RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 for Raspberry Pi 3 – Build 170805 – with Google Play Store, Aptoide TV, Kodi 17.3 and Google Chrome

Posted on August 5, 2017 by exton

NEWS 171019 about RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 for Raspberry Pi 3
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 Build 170805 can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager. This method has one disadvantage. Only about about 5GB can be used as data storage no matter which card you use. I have therefore today uploaded a new version, which can be (must be) installed using a Linux system. The new system from 171019 is basically the same system as the RaspAnd system from 170805. I have only added AIDA 1.47 and replaced Google Chrome with Firefox 56.0. Kodi has been upgraded from version 17.3 to version 18.0-ALPHA1. Now say, for example, that you use Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) of 64GB about 56GB can be used as data storage. This is of course a big advantage.

NEWS 171102: Yesterday a member on this site wrote about how to get rid of the 5GB limit after Win32 Disk Imager has been used:
– write the image with Win32 Disk Imager
– start up Ubuntu or another Linux system – you can also use a Linux Live CD/USB stick
– start GParted – screenshot before resizing
– resize the DATA partition – screenshot after resizing
– done!

Read about how to install RaspAnd 7.1.2 Nougat version 171019 in Linux…

NEWS 170805 ABOUT RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 with Google Play Store working
I have finally managed to make a version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 (for Raspberry Pi 3), which has GAPPS installed and Google Play Store working. This version of RaspAnd can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager. The video performance is generally much better than in previous versions and the screen flickering is (almost) gone.

Download RaspAnd Build 170805/171019…

MORE NEWS 170805 ABOUT RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
I have finally managed to make a version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 with GAPPS, which can be installed to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10 using Win32 Disk Imager. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-aptoide-tv-kodi-chrome-681mb-170805.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-aptoide-tv-kodi-chrome-7400mb-170805.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd 7.1.2. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge). When you use Win32 Disk Imager it will look like this.

NEWS 171102: Yesterday a member on this site wrote about how to get rid of the 5GB limit after Win32 Disk Imager has been used:
– write the image with Win32 Disk Imager
– start up Ubuntu or another Linux system – you can also use a Linux Live CD/USB stick
– start GParted – screenshot before resizing
– resize the DATA partition – screenshot after resizing
– done!

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 Build 170805 is an Android 7.1.2 Nougat system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3. I have included the following apps:
1) GAPPS (Google Play Services with Google Play Store)
2) Kodi 17.3 (latest version which “allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the Internet”. YouTube is enabled and working very well!)
3) Spotify TV 1.4.0 (working very very well)
4) Google Play Games 5.2.25 (needed for Clash of Clans to run)
5) Clash of Clans is not included, but you can install it through Aptoide TV
6) Gmail 7.4.23
8) Aptoide TV 3.2.3 (for installing new apps which can’t be found on Google Play Store – many many apps can be installed!)
9) ES File Explorer 4.1.6.7.4 working very well
10) Google Chrome 59.0.3071 (latest version – working very well)
11) YouTube 1.3.11 with almost perfect video quality. Please don’t update YouTube to version 2.00.18 even though Google Play Store wants you to do it. If you do you will loose video quality. If you do it by accident just uninstall the update. (I.e. go back to the “Factory version”).

Gmail and Google Play Store
You’ll have to sign in to your Gmail account before you can use Google Play Store. So the first thing to do is to go to Settings >> Apps >> Gmail. When you start Gmail an error message will pop up – screenshot. Just ignore the message (close it) and go on to fill in your credentials – screenshot. When you are ready reboot your Raspberry Pi. After that you can enjoy Google Play Store without problems!
NOTE 170823 about Google Play Store
A few members on this site have reported problems when trying to run Google Play Store. I therefore checked it once again today. My experiences:
1) When I started up my Rpi3 Google Play Store was installed in version 7.9.34.Q-xhdpi, which was working alright – screenshot.
2) As you can see I had an uninstall option, which I used for testing purposes. I was asked if I wanted to replace said version with the “Factory” version (which is 7.8.15.P-all) – screenshot.
3) Then I started Google Play Store again (also without problems). When I ended my Google Play Store session after a few minutes and went back to Settings >>> Apps >>> Google Play Store it was automatically updated to version 8.0.28.R.xhdpi, which also worked alright – screenshot.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT GOOGLE PLAY STORE: You may have to reboot your Rpi3 a couple of times before you can use (start) Google Play Store.

ABOUT Android 7.1.2
Version 7.1.2 is the latest Android system by now. Released on April 8, 2017. The system is used in very few mobile phones (as far as I know).

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Addons. Most important is that the YouTube Addon is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying. Here’s a link to the best Kodi addons!

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.50-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170805.

Wifi support
The new versions of RaspAnd has support for Wifi (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd 7.1.2 runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer.

How do I install RaspAnd in Linux
Use the dd-command. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-aptoide-tv-kodi-chrome-681mb-170805.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-aptoide-tv-kodi-chrome-7400mb-170805.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

Win32 Disk Imager – RaspAnd 7.1.2 Build 170805
RaspAnd 7.1.2 version 170805 can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager – see above.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Nougat Build 170805).

Startup of RaspAnd Nougat
The first thing you will see on the screen is the Nougat Boot Animation. If you do not see this colorful ring you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see the first screen (i.e. the Desktop). The first thing you should do is to enable Wifi and connect to your Network. For Aptoide TV to work properly you also have to allow downloads from unknown sources. Note: You must also uncheck Verify apps. Then go to Settings >> Apps and try out some of the pre-installed apps or click on the icons shown on the Desktop. IMPORTANT: For Google Play Store to run you’ll first have to start the Gmail app and set up your Gmail account. Then reboot. After that you can start Google Play Store and install new apps. Aptoide TV can of course also be used to install many new apps. Preferably apps you can’t find on Google Play Store, for example Clash of Clans and Google Drive. NOTE: Google Play Services also works very well (so you can install new GAPPS using Google Play Store or Aptoide TV).

Gmail and Google Play Store
As I say above you’ll have to sign in to your Gmail account before you can use Google Play Store. So the first thing to do is to go to Settings >> Apps >> Gmail. When you start Gmail an error message will pop up – screenshot. Just ignore the message (close it) and go on to fill in your credentials – screenshot. When you are ready reboot your Raspberry Pi. After that you can enjoy Google Play Store without problems!

Navigation in RaspAnd Nougat
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end some apps you may have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

Google Text-to speech Engine
You should immediately disable Google Text-to speech Engine in Settings/Apps. No need for it and a bit annoying to have it running.

Bluetooth and Teamviewer
Bluetooth won’t work in RaspAnd Nougat. As an alternative – at least for transferring files between a computer and your Rpi3 – you can install and use the Teamviewer app.
1. Screenshot of my computer desktop when I’m connected to my Rpi3 with Teamviewer
2. Screenshot when the Teamviewer app is running on my Rpi3

Clash of Clans and other popular games
Clash of Clans 9.24.9 (a very popular epic strategy game) works very very well. Perfect video quality and audio. Install it very quickly using the Aptoide TV app.

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Nougat. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Netflix/HBO and other video/movie apps
Netflix 4.16.1 build200147 can be installed via Aptoide TV. You can log in to your account and start to play any movie with very good video and sound quality. Unfortunately Netflix will will crash after about 30 seconds. Or the movie playing will stop or get distorted colors. Nothing to do about it right now. As regards HBO version 2.1.3 you can install it and log in, but you can’t play any movie. Something is missing. (I don’t know what). Other video apps (for example SVT Play and TV4 Play) work without problems in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170805. SVT Play works especially good. Almost perfect video quality!
Screenshot – Netflix installation
Screenshot – Netflix running
Screenshot – HBO installation
Screenshot – HBO running

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running. Note: Normally you don’t need to use this app. That’s why it’s not included in RaspAnd Build 170805.

NOTE/WARNING – 1
Running Android Nougat on a Raspberry Pi 3 can sometimes be perceived as a bit sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

SCREENSHOTS
Screenshot 1 – Nougat boot animation (which you must see during the boot. If not, the installation was unsuccessful)
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Google Play Store running
Screenshot 4 – Kodi running Popcornflix
Screenshot 5 – Google Play Store running
Screenshot 6 – YouTube running
Screenshot 7 – YouTube running with perfect video quality
Screenshot 8 – Aptoide TV running (installing Google Drive)
Screenshot 9 – Spotify running
Screenshot 10 – Clash of Clans installs in Aptoide TV

KNOWN ISSUES
1. The screen can flicker sometimes on certain monitors. Fix: Click on the screen or wait a moment. That can happen the first time you start up RaspAnd and after every reboot.
2. IMPORTANT: For Google Play Store to run you’ll first have to start the Gmail app and set up your Gmail account. Then reboot. After that you can start Google Play Store and install new apps.
3. Not all apps will run in RaspAnd Nougat. You can for example run the popular (?) Clash of Clans very well (can be installed with Aptoide TV), but not Angry Birds. Many many apps will run without problems though.
4. You may have to reconnect to your Wifi Network after every reboot of RaspAnd. Sort of a “bug”.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You shall not buy RaspAnd 7.1.2 if you expect that everything will work flawlessly. I.e. you must be aware of the fact that the Raspberry Pi 3 computer has its limitations and that Android 7.1.2 is a very advanced Linux system. Having said that I must also say that the apps I have included in this Build (see above) work very well most of the time.  Most important change: Google Play Store works very well. So does YouTube! Almost perfect video quality. See this screenshot.

