a really good point!

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rdesktop7@reddit

Isn't android linux based?

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lKrauzer@reddit

I think our best bets are Ubuntu Touch and Phosh.

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Hot_Needleworker8289@reddit

Yeah, it's called Android

JOKE

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rarsamx@reddit

Unlikelly, the hardware drivers are quite tightly closed.

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antifa-pewpew@reddit

It would require a cell stack. Maybe Nokia has one lying around;)

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SenderoLinux@reddit

postmarketOS is doing exactly this. It's a really hard problem to solve but they are making amazing strides.

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KnowZeroX@reddit

When all phones come with something like a full featured uefi and open source drivers, or hell freezes over. The last one is more likely.

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FattyDrake@reddit

Probably not. I have a pretty useless iPad and apparently it's a really tough nut to crack. I'd love to put something else on it but there's a lot of blocks in the way. I know Android tends to be more open but that doesn't help when manufacturers and chipmakers put proprietary blobs on the devices for the hardware to actually work.

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