Easy debian install with prebuilt image.

Xqtftqx · 05-12-2011, 06:49 PM

Hey guys, ive been working on running a stable debian on the kindle for a bit now and i think im on the point of release.

Ive written a step by step guide on how to install a 500mb debian image onto the kindle, you can view it on my new blog here: http://xkid.biz/wordpress/?p=4

Thanks! Any troubles leave a comment on the blog or here

EDIT: Sound works

EDIT: Alright, so our first problem is terminfo and $TERM with the onscreen terminal. Thinks like irssi wont properly scroll unless these are fixed.

EDIT: May 14th: New bootdebian.sh file i suggest you upgrade.

yifanlu · 05-12-2011, 08:12 PM

This is cool, but what's the advantage of this over the linux system built in on the Kindle? You can easily add ARM binaries of programs found in debian.

Xiaopangzi · 05-12-2011, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yifanlu

This is cool, but what's the advantage of this over the linux system built in on the Kindle? You can easily add ARM binaries of programs found in debian.

1. Package management with automatic handling of dependencies.

2. Chrooting into dedicated environment means it is impossible to brick the Kindle.

univert · 05-12-2011, 10:44 PM

Hi Xqtftqx, which generation of kindle did you experiment? DXG or 3?

Giggleton · 05-12-2011, 11:03 PM

Thank you for doing this, do you have instructions for installing reading software after installing debian?

Xqtftqx · 05-13-2011, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xiaopangzi

1. Package management with automatic handling of dependencies.

2. Chrooting into dedicated environment means it is impossible to brick the Kindle.

Exactly this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by univert

Hi Xqtftqx, which generation of kindle did you experiment? DXG or 3?

I use a kindle 3, with 3g.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Thank you for doing this, do you have instructions for installing reading software after installing debian?

Not at the moment, im working on getting tinyx to run. Once that is done, youll be able to run some kind of reading software.

borghal · 05-13-2011, 04:50 PM

Hi, thank you for providing a debian chroot!

I followed your instructions and got it all working, however a simple

Code:

apt-get update

isn't working as there seems to be no internet connection. I am running a K3W with wireless on, what can I do to let debian use the WIFI?

* edit: Got it working once I figured out I needed to start debian without usbNetwork connection to do it.

Xqtftqx · 05-13-2011, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by borghal

Hi, thank you for providing a debian chroot!

I followed your instructions and got it all working, however a simple

Code:

apt-get update

isn't working as there seems to be no internet connection. I am running a K3W with wireless on, what can I do to let debian use the WIFI?

* edit: Got it working once I figured out I needed to start debian without usbNetwork connection to do it.

Glad you got it working

EDIT: Just tried mplayer, it works perfectly

So sound problems will be solved with no extra work needed \o/

bubnikv · 05-14-2011, 10:03 AM

Hello.

I tried a similar setup. When running on flash disk, it is recommended to mount the root filesystem with noatime parameter to disable updating the access time whenever a file is accessed:

mount -o loop,noatime /mnt/us/debian-armel-750.img /mnt/debian

Other than that, you did not mount devpts. I am not sure what difference it makes:
mount -t devpts devpts /mnt/debian/dev/pts

I wonder how the Debian will wear the flash drive. Flash filesystems have limited number of write cycles. Therefore Kindle mounts most of the file system as read only and creates ramdisks for working file systems. I would strongly recommend this approach with the debian armel on Kindle, but I have no sufficient knowledge of Linux anymore to answer which folders shall be mounted to ramdisks on Debian.

BTW, I don't think you can brick your Kindle as long as the root filesystem is mounted read only.

Vojtech

Xqtftqx · 05-14-2011, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubnikv

Hello.

I tried a similar setup. When running on flash disk, it is recommended to mount the root filesystem with noatime parameter to disable updating the access time whenever a file is accessed:

mount -o loop,noatime /mnt/us/debian-armel-750.img /mnt/debian

Other than that, you did not mount devpts. I am not sure what difference it makes:
mount -t devpts devpts /mnt/debian/dev/pts

I wonder how the Debian will wear the flash drive. Flash filesystems have limited number of write cycles. Therefore Kindle mounts most of the file system as read only and creates ramdisks for working file systems. I would strongly recommend this approach with the debian armel on Kindle, but I have no sufficient knowledge of Linux anymore to answer which folders shall be mounted to ramdisks on Debian.

BTW, I don't think you can brick your Kindle as long as the root filesystem is mounted read only.

Vojtech

Thanks for the tips ill edit my chroot. Writing reading cycles shouldn't be much of a problem. If your kindle can no longer read/write its flash im sure amazon will replace it (Or bestbuy warranty \o/)

borghal · 05-16-2011, 03:19 AM

I tried playing an mp3 file with mplayer but sound was very choppy. You got it working fine?

Also I have to do so as root, as normal users can't access sound the device. Could you point me to which permissions I must tweak to run sound as user, not root? I'd love to have cmus running.

Oh, and one more question (sorry if they seem too n00by): How can I access the kindle file system from within the chroot?

Thanks a million for providing debian, I really love having newsbeuter running to have instant access to my newsfeeds

bubnikv · 05-16-2011, 12:01 PM

> Oh, and one more question (sorry if they seem too n00by): How can I access the kindle file system from within the chroot?

You will have to mount the root fs (or some subfolder of it) into the mounted debian subfolder.

