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How do i update an android phone from 2.2 froyo to 2.3 gingerbread with Ubuntu 12.04 ?

Does this process require Windows ?

I am using Ubuntu 12.04 on a core i3 machine.

Thanks in advance.

ragv

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  • I don't think it is possible with Ubuntu but needs an application like PC Suit (for Nokia) which has no Ubuntu installer at all.Most of the phone manufacturers have only Windows installer for such applications.
    – beeju
    May 11, 2012 at 18:17
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    It really is dependant on your phone.. There are tools to update ROMs for Samsung phones but never I've seen one for LG phones for example.
    – Uri Herrera
    Aug 22, 2012 at 5:22
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    Which phone are you trying to update? (Manufacturer)
    – devav2
    Aug 22, 2012 at 5:45
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    Basically, you would get better quality answers if you told people what manufacturer of phone you have. The answers you've gotten so far are unhelpful because you haven't given this information.
    – thomasrutter
    Oct 26, 2012 at 3:08

3 Answers 3

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In theory, an Android phone doesn't need a computer to upgrade. In practice, this is usually the case - all I had to do to upgrade was home, menu, settings, about phone, software version, check for updates, apply. (It was something like that, but it's also sometimes a little different by phone as well.)

It should be noted that occasionally, a company will force you to use their proprietary desktop software to upgrade your phone. They will almost certainly distribute their software for only Windows, and so unless it works in WINE or Mono it won't work in Linux. What kind of Android phone do you have?

Also, if you plan on rooting and using a custom ROM, all you need for this is to put the ROM on the micro-SD card in the phone, which can be done on whatever OS you like. Again, it's an entirely phone-contained process after you root. Rooting works on Windows, Mac, and Linux; you need to have the android SDK setup and Mono set up and use SuperOneClick.

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    Software like that is quite unlikely to work in Wine, too, because it relies on installing custom USB device drivers.
    – thomasrutter
    Oct 26, 2012 at 3:08
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It's possible. You just need to backup your phone's firmware using something like ROM Manager from the Google Play Store (Market) and then use it to install a ROM with Gingerbread on your phone. It would help if we knew what model your phone is.

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  • ROM Manager relies on having a custom recovery partition to be able to do its thing - in simple terms this solution requires your phone to already have a custom firmware (or to put it simply, be "rooted"). Presumably the OP is not in this situation or he would already know how to load custom ROMs.
    – thomasrutter
    Oct 26, 2012 at 3:06
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Android does its own upgrades via phone but when a total new distro change is needed, it needs a software suite and time is long due for a Linux version of that particular update suite.

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  • Different phone manufacturers use different update mechanisms. You don't mention which one you are referring to.
    – thomasrutter
    Oct 26, 2012 at 5:45
  • Almost all of them have their own suites for distro upgrades, SONY has PC Companion, Samsung have their own.
    – Arup Roy Chowdhury
    Nov 6, 2012 at 3:05
  • That doesn't really help. You said that for a "distro change", a software suite is needed. If you meant a major update, then at least for Samsung that's incorrect. Even major version updates can be OTA. If you meant changing to a third-party ROM, then you don't use the manufacturer's software suite for that anyway.
    – thomasrutter
    Nov 12, 2012 at 0:32

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