Status (payload v40): fixed the D-Bus machine-id failure that kept the desktop from fully populating — the broken symlinked id files are removed and rewritten at boot (host and container side), so the session bus starts cleanly and the panel, dock and desktop icons come up. On the Android 15 phone the DPHMS desktop, dark theme, panel and dock load. The desktop, panel and dock load cleanly (free to play, tokens only). v36 makes the panel transparent so the wallpaper runs to the very top, regenerates all three wallpapers (smooth dark gradient with a red DPHMS accent on the top and left edge), and sets Firefox as the mail and web handler through a mimeapps file, with a default cursor for every app. v33 added the large (48 px) red-and-black cursor. v32 made the file manager (Thunar) use local files only, so its folder list fills right in. v31 shows the whole wallpaper and marks the DPHMS desktop icons as trusted. v30 sizes the desktop to the Moto G Power 5G (2024) screen, 1080x2400, with matching wallpaper and boot screen (for lighter rendering, put 810x1440 in a Downloads file named dphms-resolution.txt). v29 added the DPHMS boot screen, solid dark window frames with a red title, and an audio server inside the container so apps and the volume control work. Real sound from the phone speaker needs a PulseAudio app on Android serving 127.0.0.1:4713. To update: STOP, INSTALL, START, wait about 30 seconds, then read the console. It prints a theme-pass report and the status of each desktop component. In AVNC, turn view-only mode off.

⌘ DPHMS OS Setup Guide

How to install and run the DPHMS OS Linux desktop on your phone — no root required

Check the Requirements

Android 8.0 or newer
3GB free storage (the install downloads ~450MB — Wi-Fi recommended, mobile data works)
The DPHMS Tunnel engine, installed and paired. DPHMS OS does not use Shizuku at all — it runs exclusively on the suite's own Tunnel wire. Pair once with no Wi-Fi network and no PC (mobile data only is fine), and Tunnel re-arms itself automatically after every reboot — no manual restarts, no fixing things by hand. Get DPHMS Tunnel — FREE

💡 DPHMS OS never roots your phone. It runs Arch Linux inside a proot container — your phone stays untouched.

Get DPHMS OS

Buy DPHMS OS on the splash page ($9.99, one-time, PayPal). After checkout, the thank-you page gives you the signed APK and the full source code.

📝 Updating? Just install v0.1.23 right over your current version — no uninstall needed.

📝 v0.1.19: START / STOP now stream their output live into the console (same live-log style as INSTALL) — you'll watch the container boot line by line, and STATUS always shows the latest log.

Sideload the Installer App

Download the APK from the thank-you page and tap it
If your browser blocks it: allow "Install unknown apps" for your browser, then tap again
If Play Protect warns you (it doesn't recognize indie apps): tap More details → Install anyway

💡 Play Protect warnings are normal for apps outside the Play Store. DPHMS OS is signed by R. C. Anicola and audited — 1 permission, zero trackers, proot-only.

Authorize the Tunnel engine

One PAIR + START in DPHMS Tunnel and you're done — Tunnel hands DPHMS OS its shell over the suite's own wire, and after reboots it re-arms itself and reconnects automatically. Nothing to fix, nothing to restart by hand. No Shizuku involved anywhere. Get DPHMS Tunnel — FREE

Install the OS (one tap)

Tap Install in the DPHMS OS app
It downloads the payload (~400MB) and builds the Arch Linux ARM container: XFCE desktop, DPHMS dark theme, dock, Firefox, terminal
Keep the app open until it finishes (Wi-Fi recommended — mobile data works too)

Start the Desktop

Tap Start in the app — the VNC server boots on 127.0.0.1:5901
Install AVNC (free) — Google Play · F-Droid
In AVNC, connect to 127.0.0.1:5901 — password dphms

💡 The desktop has launchers for DPHMS and the DPHMS OS copyright page. Tap Stop in the app to shut the container down when you're done.

🛜

Spotty connection? Download manually instead

The app normally downloads everything itself — and since v0.1.7 it retries and auto-resumes when the connection drops. But if your connection keeps dying mid-download, let your browser handle the big downloads (browsers resume automatically), save the files to your Downloads folder, and the app will find them there and skip its own downloads entirely:

Payload (~12 MB): download it here — keep the filename dphms-os-payload.tar.gz
Arch Linux rootfs (~250 MB): download it from archlinuxarm.org — keep the filename ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz (or rename it to dphms-arch-rootfs.tar.gz)
Offline Pack (optional, ~437 MB in 5 resumable parts — all 416 desktop packages): part00 · part01 · part02 · part03 · part04. Put all five in Downloads and the desktop installs with zero internet.
Then tap [1] INSTALL — you'll see "Found … in your Downloads folder — using it". The app verifies every file (gzip integrity) before using it, so a partial download gets caught before the install starts.
Since v0.1.14 this works with no internet at all: if the app can't reach the site, it automatically checks your Downloads folder for a newer payload — comparing embedded version numbers, not file dates — and uses it. So you can download the payload on any Wi-Fi, then install offline on the phone.

📴

No internet at all? Fully offline install

Three files — payload, Arch rootfs, Offline Pack — are all direct downloads. Grab them anywhere (home Wi-Fi, a friend's place, a PC you copy from via USB), drop all three in your phone's Downloads folder, and the app installs the complete OS with zero internet on the phone. The install is also resumable: stages save as they complete, so if anything interrupts, [1] picks up exactly where it stopped without re-downloading what's already on the device. Once installed, DPHMS OS boots and runs fully offline — only browsing inside the desktop needs a connection.

And it's persistent: everything lives in /data/local/tmp/dphms on the device's own storage — it survives reboots, app updates, and even reinstalling the DPHMS OS app. After a phone reboot the Tunnel engine re-arms itself and comes back automatically — just open DPHMS OS and press START. The install, the stage progress, and the desktop are all still there.

Install fails or stalls

Check you have 3GB+ free storage and a connection, then tap Install again. The app retries and auto-resumes dropped downloads on its own.

VNC can't connect

Tap Status in the DPHMS OS app — the desktop must be running. Then connect AVNC (Play Store) to exactly 127.0.0.1:5901 (not 5900).

Do I need to redo this after a reboot?

The installed OS stays on your phone. The Tunnel engine re-arms and reconnects itself after every reboot — you just open DPHMS OS and tap Start.

Get DPHMS OS — $9.99 ← Back to DPHMS

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