> On Dec 5, 2014, at 4:32 PM, Peter N. Glaskowsky <pglaskowsky@???> wrote:
>> From: sajolida <sajolida@??? <mailto:sajolida@pimienta.org>>
>>
>> Peter was mentioning x86 tablets. So Peter, if you want to investigate
>> cheap x86 tablets and report which ones are able to run Tails or what is
>> missing for that to work it would be great! As a first step towards
>> having Tails on handheld devices.
>
> Yes, I’m working on this already. I have a variety of x86 Windows tablets already (all traditional PC-style systems inside, so they all seem to run Tails normally, modulo the predictable limitations of touchscreen devices), and a Dell Venue 8 7000 on the way. The release of that one has been delayed, unfortunately. Since it comes with Android, it’ll be interesting to see whether it will still have PC-like support for external boot devices. I’ll say something here when I know.
I’m still waiting on the Dell tablet, but I did get a Toshiba Encore 2, which is a fairly nice 8” tablet. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage for just $143 on Amazon right now.
This tablet is supposed to be able to boot from USB, but I haven’t been able to get that to work with a Tails USB drive that does work in other machines. On the other hand, there is one complicating issue I’m still investigating. The Encore 2, like most cheap Windows tablets, has only one micro USB connector, and needs an OTG to USB Type A adapter to work with most USB devices. But the USB drive I put Tails on to do this testing is the type with a Type A connector and an OTG micro-USB connector. Even without an OTG adapter, I can just plug in the OTG side of the USB drive and it shows up in Windows on the Encore 2. It just won’t boot from it.
(I have disabled Secure Boot, and I tried both the standard 1.2.2 ISO as well as going through the UEFI setup process from
https://tails.boum.org/news/test_UEFI/index.en.html <
https://tails.boum.org/news/test_UEFI/index.en.html> with the latest 1.3 UEFI dev ISO at latest.iso <
http://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_devel/latest.iso>. If anyone has any ideas to move forward on this, let me know.)
I’ve ordered one of those OTG to Type A adapters, along with a microSD card so I can try putting Tails on that in case the tablet can boot from SD.
I’m also thinking about getting an HP Stream 8, which has integrated 4G that supports T-Mobile’s free 200 MB/month plan. I’m told it’s relatively easy to activate that plan anonymously, and I think a “burner tablet" would be an interesting option for use with Tails. (I don’t know if there’s good Linux support for that device, but I suppose I’ll find out.)
And presumably the Dell tablet will show up at some point, and I’ll try that, too.
I continue to believe that if Tails can be improved to provide a good user experience on small, cheap x86 tablets, that could be the best and most popular way to use Tails. The fact that the iPad continues to outsell Windows tablets by 50x or so shows us that people can actually prefer devices with substantially different characteristics as companions to their traditional laptops and desktops, as long as the differences translate into capabilities the traditional platforms can’t match.
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