Is nexus 7 suported in v0.6.2?

[dadoprom]

which v0.6.2 zip file at https://github.com/maruos/builds/releases is for Nexus 7? Is it Bullhead?

[pdsouza]

No N7 support at the moment on Maru 0.6. See #97 (comment).

[dadoprom]

I need a new tablet, can you recommend one that will be supported by maru os? thanx

[pdsouza]

We are focused on mobile phones at the moment and can't make guarantees on which devices we will support since it depends on whether our community devs have the hardware and have the time and interest to attempt a port.

But if you are purchasing a tablet, at least make sure it supports HDMI out to get the best Maru experience. You can check devices that support HDMI here: http://www.slimportconnect.com/Interoperability/.

[oscarvalenzuelab]

I saw nexus 5x is supported, but how do you get video out? From google docs the 5x doesn't support HDMI out.

[pdsouza]

@oscarvalenzuelab We support DisplayLink and Chromecast on 0.6 as alternatives to native HDMI out. I still recommend devices with HDMI support for the best experience though - Chromecast sometimes disconnects and DisplayLink eats more CPU since it's a software-based solution.

[ShadowEO]

Just throwing out a suggestion here, shot in the dark maybe.

For a workaround on the system partition, would it be possible to use an overlay, similar to how magisk works with it's modules?

Theoretically you could then put everything into the data partition and bind-mount it into system like Magisk currently does, which would mitigate the issue slightly (though it would lessen the user's overall capacity, it would at least get a N7 build off the ground)

@pdsouza if you don't mind me asking, what is added to the system partition that makes it so large on the flo?

If the above suggestion wouldn't work, are we stuck using ext4 on the system partition, or could it be possible to build a squashfs-formatted system partition similar to how Google did Android Wear 1.5 on the LG G Watch? I understand that we'd (the user) lose the ability to write to the system image, but it would compress it down enough that it may be able to get it onto the partition.

(Sorry if I'm out of line, I've been watching this project for years, as it's exactly what I was wanting to achieve with LinuxDeploy on the device. Figured I'd at least attempt throwing a couple possibly realistic, if not slightly hacky, suggestions out there)

[pdsouza]

@ShadowEO Thanks for the input. We ship a compressed desktop rootfs on /system so that Maru can automatically re-initialize the desktop rootfs after a factory reset that wipes /data. We are discussing how to implement a setup flow on first boot via SetupWizard and a desktop management app that will let users select a rootfs to download from an image server to /data during device setup, which will entirely remove the need to ship the desktop rootfs on on our images (#99).

[ShadowEO]

I see. That's very enlightening, and the idea to implement a flow from SetupWizard is definitely better than any of the ideas I threw out there.

Perhaps you could reach out to LOS' team, as they also have a separate flow for SetupWizard (or at least, it seems to break out of the normal Android SetupWizard flow) on the more current builds, they may be able to help with pointing your in the right direction.

Thanks for the information! Might decide to try my hand with building it once it's possible for the flo again!

[Elowan]

hello,

any news/plans to make 0.6.x work on Nexus 7 (flo) devices?
Or did you abandon tablets and go all out on the phones now?

AFAIK there is LinageOS 14.1 (Nougat android) and this will work on Nexus 7 (2013) - pair this with Debian 9 and we could have a more up-to-date version of everything 0.4. has to offer.

best regards and all the best with this awesome project!!!
Elo

[pdsouza]

@Elowan We can try bringing up flo on LineageOS 14 / Maru 0.5.x branch and checking if we can fit the desktop rootfs in /system on Nougat. I thought our N7 maintainer @TMartinPPC tried this at one point but I can't remember if it worked or not. As mentioned previously, the main reason we don't support N7 on 0.6 is due to the limited /system space on Oreo. #99 has been proposed to fix this limitation.

[TMartinPPC]

@Elowan: @pdsouza is correct. I think we could cut the system image down enough to make it work. Lots going on in life (moving, new job, etc) but hoping to revisit soon.

[Elowan]

thank you guys for response !
would be great if it could be done

good luck with all your new endeavors @TMartinPPC

[ShadowEO]

I wanted to give a little nudge as I noticed LOS has implemented flo as a new device-type (flox) which appears to repartition the eMMC to give /system more space. Could it be possible to target this instead of the base flo device?

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/flox/

[pdsouza]

I wanted to give a little nudge as I noticed LOS has implemented flo as a new device-type (flox) which appears to repartition the eMMC to give /system more space. Could it be possible to target this instead of the base flo device?

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/flox/

Oh wow, that's interesting! If we can fit the system img on flo I'd love to add it back. Also note that we don't have access to flo hardware right now unless @TMartinPPC is available, but I'd be open to just doing a build and having someone test it out.

[TMartinPPC]

@pdsouza I still have my Nexus 7. I'll see if I can get a build environment setup.