Please note my blog is intended to be the 'dynamic' update content partner to my 'static' core content pages on my website. This particular post relates to my http://www.linuxium.com.au/how-tos/runningubuntuontheintelcomputestick page where I've created some Ubuntu ISOs whose purpose is to better support Intel Atom based devices.
As Canonical have just released Ubuntu 16.04.2 with the rolling Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernels which aim to provide support for the latest hardware I've decided to provide a single kernel which is effectively a HWE 'edge' kernel specifically patched for Intel Atom SoCs in my ISOs to simplify kernel management and create a forward path for future migration to mainline kernels.
My new kernel is based on Canonical's next 'zesty' kernel which is rebased to v4.10 and also available in 'xenial' as hwe-edge. Whilst v4.10 is the latest mainline kernel to be released the merge window for v4.11 now includes the revised HDMI LPE Audio Support patch set together with the AXP288 power supply patch set for Intel Atom SoCs. Because v4.11 will be released in a couple of months with the patches being included in Ubuntu hopefully by 17.10 I've added these latest patches from the merge window to my kernel. Besides the HDMI LPE patches from Pierre-Louis Bossart, Jerome Anand & Takashi Iwai and Hans de Goede's AXP288 patches I've also added Hans de Goede's PWM, I2C, CX2702X audio support, Silead touchscreen support and ASUS tablet function key support patches. Also included is Mika Kuoppalad's new anti-freeze patch, Pierre-Louis Bossart's PMC Platform Clock and Codecs patches, Ville Syrjälä atomic update fix, Bastien Nocera's wifi patch, Laszlo-Fiat's bluetooth patch, Jonas Aaberg's bluetooth patch for the ASUS 100HA together with my bluetooth support which is based on a script from Larry Finger. The kernel source is available on my github.
At this stage I'm providing four ISOs: Ubuntu 16.04.2 (with kernel Ubuntu-lts-4.10.0-10.12~16.04.2), Ubuntu 17.04 pseudo Beta 1, Lubuntu 17.04 Beta 1 and Ubuntu Budgie Beta 1 (all with kernel Ubuntu-4.10.0-10.12). Technically the two kernels are the same with the 'xenial' LTS kernel being a backport of the 'zesty' kernel. Note that the Ubuntu 17.04 Beta 1 is a pseudo release because there is no official Beta 1 release so I have used the daily release provided the same day the official Beta 1 flavours were released. I've also included Ubuntu Budgie as it is now an official Ubuntu flavour and I thought there may be some interest. Further flavours will be added later although I am no longer going to provided updated 16.10 releases due to resource constraints. I am also providing the corresponding kernel update scripts and I will maintain the kernels with security patches and/or Intel Atom SoC added functionality/improvements.
To try an ISO download it from the link below (in red) and write it to a USB using either 'Rufus' in Windows or 'dd' in Linux.
Ubuntu comes with everything. All the essential applications, like an office suite, browsers, email and media apps come pre-installed and thousands more games and applications are available in the Ubuntu Software Centre.
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(sha256sum f38dcc8fc64f524422028b24e8e95ebe7635241aa24edbdafeeb55dd44c5d36c)
Ubuntu comes with everything. All the essential applications, like an office suite, browsers, email and media apps come pre-installed and thousands more games and applications are available in the Ubuntu Software Centre.
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Lubuntu 17.04 Beta 1
(sha256sum f8a8af2d453a58a8538f9f76ceac29a1e2477793c59d373f0bddda5c3338d35f)
Lubuntu is a fast, energy saving and lightweight variant of Ubuntu using LXDE. It is popular with PC and laptop users running on low-spec hardware.
(sha256sum bc92e6df5b4c298fc877743ab0303d7272ec87bc7a40e79ddf80f0883dc6c8ea)
Ubuntu Budgie is stable and easy to use that integrates the Budgie Desktop environment into Ubuntu. Whether you are using it on the old computer, or powerful workstation, Ubuntu Budgie is adaptable to any device, keeping them fast and usable.
If freezing persists follow Len Brown suggestion of adding "intel_idle.max_cstate=2" as a kernel boot parameter which enables Core-C6 but disables module/package-C6. With the Alpha release (including the official version) the installation does not recognize previously installed OS so use 'Something else' and manually set up your partitions. Prior to embarking on an encrypted LVM installation you should first open a terminal session and turn off swapping using the command 'sudo swapoff -a'. If there is no wifi after booting devices with a Broadcom chip then reload the driver: in a terminal window enter 'sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac' followed by 'sudo modprobe brcmfmac'. Occasionally on some devices bluetooth doesn't initially load so it is necessary to restart the service: for Broadcom chip devices enter 'sudo systemctl stop brcmbt.service' followed by 'sudo systemctl start brcmbt.service' and for Realtek chip devices enter 'sudo systemctl stop rtl8723bsbt.service' followed by 'sudo systemctl start rtl8723bsbt.service'. Some devices still do not reboot (or warm restart) correctly which can result in a purple screen or lack of wifi and/or bluetooth on reboot. In these circumstances cycle the power and boot the device from cold. Unfortunately as I don't have a tablet I cannot advise on the screen rotation issues however others have commented in previous posts with their solutions which I'd recommend reading. WIP includes improving backlight support for some devices and the ES8316 driver which is currently under development.
Because my ISOs include a patched kernel it means no automatic Ubuntu kernel updates are provided. Consequently I've also developed a manual patching process where a script can be downloaded and then executed to update the kernel to match the official releases. These kernel update scripts are only for updating the kernel after installing my ISOs otherwise you will be missing the 'userland' files required for audio, wifi and bluetooth. To upgrade the existing installed kernel (created from my ISO or as a result of a previous upgrade) to the later version provided by the script first download the script and after making it executable (enter 'chmod 755 ~/Downloads/<script>') install it as 'root' (by entering 'sudo ~/Downloads/<script>'). Once the script has finished executing the device will need to be rebooted to use the updated (patched) kernel.
4.10.0-10.12 (latest zesty kernel)
4.10.0-10.12~16.04.2 (latest backported xenial kernel)
Don't forget when making a comment to include the name/model of your device and if reporting a technical issue please include a copy of the output from 'dmesg' by sharing the log using 'pastebinit' or similar.