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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

#31

Post by logicchains »

singpolyma3 wrote: post #25
nine_k wrote: 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.

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

That sounds like an problem Windows could solve.

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

#32

Post by BobbyTables2 »

logicchains wrote: post #31
singpolyma3 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

>I only had 4GB ram until two or three years ago. No swap. Never ran into an issue That sounds like an problem Windows could solve.

Also sounds like a problem they don’t want to solve…

If people have to buy new PCs, that’s more $$$ for Microsoft.

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

#33

Post by tech4bot »

MasterScrat wrote: post #13
Aurornis wrote: 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.

I have mixed feelings (as in, I'm unsure how to feel) about projects where the code, the README and the HN/Reddit posts are mostly AI-generated. I feel the frustration of reading "slop", but on the other hand the projects that surface do usually bring something useful to the table. Should we simply judge the submission based on its technical merit? Why do I feel annoyed that an otherwise cool project uses typical LLM…

Yes, I used AI to help with the README and wording. But the project itself came from actual testing: opening the device, wiring UART, reading logs, understanding the boot flow, adapting the DTB, and debugging hardware issues.

For Wi-Fi, I even contacted the chip factory. They didn’t answer at first, so I wrote again in Chinese with AI’s help and eventually got the drivers.

We are not yet at the point where you give AI a tablet and it magically returns a working image. AI helped a lot, but it also introduced bugs more than once. The real work was still testing, breaking things, fixing them, and repeating.

I posted it here because I think the project is useful and could attract people who want to build on it. All the devices should be more open, repairable, and reusable, so we can actually own the hardware we buy.

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

#34

Post by exe34 »

singpolyma3 wrote: post #25
nine_k wrote: 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.

I have 8GB, which I've had since 2012. Never had a problem - I run a lean Nixos with just xmonad and dmenu, chrome, emacs, and about a dozen open pdfs and video tutorials.

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

#35

Post by fer »

tech4bot wrote: 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…

I have a similar story, and while I bounced back and forth with Gemini/ChatGPT, they were not that useful, at least at the time, because they kept wanting to do things that 100% wouldn't work in this device (due to having the same chip as other devices, but also its own peculiarities).

https://www.fer.xyz/2025/03/xpi-s905x3

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

#36

Post by tripdout »

tech4bot wrote: 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…

I’m running the risk of just getting an AI response back, but:

How are you able to boot Debian from an SD card, and without unlocking the bootloader?

Does the bootloader look for an OS on SD card by default? SD and eMMC are basically the same thing, is it just the same lines but an SD card takes priority over the eMMC? And does it not enforce verified boot properly / at all? Maybe being a Rockchip and not MTK/QCOM has something to do with it, but it’s still an Android device and I would assume there’s something in CTS/VTS/GMS licensing that makes verified boot mandatory.

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

#37

Post by exe34 »

dakolli wrote: post #22
NoboruWataya wrote: post #14

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.

There are things I will just not bother to learn. I can either not do them, or let AI do them for me. There are things I can do for myself, but can't be bothered. I can either not do them or let AI do them for me.

I prefer spending my time doings I actually want to do. Let the machine do the boring things.

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

#38

Post by alchemist1e9 »

tech4bot wrote: post #28
amingilani wrote: post #3

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.

It’s a great example and I have recently been thinking a lot that AI assistance maybe enable rapid porting progress and bringing life to recycled devices for 3rd world situations.

Linux can be trimmed way down and with an efficient stack on top can make many devices extremely useable.

Here is a related comment on user software side I made recently.

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=alchemist1e9#4800737...

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

#39

Post by exe34 »

squarefoot wrote: post #10
roger_ wrote: post #4

I love how easy AI makes it to hack devices that otherwise wouldn't be worth the time.

I used Claude, back then when the free tier was usable, to port Linux on a obsolete, unsupported and undocumented board whose manufacturer didn't publish any info aside binary only Android images, which fortunately were enough to obtain some info. This tickled my imagination and I wondered about a AI assisted reverse engineering platform with a complete build system in which the AI is connected to ports (serial conso…

What sort of debug/probing harness did you have? I find it hard to conceptualise, when nothing boots yet. Did you have serial output working right from the beginning? Or did you have to get that first and then everything else was possible?

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

#40

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

MasterScrat wrote: post #13
Aurornis wrote: 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.

I have mixed feelings (as in, I'm unsure how to feel) about projects where the code, the README and the HN/Reddit posts are mostly AI-generated. I feel the frustration of reading "slop", but on the other hand the projects that surface do usually bring something useful to the table. Should we simply judge the submission based on its technical merit? Why do I feel annoyed that an otherwise cool project uses typical LLM…

I'm not willing to give the benefit of the doubt to AI generated submissions anymore because the technical merit has too often turned out to be false, e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47471647
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