Question:
Can an android tablet be booted from a usb port?
Louis L
2011-08-13 22:24:24 UTC
I was wondering if I can run one of those light weight linux distro installed on a usb flash drive on one of those android tablets.
1) Is there a cheap tablet PC (under $200) that can be booted from a usb port?
3) Can I find a lightweight linux distro that has all the drivers for that tablet?
Thanks for replying.
Three answers:
Matt B
2011-08-13 22:51:26 UTC
First of all, Android is Linux. It's a custom Linux kernel with a special software layer on top. And the customizations to the kernel and the software layer sitting on top of it are pretty important for it to run on the rather specialized smartphone architecture.



Second, a kernel has to be compiled to run on a certain architecture. So you'd have to find a version of Linux compiled for an ARM processor. That's not much of a problem. Several distributions, including Ubuntu, have ARM kernels. But then you'd have to have kernel modules for the drivers of the smartphone hardware, which... isn't nearly as likely. And you'd probably need a specially-designed interface, since Gnome or KDE really wouldn't work on a 4-inch touchscreen. And all of that would also have to be specially compiled for the kernel. And that's before we start with the application software. And by the time you got all of that working... you'd essentially have Android.



And even if you could do all of that, you'd have to have some way of booting from the USB, which you can't since smartphone firmware boots the kernel directly, without any sort of bootloader like you have on a personal computer.



If you want Android to be more Linux-y -- whatever that means, since the Linux experience differs greatly based on the graphical interface (assuming you use one) -- you can install a terminal emulator and even the bash shell. If you play around with it a bit, you might be able to install some command-line Linux software. But even then, it wouldn't be terribly useful, given the limited ability to enter text on a smartphone.
brewster
2016-12-01 12:54:10 UTC
hi.i might advise going with an android based pill like the unique galaxy pill.that would desire to be low value.you will get get admission to to android. Kindle hearth I heard is a stable device too
lion
2011-08-14 19:51:35 UTC
sorry, i don't find any android tablet which can do as you request.


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