Test Ubuntu on a tablet
Solved
donbeaupapa Posted messages 92 Registration date Status Member Last intervention -
Hello everyone,
I would like to test Ubuntu on an old tablet (for example, a Tab 2).
I’m having a hard time finding clear tutorials for the installation and to know on what type of tablet it’s possible.
Thank you in advance for the advice!!!!
9 answers
Hello,
There isn't really much difference between installing Linux on a PC, a laptop, or a tablet. In any case, you must ensure that you choose a
- recent distribution,
- compatible with the machine's CPU (ARM, amd64, ...),
Then you prepare a USB drive with a tool like Rufus and boot from it.
Regarding performance (RAM, CPU, hard drive), the choice of distribution matters little. Ubuntu is a good choice for the general public. However, what you install and launch at startup will have a direct impact, particularly the graphical environment. The Ubuntu variants come with a given environment preinstalled, but whatever variant you choose, you can install new environments or uninstall those that don't suit you.
Let's assume the tablet is powerful enough to choose any environment. Nevertheless, you will still benefit from choosing a suitable environment. For example, if you want a KDE environment, you would likely go for Kubuntu; it's probably better to use plasma-mobile rather than plasma-desktop. That said, this is not exclusive, and you can install one or more desktop environments while you make your choice. If the tablet is quite old, you might want to opt for a lighter desktop environment.
Furthermore, regardless of the chosen environment, you would likely benefit from installing and configuring a virtual keyboard like maliit-keyboard.
Good luck!
Hello,
It's not a done deal..!!
Generally, it's designed for a PC structure, with an AMD X64 or Intel 86 processor in 32 or 64 bits... which is not the case for an old tablet...
The Tab 2 tablets are Samsung, and depending on the model, the processor is from the "ARM" family; in short, it's not the same at all... and therefore, you need to have an Ubuntu installation file that is intended for that... I don't even know if it's possible..?
Hello,
You can't just install anything in any way; you need to find the tablet and a version of Linux, both compatible with each other.
OK,
Here, it's a Galaxy Tab 2, for the tablet,
We just need to find the right version of Ubuntu for this tablet.
I just saw the specs for the Samsung Tab 2 on the web, and just comparing it to the standard version of Ubuntu, it's dead in the water; even the lightest ARM version for the Raspberry Pi seems to require 2GB of RAM, but it's really not great, the tablet only has 1GB of RAM.
Thank you for your answers. In fact, I don't have a tablet, I was talking about the Tab2 as an example!!! I just wanted to know if there are models that are more compatible than others and a tutorial.
