Friday, March 19, 2010

Ubuntu Gets Ported to HTC Diamond2 (Video)


The folks of XDA Developers have done it again: they’ve managed to port Ubuntu to HTC Diamond2, with the image of the software being created by user sebbo90. Ubuntu works both on HTC Touch Pro2 and Diamond2, but on the first device it provides better functionality, since there’s a physical keyboard incorporated, plus WiFi and GPRS can be configured elaborately.


The guys over at blog.chip.ro played with Diamond2 and Ubuntu, managing to boot the device, start the task manager and Firefox. They promised to also make an image of the software complete with virtual keyboard and discover the full potential of the platform on this smartphone.
This project bears the name of Rhobuntu (Ubuntu on HTC Rhodium and Topaz) and it has a dedicated website over here. Ubuntu is able to boot, show a graphical interface, supports touch input, WiFi, GPRS, Firefox, AbiWord and Terminal. It can mount and access the SD card and you’ll be able to download it from here.
After the download is completed, you can copy the content to the SD card, then you’ll have to enter the Ubuntu directory and start haret.exe. If the loading process is stuck, you’ll need to delete the content on the card and copy the image again. Afterwards, you’ll start the WiFi, enter the command “iwlist eth0 scan essid YOUR_AP”, with YOUR_AP being the name of your AP. Next, the icon in the bar will allow you to set the connectivity data.
Video of the process available below: