Linux on the RDP Thinbook
The RDP Thinbook is a new ultra-portable laptop produced by RDP Workstations Pvt. Ltd. in India. It is marketed as India's most affordable laptop, and is sold for around US$ 140 - 160 (when you choose the option of buying it without Windows installed).
Added Ubuntu Bionic ISO with 5.4.13 kernel
Rebranding of certain files (/etc/issue /etc/issue.net /etc/lsb-release /etc/os-release) is now always done. I have added a script to revert to original Ubuntu branding that is available under /root/rebrand/revert_original/brand.sh. The user of the ISO - whether in the live session or after installation - can run /root/rebrand/revert_original/brand.sh to revert the branding if the user desires. This allows safe distribution of ISO while reducing any confusion because of the custom kernel and custom PPA used. At the same time it allows the end user to revert the branding to the original Ubuntu branding - making it look familiar to the end user. This should brook zero objection from Ubuntu and other distribution owners.
Now EFI Images (32-bit and 64-bit) and associated grub modues are built using grub-mkimage rather than including pre-built (binary) EFI images and grub modules in this repository. Tested to work on RDP 1430 (32-bit UEFI loader) and RDP 1130 (64-bit UEFI loader). This was long overdue and finally completed.
New Bionic Beaver 18.04 ISOs
Moved out kernel_compile to separate repository With the move to kernel_build, following new features are available:
Note: MUST download latest make_rdp_iso.sh
RDP was kind enough to send me one of their new 11.6 inch models. With this, I have updated the Ubuntu 16.04.3 with kernel 4.13.1 ISO with the required changes to make sound work perfectly on the 11.6 inch RDP Thinbook. - Give it a spin!
The 11.6 inch RDP Thinbook ships with a 64-bit UEFI loader - so 64-bit Linux ISOs on USB drives will be detected and can boot (although you will need some drivers enabled and some userspace tools / settings to make Bluetooth and sound work).
Issue 36: When using headphones, sound still comes from speakers
Issue 7: FN keys and backspace stop working after suspend-resume on Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 #7 - see temporary workaround
Issue 10: Sound does not work on Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) Current solution is to blacklist module snd_hdmi_lpe_audio. This disables sound over HDMI. Have closed this issue and opened new issue to find long-term solution. This workaround is also applied to Bionic Beaver 18.04
It has impressive specs:
Insert key has been removed - this is a bit unfortunate for people who are used to using Shift-Insert and Ctrl-Insert to cut and paste text. I guess users can use Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V instead.I bought the original 14.1 inch RDP Thinbook in Nov-2016 without Windows installed, with the intention of using Linux on it (I use Linux on EVERYTHNIG).
You will need a machine running a recent version of Ubuntu (tested on Ubuntu 16.04.3 Xenial Xerus LTS).
Except where otherwise indicated, all files in this repository are Copyright Sundar Nagarajan 2017.
Except where otherwise indicated, all files in this repository are licensed under the terms of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE version 3 or a later version of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE as per your choice. You should have received a copy of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE version 3 in this repository.
The software in this repository also uses software from the bootutils repository. The software in that repository is also Copyright Sundar Nagarajan 2017 and is also licensed under the terms of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE version 3 or a later version of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE as per your choice.
Please familiarize yourself with the terms of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE version 3 before you use, modify or distribute this software.
Reboot the RDP Thinbook
When the RDP symbol appears on screen, press ESCAPE
UEFI --> Security --> Secure Boot menu --> Secure Boot Change Enabled --> Disabled
UEFI --> Advanced --> ACPI Settings --> Enable ACPI Auto Configuration Change from Enabled --> Disabled
UEFI --> Chipset --> Audio Configuration --> LPE Audio Support
Set to `LPE Audio ACPI mode (default setting)
I highly recommend you use the Simplified single-script method below to download and build your own kernel and remaster the ISO yourself. Downloading and using / installing ISOs created by people you do not know or trust is BAD SECURITY PRACTICE.
That said, many people provide pre-built ISOs for users to eaily try / use, and I have provided one too. I try to mitigate some of your risk by providing a GPG signature.
