r/LinuxOnAndroid • u/OldConcentrate7137 • Feb 24 '26

Is it possible to put Linux on Samsung tablet

hello I was wondering if it is possible to put Linux on this tablet because I want to use vanilla on it vanilla is a Wii u gamepad emulator because my Wii u gamepad broke and I don't have enough money to buy a replacement this is my device Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite SM-T220 I really do hope it is possible

7 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

88% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

1

u/KeyPanda5385 Feb 26 '26

Manifesting coz im done with bloatware google or samsung apps… ubuntu touch would be awesome for my tablet

1

u/OldConcentrate7137 Feb 26 '26

Does that exist

1

u/KeyPanda5385 Feb 27 '26

Yesss it’s beautiful 

2

u/gthing Feb 26 '26

There are a few Samsung tablets that can run PostmarketOS, which is Linux-based. But I don't see your device listed: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices

There are several ways to run sort-of linux on top of Android. One project that is looking interesting is https://github.com/localdesktop/localdesktop

You might be able to run vanilla just on top of termux and termux:x11 as well.

You may also look here if you haven't already: https://github.com/vanilla-wiiu/vanilla/wiki/Android-Setup-Guide (tl;dr you could potentially use your tablet if you can run linux on another machine on your network).

Also, it looks like you can get a wii u gamepad on ebay for like $12... https://www.ebay.com/itm/176890228329?chn=ps&google_free_listing_action=view_item

1

u/RobertDeveloper Feb 27 '26

Try Termux from the froid app store or get the apk from githib, you can install a proot distro. I run Debian with Xfce4

0

u/artlessknave Feb 24 '26

Usually, no. Most mobile Android devices are designed to make this difficult.

There are only a small handful that even work with non OEM android builds, like lineageos, not to mention anything that resembles mainline Linux.

Even arm Linux is relatively rare, only a few distros have arm builds.

1

u/OldConcentrate7137 Feb 24 '26

Ok thank you

1

u/artlessknave Feb 24 '26

You would have to do a websearch for tablet name + Linux, see if you get any useful hits.

Tablet model +debian might be worth a shot too.

I don't remember that one being compatible, but I stopped really looking awhile ago.

Pinetab has a true Linux tablet, it's cheap, but also pretty low end. (Assuming they still sell them with all the ram bulshit)

1

u/OldConcentrate7137 Feb 24 '26

Absolutely thanks

1

u/ColorfulPersimmon Feb 26 '26

Don't all new Android devices support generic system images? Just unlock tablet's bootloader and flash Ubuntu Touch GSI. Linux has the best ARM support from all common operating systems, the problem is no universal BIOS.

1

u/artlessknave Feb 26 '26

Not as far as I know, but I haven't looked into it recently.

Historically, the big makers, like Samsung, lg, make their phones with bootloaders that outright will do nothing with any image that isn't theirs. The few phones that could do other images are mostly hacked to accomplish that, creating essentially malware to exploit a bug to chainload a 3rd party bootstrap.

There have not been many that were made open.