DOWNLOAD

This RaspAnd build has been replaced by Build 171215

READ MORE about RaspAnd 7.1.2 Nougat version 171215…

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 77 Comments

RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2 Build 170616 with better video performance, GAPPS, Kodi 17.3, Aptoide TV, Firefox 54.0 and Clash of Clans

Posted on June 16, 2017 by exton

NEWS 170616 about RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
A new version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 is ready. Most important change: YouTube works very well! The video performance in RaspAnd Build 170616 is generally much better than in build 170605. Example of perfect video quality while running YouTube.

MORE NEWS 170616 ABOUT RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
I have finally managed to make a version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 with GAPPS, which can be installed to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10 using Win32 Disk Imager. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-firefox-701mb-170616.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-firefox-7400mb-170616.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd 7.1.2. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge). When you use Win32 Disk Imager it will look like this.

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 Build 170616 is an Android 7.1.2 Nougat system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. I have included the following apps:
1) GAPPS (Google Play Services, but not Google Play Store)
2) Kodi 17.3 (latest version which “allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the Internet”. YouTube is enabled and working very well!)
3) Spotify TV 1.2.0 (working very very well)
4) Rotation Control Pro 1.1.2 (which you may or may not need)
5) Google Play Games 3.9.08 (needed for Clash of Clans to run)
6) Clash of Clans 9.24.9 (working very well!)
7) Gmail 7.4.23
8) Aptoide TV 3.2.1 (for installing new apps – many many apps can be installed!)
9) ES File Explorer Pro 1.0.8 working very well
10) Firefox 54.0 (latest version – working very well)

ABOUT Android 7.1.2
Version 7.1.2 is the latest Android system by now. Released on April 8, 2017. The system is used in very few mobile phones (as far as I know).

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Addons. Most important is that the YouTube Addon is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying. Here’s a link to the best Kodi addons!

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.35-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170616.

Wifi support
The new versions of RaspAnd has support for Wifi (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd 7.1.2 runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

How do I install RaspAnd in Linux
Use the dd-command. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-firefox-701mb-170616.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-firefox-7400mb-170616.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

Win32 Disk Imager – RaspAnd 7.1.2 Build 170616
RaspAnd 7.1.2 version 170616 can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager – see above.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Nougat Build 170605).

Startup of RaspAnd Nougat
The first thing you will see on the screen is the Nougat Boot Animation. If you do not see this colorful ring you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see the first screen (i.e. the Desktop). The first thing you should do is to enable Wifi and connect to your Network. For Aptoide TV to work properly you also have to allow downloads from unknown sources. Note: You must also uncheck Verify apps. Then go to Settings >> Apps and try out some of the pre-installed apps or click on the icons shown on the Desktop.

Navigation in RaspAnd Nougat
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end some apps you may have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

Google Text-to speech Engine
You should immediately disable Google Text-to speech Engine in Settings/Apps. No need for it and a bit annoying to have it running.

Clash of Clans
Clash of Clans 9.24.9 (a very popular epic strategy game) works very very well. Perfect video quality and audio.

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Nougat. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Netflix/HBO and other video/movie apps
Netflix 4.16.1 build200147 can be installed via Aptoide TV. You can log in to your account and start to play any movie with very good video and sound quality. Unfortunately Netflix will will crash after about 30 seconds. Or the movie playing will stop or get distorted colors. Nothing to do about it right now. As regards HBO version 2.1.3 you can install it and log in, but you can’t play any movie. Something is missing. (I don’t know what). Other video apps (for example SVT Play and TV4 Play) work without problems in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170616. SVT Play works especially good. Almost perfect video quality!
Screenshot – Netflix installation
Screenshot – Netflix running
Screenshot – HBO installation
Screenshot – HBO running

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running. Note: Normally you don’t need to use this app.

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Nougat on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi works very well in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170605.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Nougat on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as a bit sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 – Nougat boot animation (which you must see during the boot. If not, the installation was unsuccessful)
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Kodi running
Screenshot 4 – ES File Explorer running
Screenshot 5 – Spotify running
Screenshot 6 – Firefox running
Screenshot 7 – YouTube running
Screenshot 8 – YouTube running with perfect video quality
Screenshot 9 – Aptoide TV running

KNOWN ISSUES
1. The screen can flicker sometimes on certain monitors. Fix: Click on the screen or wait a moment. That can happen the first time you start up RaspAnd and after every reboot. It can look like this. NOTE: To (almost) get rid of the flickering you shall go to Settings >> Developer options >> Hardware accelerated rendering. Force GPU rendering and Disable HW overlays. Always use GPU for screen composition. Watch this screenshot. You may have to make those changes in Settings after every reboot.
2. Google Play Store won’t run. Nothing to do about it (right now). Aptoide TV is a good replacement since you can install many new apps with it. NOTE: Google Play Services works very well (so you can install new GAPPS).
3. Not all apps will run in RaspAnd Nougat. You can for example run the popular (?) Clash of Clans very well (pre-installed), but not Angry Birds. Many many apps will run without problems though.
4. You may have to reconnect to your Wifi Network after every reboot of RaspAnd. Sort of a “bug”.

NOTE/WARNING – 4
You shall not buy RaspAnd 7.1.2 if you expect that everything will work flawlessly. I.e. you must be aware of the fact that the Raspberry Pi 3/2 computer has its limitations and that Android 7.1.2 is a very advanced Linux system. Having said that I must also say that the apps I have included in this Build (see above) work very well most of the time. Most important change in Build 170616: YouTube works very well!

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD
This version of RaspAnd has been replaced by Build 170805

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 47 Comments

RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2 Build 170605 with GAPPS, Kodi 17.3, Aptoide TV, SnapTube and Clash of Clans

Posted on June 5, 2017 by exton

NEWS 170616 about RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
A new version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 is ready. Most important change: YouTube works very well! The video performance in RaspAnd Build 170616 is generally much better than in build 170605. Example of perfect video quality while running YouTube in Build 170616. Read more or

Download RaspAnd Build 170616…

NEWS 170605 ABOUT RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
I have finally managed to make a version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 with GAPPS, which can be installed to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10 using Win32 Disk Imager. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-676mb-170605.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-7400mb-170605.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd 7.1.2. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge). When you use Win32 Disk Imager it will look like this.

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 Build 170605 is an Android 7.1.2 Nougat system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. I have included the following apps:
1) GAPPS (Google Play Services, but not Google Play Store)
2) Kodi 17.3 (latest version which “allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the Internet”. YouTube is enabled and working very well!)
3) Spotify TV 1.2.0 (working very very well)
4) Rotation Control Pro 1.1.2 (which you may or may not need)
5) Google Play Games 3.9.08 (needed for Clash of Clans to run)
6) Clash of Clans 9.24.9 (working very well)
7) Gmail 7.4.23
8) Aptoide TV 3.2.1 (for installing new apps)
9) ES File Explorer Pro 1.0.8 working very well
10) Termux 0.48 (terminal with which you can use Apt to install certain programs)
11) SnapTube 4.17.0.8739 (with sound, but no video. However, using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect video quality)

ABOUT Android 7.1.2
Version 7.1.2 is the latest Android system by now. Released on April 8, 2017. The system is used in very few mobile phones (as far as I know).

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Add-ons. Most important is that the YouTube Add-on is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying.

About SnapTube
As I said above you can run SnapTube with sound, but no video will play. However, using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect sound and video quality. You can also play your downloaded videos/movies using Kodi. Using ES File Explorer Pro you’ll find your downloaded videos in Local/download/SnapTube Video. SnapTube in combination with Kodi is very useful when running RaspAnd 7.1.2. I.e. you can run you downloaded videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Kodi with very good video and audio quality. To be able to run your downloaded videos in Linux or Windows you’ll have to start up a Linux system and insert your SD card with RaspAnd on. You can then copy your videos from the card (partition 4) data/media/0/snaptube/download/SnapTube Video to your Linux system and/or to a Windows partition.

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.35-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170605.

Wifi support
The new versions of RaspAnd has support for Wifi (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd 7.1.2 runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

How do I install RaspAnd in Linux
Use the dd-command. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-676mb-170605.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-7400mb-170605.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

Win32 Disk Imager – RaspAnd 7.1.2 Build 170605
RaspAnd 7.1.2 version 170605 can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager – see above.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Nougat Build 170605).

Startup of RaspAnd Nougat
The first thing you will see on the screen is the Nougat Boot Animation. If you do not see this colorful ring you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see the first screen (i.e. the Desktop). The first thing you should do is to enable Wifi and connect to your Network. For Aptoide TV to work properly you also have to allow downloads from unknown sources. Note: You must also uncheck Verify apps.  Then go to Settings >> Apps and try out some of the pre-installed apps or click on the icons shown on the Desktop.

