[TynesideLUG] Replacing Android or Echo with linux?

[Alan Page]

 Hi Casey
The link I gave was most likely the manufacturer's firmware. It should be possible to download a 'pure' android from the android development site.
Here's an example of installing an earlier version of android on pretty much any android phone:
How to Install Nougat 7.1.1 Rom on almost any Android Phone!

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How to Install Nougat 7.1.1 Rom on almost any Android Phone!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world...
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There are a lot of online guides for flashing with a custom rom - such as this one:
How to Flash a Phone? [Most Complete Guide in 2019]

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How to Flash a Phone? [Most Complete Guide in 2019]

This article will offer the most detailed tutorial on how to flash your Android phone which applies to the users...
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Hope that helpsAlan


    On Sunday, 20 October 2019, 17:57:43 BST, Miss Casey Marie Earnshaw <casey at linuxmail.org> wrote:  
 
 Thanks for the reply.


Is stock firmware just android with absolutely nothing else added or is
it the image that the manufacturers put on each phone? The malware came
with the Timmy device it wasn't installed afterwards, the first thing I
did with it was install malware bytes on it try to remove the malware
and found that it wasn't doable and thats when I took the battery out
and put it away. It was a gamble because it was known to come with
malware but it was very cheap and I was hoping malware bytes could
remove it.

And with the echo, we don't want to install or update the amazon stuff
because of all the spyware and the 24/7 listening. We want to install
something where we can be sure that it is completely under our control.


On 20/10/2019 17:48, Alan Page wrote:
> Hi Casey
>
> It is certainly possible to flash the timmy M20 with the stock
> firmware, which should get rid of any malware - and then update it.
>
> See:
>
> Download Timmy Stock ROM Firmware | Root My Device
> <https://rootmydevice.com/download-timmy-stock-rom-firmware/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>    Download Timmy Stock ROM Firmware | Root My Device
>
> Download Timmy Stock ROM firmware and flash it on your Android device
> using a Flash tool to get back the native ...
>
> <https://rootmydevice.com/download-timmy-stock-rom-firmware/>
>
> Whilst there are some open source projects for smartphones, the range
> of models supported is quite limited - but hings are steadily improving.
>
> 7 Open Source Mobile OS Alternatives To Android in 2019
> <https://itsfoss.com/open-source-alternatives-android/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>    7 Open Source Mobile OS Alternatives To Android in 2019
>
> Android is not the only option for your smartphones. Meet some
> open-source Linux based Android alternatives for ...
>
> <https://itsfoss.com/open-source-alternatives-android/>
>
> A bit more googling may turn something up.
>
>
> Similarly, the echo dot firmware can be checked and updated:
>
> Amazon.com Help: Alexa Device Software Updates
> <https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201602210>
>
>
>
>
>    Amazon.com Help: Alexa Device Software Updates
>
> <https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201602210>
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Regards
> Alan
>
>
> On Sunday, 20 October 2019, 17:21:22 BST, Miss Casey Marie Earnshaw
> <casey at linuxmail.org> wrote:
>
>
> Hi everyone
>
>
> I have a couple of devices that I don't use anymore due to privacy
> concerns. Those being a mobile phone called a Timmy M20 that I bought
> from a chinese reseller on Amazon that has irremovable malware (you can
> delete bits of it but it automatically goes online and just redownloads
> it. Other bits you can disable but it also re-enables it, it's very
> spooky!) The other device is an amazon echo dot.
>
> Right now these two things are just powered down in a drawer but it does
> seem a shame to have absolutely no use for them and I was wondering if
> its even theoretically possible to put Linux on them instead?
>
> My girlfriend would really love to use the echo dot as a security
> camera/clock/whatever we can think of, the phone? Well I care a lot less
> about that but the dot would be really interesting to try messing with!
>
> I am aware that you can root some andriod devices although its something
> I've never tried. If I managed to get root access to these 2 devices
> would I be able to completely wipe off what is on there and put on
> something else? Gnu/Linux or even just a fresh install of base android?
> I'm feeling pretty confident with root access I probably could
> completely wipe it but it's the second part of installing something
> usable on it I'm more worried about!
>
> Thanks for your time
>
> Casey x
>
>
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