8 ms·

Speaking of booting Linux from places, what I would like to be able to do is carry a Linux image around with me on my (Android) smartphone, plug the phone into

Speaking of booting Linux from places, what I would like to be able to do is carry a Linux image around with me on my (Android) smartphone, plug the phone into a USB port on a laptop and boot the Linux image from there on the laptop. Does such a thing exist?

jstanley 2y ago
Why does it need to be on the phone? Carry a normal USB stick.
- Infinity315 2y ago
  It doesn't, but consider that the vast majority of us already carry our phones everywhere. Would carrying an extra USB stick be that big of a hassle? No, but I can see the need for booting up a ready Linux image being extremely situational so the vast majority of time you're just carrying dead weight.
  - forgotpwd16 2y ago
    You can have a stick with one boot and one commonly formatted (FAT32/exFAT/ext) partition, Linux image being stored in later. Then it's like a normal stick that can also be used to boot Linux. Ventoy automates this process, allowing you to throw any ISO in a specific directory and boot it.
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
    Wouldn't it be cool if these general purpose computers in our pockets were useful in novel ways? You're only allowed to use it in the prescribed fashion.
  - dataflow 2y ago
    What do you do about the USB cable though? A flash drive you can plug in directly, it's guaranteed to work. A phone requires you to either carry around an extra cable (arguably more annoying to carry than a flash drive) or take the risk that you won't have the right cable available nearby when you're trying to (say) boot a laptop.
- Medox 2y ago
  The USB stick will be forgotten or lost much quicker than the phone.
  - diggan 2y ago
    USB sticks attached to keychains are already widespread in some communities (DJs for example), I'm sure us software people could do it too if we wanted to :)
    - Perz1val 2y ago
      Also attach an USB killer for extra thrill
    - felixg3 2y ago
      That makes sense. I once got falsely identified as a DJ, but it was just a YubiKey.
    - zamalek 2y ago
      I leave my keychain at the door when I get home. This is probably a common practice.
  - lizknope 2y ago
    I have a few Verbatim "Tuff and Tiny" USB drives. Like this but without the plastic clip part. I can fit them in my wallet because its about the thickness of 2 credit cards which are also in my wallet. https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-8GB-Clip-Flash-Drive/dp/B00NJG6K0G/ https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-8GB-Clip-Flash-Drive/dp/B00N...
    - Medox 2y ago
      Reminds me of the credit card sized (literally [1]) USB stick I still have somewhere but it was too annoying to carry around and hope that next time that cheap stick still works... Using the phone directly still seems the cleanest and most reliable way. Or maybe a combination of both, like those magnetic plugs [2] but with an integrated USB stick. Bonus points if you don't have to take it out at all (until needed) by either connecting the other magnetic part for data transfer and charging or data through USB OTG and wireless charging. One can dream... but the technology will shrink even further so who knows. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Enfain-Flash-Drives-Memory-Credit/dp/B00KBO2FGW https://www.amazon.com/Enfain-Flash-Drives-Memory-Credit/dp/... 2. https://www.adafruit.com/product/5524 https://www.adafruit.com/product/5524
hexmiles 2y ago
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwarebakery.drivedroid&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwareba.... It dosen't work on all smartphone
- senectus1 2y ago
  Also requires Root access
  - sambazi 2y ago
    not sure if such a thing can work w/o root
sandreas 2y ago
Boot linux of a Smartphone would take drive emulation, which is possible, but not easily available. To rootless Boot a Linux ON (not from) your phone is possible via tmux APP. Search for "rootless kali nethunter" on YouTube. See here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfM8VCAu-I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfM8VCAu-I
- ce4 2y ago
  That is not booting a linux-kernel at all. it is just using the existing kernel which Android is based on (also Linux).
franga2000 2y ago
This really is nice to have and a sibling comment has already linked to DriveDroid, the solution I'm using for this. Back in the CyanogenMod days, I had an even better setup: there was an app that also let you emulate a USB keyboard and mouse, so I could, with some command-line trickery, boot a computer from an ISO on my phone, then use that same phone as a keyboard and mouse/trackpad, including in the BIOS.
adriancr 2y ago
You could set up a PXE boot server on the android phone, then set up computer to boot off it.
ddalex 2y ago
Why just not use Samsung's DeX that gets you a linux desktop when you plug your phone in a usb-c monitor/console
- Crestwave 2y ago
  Wasn't Linux on DeX discontinued?
  - criddell 2y ago
    Yes it was.
    - byteknight 2y ago
      Dex does not need an underlying OS. Your conflating features. Dex simply requires a monitor. No computer.
      - criddell 2y ago
        This is the feature I'm thinking of: https://www.slashgear.com/samsung-linux-on-dex-is-dead-here-are-open-source-alternatives-21596310/ https://www.slashgear.com/samsung-linux-on-dex-is-dead-here-...
