Net Some Natty Narwhal (Ubuntu 11.04) on Your Android Device

You may remember that not too long ago, we covered a not too difficult method of installing Ubuntu 10.10 on your Android device of choice. However, times change, and so do Ubuntu versions, apparently. As always, a solution awaits you on XDA. This time, XDA forum member GhostOfTheNet has come up with a set of easy-to-follow instructions on how to get this updated version of everyone’s favorite Linux distro running on your Android device. You are just 9 simple steps to having VNC-enabled Natty Narwhal bliss on your Android device.

In the words of the developer:

[what you got]

• you start the ubuntu subsystem with ubuntu start (still chroot)
• with ubuntu shell you open an bash session
• with ubuntu vnc you start the vncservice
• with ubuntu stop you stop (is rebooting)
• with ubuntu uninstall you uninstall the script from system(directory /sdcard/ubuntu stays)

in ubuntu you can access:

• android’s /dev bound to ubuntu’s /dev (fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0 is working fine(sdcard). don’t touch /dev/block/mmcblk1 or you’ll kill your android system)
• android’s /system bound to ubuntu’s /android/system
• android’s /data bound to ubuntu’s /android/data
• android’s /mnt/sdcard bound to ubuntu’s /adnroid/sdcard

[the tecnical side]

• Ubuntu Natty Narwhal (11.04) from http://elinux.org/BeagleBoardUbuntu
• dd for creating an image (the filesystem on the disk supports only files < 2GB)
• image formatted with ext2
• adb push /sdcard/ubuntu/img/ubuntu.img (android shell has gunzip)
• chroot env
• tightvnc, gnome-session, maximus

If that sounds like your cup of tea, be sure to continue on to the original thread.