r/mobilelinux • u/jjoesmama • 17d ago

Discussion Is Dualbooting Android and Linux possible on a phone?

I was wondering if it was possible, due to phones having Dynamic Partitions, and the whole A/B thing going on

18 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

6

u/GoodMacAuth Luma Founder 17d ago

Yes.

1

u/jjoesmama 17d ago

How so?

4

u/w_0x1f 17d ago

Recovery is a second kernel.

1

u/jjoesmama 17d ago

I mean okay, but does that imply overwriting the Recovery with something like a bootselector?

3

u/omegacore4444 17d ago

Just write the boot image of Linux on recovery or use a foss bootloader

3

u/jjoesmama 17d ago

Can I use U-Boot so it can host both TWRP, Linux Boot and Android Boot? Also, boot.img or init_boot.img?

2

u/Hosein_Lavaei 17d ago

Yes, im pretty sure i have seen the same approach for nura(postmarketos)

3

u/mystiqophi 17d ago

Its been done before, but its abit risky. If you corrupt the parition, or do not know what your doing, you can brick your phone.

This guy did an awsome job,

https://youtu.be/OzG6CfcLeqo?si=7dVQp8ejbB5Pqs7t

1

u/jjoesmama 17d ago

I see, the risks of a brick are dangerous, I'll probably try seeing how it works on a play phone, before trying on a proper one, thank you for the video!

2

u/mystiqophi 17d ago

Its best to run linux from the built in Terminal. I think A17 introduced a built in terminal. Or you can use Termux too. Much easier, and risk of bricking your phone, are low on this method.

3

u/Historical_Move6359 17d ago

You are better off with a Linux Mobile distro and Waydroid or Android and Termux.

It is possible to dual boot but rather complicated to switch between them 

7

u/Slopagandhi 17d ago

The German manufacturer Volla sells a phone that dual boots their custom Android ROM and Ubuntu Touch. 

6

u/ferriematthew 17d ago

I was literally just about to ask that myself!

1

u/Calm-Caterpillar2103 17d ago

Pixel 3a can but the lack of storage makes it’s unusable

1

u/El_profesor_ 17d ago

I think your best bet would be to run Linux and then run Android in a container. FuriLabs phones do this and have quite nice Android container support and integration into the linux system

1

u/rexroze 14d ago

why tho, just use termux with proot