  - byteknight 2y ago
    Dex does not need an underlying OS. Your conflating features. Dex simply requires a monitor. No computer.
- sambazi 2y ago
  different use case and requirement for samsung device?
stragies 2y ago
A magisk module to do just that: https://github.com/nitanmarcel/isodrive-magisk https://github.com/nitanmarcel/isodrive-magisk needs root, and your kernel needs USB Mass storage gadget support module enabled, which, sadly, LineageOS doesn't enable by default.
- Timber-6539 2y ago
  I have used this many times on my phone running LineageOS. Did not have to enable any kernel features.
  - stragies 2y ago
    On the phones, where the Vendor kernel has this option enabled, Lineage also enables it, e.g. most LGs. But Lineage does not enable it on all kernels, even if it could just be enabled. I observe this on all of my Samsungs, for example. You can use this app to see which USB gadget options are enabled on your kernel: https://github.com/tejado/android-usb-gadget https://github.com/tejado/android-usb-gadget
    - Timber-6539 2y ago
      Makes sense. My phone model is a Xiaomi. Don't know why Samsung would ship their kernels without ConfigFS support but I have never had such issues.
      - stragies 2y ago
        It's not about `ConfigFS` as a whole, but specifically `CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS_MASS_STORAGE`, that is left disabled, while lots of other `CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS_BLA` are enabled. This and more can be seen in the `device info` screen of the App mentioned above
        Timber-6539 2y ago
        Should have said *proper ConfigFS support. Anyway, had no prior interest in this kernel feature until you mentioned the anomaly that is specific to certain vendors. You can also do `zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIGFS_` in a root shell (su) inside termux to get what options are set by the default kernel.
0x1ceb00da 2y ago
Glue a bootable usb to your phone.
- akoboldfrying 2y ago
  Yes, do this. Don't under any circumstances try to solve a cute technical challenge -- that would only lead to fun, or worse yet, satisfaction.
  - gibspaulding 2y ago
    It sounds to me like software enlightenment: https://xkcd.com/1988/ https://xkcd.com/1988/
sambazi 2y ago
i used drivedroid [0] on in the 2010's for this purpose. handy but never essential. requires root though. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwarebakery.drivedroid https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwareba...
toast0 2y ago
Android stopped exposing USB Mass Storage, because it's problematic for the core use case of letting you grab pictures and what not from your phone, because it requires exclusive access to a filesystem; that wouldn't be a big deal for you, I don't think, you probably just want to create a large file and expose that as a device, but the implications of exposing the sd card (or the virtual sd card) as mass storage are why it went out of style. I did find this, but it's ancient and may not meet your needs anyway... https://xdaforums.com/t/app-root-usb-mass-storage-enabler-v1-6.3240097/ https://xdaforums.com/t/app-root-usb-mass-storage-enabler-v1...
- Aardwolf 2y ago
  What do you mean, usb mass storage was much better for the core use case of getting pictures of your phone than the flaky mtp now is
  - toast0 2y ago
    I mean, yes, but ... If the sd card is mounted by your computer, you can't run any apps on the phone that need to use the sd card. That means, apps you moved to the SD card for space reasons, or apps that might save photos to the SD card (such as messengers). If your computer messes up the filesystem, then you're in a world of hurt.
    - Aardwolf 2y ago
      Couldn't they emulate it then? If multiple apps can access the filesystem at the same time, why couldn't also some app (background system process) read from / write to the filesystem in an android multi access compatible way, while serving the mass storage device API on the other side
      - toast0 2y ago
        That's possible, but really challenging to do because mass storage is block oriented, the host (desktop) is likely to do read and write caching, and there's no mechanism for a host to say I finished writing this file, and there's no mechanism for a device (phone) to say blocks changed from under you. The paradigm for block oriented filesystem access is exclusive access, and filesystem code is built around that. There's some niche filesystems around multiple simultaneous access to block devices, but I don't know if there's any that are open source; mostly people don't setup scsi/sas/das disk arrays with two hosts anymore, and when they do, they're much more likely to have exclusive access with failover than simultaneous access. If you had a team of really detail oriented developers capable of getting this done for Android and desktop platforms, wouldn't you rather they work on something else? Another approach might be to build a virtual filesystem to export as a block device on usb connection that's essentially a snapshot of the current one, and then you sync any changes that were written on usb disconnect, but then you need to manage divergent changes and that's unfun too. SMB over USB would be terrible in many ways, but probably handle this use case much better.

jstanley 2y ago

Why does it need to be on the phone? Carry a normal USB stick.