Navigation in RaspAnd Nougat
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end some apps you may have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Nougat. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running. Note: Normally you don’t need to use this app.

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Nougat on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi works very well in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170605.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Nougat on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as a bit sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 – Nougat boot animation (which you must see during the boot. If not, the installation was unsuccessful)
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Kodi running
Screenshot 4 – Kodi running (choosing Add-ons)
Screenshot 5 – ES File Explorer running
Screenshot 6 – Spotify running
Screenshot 8 – SnapTube running
Screenshot 9 – Termux running
Screenshot 10 – Settings running (choosing apps to start)

Please note that the colors in the screenshots are not accurate. The actual screen color is more like in this picture taken with my mobile phone.

KNOWN ISSUES
1. The screen can flicker sometimes on certain monitors. Fix: Click on the screen or wait a moment. That can happen the first time you start up RaspAnd and after every reboot. It can look like this.
2.  Google Play Store won’t run. Nothing to do about it (right now). Aptoide TV is a good replacement since you can install many new apps with it. NOTE: Google Play Services works very well (so you can install new GAPPS).
3. You can’t watch videos/movies using YouTube. The sound is very good though. Nothing to do about it (right now). Please note that you can run YouTube in Kodi 17.3 with good video and sound quality.
4. Not all apps will run in RaspAnd Nougat. You can for example run the popular (?) Clash of Clans very well (pre-installed), but not Angry Birds. Many many apps will run without problems though.
5. You may have to reconnect to your Wifi Network after every reboot of RaspAnd. Sort of a “bug”.

NOTE/WARNING – 4
You shall not buy RaspAnd 7.1.2 if you expect that everything will work flawlessly. I.e. you must be aware of the fact that the Raspberry Pi 3/2 computer has its limitations and that Android 7.1.2 is a very advanced Linux system. Having said that I must also say that the apps I have included in this Build (see above) work very well most of the time.

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD
raspand-nougat-7.1.2-gapps-kodi-aptoide-tv-clashofclans-firefox-701mb-170616.zip for 9 $

md5sum for Build 170616

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

 

 

 

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

RaspAnd Marshmallow 6.0.1 Build 170521 for Raspberry Pi 3/2 – now with Google Play Store, Aptoide, Aptoide TV, Kodi 17.1 and SnapTube

Posted on May 21, 2017 by exton

NEWS 170521 about RaspAnd Marshmallow 6.0.1
I’ve made a new extra updated version of RaspAnd Marshmallow. In this version I’ve included Kodi 17.1 (latest version which allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the Internet. YouTube is enabled and working very well!), Aptoide 8.2.1.1 (for installing new apps), Aptoide TV 3.2.1 (for installing new apps) and SnapTube 4.17.0.8739. (Using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect sound and video quality). Google Play Store is of course also pre-installed.

Install using Win32 Disk Imager
It is possible to install RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521 to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10. I have finally (after many months) “discovered” how to make an image file of all four (4) partitions needed to run RaspAnd. I.e. system, boot, cache and data. Just download the ZIP-file raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-aptoide-kodi-snaptube-664mb-170521.zip and unzip it with 7-Zip. Then download Win32 Disk Imager (for free) and install the IMG-file raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-aptoide-kodi-snaptube-7400mb-170521.img to a SD card of at least 8GB. It will look like this. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded fileraspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-aptoide-kodi-snaptube-664mb-170521.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-aptoide-kodi-snaptube-7400mb-170521.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…). IMPORTANT NOTE: Using Win32 Disk Imager has one disadvantage. Only about about 5GB can be used as data storage no matter which card you use.

NEWS 171102: Yesterday a member on this site wrote about how to get rid of the 5GB limit after Win32 Disk Imager has been used:
– write the image with Win32 Disk Imager
– start up Ubuntu or another Linux system – you can also use a Linux Live CD/USB stick
– start GParted – screenshot before resizing
– resize the DATA partition – screenshot after resizing
– done!

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge).

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521/160915
The new versions have about the same pre-installed apps and features as in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160717, but they look better, run faster and are more responsive. Watch this slideshow. You can also run RaspAnd Marshmallow using a Raspberry Pi 2 computer, but for best performance you really should use a Raspberry Pi 3. Be sure also to use a class 10 Micro SD Card. NOTE: Build 170521 has Kodi and Aptoide pre-installed, but not Clash of Clans. One reason for me to keep Build 160915 on the server. Clash of Clans is quite popular.

About Aptoide App Manager and Google Play Store
I had to remove Aptoide in build 160915. I could not get Aptoide to work properly in that RaspAnd build. In RaspAnd Marshmallow 170521 Aptoide App Manager works very well – see this screenshot. Google Play Store works very well in both versions – see this screenshot. I.e.: A lot of apps can be found and installed.

Google Play Services error
When you start up RaspAnd Build 170521 for the first time you will get an error message saying that “Google Play Services has stopped”. (As in my previous builds of RaspAnd). This is easily fixed by going to Settings – Apps – Google Play Services. Give Google Play Services ALL permissions. After that you won’t see any error messages. Watch this slideshow.

Wifi and Bluetooth support
This new version of RaspAnd has support for Wifi and Bluetooth (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.16-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521 (as in Build 160915).

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

How do I install RaspAnd?
Use Win32 Disk Imager in Windows or the dd-command in Linux – see above.

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
There is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521).

Startup of RaspAnd Marshmallow
The first thing you will see on the screen is the Android Marshmallow boot animation.

If you do not see this animation you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see a message saying that RaspAnd is optimizing all installed apps. After a while you will see this first screen. Next startup will be faster (but not really fast). Be sure to give Google Play Services all permissions as I mention above.

Navigation in RaspAnd Marshmallow
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end some running apps you may have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

YouTube performance
YouTube works alright in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521. You can watch almost all videos. I.e. normally you will hear the sound very well, but some of the movies won’t play or play very slow with strange colors. If you want to run YouTube with (almost) perfect video and sound quality you must use Kodi 17.1, which is pre-installed. Example of perfect video quality in Kodi 17.1.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Add-ons. Most important is that the YouTube Add-on is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying.

About SnapTube
You can run SnapTube with reasonably good video and sound quality. However, using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect sound and video quality. You can also play your downloaded videos/movies using Kodi. Using ES File Explorer Pro you’ll find your downloaded videos in Local/download/SnapTube Video. SnapTube in combination with Kodi is very useful when running RaspAnd 6.0.1. I.e. you can run you downloaded videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Kodi with very good video and audio quality. To be able to run your downloaded videos in Linux or Windows you’ll have to start up a Linux system and insert your SD card with RaspAnd on. You can then copy your videos from the card (partition 4) data/media/0/snaptube/download/SnapTube Video to your Linux system and/or to a Windows partition.

About Google Play Store
Google Play Store come pre-installed in version 6.0.2-leanback. Whatever you do, don’t upgrade to a newer version than version 6.7.13-E-All! It won’t work. You may perhaps have to go back to version 6.0.2-leanback. If Google Play Store gets automatically updated to version 6.8.22 you have to downgrade to version 6.7.13 (or 6.0.2). Go to Settings >> Apps >> Google Play Store and choose to uninstall updates. You will then be asked if you want to go back to the Factory version. Do that and Google Play Store will work again!

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Marshmallow. Just log in and play your favorite music! Watch this screenshot.

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running. Note: Normally you don’t have to use the rotation app.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Updates
Not all apps (but quite a few) can be installed via Google Play Store. All included GAPPS are up to date.

Error message “Google Play Services stopped working”
It can happen that you will get error messages about Google Play Services. Don’t worry. Just ignore the messages. Everything will work, but be sure to give Google Play Services all permissions – see this screenshot.

About the need to upgrade from RaspAnd Build 160915 to RaspAnd Build 170521
If you have RaspAnd Build 160915 “up and running” and everything works alright there is no real need to upgrade. I mean both versions are based on Marshmallow 6.0.1 and all included apps (GAPPS and others) gets updated all the time. RaspAnd Build 170521 runs slightly faster and looks better than Build 160915. That’s all! Note: Aptoide App Manager and Aptoide TV are installed in Build 170521. Aptoide can be used to install apps not found on Google Play Store. If you already have RaspAnd Build 160915 you can install Kodi 17.1 yourself by using Google Play Store. Watch this screenshot. It’s for Mubi, but Kodi can be installed in the same way.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 – Google Play Store running
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s new Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Aptoide running
Screenshot 4 – Kodi 17.1 running
Screenshot 5 – Example of perfect video quality while running Kodi 17.1

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Marshmallow on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi and Bluetooth work very well in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 170521.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Marshmallow on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as very sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

Compatibility :: October 2018
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 3 and 2 will run on the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ computer. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspEX BunsenLabs, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2, RaspAnd Oreo 8.1 and RaspArch. I have until now (181010) upgraded RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspArch and RaspAnd Oreo 8.1. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+…

DOWNLOAD raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-aptoide-kodi-snaptube-664mb-170521.zip for 9 $

NOTE: If you buy this version of RaspAnd (Build 170521) you will also get RaspAnd
Build 160915 (with Clash of Clans pre-installed).

md5sum

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2 – Build 170519/170516 – with Kodi 17.1, Aptoide TV, VLC, SnapTube and Termux – install while running Windows!