Remastering your own ISO can take a while. It takes about 30 mins on a 32 x Intel Xeon e5-2670 server with 112GB of RAM and a Sansung 960 EVO NVME disk. On a more 'standard desktop' machine it could take several hours. Don't even think about doing it on an RDP Thinbook unless you have a lot of patience or you have something to prove.
You will need about 10 GB+ free space to build the kernel and remaster the ISO.
You will need about 10 GB+ free space to build the kernel and remaster the ISO.
Download make_rdp_iso.sh from this repository
grub-efi-ia32-bin grub-efi-amd64-bin grub-pc-bin grub2-common
grub-common util-linux parted gdisk mount xorriso genisoimage
squashfs-tools rsync git build-essential kernel-package fakeroot
libncurses5-dev libssl-dev ccache libfile-fcntllock-perlFor the most up-to-date list of required packages:
sudo -imake_rdp_iso.sh from this repository inside the new empty directorysource.iso pointing at an ISO in a different location.Your directory structure should look like this:
new_dir ---------- TOPLEVEL DIR
│
├── make_rdp_iso.sh
│
└── ISO
├── in
│ │
│ └── source.iso - you need to rename source ISO to 'source.iso'
│
└─── outRun the following command to create the remastered ISO:
sudo ./make_rdp_iso.shRemastered ISO will be ISO/out/modified.iso
Use this method ONLY if you are willing to trust my pre-compiled kernel and remastered ISO (at least on a test machine). You will need about 2GB free disk space to download the ISO.
Note: DO NOT rely on the same ISO being available and linked from this github repo. Periodically, as new kernels come out, I intend to test and update the ISOs I link to from here.
Also DO NOT bookmark the ISO URLs, as they are likely to change any time. I plan to update the ISOs (and corresponding GPG signatures) as the kernel is updated, and as I make changes to the enabling scripts etc.
Examples
I do not plan to support more flavors; if at all dispense with Ubuntu Mate. The purpose of ISOs is to be able to TEST. Once everything is fine, I expect users to know how to install the standard Ubuntu flavor, and then customize it by installing the required desktop meta-packages.
Note:
| Distribution | Signed SHA256SUMS |
|---|---|
| 16.04 Xenial Xerus | SHA256SUMS.asc.xenial |
| 18.04 Bionic Beaver | SHA256SUMS.asc.bionic |
| Ubuntu version | Release | Flavor | Kernel | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xenial Xerus 16.04.3 | LTS | Ubuntu | 4.13.9 | ISO |
| Xenial Xerus 16.04.3 | LTS | Ubuntu Mate | 4.13.9 | ISO |
| Xenial Xerus 16.04.3 | LTS | xubuntu | 4.13.9 | ISO |
| Bionic Beaver 18.04 | LTS | Ubuntu | 4.16.18 | ISO |
| Bionic Beaver 18.04 | LTS | Ubuntu Mate | 4.16.18 | ISO |
| Bionic Beaver 18.04 | LTS | xubuntu | 4.16.18 | ISO |
| Bionic Beaver 18.04 with asound.state fix | LTS | xubuntu | 4.18 | ISO |
| Bionic Beaver 18.04.2 | LTS | Ubuntu | 5.4.13 | ISO |
If you are downloading a Xenial Xerus ISO, download SHA256SUMS.asc.xenial first.
Similarly, if you are downloading a Bionic Beaver ISO, download SHA256SUMS.asc.bionic first.
Run the command:
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc.xenialand / or (depending on which SHA256SUMS file you downloaded)
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc.bionicThe output should be something like:
gpg: Signature made Fri 29 Jun 2018 05:23:27 PM PDT using RSA key ID 857CADBDUse the following command to verify the downloaded ISOs:
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.asc.xenial 2>/dev/null | grep 'OK$'sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.asc.bionic 2>/dev/null | grep 'OK$'You can find my GPG public key here. If you want to add my public key to your GPG keychain, use the following command:
gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys F0C3CE69C8C00D1E4D8834F5DF2AC095857CADBDOnce you have imported my public key with the command above (note: you are not TRUSTING my public key for anything), if you rerun the gpg --verify command above, the output should look like:
gpg: Signature made Fri 29 Jun 2018 05:23:27 PM PDT using RSA key ID 857CADBD
gpg: Good signature from "Sundar Nagarajan <sun.nagarajan@gmail.com>"Once you have verified the signature, you can delete my public key using the command, to avoid cluttering your keyring:
gpg --yes --delete-key F0C3CE69C8C00D1E4D8834F5DF2AC095857CADBDFor a weak indication that this key belongs to me, search for me on pgp.mit.edu. Enter my email sun.nagarajan@gmail.com in the Search string field, and you should find this key as one of the results - note the double space between the first 5 and last 5 4-character hex strings.
