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I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

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Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#21
post #2

I reverse-engineered a Doogee U10 (Rockchip RK3562) to boot Debian natively from an SD card. No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. The tablet boots Linux directly from SD without modifying internal Android storage. Remove the card and Android still boots normally. The process is intentionally simple: write the image to an SD ca…

[deleted]

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#22

Since it seems AI is pretty good at reverse-engineering stuff like this, is there any educational material on how to use it for that purpose? Seems like it could really help port things like postmarketOS to new devices (and improve support on existing ones)?

Ahh yes, rely on AI to avoid learning how to do something. Our brains are cooked if we keep up these attitudes.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#23
Booting into Debian with most devices fully functional is great.

What I'd like to know is what software runs adequately under it in 4 GB RAM. Web browsing should definitely be possible, but I suppose it's limited to very few tabs. Some very lightweight DE could likely make it more usable. Running something like WezTerm + tmux as the DE could be even more economical, leaving some room for e.g. development tools.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#24
post #2

I reverse-engineered a Doogee U10 (Rockchip RK3562) to boot Debian natively from an SD card. No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. The tablet boots Linux directly from SD without modifying internal Android storage. Remove the card and Android still boots normally. The process is intentionally simple: write the image to an SD ca…

> No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there.

Judging from the build.sh, it looks like this is just using unmodified upstream u-boot and tools from the rockchip-linux repository, so "from scratch" is really just analyzing the DTB to see what drivers need to be loaded?

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#25
post #23

Booting into Debian with most devices fully functional is great. What I'd like to know is what software runs adequately under it in 4 GB RAM. Web browsing should definitely be possible, but I suppose it's limited to very few tabs. Some very lightweight DE could likely make it more usable. Running something like WezTerm + tmux as the DE could be even more economical, leaving some room for e.g. development tools.

Pretty much everything. I only had 4GB ram until two or three years ago. No swap. Never ran into an issue.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#26
post #21
post #2

I reverse-engineered a Doogee U10 (Rockchip RK3562) to boot Debian natively from an SD card. No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. The tablet boots Linux directly from SD without modifying internal Android storage. Remove the card and Android still boots normally. The process is intentionally simple: write the image to an SD ca…

[deleted]

[dead]

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#27
post #19
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. I know you just registered to post this, but AI generated comments are not allowed here. The project looks very cool. Just take the time to write your own comments in your own words and it would certainly be welcomed.

> No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. That's exactly how I'd write it, save for the em dash with spaces around it, which is not how em dashes are normally used in English language. I think it's an overreaction.

What? That's exactly how em dashes are used in normal English.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#28

What was the motivation for this? Why this particular tablet?

the tablet is cheap and was launched a few years ago, but they still sell it. because it boots from the SD card first, it makes a perfect candidate for this project.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#29
post #19
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. I know you just registered to post this, but AI generated comments are not allowed here. The project looks very cool. Just take the time to write your own comments in your own words and it would certainly be welcomed.

> No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. That's exactly how I'd write it, save for the em dash with spaces around it, which is not how em dashes are normally used in English language. I think it's an overreaction.

[deleted]

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#30
post #22

Since it seems AI is pretty good at reverse-engineering stuff like this, is there any educational material on how to use it for that purpose? Seems like it could really help port things like postmarketOS to new devices (and improve support on existing ones)?

Ahh yes, rely on AI to avoid learning how to do something. Our brains are cooked if we keep up these attitudes.

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