ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[David Planella <david.planella@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

(From the original announcement [0]).

We're thrilled to announce a new release of Ubuntu Dual boot, now
supporting enhanced Ubuntu upgrades either from the Android or Ubuntu side.

The new Ubuntu Dualboot release, codenamed M9, enables developers to run
both Ubuntu and Android on a single device and is packed with new features
that make it the power tool to use for those doing development in both
platforms.

## For developers only

Dual boot is not a feature suitable for regular users. It is recommended to
be installed only by developers who are comfortable with flashing devices
and with their partition layout. Dual boot rewrites the Android recovery
partition and those installing it should be intimately familiar with
re-flashing it in case something goes wrong.

Multiple Android flavours are supported (AOSP or stock, CyanogenMod) and
installation of Ubuntu can be done for all versions available in the
regular distribution channels.

## What's new

The new release [fixes a number of bugs][1], brings under-the-hood
enhancements and includes a bunch of exciting features. Here are the
highlights:

### Upgrading from Ubuntu

The most prominent feature is the addition of support for the upgrades on
the Ubuntu side. Now image upgrades can be downloaded using the standard
procedure in System Settings > Updates from Ubuntu. To complete the
installation, a reboot to Android will have the Dualboot app pick up the
downloaded image upgrade, install it in the right location and reboot to
the new Ubuntu image.

As an alternative, installations can still be done fully on the Android
side. In a nutshell:
- Download of a new Ubuntu version can happen on either the Ubuntu or
Android side
- Installation of a new Ubuntu version needs to be done from the Android
side via the Dualboot app

[Learn more about upgrading to a new Ubuntu image >][2]

### Android notifications and background execution improvements

The Dualboot Android app now provides notifications for when new Ubuntu
images are available, so no more excuses not to be running the latest
Ubuntu! In addition, improvements have been added to download and install
Ubuntu in the background, while showing progress also using standard
Android notifications.

### Sideload support

For those cases in which bandwidth is at a premium, the dual boot installer
now supports sideload mode. This enables downloading images on a fast
network and saving them for later installation: these can be downloaded on
a laptop and then transferred via USB to the device. It also opens the door
for easily flashing custom images other than the ones downloaded from the
official channels.

[Learn more about sideload support >][3]

### Custom servers

A nifty feature our heroic [community of porters][4] of Ubuntu images to
devices not officially supported, and for users of those ports: dual boot
now supports setting a custom server to directly install new Ubuntu images
from there

[Learn more about using a custom server >][5]

## Installing dual boot

Installing and running dual boot can be done in a few easy steps. In a
nutshell, it requires performing a one-off installation of the dual boot
app in Android, which will enable you to both install the version of Ubuntu
of your choice, and to reboot into Ubuntu.

[Install dual boot >][6]

  [0]:
http://developer.ubuntu.com/2014/05/announcing-ubuntu-dual-boot-with-enhanced-upgrades-and-more/
  [1]: https://launchpad.net/humpolec/trunk/m9-update
  [2]:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/DualBootInstallation#Updating_to_a_new_Ubuntu_image
  [3]:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/DualBootInstallation#Dual_boot_installer_command_reference
  [4]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Devices
  [5]:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/DualBootInstallation#Using_a_custom_image_server
  [6]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/DualBootInstallation