Posted on May 16, 2017 by exton

NEWS 170519 ABOUT RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2
I have finally managed to make a version of RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2, which can be installed to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10 using Win32 Disk Imager. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-win32diskimager-install-652mb-170519.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-7400mb-170519.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…).

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd 7.1.2. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge). When you use Win32 Disk Imager it will look like this.

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.2 Build 170519/170516 is an Android 7.1.2 Nougat system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. I have included the following apps:
1) Kodi 17.1 (latest version which allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the Internet. YouTube is enabled and working very well!)
2) Firefox 53.0.2
3) Spotify 8.4.3.479 (working very very well)
4) Rotation Control Pro 1.1.9 (which you may or may not need)
6) AIDA64 1.46 (for exploring your Rpi system)
7) Aptoide TV 3.2.1 (for installing new apps)
8) ES File Explorer Pro 1.0.8 working very well
9) Termux 0.48 (terminal with which you can use Apt to install certain programs)
10) SnapTube 4.17.0.8739 (with sound, but no video will play. However, using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect sound and video quality).

ABOUT Android 7.1.2
Version 7.1.2 is the latest Android system by now. Released on April 8, 2017. The system is used in very few mobile phones (as far as I know).

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Addons. Most important is that the YouTube Addon is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying. Here’s a link to the best Kodi addons!

About SnapTube
As I said above you can run SnapTube with sound, but no video will play. However, using SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect sound and video quality. You can also play your downloaded videos/movies using Kodi. Using ES File Explorer Pro you’ll find your downloaded videos in Local/download/SnapTube Video. SnapTube in combination with Kodi is very useful when running RaspAnd 7.1.2. I.e. you can run you downloaded videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Kodi with very good video and audio quality. To be able to run your downloaded videos in Linux or Windows you’ll have to start up a Linux system and insert your SD card with RaspAnd on. You can then copy your videos from the card (partition 4) data/media/0/snaptube/download/SnapTube Video to your Linux system and/or to a Windows partition.

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.35-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170519/170516.

Wifi support
The new versions of RaspAnd has support for Wifi (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd 7.1.2 runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

How do I install RaspAnd in Linux – RaspAnd version 170516?
Almost like any other Raspberry Pi system. The installation has to take place in Linux though. (From hard drive or while running a live Linux system from cd or a USB stick). Follow this instruction. The whole thing has to be done as root and exactly like this.
1. Unpack the downloaded zip-file (raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-442mb-170516.zip). You will get the folder raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-442mb-170516 with the folder boot and the system file system.img
2. Create four partitions of/on your Micro SD Card with Fdisk or GParted.
a) Part 1 for BOOT of 512 MB ; format as fat32 ; flag as boot
b) Part 2 for /system of 1024 MB; any filesystem
c) Part 3 for /cache of 512 MB ; format as ext4
d) Part 4 for /data; size the remain; format as ext4
When you are done with partitioning it shall look like this.
raspand-gparted-150923
3. Now open up a terminal as root and run this command (make sure which name your SD card was given when you inserted it (/dev/sdb2 or /dev/sdc2 or as in the example here /dev/sdd2):
dd if=system.img of=/dev/sdd2 bs=1M
(Note: When you run the above command you’ll have to stand in the folder raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-442mb-170516)
4. Then just copy every file in raspand-nougat-7.1.2-kodi-snaptube-aptoide-tv-termux-442mb-170516/boot (11 files) to /dev/sdd1. If not mounted already you can mount it with mkdir /mnt/sdd1 followed by mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1

Note: You shall not do anything with /dev/sdd3 and /dev/sdd4. I. e.: Do not create folder /cache or /data. Watch this screenshot of the file structure on all four partitions when the installation is done.

Win32 Disk Imager – RaspAnd 7.1.2 Build 170519
RaspAnd 7.1.2 version 170519 can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Nougat Build 170519/170516).

Startup of RaspAnd Nougat
The first thing you will see on the screen is the Nougat Boot Animation. If you do not see this colorful ring you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see the first screen (i.e. the Desktop). The first thing you should do is to enable Wifi and connect to your Network. For Aptoide TV to work properly you also have to allow downloads from unknown sources. Then go to Settings >> Apps and try out some of the pre-installed apps or click on the icons shown on the Desktop.

Navigation in RaspAnd Nougat
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end some apps you may have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Nougat. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running. Note: Normally you don’t need to use this app.

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Nougat on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi works very well in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170519/170516.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Nougat on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as a bit sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 – Nougat boot animation (which you must see during the boot. If not, the installation was unsuccessful)
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Kodi running
Screenshot 4 – Kodi running (choosing Add-ons)
Screenshot 5 – ES File Explorer running
Screenshot 6 – Spotify running
Screenshot 7 – AIDA64 running
Screenshot 8 – SnapTube running
Screenshot 9 – Termux running
Screenshot 10 – Settings running (choosing apps to start)

Please note that the colors in the screenshots are not accurate. The actual screen color is more like in this picture taken with my mobile phone.

KNOWN ISSUES
1. The screen can flicker sometimes on certain monitors. Fix: Click on the screen or wait a moment. That can happen the first time you start up RaspAnd and after every reboot. It can look like this.
2. Google Play Store can’t be installed. Nothing to do about it (right now). Aptoide TV is a good replacement since you can install many new apps with it.
3. You can’t watch videos/movies using YouTube in Firefox. The sound is very good though. Nothing to do about it (right now). Please note that you can run YouTube in Kodi 17.1 with good video and sound quality.
4. Not all apps will run in RaspAnd Nougat. Many many apps will run without problems though.
5. You may have to reconnect to your Wifi Network after every reboot of RaspAnd. Sort of a “bug”.

NOTE/WARNING – 4
You shall not buy RaspAnd 7.1.2 if you expect that everything will work flawlessly. I.e. you must be aware of the fact that the Raspberry Pi 3/2 computer has its limitations and that Android 7.1.2 is a very advanced Linux system. Having said that I must also say that the apps I have included in this Build (see above) work very well most of the time.

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD
These versions of RaspAnd have been replaced by Build 170616…

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

 

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RaspEX for Raspberry Pi 3/2 – Build 170221 – based on Ubuntu 16.10 with LXDE, kernel 4.4.49-exton-v7+

Posted on February 21, 2017 by exton

NEWS 170221 about RaspEX for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2
I have upgraded the whole system and replaced the old kernel 4.4.21 with “my own” compiled kernel 4.4.49-exton-v7+. RaspEX Build 170221 is a Linux ARM system for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. It is based on Debian Jessie (Debian 8.7), Ubuntu Yakkety Yak (Ubuntu 16.10, released 161013) and Linaro (Open Source software for ARM SoCs). In this new version (170221) I’ve installed Wicd Network Manager and replaced Chromium with Firefox with better support for YouTube. I have also installed Samba and VNC4Server so you can connect to your Windows computers in your Home Network and/or control RaspEX on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 2 from your Windows computers with VNC Viewer and/or PuTTY (Telnet and SSH client). Furthermore some extra Network Tools, Midori Private Browser, SMTube (YouTube browser which allows to browse, search and play YouTube videos) and PulseAudio for better sound in YouTube. Study all installed packages in RaspEX Build 170221.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is the third generation Raspberry Pi. It replaced the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B in February 2016.

Compared to the Raspberry Pi 2 it has:
A 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU
802.11n Wireless LAN
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Raspberry Pi 3: How much better is it than the Raspberry Pi 2? Raspberry Pi 3 is performing 10 times faster than that of the Pi 1 and around 50 percent better than that of the Pi 2 according to testers.

Compatibility :: August 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170805) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

Screenshot 1 – RaspEX connected to Windows via Samba

Screenshot 2 – RaspEX connected to Windows via PuTTy

Screenshot 3 – RaspEX “running on” Windows with VNC Viewer

Screenshot 4 – RaspEX running Blueman (Bluetooth Manager)

Softpedia review
RaspEX version 160331 was reviewed by Softpedia 160331.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

More about RaspEX
RaspEX is a full Linux Desktop system with LXDE (an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment) with many other useful programs pre-installed. Firefox is used as Web Browser and Synaptic as Package Manager. You can use Samba and VNC4Server to connect to your Windows computers in your Home Network and/or control RaspEX on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Raspberry Pi 2 from your Windows computers with VNC Viewer and/or PuTTY (Telnet and SSH client). You can use Synaptic to install any extra packages you may need. For example LibreOffice. RaspEX uses Ubuntu’s software repositories so you can install thousands of extra packages if you want. NOTE: Kodi is installed only in Build 160426.

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.49-exton-v7 is used.