Infinity315 2y ago
It doesn't, but consider that the vast majority of us already carry our phones everywhere. Would carrying an extra USB stick be that big of a hassle? No, but I can see the need for booting up a ready Linux image being extremely situational so the vast majority of time you're just carrying dead weight.
- forgotpwd16 2y ago
  You can have a stick with one boot and one commonly formatted (FAT32/exFAT/ext) partition, Linux image being stored in later. Then it's like a normal stick that can also be used to boot Linux. Ventoy automates this process, allowing you to throw any ISO in a specific directory and boot it.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
  Wouldn't it be cool if these general purpose computers in our pockets were useful in novel ways? You're only allowed to use it in the prescribed fashion.
- dataflow 2y ago
  What do you do about the USB cable though? A flash drive you can plug in directly, it's guaranteed to work. A phone requires you to either carry around an extra cable (arguably more annoying to carry than a flash drive) or take the risk that you won't have the right cable available nearby when you're trying to (say) boot a laptop.
Medox 2y ago
The USB stick will be forgotten or lost much quicker than the phone.
- diggan 2y ago
  USB sticks attached to keychains are already widespread in some communities (DJs for example), I'm sure us software people could do it too if we wanted to :)
  - Perz1val 2y ago
    Also attach an USB killer for extra thrill
  - felixg3 2y ago
    That makes sense. I once got falsely identified as a DJ, but it was just a YubiKey.
  - zamalek 2y ago
    I leave my keychain at the door when I get home. This is probably a common practice.
- lizknope 2y ago
  I have a few Verbatim "Tuff and Tiny" USB drives. Like this but without the plastic clip part. I can fit them in my wallet because its about the thickness of 2 credit cards which are also in my wallet. https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-8GB-Clip-Flash-Drive/dp/B00NJG6K0G/ https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-8GB-Clip-Flash-Drive/dp/B00N...
  - Medox 2y ago
    Reminds me of the credit card sized (literally [1]) USB stick I still have somewhere but it was too annoying to carry around and hope that next time that cheap stick still works... Using the phone directly still seems the cleanest and most reliable way. Or maybe a combination of both, like those magnetic plugs [2] but with an integrated USB stick. Bonus points if you don't have to take it out at all (until needed) by either connecting the other magnetic part for data transfer and charging or data through USB OTG and wireless charging. One can dream... but the technology will shrink even further so who knows. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Enfain-Flash-Drives-Memory-Credit/dp/B00KBO2FGW https://www.amazon.com/Enfain-Flash-Drives-Memory-Credit/dp/... 2. https://www.adafruit.com/product/5524 https://www.adafruit.com/product/5524

hexmiles 2y ago

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwarebakery.drivedroid&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwareba.... It dosen't work on all smartphone

senectus1 2y ago
Also requires Root access
- sambazi 2y ago
  not sure if such a thing can work w/o root

sandreas 2y ago

Boot linux of a Smartphone would take drive emulation, which is possible, but not easily available. To rootless Boot a Linux ON (not from) your phone is possible via tmux APP. Search for "rootless kali nethunter" on YouTube. See here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfM8VCAu-I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfM8VCAu-I

ce4 2y ago
That is not booting a linux-kernel at all. it is just using the existing kernel which Android is based on (also Linux).

franga2000 2y ago

This really is nice to have and a sibling comment has already linked to DriveDroid, the solution I'm using for this. Back in the CyanogenMod days, I had an even better setup: there was an app that also let you emulate a USB keyboard and mouse, so I could, with some command-line trickery, boot a computer from an ISO on my phone, then use that same phone as a keyboard and mouse/trackpad, including in the BIOS.

adriancr 2y ago

You could set up a PXE boot server on the android phone, then set up computer to boot off it.

ddalex 2y ago

Why just not use Samsung's DeX that gets you a linux desktop when you plug your phone in a usb-c monitor/console

Crestwave 2y ago
Wasn't Linux on DeX discontinued?
- criddell 2y ago
  Yes it was.
  - byteknight 2y ago
    Dex does not need an underlying OS. Your conflating features. Dex simply requires a monitor. No computer.
    - criddell 2y ago
      This is the feature I'm thinking of: https://www.slashgear.com/samsung-linux-on-dex-is-dead-here-are-open-source-alternatives-21596310/ https://www.slashgear.com/samsung-linux-on-dex-is-dead-here-...
- byteknight 2y ago
  Dex does not need an underlying OS. Your conflating features. Dex simply requires a monitor. No computer.
sambazi 2y ago
different use case and requirement for samsung device?

stragies 2y ago

A magisk module to do just that: https://github.com/nitanmarcel/isodrive-magisk https://github.com/nitanmarcel/isodrive-magisk needs root, and your kernel needs USB Mass storage gadget support module enabled, which, sadly, LineageOS doesn't enable by default.