Assuming that your USB drive is /dev/sdk and you downloaded to a filenamed modified.iso
# cd to the directory containing the ISO
# DOUBLE CHECK that DEV is set to your removable devices' name
# Change next line:
DEV=/dev/sdk
sudo dd if=modified.iso of=$DEV bs=128k status=progress oflag=direct
syncNow boot into the new ISO. In the live session, everything should just work!
To know more about the steps involved, read DetailedSteps.md
/root/remaster/scripts/root/remaster/remaster.logIf you have tested a distribution-model not listed here, open an issue, and I will list your observations here. If you had problems with a distribution (Ubuntu-based only for now), open an issue.
| Distribution | RDP Thinbook Model | Issues, if any | Tested by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 | 14.1 inch RDP Thinbook 1430 (X5-8300) | Issue 36 | Me |
| Ubuntu Mate 18.04 | 14.1 inch RDP Thinbook 1430 (X5-8300) | Issue 36 | Me |
| xubuntu 18.04 | 14.1 inch RDP Thinbook 1430 (X5-8300) | Issue 36 | Me |
| Ubuntu 18.04 | 11 inch RDP Thinbook 1130 (X5-8350) | Issue 35 | Me |
| Ubuntu Mate 18.04 | 11 inch RDP Thinbook 1130 (X5-8350) | Issue 36 | Me |
| xubuntu 18.04 | 11 inch RDP Thinbook 1130 (X5-8350) | Issue 35 | Me |
| Ubuntu Mate 16.04 | Original 14.1-inch RDP Thinbook (X5-Z8300) | None | Me |
| Ubuntu Mate 16.04 | New 14.1-inch RDP Thinbook (X5-Z8350) | None | RDP staff |
| Ubuntu Mate 16.04 | 11.6-inch RDP Thinbook (X5-Z8350) | None | RDP staff |
| Ubuntu 16.04.3 | Original 14.1-inch RDP Thinbook (X5-Z8300) | None | Me |
| xubuntu 16.04.3 | Original 14.1-inch RDP Thinbook (X5-Z8300) | None | Me |
AT LEAST provide the following information when you open an issue:
Out of the box it wouldn't boot any Linux distro. This is because, like many other newer low-priced Cherry Trail laptops, the UEFI firmware has a 32-bit EFI loader. Most (all that I could find) Linux distributions only provide 64-bit UEFI-compatible ISO images. This is a MISTAKE by the upstream Linux distributions, and one that I hope to influence.
Getting it to boot wasn't very hard - it required making a multiboot disk image that was 32-bit and 64-bit EFI loader compatible.
Only additional step to boot was to turn secure boot off.
Display (Intel i915 driver) 1366x768: Works perfectly
Touchpad:
Webcam: works (tested with Cheese)
USB 3.0 port: works. detected as USB 3.0. Have not tested speeds
USB 2.0 port: works
SD Card reader:
SSD: Works fine. Was seen by linux
Blue FN button capabilities:
Suspend / resume - See UEFI change requried below:
Booting: Turn off secure boot: UEFI --> Security --> Secure Boot menu --> Secure Boot: Change Enabled --> Disabled
Suspend / resume
Sound
`LPE Audio ACPI mode (default setting)Everything on the RDP Thinbook now works perfectly in Linux.
All files, scripts and documentation on this repository have been updated and tested.
This was the bug that held up sound support - fixed with es8316 driver: Bug 189261 - Chuwi hi10/hi12 (Cherry Trail tablet) soundcard not recognised - rt5640