Fairphone 2 Ubuntu Touch

Just for the record: Your FP2 is shipped with Linux installed :wink:
In fact, thanks to the smartphone market, Linux became the most used OS when counting all different kind of devices.

Generally: thereā€™s no need to be afraid of Linux. Also on a desktop, many distros come with a more intuitive GUI than Windows has, are more user-friendly, and easier to set up and work with.

2 Likes

Thanks :slight_smile:

Iā€™m a huge free software fan, soā€¦ YES you should try linux on your computer, completely unrelated to what your phone is running! No, iā€™m just kidding of course. You donā€™t have to run Linux on your pc to install and use Ubuntu Touch (and vice-versa), but i could imagine that it doesnā€™t hurt. You can try most distributions without installing by running them from a live USB stick, so maybe you will find something that clicks with you. For beginners starting with Ubuntu or Ubuntu MATE is always a good idea, but everybody has a different opinion on that, as you can see here.

This is also true! And did someone already mention that the OS and most applications are free?

Long story short: Thatā€™s a different choice for you to make. Not a requirement for Ubuntu Touch, but a different (and fun!) adventure. But keep in mind that Ubuntu Touch itself is designed for phones, and handles some key tasks different from how a common desktop GNU/Linux distribution would.

This is where it gets tricky. While we do now have means of installing without using the command line, we canā€™t guarantee it will never be necessary. We try to avoid it, but since weā€™re only a small project, mistakes happen, which can easily be fixed by a simple terminal command most of the time. Of course the command-line can be intimidating to new users, but remember that you have a community around the project whoā€™s always happy to help you, if you have questions. And, who knows? Maybe youā€™ll even like it! I sure did.

Let me put another disclaimer here and say, that Ubuntu Touch is not as stable as Android or iOS. I myself use it on a daily basis, and i get along just fine, because the values it entails and the community around it outweigh the limitations for me. If youā€™re fine with that, you will probably love Ubuntu Touch just as much as 660+ other people in the UBports Telegram Supergroup.

If i didnā€™t drive you away just yet, hereā€™s how to install! :slight_smile:

2 Likes

No, you did not drive me away! :grin:
In fact, you happened to make me even more curious and I have decided to give it a try. I have just to make a backup before.
Right now, I am using MyPhoneExplorer for that task. Will that be ok, or in other words, can I use this software with Ubuntu Touch as well? Not that Iā€™ve got a nice backup but no means to restore the data to my Ubuntu FP2 :wink:
If you would recommend another backup method, I will gladly go that way.

Thx in advance.

1 Like

Hi everyone
I would like to test Ubuntu Touch on my FP2, but I donā€™t know how to install it and make a backup before that. The UBPort website seems not to provide any guidelines, just the download links. Iā€™m using KBUNTU on my laptop, but Iā€™m not very familiar neither with comandlines nor with Linux as such (luckily it becomes more an more Windows :smiling_imp: )
Anyone knows of a short howto ?
Markus

1 Like

ā€œSimply explore your SonyEricsson or Android phoneā€

Supported phones

I guess Ubuntu Touch would have to somehow pose as Android or an old SonyEricsson device then ā€¦

2 Likes

To do full backup, I use TWRP (already installed in OpenOS), then I copy the TWRP folder on my laptop. Donā€™t forget to save also the Data partition (Pictures, ā€¦) because it is not included in the backup.

For the tutorial a step-by-step guide has once existed for Magic Device Tool, but I donā€™t see it online anymoreā€¦ However now the website seems to advice the Cross Platform Tool, I think it is self-explainatory, just download it, launch it and follow the steps :slight_smile:

2 Likes

An android backup tool is ok, if you want to keep a backup of your android system in case you want to go back, but itā€™s not compatible with Ubuntu Touch. In any case, make sure you donā€™t store the backup file on your device, since that will be overwritten on installation. Since all the apps are different, you will probably have to set it up from scratch.

Most of it is fairly straightforward, though. For example, you can just copy all your music files into the music folder on the ~/Music folder on the device after installation and it will automatically show up in the music app.