Timber-6539 2y ago
I have used this many times on my phone running LineageOS. Did not have to enable any kernel features.
- stragies 2y ago
  On the phones, where the Vendor kernel has this option enabled, Lineage also enables it, e.g. most LGs. But Lineage does not enable it on all kernels, even if it could just be enabled. I observe this on all of my Samsungs, for example. You can use this app to see which USB gadget options are enabled on your kernel: https://github.com/tejado/android-usb-gadget https://github.com/tejado/android-usb-gadget
  - Timber-6539 2y ago
    Makes sense. My phone model is a Xiaomi. Don't know why Samsung would ship their kernels without ConfigFS support but I have never had such issues.
    - stragies 2y ago
      It's not about `ConfigFS` as a whole, but specifically `CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS_MASS_STORAGE`, that is left disabled, while lots of other `CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS_BLA` are enabled. This and more can be seen in the `device info` screen of the App mentioned above
      - Timber-6539 2y ago
        Should have said *proper ConfigFS support. Anyway, had no prior interest in this kernel feature until you mentioned the anomaly that is specific to certain vendors. You can also do `zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIGFS_` in a root shell (su) inside termux to get what options are set by the default kernel.

0x1ceb00da 2y ago

Glue a bootable usb to your phone.

akoboldfrying 2y ago
Yes, do this. Don't under any circumstances try to solve a cute technical challenge -- that would only lead to fun, or worse yet, satisfaction.
- gibspaulding 2y ago
  It sounds to me like software enlightenment: https://xkcd.com/1988/ https://xkcd.com/1988/

sambazi 2y ago

i used drivedroid [0] on in the 2010's for this purpose. handy but never essential. requires root though. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwarebakery.drivedroid https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwareba...

toast0 2y ago

Android stopped exposing USB Mass Storage, because it's problematic for the core use case of letting you grab pictures and what not from your phone, because it requires exclusive access to a filesystem; that wouldn't be a big deal for you, I don't think, you probably just want to create a large file and expose that as a device, but the implications of exposing the sd card (or the virtual sd card) as mass storage are why it went out of style. I did find this, but it's ancient and may not meet your needs anyway... https://xdaforums.com/t/app-root-usb-mass-storage-enabler-v1-6.3240097/ https://xdaforums.com/t/app-root-usb-mass-storage-enabler-v1...

Aardwolf 2y ago
What do you mean, usb mass storage was much better for the core use case of getting pictures of your phone than the flaky mtp now is
- toast0 2y ago
  I mean, yes, but ... If the sd card is mounted by your computer, you can't run any apps on the phone that need to use the sd card. That means, apps you moved to the SD card for space reasons, or apps that might save photos to the SD card (such as messengers). If your computer messes up the filesystem, then you're in a world of hurt.
  - Aardwolf 2y ago
    Couldn't they emulate it then? If multiple apps can access the filesystem at the same time, why couldn't also some app (background system process) read from / write to the filesystem in an android multi access compatible way, while serving the mass storage device API on the other side
    - toast0 2y ago
      That's possible, but really challenging to do because mass storage is block oriented, the host (desktop) is likely to do read and write caching, and there's no mechanism for a host to say I finished writing this file, and there's no mechanism for a device (phone) to say blocks changed from under you. The paradigm for block oriented filesystem access is exclusive access, and filesystem code is built around that. There's some niche filesystems around multiple simultaneous access to block devices, but I don't know if there's any that are open source; mostly people don't setup scsi/sas/das disk arrays with two hosts anymore, and when they do, they're much more likely to have exclusive access with failover than simultaneous access. If you had a team of really detail oriented developers capable of getting this done for Android and desktop platforms, wouldn't you rather they work on something else? Another approach might be to build a virtual filesystem to export as a block device on usb connection that's essentially a snapshot of the current one, and then you sync any changes that were written on usb disconnect, but then you need to manage divergent changes and that's unfun too. SMB over USB would be terrible in many ways, but probably handle this use case much better.