Why shall I use RaspEX?
Eight Operating Systems are recommended by Raspberrypi.org. Among them Noobs, Raspbian (Debian Jessie) and Snappy Ubuntu Core. RaspEX is faster (“fast as lightning”), more useful and more fun to use. (In my opinion). One member at this site thought that running RaspEX (for Raspberry Pi 2) was like running Raspberry Pi on “steroids“. RaspEX Build 170221 and 160426 are (of course) even faster, especially if you run the systems on a Raspberry Pi 3 computer.

How do I install RaspEX in Windows?
Just like any other Raspberry Pi system. I.e.: Unpack the downloaded ZIP file (raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-941mb-170221.zip) and transfer the IMAGE file (raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-3050mb-170221.img) to your Micro SD card of at least 8GB. For that you shall use Win32DiskImager in Windows. When running it it will look like this.

How do I install RaspEX in Linux?
You can of course also install RaspEX in any Linux system using the dd command. Just open up at terminal and run the following command (as root):
dd if=raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-3050mb-170221.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
Note: Change /dev/sdX to for example /dev/sdc, /dev/sde or…
(Check it carefully before you run the above command so you won’t lose important data).

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

How do I use RaspEX?
When you start up your Raspberry Mini computer with RaspEX you will (after a few seconds) end up in X and LXDE as the ordinary user raspex. The password for raspex is raspex. When logged in as raspex you can use Sudo to become root. Example: sudo su and sudo pcmanfm. The password for root (superuser) is root. You can log out from LXDE and log in again as root (if you want). This is how it looks at SLiM‘s login page.

You can log in as root with password root. You can of course also create a new ordinary user if you want. Command: /usr/sbin/adduser MyNewUser. If you don’t want to be automatically logged in as raspex you shall edit /etc/slim.conf.

First things to do
Run this command:
sudo apt-get upgrade or sudo apt-get install wicd (for Wicd to be properly installed).

When logged in as the ordinary user raspex your Desktop will look like this.

raspex-desktop-161019-small
Click to view a larger picture

Error no_pubkey when trying to upgrade the system
When you run the command sudo apt-get update it can happen that you can’t update the sources due to missing pub_keys. The solution is to run the following commands.
$ cd /var/lib/apt
$ sudo mv lists lists.old
$ sudo mkdir -p lists/partial
$ sudo apt-get update

After that you can run apt-get update with success even though you still will get the same “no_pubkey” errors.

Watch this screenshot – apt-get update running 160907.

As you can see there are no updates (more than Chromium). A RaspEX/Ubuntu system for Raspberry Pi can’t be compared with “normal” Ubuntu systems. I.e. the sources are not changed/upgraded that often.

Wireless connections
The new Raspberry Pi 3 computer has “built in” 802.11n Wireless LAN.
Using Raspberry Pi 2 you have to have a Wireless USB Adapter. The only one which works for Raspberry Pi 2 is Edimax EW-7811Un (as far as I know). I both cases you must configure Wicd Network Manager (apt-get upgrade) before you can use it. (You don’t need a wired connection for that). I.e. Wicd is already installed by me, but as I just said Wicd has to be configured before you can use it. Then change Wicd’s preferences to suit your wireless connection. IMPORTANT: You’ll also have to add your router’s IP address to /etc/resolv.conf to be sure to get a permanent stable Internet connection.
NOTE also: You’ll have to edit /etc/resolv.conf even if you use a wired connection.

Advanced configuration with raspi-config
Run the command sudo raspi-config and you will get a menu with different configuration alternatives. You can for example expand the filesystem on the SD card. You can also enable an experimental GL driver for the Desktop. Perhaps useful if you have a big screen/monitor. You can also enable overscan. Useful if you use the 7″ touchscreen. See under Advanced Options. Se also the Audio alternative where you can decide if you prefer HDMI sound or the 3.5mm jack.

About SSH, PuTTY, Samba, VNC4Server and VNC Viewer
SSH, Samba and VNC4Server are pre-installed in RaspEX Build 170221. You need to install PuTTy and and VNC Viewer in your Windows system if you want to connect to RaspEX/Raspberry Pi 3/2 from Windows the way the below slideshow shows. (Please read the developers information about how to configure PuTTy and VNC Viewer).

Watch this slideshow re. connections between RaspEX and Windows.

Bluetooth connections – working in Build 170221
It seems difficult (maybe impossible) to use the “built in” Bluetooth adapter running RaspEX on Raspberry Pi 3. Using a Bluetooth dongle for example Asus USB-BT400 dongle on Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 2 you should have no trouble using Bluetooth in RaspEX. Watch these two screenshots when Blueman (Graphical Bluetooth Manager) is running.
1. Showing “paring” with my Android phone
2. Showing the sending process of a file from RaspEX/Raspberry Pi 3 to my Android phone

View all installed packages in RaspEX – Build 170221

Screenshot of RaspEX’s Desktop while Wicd is running (for configuration of a wireless connection)

Screenshot 1 – RaspEX connected to Windows via Samba

Screenshot 2 – RaspEX connected to Windows via PuTTy

Screenshot 3 – RaspEX “running on” Windows with VNC-viewer

Screenshot 4 – RaspEX running Midori Private Browser

Screenshot 5 – RaspEX using Pavucontrol (for sound)

Screenshot 6 – RaspEX running SMTube (search and watch YouTube videos)

Screenshot 7 – RaspEX running the Bluetooth Manager

DOWNLOAD – raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-941mb-170221.zip from SourceForge.net
or from the
The Swedish Linux Society

md5sum

READ also about my RaspEX Build 160703 (also for Raspberry Pi 3 and 2) with OpenCPN pre-installed
OpenCPN is a free software (GPLv2) project to create a concise chart plotter and navigation software, for use underway or as a planning tool. OpenCPN is developed by a team of active sailors using real world conditions for program testing and refinement.

Compatibility :: August 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170805) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

Posted in Exton Linux, Linux, RaspEX | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1 for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2 – Build 170127 – with GAPPS and Kodi 17.0-RC4

Posted on January 27, 2017 by exton

ABOUT
RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1 Build 170127 is an Android 7.1.1 Nougat system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. I have included the following apps:
1) GAPPS (latest by 170125)
2) Kodi 17.0-RC4 (with YouTube enabled and working!)
3) Firefox 51.0
4) Spotify 1.0.0
5) Rotation Control Pro 1.1.9
6) AIDA64 1.44
7) Aptoide App Store 8.0.1.2
8) YouTube 1.3.11 (sound, but no video. If you, however, use SnapTube you can download videos/movies from YouTube and replay them in Windows or Linux with perfect video quality)
9) ES File Explorer Pro 1.0.8
10) Gmail 7.1.1
11) Google Play Services 10.2.91
12) Google App 6.10.37.21
13) Google Play Store 7.4.12.L-all (not working, but since Google Play Services work very well you can install many new GAPPS using Aptoide App Store).
14) SnapTube 4.11.0.8.8655

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

ABOUT KODI
Kodi (an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more) works very well in RaspAnd. You can enable a lot of Add-ons. Most important is that the YouTube Add-on is enabled by default and that it works very well. I.e. both the sound and the video performance when running YouTube in Kodi is satisfying.

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.35-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170127.

Wifi support
This new version of RaspAnd has support for Wifi (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

How do I install RaspAnd?
Almost like any other Raspberry Pi system. The installation has to take place in Linux though. (From hard drive or while running a live Linux system from cd or a USB stick). Follow this instruction. The whole thing has to be done as root and exactly like this.
1. Unpack the downloaded zip-file (raspand-nougat-7.1.1-gapps-kodi-600mb-170127.zip). You will get the folder raspand-nougat-7.1.1-gapps-kodi-170127 with the folder boot and the system file system.img
2. Create four partitions of/on your Micro SD Card with Fdisk or GParted.
a) Part 1 for BOOT of 512 MB ; format as fat32 ; flag as boot
b) Part 2 for /system of 1024 MB; any filesystem
c) Part 3 for /cache of 512 MB ; format as ext4
d) Part 4 for /data; size the remain; format as ext4
When you are done with partitioning it shall look like this.
raspand-gparted-150923
3. Now open up a terminal as root and run this command (make sure which name your SD card was given when you inserted it (/dev/sdb2 or /dev/sdc2 or as in the example here /dev/sdd2):
dd if=system.img of=/dev/sdd2 bs=1M
(Note: When you run the above command you’ll have to stand in the folder raspand-nougat-7.1.1-gapps-kodi-170127)
4. Then just copy every file in raspand-nougat-7.1.1-gapps-kodi-170127/boot (10 files) to /dev/sdd1. If not mounted already you can mount it with mkdir /mnt/sdd1 followed by mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1

Note: You shall not do anything with /dev/sdd3 and /dev/sdd4. I. e.: Do not create folder /cache or /data. Watch this screenshot of the file structure on all four partitions when the installation is done.

Win32 Disk Imager
If you want/must do the installation in Windows you can download my previous version of RaspAnd – Marshmallow 6.0.1 Build 160915. It can be installed using Win32 Disk Imager.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Nougat Build 170127).