1 Like

Hereā€™s our latest Community Q&A: https://youtu.be/OLcLPinXRoo

1 Like

Iā€™d like to continue to use this thread, but since itā€™s marked as solved, itā€™s difficult to spot in the Thread list. Also, the first post contains some very outdated information that might keep people from trying Ubuntu Touchā€¦

@paulakreuzer could we maybe turn the first post into a wiki, so i can update it accordingly? Is it possible to mark the thread as not solved again, so itā€™s shown in black like the other topics? Or should i just start a new thread? Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Done. :slight_smile:

I donā€™t understand why a solved thread would be harder to find, but Iā€™m also not sure marking that post as the solution makes any sense anymore. @NeoTheThird if that post contains any still relevant info that is not mentioned in the first post could you integrate it there too, iā€™ll unmark it then.

2 Likes

I already thought so.
Thanks a lot for all the helpful advice.
I guess I will have to wait until I have a few days off then, so I can start tinkering with my phone.

Might take a while (maybe X-mas), but I sure will report my experience later on.

1 Like

The UbuntuTouch OTA-2 is coming soon! A final release candidate has just landed on the ā€œrcā€ channel, and is expected by Saturday September 23 in the ā€œstableā€ channel. :slight_smile:
In this blog post from @NeoTheThird one can find the list of improvements and a call for testers.

2 Likes

@paulakreuzer Thank you!

@BertG Cool, looking forward to hearing your thoughts :slight_smile:

Thank you @NeoTheThird for updating the 1st post, indeed this is more attractive for newcomers than the command-line stuff related to the pre-alfa ;-).

I heard of convergence on the audiocast but I have not tried it yetā€¦ Which cable/device do we need to connect FP2 to an external monitor? There will be a adapter (docking station?) currently developed by ubports, right?

2 Likes

Unlike some of our other supported devices, the FP2 does not have hdmi out, so youā€™re left with wireless display technologies like Miracast/Aethercast. Some TVs have integrated receivers, but you can also buy dongles to plug into any hdmi port. Look for the word Miracast.

I canā€™t really comment on that right now, since iā€™m not involved in that part of the project. But yes, something in that direction was announced at an earlier stage and itā€™s still coming, but i canā€™t give a time and date when it will be available, or other details atm. Sorry :wink:


In other news: OTA 2, the second stable version of Ubuntu Touch has just been released. Get it while itā€™s hot!

2 Likes

Thanks for OTA-2, it went smooth and I appreciate the changes I can see very much (new graphics for the OpenStore for example, possibility to change the dash wallpaper) :slight_smile: I just have some requests :

  • In the next OTA, could you add the swiss keyboard layout (QWERTZ) please ? Itā€™s a little bit strange to use the french one and it was something already missing with Canonicalā€™s version of Ubuntu Touch :wink:
  • Could you add the possibility to automatically remove history and cookies in the web browser ?

Again, thanks a lot and congratulations for your awesome work ! :clap: :clap:

2 Likes

Blue screen bug due to new screen hardware was solved on devel channel :slight_smile: Thank you to the team :smiley:
(sources : UBPorts community update 13 at 19:25, Github issue and Kernel update )

4 Likes

Very nice! They are doing a great job.
Now letā€™s hope that the new camera modules will be supported soon :slight_smile:

2 Likes

How exactly does it differ from german QUERTZ? I always assumed Switzerland used the same layout. Adding a new layout is not very difficult, hereā€™s a pull request from someone who did it for trukish: Add new turkish keyboard layout by turanmahmudov Ā· Pull Request #17 Ā· ubports/keyboard-component Ā· GitHub

Yep, thanks for posting. The new screen works and is quite beautiful, actually. The new camera proves to be more difficult, and there are also some EEPROM bugs in Ubuntu Touch on the latest batch FP2, but else then the random crashes that occur from time to time because of this, the phone is usable. In fact, iā€™m using a latest-batch FP2 as my daily phone at the moment :slight_smile:

2 Likes