What is Droidian?
Droidian is a Linux distribution for Android Phones based on Mobian, and therefore supports all Debian applications. It runs on a large majority of Android 9 devices. If a device has been ported to Ubuntu Touch and is android 9 or 10, it is likely possible to run Droidian.
Dependencies: Fastboot and ADB (On Arch these can be found in the android-tools package)
Downgrading to Android 9
Since the OnePlus 6T currently has a Halium build based on Android 9, we need to make sure our device is running Android 9 before Droidian can be installed.
This can be done by flashing OOS 9 to the phone using TWRP or MSM Download Tool.
If you have Android 9 already installed, skip to “Preparing files for droidian”.
TWRP Method
Firstly, download the OOS 9 zip from:
Also, download TWRP 3.5.2 for your respective device. You can use 3.6 instead for android 11.
Once these are saved, you can load your device into fastboot mode. On the OnePlus 6 this can be done by holding POWER + VOL UP. On the OnePlus 6T this can be done by holding VOL UP + VOL DOWN + POWER, hold these until you see fastboot mode appear.
Connect the phone to your machine with a USB cable.
Next, we can boot TWRP 3.5.2:
sudo fastboot boot twrp-3.5.2_9-0-[device].img
From TWRP, select Advanced, then Sideload. Then run the command:
sudo adb sideload OnePlus6Oxygen_22_OTA_034_all_1909112343_dd26.zip
(Change the filename depending on which is required for your device)
Select reboot from TWRP, then Bootloader.
Once fastboot mode loads once again, we should have OOS 9 installed to our currently booted slot, which means we are ready to install Droidian!
MSM Download Tool Method
Preparing files required for Droidian
First we need to download a few things. TWRP 3.3.1, the droidian zips and our boot image.
TWRP
Droidian Zips
Download the latest stable droidian zips from here
Specifically we want the arm64 rootfs and optionally the devtools if we wish to have additional features such as SSHing from a PC.
Optionally, if you are feeling brave, then you can use the latest nightlies here instead but there are chances for random issues.
Boot image for OnePlus 6 and 6T
Get it Here Boot image built by: https://github.com/MrCyjaneK (He’s put a bunch of work into the kernel)
Installing Droidian
Load the phone into fastboot mode, then run:
sudo fastboot flash boot halium-boot.img
sudo fastboot boot twrp-3.3.1-2-[device].img
Go to Advanced, then click Sideload and run:
sudo adb sideload droidian-rootfs-api28gsi-arm64_[date].zip
sudo adb sideload droidian-devtools-arm64_[date].zip
All Done, press reboot, then system in TWRP and you’ll be greeted with Phosh! BTW, default password is 1234, probably want to change that :D
Droidian Tips and tricks
Take a look here It’ll probably cover most of the things you need :D