Vojtech

tomashg · 05-22-2011, 06:31 AM

alot of thanks for this great tutorial

i noticed that after exiting ./bootdebian.sh it doesn't really unmount /mnt/debian correctly.

Code:

[*]Unmounting Rootfs...
umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy
umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy

adding these lines in your script before 'umount /mnt/debian' seems to correct it

Code:

echo "[*]Unmounting Rootfs..."
umount /mnt/debian/dev
umount /mnt/debian/proc
umount /mnt/debian/sys
umount /mnt/debian

Xqtftqx · 05-24-2011, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomashg

alot of thanks for this great tutorial

i noticed that after exiting ./bootdebian.sh it doesn't really unmount /mnt/debian correctly.

Code:

[*]Unmounting Rootfs...
umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy
umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy

adding these lines in your script before 'umount /mnt/debian' seems to correct it

Code:

echo "[*]Unmounting Rootfs..."
umount /mnt/debian/dev
umount /mnt/debian/proc
umount /mnt/debian/sys
umount /mnt/debian

I love this community, i put the unount on there just for a little test :P never bothered to see if it worked. I added this to the latest script.

kdgarris · 05-30-2011, 02:53 PM

This is awesome - it is really cool being able to apt-get new software on my Kindle!

05-12-2011, 06:49 PM	#1
Xqtftqx Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 104 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3G	Easy debian install with prebuilt image. Hey guys, ive been working on running a stable debian on the kindle for a bit now and i think im on the point of release. Ive written a step by step guide on how to install a 500mb debian image onto the kindle, you can view it on my new blog here: http://xkid.biz/wordpress/?p=4 Thanks! Any troubles leave a comment on the blog or here EDIT: Sound works EDIT: Alright, so our first problem is terminfo and $TERM with the onscreen terminal. Thinks like irssi wont properly scroll unless these are fixed. EDIT: May 14th: New bootdebian.sh file i suggest you upgrade. Last edited by Xqtftqx; 05-14-2011 at 10:26 AM.

05-13-2011, 04:50 PM	#7
borghal Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: K3w	Got it running, but no internet connection? Hi, thank you for providing a debian chroot! I followed your instructions and got it all working, however a simple Code: apt-get update isn't working as there seems to be no internet connection. I am running a K3W with wireless on, what can I do to let debian use the WIFI? * edit: Got it working once I figured out I needed to start debian without usbNetwork connection to do it. Last edited by borghal; 05-13-2011 at 05:41 PM.

05-22-2011, 06:31 AM	#13
tomashg Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Nicosia, Cyprus Device: Amazon Kindle 3W	alot of thanks for this great tutorial i noticed that after exiting ./bootdebian.sh it doesn't really unmount /mnt/debian correctly. Code: []Unmounting Rootfs... umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy umount: /mnt/debian: device is busy adding these lines in your script before 'umount /mnt/debian' seems to correct it Code: echo "[]Unmounting Rootfs..." umount /mnt/debian/dev umount /mnt/debian/proc umount /mnt/debian/sys umount /mnt/debian

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05-12-2011, 08:12 PM	#2
yifanlu Kindle Dissector Posts: 662 Karma: 178665 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Amazon Kindle 3	This is cool, but what's the advantage of this over the linux system built in on the Kindle? You can easily add ARM binaries of programs found in debian.

05-12-2011, 10:44 PM	#4
univert Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: none	Hi Xqtftqx, which generation of kindle did you experiment? DXG or 3?

05-12-2011, 11:03 PM	#5
Giggleton Suspended Posts: 1,687 Karma: 4368191 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Oregon Device: Kindle3	Thank you for doing this, do you have instructions for installing reading software after installing debian?

05-14-2011, 10:03 AM	#9
bubnikv Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Hello. I tried a similar setup. When running on flash disk, it is recommended to mount the root filesystem with noatime parameter to disable updating the access time whenever a file is accessed: mount -o loop,noatime /mnt/us/debian-armel-750.img /mnt/debian Other than that, you did not mount devpts. I am not sure what difference it makes: mount -t devpts devpts /mnt/debian/dev/pts I wonder how the Debian will wear the flash drive. Flash filesystems have limited number of write cycles. Therefore Kindle mounts most of the file system as read only and creates ramdisks for working file systems. I would strongly recommend this approach with the debian armel on Kindle, but I have no sufficient knowledge of Linux anymore to answer which folders shall be mounted to ramdisks on Debian. BTW, I don't think you can brick your Kindle as long as the root filesystem is mounted read only. Vojtech

05-16-2011, 03:19 AM	#11
borghal Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: K3w	I tried playing an mp3 file with mplayer but sound was very choppy. You got it working fine? Also I have to do so as root, as normal users can't access sound the device. Could you point me to which permissions I must tweak to run sound as user, not root? I'd love to have cmus running. Oh, and one more question (sorry if they seem too n00by): How can I access the kindle file system from within the chroot? Thanks a million for providing debian, I really love having newsbeuter running to have instant access to my newsfeeds

05-16-2011, 12:01 PM	#12
bubnikv Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3	> Oh, and one more question (sorry if they seem too n00by): How can I access the kindle file system from within the chroot? You will have to mount the root fs (or some subfolder of it) into the mounted debian subfolder. Vojtech

05-30-2011, 02:53 PM	#15
kdgarris Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 14744 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Indianapolis, IN USA Device: Kindle 3 wifi	This is awesome - it is really cool being able to apt-get new software on my Kindle!

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