tech4bot

Based on my experience with other Linux handheld projects, most people prefer to keep Android intact and use Linux as a second option.

In the DTB, I also added eMMC support, so you have full access to it from Linux. This means you can dd everything to the eMMC if you want.

I tried a Whitedeer WHTG1301 with an A733, but it only uses eMMC as the primary boot device. Now I’ll try another one with an A523 and see if I have better luck there.

Thanks, I’ll check it out. Seems interesting.

I usually prefer cheap devices for travel, because you never know when something gets lost, broken, or stolen. This tablet fits that well, Android for the kids or for testing an app, and Linux when I need something more specific.

Exactly. The hardware is already powerful enough. An iPad Pro with unlocked virtualization and a proper Linux VM would be an amazing travel dev machine. This is the reason I made this project, and I am still exploring for other tablets with better resolution and more resources.

I used phosh, which is also used by postmarketOS.

The project itself is MIT, meaning the scripts/docs I wrote. Everything else remains under its respective upstream license, GPL, vendor/proprietary blobs, debian packages, firmware, etc.

I did mention this in the license section, last line of the README.

Only when it comes to videos or something that it requires to use the CPU instand of the GPU, but overall works good.

Is not real. RK3562 supports maximum 8GB.

Yes, in terminal the keyboard has all the keys. If you check my video you will see it when I open the terminal.

Yes, workstation is a bit exaggerated. But it is still more useful to me than stock Android on this hardware.

I’d be interested in that.

I completely agree, this is not the place to let AI blindly edit kernel code. The useful approach is to use it conservatively: understand the error, compare against downstream sources, propose a small patch, review it, test it, and then move one step further.

I’d be happy to work together on an article or guidance document, where to start, how to approach debugging, what to never let AI touch blindly, and how to build confidence step by step. That could help others avoid a lot of mistakes and maybe give a second chance to other devices.

Yes, is swap that expandable RAM.

Yes, that’s a fair concern.

The tablet is from around 2023, with later revisions around 2024. My point was that this kind of older cheap hardware is already out there in people’s drawers.

If a device can boot from SD and the hardware can be documented enough, it becomes a good candidate for reuse instead of becoming e-waste.