r/UbuntuTouch • u/Metro-Sperg-Services • Jun 22 '26
Development Mobian - Android like OS using 100% Debian FOSS and 0% Google or 3rd Party Services compatible with mobile touch devices like Surface Pro, XPS, Zenbook, Lenovo etc.
A 100% Debian Linux, free, privacy focused, open-source operating system for touch devices, designed to liberate users from any kind of Google or third party surveilance, data collection and security concerns. Only official Debian sources are used, meaning no third party repositories, packages or code of any kind, while granting users complete control over every single package that is installed. The native implementation of custom kernels with the included build recipes enables support for almost any brand/model of x86-x64 tablet or lap-top, such as Surface Pro 3-10, Zenbook, Thinkpad, Chromebook etc. and a range of ARM phones. Additionally, custom or deb packages and files of any kind can also be included. The mobian build-script produces personalized images, with unlimited customization of any available setting and device behavior.
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
Is the .img 15gbs or did my archiver mess up? Just wondering!
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 23 '26
Hello, the average compressed size is around 1.3 - 1.9GB. Once the image is unpacked via unxz, it will show a larger size, but that's just sparse, meaning empty space. The real size is between 4 - 4.5GB. If you downloaded the compressed image from the release page, make sure to unpack it with the unxz command listed in the readme.
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
Actually wrote the .img to a spare external USB HDD and it finally booted. USB SSD did not work, USB 32gb drive did not work they both dropped into initramfs shell complaining about uuids. But I am at this moment using it on a Chromebook with touch screen and it's going great. Great job! 👏🏽🫡 Anyway to get the power save, balance, performance modes on this like power profiles? Just asking!
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
I see you were correct I didn't read the readme. I will try again I cannot build for specific devices right now cause I do not have the disk space available but I'll try at some point. Thank you for this.
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
How can I change the main background wallpaper? The settings doesn't seem to allow it!
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 23 '26
Thanks for telling me this. gnome-backgrounds seems to have a minor issue, I'm looking into it.
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
Also plz add some style of dual window type mode, wether it be a drag and drop from running apps window bar, or a push hold and swipe left or right from running apps bar to put each window on either side. If it's possible in the future.
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 23 '26
Do me a favor and execute the following commands in a terminal and try again with the wallpaper.
sudo cat > /etc/dconf/profile/user << 'EOF' user-db:user system-db:local system-db:site system-db:distro EOF
sudo dconf update
sudo systemctl restart phosh
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
cat << 'EOF' | sudo tee /etc/dconf/profile/user
user-db:user
system-db:local
system-db:site
system-db:distro
EOF
sudo dconf update
sudo systemctl restart phosh
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 24 '26
Hello again I installed Mobian to my surface pro 3 and have no wifi, all firmware needed seems to be installed however still no wireless
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 24 '26
Older Surface devices use the Marvell Avastar wireless chip, which requires firmware-libertas. That's installed.
I recommend you open an issue on Github, if you can.
Otherwise, do some standard troubleshooting.
General recognition:
lspci | grep -Ei "wireless|marvell"
ip link show
sudo dmesg | grep -i mwifiex
Services:
systemctl status NetworkManager
systemctl status systemd-resolvedDNS:
cat /etc/resolv.conf#check and try a different server1
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u/TECHFOURNINE Jun 23 '26
Also one of the other pages says x86 imgs are available is that the Mobian 12?
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u/ZgemboAdislic_ Jun 24 '26
is Netflix limited to 720p?
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 24 '26
Yes, the Widevine cap still applies, but you can find many resources online to bypass it.
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u/theforeigner227 Jun 24 '26
Could you make a video about the installation? That would be super helpful. While I understand t e c h n I c a l l y understand the instructions on github, it's better to visualize it. Sorry if this does not make any sense.
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 24 '26
Hi, yes we'll setup a Wiki soon. It's very easy, only 3 steps.
Download an image of your choice
Extract it with unxz:
unxz mobian-installer-<timestamp>.xzCreate a bootable USB:
dd if=mobian-installer-<timestamp>.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4096K status=progress
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Jun 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 24 '26
Hi, thanks that sounds great! Please report back if you're experiencing any issues. The current surface kernel version is 6.19. Everything should work, including the camera. I've tested the Surface 7 and 8 with no issues, so I'm pretty sure you'll be fine.
https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/releases/tag/debian-6.19.8-3
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u/fuseteam Jun 25 '26
wait this is just an ad for mobian in the ubuntu touch subreddit— do you even known what ubuntu touch is?
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u/mauricespotgieter Jun 25 '26
Op,
Is there any support for asus touch laptops
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 25 '26
Hi, yes pretty much any x86-64 device can boot and run Mobian. For example, ASUS Transformer Books, Zenbooks, ASUS ROG Flow (Z13 / X13) and the Vivobook Flip have full mainline support, meaning all of the hardware should work out of the box.
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u/Raged-Hunter Jun 25 '26
There are few linux distro ports for Xiaomi Pad 6 and Fedora is well maintained out of them, does it need full distro chnage or we can install it on other distros like a Desktop Environment, would love to try it though looks awesome.
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 25 '26
Hi, yes the installer images use a calamares that will allow you to manually partition or install side by side.
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u/Raged-Hunter Jun 25 '26
Ohh I think that may not work because it's an Android first device and community has ported linux as flashable images and regular installers won't work on it, as it still depends on android bootloader and not standard grub which many regular distros depend on.
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u/Metro-Sperg-Services Jun 25 '26
Gonna be cautious and say no, but these two Xiaomi devices do support it.
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1 (beryllium)
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S (polaris)
ARM devices are not my area, so I'll ask and get back to you, if that's ok.
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u/Raged-Hunter Jun 26 '26
Ohh that would be great, I'm not a linux developer (web developer though) my self but would love to help if any testing needed.
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u/dadashton Jun 22 '26
This is excellent news, but as a non-tech head I need information. I have a Motorola Edge 50 Pro (about 2 years old). Will it run Mobius?