All my troubles deemed so far.. Damn - my mind drifts so easily..
E D I T:
I posted this on the Linux on an ARM Tablet Topic then realised I was so far off topic after the first line!
I tried to update the Motorola Xoom I use in my car for Navigation yesterday, but Google Play would not even open.
So I grabbed the Motorola Xoom that I got around the same time for yacht navigation and entertainment.
Same thing. They both boot, and the Operating system is slick, there is no damage and the 12V LiPo batteries are going strong after 10 years, and the poor old Kit Kat OS or whatever the last one was, si slick, fast and functional.
It boots almost immediately and is ready for action.
It's just that if I go for a drive I end up facing a river bank rather than the brand spanking new bridge that was built about 3 year ago.
I grabbed the Asus Transformer because that's rooted (as in, able to do weird stuff - not broken) and even the Cyanogen ROM on that is no longer able to access Play store.
In desperation I found the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. It boots, then spends half a day (and half a battery) trying to do something on WiFi.
Which begs the question, what happens when I buy my next car if my old diesel HiAce dies. The HiAce is a bit like an old computer. The Diesel engine is like the Celeron or i5 processors I love using and Linux Mint is like Diesel fuel. There are variations on old diesels, but they have one thing in common with those processors and Mint. They are reliable and easy to work on.
My old van has no fancy electronincy stuff. If something stops working, a good thump with a hammer will usually get it going (a bit like fixing Linux). If it stops working too much, it might need a mechanic (they have bigger hammers) and if something falls off, fencing wire is still my best mate.
But these new vehicles have engine computers, climate control, transmission computers, navigation computers. They have computers that tell you if you are asleep and computers to guide you to stay in your lane. They even have computers so you can aim properly if you want to reverse over that annoying kid from next door.
So what happens if some country that makes these computers. Some place like Ireland for example (home of the Raspberry Pi) has a spat with us and decides not to roll out updates to the cars..
But I digress. Back to tablets.
The Xoom, the Asus and some other tablets were built like a brick dunny. But they have become disposable. The Samsung was built with a lovely screen, almost like an ipad screen, but the thing is also chuck-away.
Recently I got hold of an old Lenovo Yoda convertible laptoppy thing. The idea is that you fold it in half and is is a bit like a tablet. I say a bit. That's relative. Relative to a tablet that weighs about 8kg. However, Mint 20 booted perfectly on it and found all the bits and made the touch screen work, So I found a touch screen app in the Mint repo. That worked. The thing was under $100 so I can;t complain about the weight.
What fascinated me is that it all works. Except for the built in keyboard and a few other things that as an ex-tech I can fix or work around.
For years I have looked forward to having a 10 inch tablet running Linux. Now at last, although it looks like that is still a little way off, there's hope.
The Raspberry Pi is an ARM based system. Most tablets seem to be based on similar architecture.
I'm waiting for Raspberry Pi Foundation to fork a special tablet division!
Actually, I'm not, but what I am looking at is the range of Windows Surface tablets appearing on the second hand market. Most of them have Celeron processors, so they should run Linux Mint as well as my i5 Lenovo.
Battery life running Mint might be as bad as the Lenovo ( about 4 hours on a fully charged new genuine battery) but the things probably weigh less than half, and are set up like the old Asus TF101 - to use a detachable keyboard if required.
I just need to find a 'cheap' second hand Surface Pro with 256GB SSD that isn't in crappy condition and that works.
