[pope_face]

Alright, allow me to begin by saying I just ordered a Playbook last week, and I'm supposed to pick it up in store today. This is also my first post on the forums, but hopefully I'll get to kick around here for a while. I bought the PB as a cheap audio/GPS device for in-car use, plus as a way to surf the internet. I just recently got a smartphone, and I find myself almost exclusively using that to check forums and emails. The only time I use my laptop anymore is for lots of writing, but once I get a full-sized wireless keyboard I'm sure the PB will take over that as well.

However, I have been unable to find out what the PB uses as internal storage... I tried searching Google, I tried searching the forums, and I tried checking the support section of the BB website, but no luck anywhere. While I have yet to fully play with the PB, I'm a huge fan of Ubuntu and have wanted to run it on a tablet for some time. However, I'm also a bit of a worrier, and I'd hate to brick a brand-new device just because I used the wrong ROM, or because I messed up a setup.

Now, I've done plenty of OS installs on x86 systems, but never on ARM. I believe there are Ubuntu ROMs available for the BB (I'll have to do a bit of digging), or some way to convert an Android-based Ubuntu ROM to the PB, but I'd like to stay on the safe side and have a backup. It seems (from glancing through forum topics) that it's possible to backup the PB OS on a computer, but I don't know if that's the entire OS, or just the documents/settings/whatever. If it's the entire OS, and it can be restored/reinstalled in the event I brick it, that's fine. Still, I've always been more mechanically than electronically inclined, so I'm considering installing the new ROM on a flash drive from my computer, then tearing into the back of the PB and replacing the original Blackberry drive with the replacement one. I assume it's similar to a PC: If the hard drive dies, you simply open it up, replace the hard drives, and install the OS on the new one. My understanding is that, if I can't get the new OS to work, I could simply open up the case again, reinstall the original BB card (with OS), and run it like that.

I know some people might have concerns about actually getting into the PB, but are there any glaring miscalculations I've made otherwise? If I can create a backup of the OS on another computer, and completely reinstall it in the event I mess up the Ubuntu install, I'd be happy to go that route, but I doubt that's possible.

[rrrebo]

BlackBerry PlayBook Teardown - iFixit

Sandisk NAND flash memory, likely down on board and not replaceable.


Front view of the motherboard. If you want the super-huge version of the motherboard, click here.

• Elpida B8064B2PB-8D-F 1GB DRAM & the TI OMAP4430 1GHz dual-core processor
• SanDisk SDIN5C2-16G 16 GB NAND Flash
• Texas Instruments TWL6030 Power Management
• STMicroelectronics XTV0987 5 MP mobile imaging processor
• Wolfson WM8994E audio codec
• Texas Instruments WL1283 GPS/WLAN/Bluetooth/FM
• TriQuint Semiconductor TQP6M9002 802.11a/b/g/n + BT front-end module

[omega supreme]

for what you want to do; i don't think it's possible on the playbook. RIM is very tight with their securities on their devices. you might want to consider an android tablet if you're looking to hack the device in some way...ebay has a bunch of "no-name" tablets from japan selling for about 80 bucks or so.

[Silverfern]

they use NAND flash memory, which costs a bit over $1 per GB

[peter9477]

While I have yet to fully play with the PB, I'm a huge fan of Ubuntu and have wanted to run it on a tablet for some time.
...
Now, I've done plenty of OS installs on x86 systems, but never on ARM. I believe there are ... or some way to convert an Android-based Ubuntu ROM to the PB, but I'd like to stay on the safe side and have a backup. It seems (from glancing through forum topics) that it's possible to backup the PB OS on a computer, but I don't know if that's the entire OS, or just the documents/settings/whatever. If it's the entire OS, and it can be restored/reinstalled in the event I brick it, that's fine. Still, I've always been more mechanically than electronically inclined, so I'm considering installing the new ROM on a flash drive from my computer, then tearing into the back of the PB and replacing the original Blackberry drive with the replacement one. I assume it's similar to a PC: If the hard drive dies, you simply open it up, replace the hard drives, and install the OS on the new one....

Sorry, but give it up. I mean that in the most helpful manner. What you're considering doing is not feasible, and your belief that it may be is based on some misconceptions about how similar this device and your PC may be.

In reality, they're extremely different in a number of ways which matter here. For one thing, there's no "hard drive" that can be removed. It's a flash memory chip that's soldered directly on top of the CPU. It's not removable by almost any means without basically destroying the thing.

You can't back up the OS. The backup procedure does only settings, apps and their data, and your media files.

There's a secure bootloader embedded deep inside which you can't access and which will (apparently) prevent you from loading any OS other than an image signed by RIM with their highly protected private key.

There are no Linux drivers for some of the hardware that's present inside... docs haven't even been released publicly for many of the chips yet.

I'm sure there are other reasons too, but even based on what I've just said, the odds are stacked massively against achieving the sort of thing you propose.

[pope_face]

Thanks to all of you... I wasn't expecting a reply so quickly, but it is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunate on all accounts though... I'd really like to get it done, but for the troubles it doesn't seem worth it.

As for getting an Android tablet: Yes, there are several out there for under $200... I was seriously considering the Viewsonic Viewpad 7x, but it hasn't been released yet, and it looks like it'll have a $300 retail. I doubt any other tablet in the $200 range would be able to compete with the PB... I've tested a few sub-$200 tablets and was less than thrilled with them. The only Android tablet that seems decent is the Acer Iconia, and it's about $50 more than the PB.

I'm debating whether or not to return my PB and drop the extra $250 for an Intel-based Acer... It's quite a big difference in price though, so I'm not quite ready to commit to it. Still, I'd be able to run Ubuntu. I may play around with the PB for a couple days and see how it goes... if it really can't do what I want it to, I'll return it until I figure out whether I really want a full OS tablet, or just something cheap.

[taylortbb]

In addition to what peter9477 said, the flash memory on the device is fully encrypted, and the keys are stored inside an analysis resistant secure element. It won't boot from any unsecured media, assuming you could even desolder the flash chips from the PCB and install your own.

The PlayBook is designed to handle very sensitive data and that includes a security chain with code signing starting from the on-chip secure bootloader. The entire OS image is hashed and checked for RIM code signing.

You may be pleasantly surprised by the PlayBook's OS though. While it's secure, it's also significantly more open than many competing platforms. QNX is a POSIX compliant OS, and the Native SDK enabled C/C++ development. RIM has already ported some open source libraries (Qt, etc) and apps (like Dosbox) and made them available on their Github account. Additionally the device comes with a SSH server you can access through enabling development mode. Side-loading apps also requires development mode, but can be done quite easily. RIM has also said they intend to make it as open to developers as possible, and have already demonstrated things like using USB OTG (host mode) to connect to an Arduino. While that openness isn't quite here yet, it is coming, probably in OS 2.0.

[pope_face]

Thanks again to everyone who replied... It's plain to see that the people here appreciate (if not love) the device, and there is a lot of knowledge available.

After considering all the replies, doing some online research, and discussing this off the forums, I've decided to just stick with the PB for the time being. I suspect my excitement got the better of me, and I was thinking of ways to make it do more than it needs to... it seems to be a habit of mine to try to get more out of a machine than I need. I'll have the chance to play around with it tonight, and unless it performs terribly on the two things I expect of it (music playing and GPS), I'll likely keep it.

As for the Ubuntu tablet... I'll wait until the x86-based tablets come down in price, then pick one of those up to replace my netbook. The Acer Iconia seems like a promising candidate... x86 architecture, keyboard dock, and relatively cheap compared to the other Windows tablets.