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Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S

Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

Hi. I believe strongly in software freedom and really want to run Replicant on this Nexus S phone that I have.

I followed all the instructions on this page exactly (I think), but still did not successfully install Replicant:

http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/NexusSInstallation

I started out running Trisquel GNU/Linux on my laptop. I have only a very crude understanding of how to use the command line properly, but I was trying my best.

I downloaded all the files for the latest image, as well as the latest fastboot. I did the command that it said to do to make fastboot executable.

Then I followed the instructions to prepare the device, successfully got the fastboot screen, and connected the phone to the laptop with a USB cable. A note on that screen confirmed that the phone was already unlocked.

Next I ran all the commands listed under "Installing the images".

I think I got all the syntax for these commands correctly, but I can't be sure. After each command, the terminal gave no output except to dump me back to where I can type another command (same thing for the command to make fastboot executable, no output). Is this normal? Or is it an indication that I did something wrong?

In any case, when I typed the command to restart, again nothing happened. So instead I selected restart on the phone itself, and was disappointed to see the old operating system boot with nothing changed.

Does anybody have an idea about what went wrong or what I can do to fix the problem? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Boaz


Replies (11)

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Linus Drumbler over 10 years ago

This problem is relevant for me, as I am running Trisquel and plan to purchase a Nexus S.

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Richard Quirk over 10 years ago

If it is any consolation I've not had any luck installing with fastboot, but with the old 2.2 release on an HTC magic. There fastboot at least gave an error message when it failed and always says something. I think the magic is a lost cause, but installing does seem to be very difficult in general.

After each command, the terminal gave no output except to dump me back to where I can type another command (same thing for the command to make fastboot executable, no output). Is this normal? Or is it an indication that I did something wrong?

The "chmod +x fastboot" command to set the executable bit doesn't say anything when it works - that is normal. What happens when you run e.g. "sudo ./fastboot devices"? This should show the list of connected devices. That way you can tell if the computer recognizes the phone at least.

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

Richard Quirk wrote:

What happens when you run e.g. "sudo ./fastboot devices"? This should show the list of connected devices. That way you can tell if the computer recognizes the phone at >least.

"sudo ./fastboot devices" yielded similar lack of results: doing nothing and instantly prompting me for another command. No error message, nothing.

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Richard Quirk over 10 years ago

That's what fastboot does here when I have nothing plugged in. That seems odd as you said it does show "fastboot usb" on the device so the phone knows it is usb-attached. Maybe try different orders of booting into fastboot, unplugging the phone, plugging it back in, etc.? I'm afraid my knowledge stops about here, maybe someone else has better ideas :(

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Paul Kocialkowski over 10 years ago

You should "lsusb" and make sure that the device is correctly listed there -- you may have a bad cable. Then, try to run "sudo ./fastboot", it should show the usage text. If not, there is something wrong with your executable, and you may have forgotten to install the 32b compatibility libs.

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

As for a bad cable, I don't think this is what's happening. The cable works for charging the phone, and for accessing files on the phone. And, something does happen when the phone is in fastboot mode and I plug in the USB cable to the phone and the computer: the words "STANDARD_SET_CONFIGURATION" appear in white at the bottom of the screen.

When I "lsusb", one of the listed items is "Bus 002 Device 003: ID [four digits hexadecimal]:[four more digits hexadecimal] Google Inc. Nexus S (fastboot)". This entry is consistently present when the phone is attached, and absent when it is not.

When I "sudo ./fastboot" nothing happens. Sorry for the noobish question, but how would I go about installing the 32 bit compatibility libraries?

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Paul Kocialkowski over 10 years ago

So yes, you probably need the 32b libraries. I don't remember exactly which packages to install off-hand, but it should be ia32-libs and friends. In doubt, install the packages of the BuildDependencies page :)

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread; I deeply appreciate it.

For now I'll work on the theory that I don't have the 32b libraries and that that's my problem.

Before I read your latest post in this thread, Paul Kocialkowski, I poked about in the Trisquel forum to try to find some info about how to install the 32b libraries. I found some disturbing results:
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/install-32-bit-software-64-bit-trisquel-troubleshooting
https://trisquel.info/en/issues/8155
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/what-exactly-installation-procedure-installing-32-bit-compatibility-libraries
among others.

To someone with my experience level, it's quite intimidating. Some of the posts seem to imply that merely running sudo apt-get install ia32-libs could cause problems with my computer. Others seem to propose a wide variety measures all of which are over my head and quite different from each other. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I guess I'll do some more reading and perhaps posting in the Trisquel forum. But anyone want to weigh in on whether it could hurt to sudo apt-get install ia32-libs? Or just generally have any other thoughts?

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Paul Kocialkowski over 10 years ago

Nah, it's safe and won't mess up your computer.

I understand you find the instructions a bit hard, but they are not intended for the general public: rather for people used to doing that sort of things (tech engineer or so).
Installing Replicant requires some skills, and there is not much we can do about that. If you're willing to do things by yourself, then get ready to be frustrated by the amount of technical things you're unsure about or don't know how to perform. This is also you learn how things work and get better at it, by the way. None of us was born with all the knowledge already in place and we all were exactly where you are, at some point. The only rule to succeed is to keep trying and not giving up!

You may want to get close to a local GNU/Linux user group where you'll be able to get physical help with all these things -- that's what they're here for. And these people will be able to perform all the install instructions correctly, without a doubt.

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

Okay, from discussion on the Trisquel forum, it came to the fact that there is a problem in Trisquel with ia32-libs-multiarch, on which ia32-libs depends. To bypass this problem, I have booted from a live cd of Trisquel 32 bit.

I have all of the necessary files (images, fastboot) ready on a USB flash drive.

When I chmod a+x fastboot, nothing happens, which I've been told is normal. But then when I sudo ./fastboot , it says " sudo: ./fastboot: command not found ". What does this mean? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Boaz

RE: Trouble installing Replicant on a Nexus S - Added by Boaz Boaz over 10 years ago

Never mind; I figured it out. I had to copy the files off the flash drive first.

I've now sucessfully installed Replicant! Thanks again to everyone who posted suggestions here.

    (1-11/11)