scatter file for dual boot android rooted + linux

[YourTech John]

I've been good with dual boot android and linux. Then I wanted to go back and root android. Somewhere in the last couple days, they updated their Firmware page a bit.

http://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Gemini_Firmware

Each firmware archive above contains 3 different version of the firmware that can be installed:

    Standard Android firmware
    Please use the "Gemini_Android.txt" scatter file to flash the Android firmware.
    Rooted Android firmware
    With Gemini you have the option to easily root your device. Please bear in mind that rooting an Android device comes with associated risks, and some application might not work correctly. You can search the Internet for more information, we suggest that you proceed only if you know what you are doing.
    If you know what you are  doing and you want to continue, then you can use the "Gemini_Android_Rooted.txt" scatter file to flash the rooted Android firmware. Please complete the process by installing Magisk Manager.
    Dual Boot Android/Linux
    To install a dual boot Android/Linux image you must first partition your Gemini, deciding how much space to reserve for each system and what system you would like to boot into by default. For example, if you specify to boot into Android by default, then the Gemini will boot into Android when started. To boot into Linux, you will have to press the side button when booting. You can configure the space and the default booting system using this partition tool: http://support.planetcom.co.uk/download/partitionTool.html
    Make sure you reserve enough space for Linux, you will need around 5 GB of space for Debian. The flash tool will show you an error message if the partition size is too small.
    When you have selected your parameters, click on the  "Download Scatter file" button to retrieve a copy of the Gemini_Dual_Boot.txt scatter file and place it in the folder containing the firmware. You can now use this scatter file to flash a dual boot Android/Linux firmware on your Gemini. Don't forget to check out this Web page for further information about

So now, you have a scatter file for rooted android, or you use their partition tool to generate a scatter file for dual boot. However, the dual-boot scatter file does not reference the patched boot image needed for android root. I wish it was a checkable option on their tool.

There is this other page, which I think is now deprecated (hard to find directly) which directs you to download a modified boot-verified.img and overwrite the original. But I suspect that these instructions (and image) are now outdated.

http://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Android_Support

Rooted Android

With Gemini you have the option to easily root your device. Please bear in mind that rooting an Android device comes with associated risks, and some application might not work correctly. You can search the Internet for more information, we suggest that you proceed only if you know what you are doing.

If you know what you are  doing and you want to continue, then follow these steps:

    Download the rooted boot image
    Follow the Android installation notes above but before flashing the unit, overwrite the original boot-verified.img file in the Gemini_Android_1_1_0 folder with the rooted boot image that you just downloaded
    Complete the flashing and your device will now be rooted. Install Magisk Manager to complete the process.

[depscribe]

It might be that a better approach to flashing the Gemini would be to download one of Adam's scatter files, from here:

https://github.com/gemian/gemini-keyboard-apps/wiki/Flashing

Then you just copy it into the /Gemini_Debian_TP directory whence you'll be flashing. Likewise, overwrite the boot_verified.img for a rooted Android into the stock  /Gemini_Debian_TP directory. Then flash the device, making sure to select the scatter file you downloaded, in the first screen.

There are several choices of space allotment with Adam's scatter files, so there's probably one that meets your needs. The only thing you don't get is a choice of which OS is the default boot, and there's a good reason not to mess with that order, at least not yet, and that's that updating the kernel when Linux is the default requires (or at least may require -- I'm not at all sure how it works) a reflash. Again.

[Adam Boardman]

If you have an x27 device then using the old images as suggested by Dep are probably not what you want (you'll lose eSIM support in Android).

The 10/05/2018 dual boot image comes with the rooted android, which you can confirm with the existence of the two different android scatter files within it (Gemini_Android.txt and Gemini_Android_Rooted.txt). If you do a comparison of those two files you'll see boot.img is swapped for patched_boot.img.

So a simple find and replace for boot.img -> patched_boot.img in your downloaded from the partitionTool scatter file (Gemini_Dual_Boot.txt) should sort you out.

The request for a tick box to do this for you has previously been passed back to Davide.

Note: I've only downloaded the x25 dual boot zip so I've given you all the evidence so you can check that the x27 zip contains the same files and differences.

[YourTech John]

That worked perfectly. If editing the scatter file on Windows.. use a proper editor like sublime or notepad++ instead of notepad.

My main reason for wanting to root android is so I can format and mount the sdcard as ext4 in both Android and linux. For android, if you're using termux+git, the msdos/fat filesystem can't preserve permissions. With android root, you can mount ext3/ext4 for storage.