Startup of RaspAnd Nougat
The first thing you will see on the screen is the text ANDROID. If you do not see this text you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see the first screen (i.e. the Desktop). The first thing you should do is to enable Wifi and connect to your Network. For Aptoide App Store to work properly you also have to allow downloads from unknown sources. Then go to Settings >> Apps and try out some of them.

Navigation in RaspAnd Nougat
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end a game in Clash of Clans you’ll have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Nougat. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running.

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Nougat on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi works very well in RaspAnd Nougat Build 170127.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Nougat on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as a bit sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

KNOWN ISSUES
1. The screen can flicker sometimes on certain monitors. In the worst cases it can look like this. Fix: Click on the screen or wait a moment.
2. Google Play Store won’t run. Nothing to do about it (right now). Aptoide is a good replacement since you can install most Google apps using Aptoide.
3. You can’t watch videos/movies using the YouTube app. The sound is very good though. Nothing to do about it (right now). Please note that you can run YouTube in Kodi with good video and sound quality.
4. Not all apps will run in RaspAnd Nougat. You can for example run the popular (?) Clash of Clans, but not Angry Birds. Many many apps will run without problems though.
5. You may have to reconnect to your Wifi Network after every reboot of RaspAnd. Sort of a “bug”.

PLEASE NOTE that the installation to a Micro SD Card has to take place in Linux. If you want/must do it in Windows you can download my previous version of RaspAnd – Marshmallow 6.0.1 Build 160915. It can be installed using Win32 Disk Imager.

SCREENSHOTS
Screenshot 1 – Aptoide App Store running
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Kodi running
Screenshot 4 – Kodi running (choosing Add-ons)
Screenshot 5 – ES File Explorer running
Screenshot 6 – Spotify running
Screenshot 7 – AIDA64 running
Screenshot 8 – SnapTube running
Screenshot 9 – SnapTube running and downloading from YouTube
Note: The “screenshots” are taken with my mobile phone camera. The colors are therefore not perfect. I.e. when running RaspAnd on your Raspberry Pi the screen colors are much better!

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD raspand-nougat-7.1.1-gapps-kodi-613mb-170127.zip for 9 $

md5sum

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

 

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 84 Comments

RaspArch Build 161205 :: Run Arch Linux on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 2 computer

Posted on December 5, 2016 by exton

rasparch-logoThis version (161205) is my fourth build of RaspArch
The first version is from 150414. The second is from 151107. The third is from 160312 specially made for the new Raspberry Pi 3. This version (161205) and version 160312 of RaspArch can of course also run on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2. RaspArch is a “remaster” of Arch Linux ARM. The original compressed system is of 231 MB. After I have added the LXDE Desktop environment, PulseAudio, Firefox, Yaourt and Gimp the system increased to 700 MB. RaspArch is a “ready-to-go” ARM system. It must be installed on a Raspberry Pi 3 model B or Pi 2 computer.

UPGRADE RaspArch
If you have downloaded and installed my previous version of RaspArch from 160312 you can still use the Micro SD Card with RaspArch on the new Raspberry Pi 3 after a full upgrade of the system. Commands: pacman -Sy followed by pacman -Syu. Most important the old kernel will automatically be replaced by kernel 4.4.35-1-ARCH.

NEWS in RaspArch Build 161205
A new kernel – 4.4.35-1-ARCH. All included packages have been updated to the latest version as of 161205. I have added support for Yaourt – a Pacman Fronted. I have also installed PulseAudio. Finally the sound works alright in RaspArch. Nice if you like YouTube. Note: To be able to install Yaourt I had to install a lot of development tools.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

More about RaspArch
When you have installed RaspArch to your Micro SD Card you can use the system like any other Arch Linux system. I.e. install new programs etc. Arch motto is KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). RaspArch uses kernel 4.4.35-1-ARCH and the LXDE Desktop environment.

Program Management in Arch Linux
Arch Linux uses a proprietary system called Pacman. It is similar to that found in CRUX Linux. Read about Pacman.
You can also read all the documentation on Arch Linux. Four commands are basically the only ones you need to use:
1) pacman -Sy (update the packages database)
2) pacman -Syu (upgrading the whole system)
3) pacman -S MyUsefulProgram (the package installation command)
4) pacman -R UnnecessaryProgram (uninstall a package).
Very simple!
Note: You can also use Yaourt – see below.

Using Yaourt – a Pacman Frontend
Yaourt is also very simple to use. Yaourt is a command line interface program which complete pacman for installing software on Archlinux. You should normally use Pacman as described above. If, however, you want to install a special program which can’t be found using Pacman you can try Yaourt. The command is yaourt MySpecialProgram. Normally you will get a lot of alternatives. Install the one you want. Watch this screenshot when I wanted to install Geany using Yaourt. In the first place I installed Yaourt to be able to install Google Chrome (only to learn that Google Chrome isn’t available for the ARM architecture).

How do I install RaspArch?
Almost like any other Raspberry system. The installation has to take place in Linux though. (From hard drive or while running a live Linux system from a CD or a USB stick). Follow this instruction. The whole thing has to be done exactly like this.
1. Unpack the downloaded file rasparch-exton-558mb-160312.tar.gz with tar -zxvf rasparch-exton-700mb-161205.tar.gz. You will get the folder rasparch-exton. Run the following commands as root. (Do not use Sudo).
2. Start fdisk to partition the SD card:
fdisk /dev/sdd (example; be sure to check which name your SD-card got. I.e. /dev/sdd, /dev/sdc, /dev/sdb or…)
3. At the fdisk prompt, delete old partitions and create a new one:
a. Type o. This will clear out any partitions on the drive.
b. Type p to list partitions. There should be no partitions left.
c. Type n, then p for primary, 1 for the first partition on the drive, press ENTER to accept the default first sector, then type +100M for the last sector.
d. Type t, then c to set the first partition to type W95 FAT32 (LBA).
e. Type n, then p for primary, 2 for the second partition on the drive, and then press ENTER twice to accept the default first and last sector.
f. Write the partition table and exit by typing w.
g. Create and mount the FAT filesystem:
mkfs.vfat /dev/sdd1
mkdir boot
mount /dev/sdd1 boot
4. Create and mount the ext4 filesystem:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdd2
mkdir root
mount /dev/sdd2 root
5. cp -av rasparch-exton/* root
6. sync
7. Move boot files to the first partition:
mv root/boot/* boot
8. Unmount the two partitions:
umount boot root
9. Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 2, connect ethernet (for Pi 2), and apply 5V power.
10. You will after a few seconds end up in console mode. Log in as root. The default root password is root. Enter X/LXDE with the command startx
The above instruction (slightly modified) is from the Arch Linux ARM site.

NOTE: If you get errors when you follow my instruction 1-10 you should see to that you have no partitions on the card and that the card isn’t mounted. It can be necessary to create a new partition table. Use GParted for that. It can look like this.
rasparch-card-partition-table

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Internet connections with Wicd
When you start up RaspArch for the first time you will get a error message re. Wicd Network Manager. Just open up a terminal and run the command wicd followed by systemctl enable wicd.service (to avoid further error messages from Wicd). You probably also have to edit /etc/resolv.conf in order to get a stable Internet connection. I.e. add the IP number of your router (Gateway). Example:
nameserver 192.168.1.1

Wireless connections
Just change Wicd’s preferences and connect.

Installing Samba
A way to reach your Windows computers in your home network is to install Samba. Command: pacman -S samba gvfs gvfs-smb gamin sshfs
Then start Samba with the command systemctl start smbd nmbd
After that you can connect to your Windows computers via PCManFM – watch this screenshot. (My Raspberry Pi 3 running RaspArch is connected to two of my computers in my home network).

Sound in RaspArch
In Build 161205 I’ve installed alsa-utils, PulseAudio and Pavucontrol. The sound works alright now. From Arch Linux for Raspberry Pi Wiki I learned this. If you want/need sound in RaspArch you should follow the instruction below.

Run the following command: amixer cset numid=3 X
Where X corresponds to:
0 for Auto
1 for Analog out
2 for HDMI

Add the following lines to /boot/config.txt

dtparam=audio=on

and

audio_pwm_mode=2 (if you use the 3.5mm analogue output)

WHO should run Arch Linux/RaspArch?
My answer: The system fits the “advanced” Linux user/enthusiast, who would be willing to run an occasional command from time to time.

rasparch-screenshot-desktop-small

BENEFITS of Arch Linux/RaspArch
“Cutting Edge”-software and speed. A member on this site recently wrote this about RaspArch: I’ve used Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu & Arch. I prefer Arch. Ubuntu is easier to install, Arch is easier to keep up to date. You do not go through big, painful, changes every year instead you just update, once in a while, make changes if instructed. Arch has most of the benefits of Gentoo without the pain of recompiling _everything_. When you do need to build a package in Arch its painless especially if you use one of the tools that support Aur (I like yaourt). Arch avoids the politics of Debian and Ubuntu and delivers a great Linux distribution. RaspArch now brings these advantages to the PI 2.

Study all installed packages in RaspArch

Screenshot 1 of RaspArch’s Desktop – YouTube and PulseAudio Control running
Screenshot 2 of RaspArch’s Desktop – YouTube and Alsamixer running
Screenshot 3 – Yaourt running (while installing Geany)

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD
This version (161205) has been replaced by version 171102, which can be installed in Windows using Win32 Disk Imager.

