Live boot is coming on Android smartphones!

PostmarketOS One of the most reliable alternatives is a Ubuntu Touch. It is a Linux distribution for smartphones Complete open source Focuses on privacy and security. Starting with the latest computer update, a very interesting new functionality is available: The Direct launch on smartphone Android.

postmarketOS, on Android!

Thanks to the live boot, it is now possible to launch Dystro on your smartphone without installing anything. To proceed, connect the smartphone to the computer Unlocked The phone’s boot loader. I“Transferred” to PostMarketOS kernel RAM memory When the whole computer is on the computer and reads directly via USB. This way, you can try Dystro Without affecting the pre-installed Android system in any way On the smartphone (however, the phone should always be connected to the computer). Once the phone is turned off and the cable is disconnected from the computer, the smartphone will automatically restart on Android. This feature is clearly very important and allows anyone with some practical skills to try postmarketOS.

Some more details

Let’s try to get a little more technology and understand how this system works. First, you need to know that the activity is baptized “Network Startup” (Or netboot) and has been in development for about a year. Here’s how it works:

See also

• A small script is included pmbootstrap It creates one nbd The server that takes care of loading the computer image
• When you run boot From the host PC to the Android smartphone (connected to the PC via USB), the latter receives a command (fastboot boot) This forces the boot loader to download the kernel image to RAM without flashing
• At this point initfs Starting service nbd And the computer image comes via USB
• The image is loaded and we proceed with the boot

Additional information on this process is available Who.