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RaspEX for Raspberry Pi 3/2 – Build 161019 – based on Ubuntu 16.10 with LXDE and kernel 4.4.21

Posted on October 19, 2016 by exton

raspberry-logoNEWS 161019 about RaspEX for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2
I have upgraded the whole system and replaced the old kernel 4.1.20 with kernel 4.4.21. RaspEX Build 161019 is a Linux ARM system for Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. It is based on Debian Jessie (Debian 8.6), Ubuntu Yakkety Yak (Ubuntu 16.10, released 161013) and Linaro (Open Source software for ARM SoCs). In this new version (161019) I’ve installed Wicd Network Manager and replaced Chromium with Firefox with better support for YouTube. I have also installed Samba and VNC4Server so you can connect to your Windows computers in your Home Network and/or control RaspEX on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 2 from your Windows computers with VNC Viewer and/or PuTTY (Telnet and SSH client). Furthermore some extra Network Tools, Midori Private Browser, SMTube (YouTube browser which allows to browse, search and play YouTube videos) and PulseAudio for better sound in YouTube. Study all installed packages in RaspEX Build 161019.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is the third generation Raspberry Pi. It replaced the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B in February 2016.

Compared to the Raspberry Pi 2 it has:
A 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU
802.11n Wireless LAN
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Raspberry Pi 3: How much better is it than the Raspberry Pi 2? Raspberry Pi 3 is performing 10 times faster than that of the Pi 1 and around 50 percent better than that of the Pi 2 according to testers.

Compatibility :: October 2016
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX with LXDE, RaspEX with Kodi, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Lollipop and RaspArch. I have now (161019) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

Screenshot 1 – RaspEX connected to Windows via Samba

Screenshot 2 – RaspEX connected to Windows via PuTTy

Screenshot 3 – RaspEX “running on” Windows with VNC Viewer

Softpedia review
RaspEX version 160331 was reviewed by Softpedia 160331.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

More about RaspEX
RaspEX is a full Linux Desktop system with LXDE (an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment) with many other  useful programs pre-installed. Firefox is used as Web Browser and Synaptic as Package Manager. You can use Samba and VNC4Server to connect to your Windows computers in your Home Network and/or control RaspEX on your Raspberry Pi 3 or Raspberry Pi 2 from your Windows computers with VNC Viewer and/or PuTTY (Telnet and SSH client). You can use Synaptic to install any extra packages you may need. For example LibreOffice. RaspEX uses Ubuntu’s software repositories so you can install thousands of extra packages if you want. NOTE: Kodi is installed only in Build 160426.

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.21-v7 is used.

Why shall I use RaspEX?
Eight Operating Systems are recommended by Raspberrypi.org. Among them Noobs, Raspbian (Debian Jessie) and Snappy Ubuntu Core. RaspEX is faster (“fast as lightning”), more useful and more fun to use. (In my opinion). One member at this site thought that running RaspEX (for Raspberry Pi 2) was like running Raspberry Pi on “steroids“. RaspEX Build 161019 and 160426 are (of course) even faster, especially if you run the systems on a Raspberry Pi 3 computer.

How do I install RaspEX in Windows?
Just like any other Raspberry Pi system. I.e.: Unpack the downloaded ZIP file (raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-1110mb-161019.zip) and transfer the IMAGE file (raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-3050mb-161019.img) to your Micro SD card of at least 8GB. For that you shall use Win32DiskImager in Windows. When running it it will look like this.

raspex-win32img-161019

How do I install RaspEX in Linux?
You can of course also install RaspEX in any Linux system using the dd command. Just open up at terminal and run the following command (as root):
dd if=raspex-ubuntu-16.10-lxde-3050mb-161019.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
Note: Change /dev/sdX to for example /dev/sdc, /dev/sde or…
(Check it carefully before you run the above command so you won’t lose important data).

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

How do I use RaspEX?
When you start up your Raspberry Mini computer with RaspEX you will (after a few seconds) end up in X and LXDE as the ordinary user raspex. The password for raspex is raspex. When logged in as raspex you can use Sudo to become root. Example: sudo su and sudo pcmanfm. The password for root (superuser) is root. You can log out from LXDE and log in again as root (if you want). This is how it looks at SLiM‘s login page.

raspex-login-slim

You can log in as root with password root. You can of course also create a new ordinary user if you want. Command: /usr/sbin/adduser MyNewUser. If you don’t want to be automatically logged in as raspex you shall edit /etc/slim.conf.

First things to do
Run this command:
sudo apt-get upgrade or sudo apt-get install wicd (for Wicd to be properly installed).

When logged in as the ordinary user raspex your Desktop will look like this.

raspex-desktop-161019-small
Click to view a larger picture

Error no_pubkey when trying to upgrade the system
When you run the command sudo apt-get update it can happen that you can’t update the sources due to missing pub_keys. The solution is to run the following commands.
$ cd /var/lib/apt
$ sudo mv lists lists.old
$ sudo mkdir -p lists/partial
$ sudo apt-get update

After that you can run apt-get update with success even though you still will get the same “no_pubkey” errors.

Watch this screenshot – apt-get update running 160907.

As you can see there are no updates (more than Chromium). A RaspEX/Ubuntu system for Raspberry Pi can’t be compared with “normal” Ubuntu systems. I.e. the sources are not changed/upgraded that often.

Wireless connections
The new Raspberry Pi 3 computer has “built in” 802.11n Wireless LAN.
Using Raspberry Pi 2 you have to have a Wireless USB Adapter. The only one which works for Raspberry Pi 2 is Edimax EW-7811Un (as far as I know). I both cases you must configure Wicd Network Manager (apt-get upgrade) before you can use it. (You don’t need a wired connection for that). I.e. Wicd is already installed by me, but as I just said Wicd has to be configured before you can use it. Then change Wicd’s preferences to suit your wireless connection. IMPORTANT: You’ll also have to add your router’s IP address to /etc/resolv.conf to be sure to get a permanent stable Internet connection.
NOTE also: You’ll have to edit /etc/resolv.conf even if you use a wired connection.

Advanced configuration with raspi-config
Run the command sudo raspi-config and you will get a menu with different configuration alternatives. You can for example expand the filesystem on the SD card. You can also enable an experimental GL driver for the Desktop. Perhaps useful if you have a big screen/monitor. You can also enable overscan. Useful if you use the 7″ touchscreen. See under Advanced Options.

About SSH, PuTTY, Samba, VNC4Server and VNC Viewer
SSH, Samba and VNC4Server are pre-installed in RaspEX Build 161019. You need to install PuTTy and and VNC Viewer in your Windows system if you want to connect to RaspEX/Raspberry Pi 3/2 from Windows the way the below slideshow shows. (Please read the developers information about how to configure PuTTy and VNC Viewer).

Watch this slideshow re. connections between RaspEX and Windows.

Bluetooth connections
It seems difficult (maybe impossible) to use the “built in” Bluetooth adapter running RaspEX on Raspberry Pi 3. Using a Blutooth dongle for example Asus USB-BT400 dongle on Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 2 you should have no trouble using Bluetooth in RaspEX. Watch these two screenshots when Blueman (Graphical Bluetooth Manager) is running.
1. Showing “paring” with my Android phone
2. Showing the sending process of a file from RaspEX/Raspberry Pi 3 to my Android phone

View all installed packages in RaspEX – Build 161019

Screenshot of RaspEX’s Desktop while Wicd is running (for configuration of a wireless connection)

Screenshot 1 – RaspEX connected to Windows via Samba

Screenshot 2 – RaspEX connected to Windows via PuTTy

Screenshot 3 – RaspEX “running on” Windows with VNC-viewer

Screenshot 4 – RaspEX running Midori Private Browser

Screenshot 5 – RaspEX using Pavucontrol (for sound)

Screenshot 6 – RaspEX running SMTube (search and watch YouTube videos)

DOWNLOAD
This version has been replaced by Build 170221…

READ also about my RaspEX Build 160703 (also for Raspberry Pi 3 and 2) with OpenCPN pre-installed
OpenCPN is a free software (GPLv2) project to create a concise chart plotter and navigation software, for use underway or as a planning tool. OpenCPN is developed by a team of active sailors using real world conditions for program testing and refinement.

Compatibility :: February 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat and RaspArch. I have now (170221) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

 

Posted in Exton Linux, Linux, RaspEX | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

RaspAnd Marshmallow 6.0.1 Build 160915 for Raspberry Pi 3/2 – faster and more responsive than ever!

Posted on September 15, 2016 by exton

win32diskimager-raspand-logoNEWS 160917 about RaspAnd Marshmallow 6.0.1 and Win32 Disk Imager
It is now possible to install RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915 to a Micro SD card (preferable a class 10 card) in Windows 10. I have finally (after many months) “discovered” how to make an image file of all four (4) partitions needed to run RaspAnd. I.e. system, boot, cache and data. Just download the ZIP-file raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-install-win32diskimager-622mb-160915.zip and unzip it with 7-Zip. Then download Win32 Disk Imager (for free) and install the IMG-file raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-7400mb-160915.img to a SD card of at least 8GB. It will look like this. You can alternatively (of course) use the dd-command in a Linux system. Unzip the downloaded file raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-install-win32diskimager-622mb-160915.zip. Then open a terminal and run the command dd if=raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-7400mb-160915.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
(Change X to b, d or…)

What’s the point with Win32 Disk Imager?
Well, until now you had to have some basic knowledge about Linux to be able to install RaspAnd. Now you don’t need any special knowledge at all! (Just some basic computer knowledge).

ABOUT
RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915 is an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow system which can run on Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi 2. Google Play Store and other GAPPS are included. This version of RaspAnd is faster and more responsive than RaspAnd Marshmallow 601 Build 160717 and (of course) RaspAnd Lollipop Build 150924/160315. Many other apps than GAPPS are pre-installed in Build 160915. I can mention Clash of Clans, Spotify, ES File Explorer, Rotation Control Pro,  Terminal Emulator, Aida64, WinZip and Vlc.

MORE ABOUT RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915
This new version has about the same pre-installed apps and features as in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160717, but it looks better, runs faster and is more responsive. Watch the slideshow below. You can run also this build (160915) using a Raspberry Pi 2 computer, but for best performance you really should use a Raspberry Pi 3. Be sure also to use a class 10 Micro SD Card.

About Aptoide App Manager and Google Play Store
I have removed Aptoide in this build (160915). I could not get Aptoide to work properly in this RaspAnd build. Google Play Store works very well though. I.e.: A lot of apps can be found and installed. Note: After installing RaspAnd to your SD card you can install Aptoide yourself. After all it’s a very useful app. See below how to do it.

Google Play Services
When you start up RaspAnd Build 160915 for the first time you will get an error message saying that “Google Play Services has stopped”. (As in my previous builds of RaspAnd). This is easily fixed by going to Settings – Apps – Google Play Services. Give Google Play Services ALL permissions. After  that you won’t see any error messages.

Wifi and Bluetooth support
This new version of RaspAnd has support for Wifi and Bluetooth (on Raspberry Pi 3). RaspAnd runs very well on the new Raspberry Pi 3 computer. The system runs also on the “old” Raspberry Pi 2 computer.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

RASPBERRY_PI_2-small
Raspberry Pi 3 model B made in February 2016. It has a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

Kernel
Kernel 4.4.16-exton-v7+ is used in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915.

My sources
My work/build is the outcome of the Community Open Source Project.

How do I install RaspAnd? (Before 160917 – after that you can use Win32 Disk Imager in Windows)
Almost like any other Raspberry Pi system. The installation has to take place in Linux though. (From hard drive or while running a live Linux system from cd or a USB stick). Follow this instruction. The whole thing has to be done as root and exactly like this.
1. Unpack the downloaded zip-file (raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-614mb-160915.zip). You will get the folder raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-614mb-160915 with the folder boot and the system file system.img
2. Create four partitions of/on your Micro SD Card with Fdisk or GParted.
a) Part 1 for BOOT of 512 MB ; format as fat32 ; flag as boot
b) Part 2 for /system of 1024 MB; any filesystem
c) Part 3 for /cache of 512 MB ; format as ext4
d) Part 4 for /data; size the remain; format as ext4
When you are done with partitioning it shall look like this.
raspand-gparted-150923
3. Now open up a terminal as root and run this command (make sure which name your SD card was given when you inserted it (/dev/sdb2 or /dev/sdc2 or as in the example here /dev/sdd2):
dd if=system.img of=/dev/sdd2 bs=1M
(Note: When you run the above command you’ll have to stand in the folder raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-614mb-160915)
4. Then just copy every file in raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-614mb-160915/boot (10 files) to /dev/sdd1. If not mounted already you can mount it with mkdir /mnt/sdd1 followed by mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt/sdd1

Note: You shall not do anything with /dev/sdd3 and /dev/sdd4. I. e.: Do not create folder /cache or /data. Watch this screenshot of the file structure on all four partitions when the installation is done.

Different boot parameters in boot/config.txt
As you can see there is a file called config.txt in the folder boot. Check out this overview explaining the different parameters in config.txt. Some changes to config.txt could (possibly) help if you have screen problems (which I don’t think you will have when running RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915).

Startup of RaspAnd Marshmallow
The first thing you will see on the screen is the text ANDROID. If you do not see this text you haven’t installed RaspAnd correctly on the SD card. Try again and do EXACTLY as I write above. After several minutes (the first time you startup RaspAnd) you will see a message saying that RaspAnd is optimizing all installed apps. After a while you will see this first screen. Next startup will be faster (but not really fast). Be sure to give Google Play Services all permissions as I mention above.

Navigation in RaspAnd Marshmallow
Normally you use the Esc key to get back or end an app running. To end a game in Clash of Clans you’ll have to use the Ctrl Alt F1 or F2 keys simultaneously.

YouTube performance
YouTube works alright in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915. You can watch almost all videos. I.e. normally you will hear the sound very well, but some the movies won’t play or play very slow with strange colors.

About Google Play Store
Google Play Store come pre-installed in version 6.0.2-leanback. Whatever you do, don’t upgrade to a newer version than version 6.7.13-E-All! It won’t work. You may perhaps have to go back to version 6.0.2-leanback. If Google Play Store gets automatically updated to version 6.8.22 you have to downgrade to version 6.7.13 (or 6.0.2). Go to Settings >> Apps >> Google Play Store and choose to uninstall updates.  You will then be asked if you want to go back to the Factory version. Do that and Google Play Store will work again!

Spotify
Spotify works very well in RaspAnd Marshmallow. Just log in and play your favorite music!

Screen rotation
Use Rotation Control Pro to set the screen to always be in Landscape mode. Maybe you’ll have to change this to suite your needs depending on which app you are running.

How to install Aptoide App Manager
When you have RaspAnd up and running you can install Aptoide if you want. Please note that you can find and install a lot of apps not found on Google Play Store by using Aptoide. Be sure to install the latest aptoide.apk. Watch this slideshow about how to do it.

Different Micro SD Cards
For best performance you should use SD Cards of good quality. I can recommend Samsung MicroSD Pro Plus 32GB Class 10. Write speed up to 95 MB/s. Also Samsung MicroSD EVO 16GB Class 10. Write speed up to 48 MB/s. Price 47 $ respectively 10 $ (in Sweden).

Updates
Not all apps (but quite a few) can be installed via Google Play Store. All included GAPPS are up to date.

Error message “Google Play Services stopped working”
It can happen that you will get error messages about Google Play Services. Don’t worry. Just ignore the messages. Everything will work, but be sure to give Google Play Services all permissions.

About the need to upgrade from RaspAnd Build 160717 to RaspAnd Build 160915
If you have RaspAnd Build 160717 “up and running” and everything works alright there is no real need to upgrade. I mean both versions are based on Marshmallow 6.0.1 and all included apps (GAPPS and others) gets updated all the time. RaspAnd Build 160915 runs slightly faster and looks better than Build 160717. That’s all! Note: RaspAnd Build 160717 has even one advantage over Build 160915. Namely that Aptoide App Manager is installed. Aptoide can be used to install apps not found on Google Play Store.

Screenshots
Screenshot 1 – Google Play Store running
Screenshot 2 – RaspAnd’s new Desktop

NOTE/WARNING – 1 – re. Raspberry Pi 2
Wifi and Bluetooth can’t be used running RaspAnd Marshmallow on Raspberry Pi 2. You’ll have to have and use a wired connection. Using a Raspberry Pi 3 Wifi and Bluetooth work very well in RaspAnd Marshmallow Build 160915.

NOTE/WARNING – 2
Running Android Marshmallow on a Raspberry Pi 3/2 can sometimes be perceived as very sluggish. If you find it so, I recommend that you restart the system a couple of times, then everything will run faster! I.e. not really fast, but faster.

NOTE/WARNING – 3
You cannot use Raspberry Pi’s official 7 ” touchscreen monitor. RaspEX can use the touchscreen, but not RaspAnd. It’s a kernel matter.

Compatibility :: June 2017
Unfortunately not all systems made for Raspberry Pi 2 will run on the new Pi 3. They need to be upgraded with a new kernel. I therefore have to upgrade the systems I distribute. I.e. RaspEX, RaspEX with OpenCPN, RaspAnd Lollipop, RaspAnd Marshmallow, RaspAnd Nougat 7.1.1, RaspAnd 7.1.2 and RaspArch. I have now (170616) upgraded all systems. Read about the new Raspberry Pi 3…

DOWNLOAD raspand-marshmallow-6.0.1-gapps-install-win32diskimager-622mb-160915.zip for 9 $

md5sum

NOTE: If you buy this version of RaspAnd (Build 160915) you will also get RaspAnd Build 170521 (with Kodi 17.1, Aptoide and Aptoide TV pre-installed).

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of Raspberry Pi Foundation

Posted in Android, Exton Linux, Linux, RaspAnd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 122 Comments