We did it boys! Battery is no more: https://lemmy.zip/post/72181546

This post is a follow-up to my original post: https://lemmy.zip/post/71885626

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that tough to set up.

My original plan was to install postmarketOS and turn the phone into a proper tiny Linux server. Unfortunately, my Moto E5 Play is the pettyl variant, while the available postmarketOS port is for james. I decided that turning the phone into a brick probably wasn’t an essential part of the project.

So I went with Termux instead.

It’s now running nginx, PHP, MariaDB, WordPress, SSH and cloudflared directly on the phone. Everything starts automatically on boot, and I even made a tiny WordPress plugin for anonymous Today / Total / Online visitor stats.

And yes, the website is being served by the exact phone in the photo.

1 GB of RAM. Somehow this thing is now a production server.

I named it Pettyl, after the device codename.

You can actually visit it at https://moto.dimitrium.org/.

The website is barebones, I plan to push it to the limits. Also, this project will soon be available on my GitHub page https://github.com/tradicije

Next problem: figuring out how long an old Motorola can tolerate my bullshit.

all 30 comments

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[–] 46 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Back in the days when WordPress started out, 1GB of RAM was a lot! You'd be surprised what you can do when you're just running a server.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    I'll say again, I love this.

    I think you should keep posting these, I'd like to see more guerrilla servers.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    put ddclient on that baby, have it update your dns records and you'll have a portable server. absolutely cursed. you're welcome.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 days ago

    install ACCA to restrict battery charging current and capacity for safety

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 2 days ago* (1 child)

    update: Now you can leave your thoughts on the website, as @autriyo@feddit.org suggested, and I loved the idea so much I had to implement it immediately.

    Note: No personal information is required. Visitor statistics use an anonymous browser identifier, and the guestbook only stores what you choose to submit.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 days ago (6 children)

    Well done!

    How did you connect it to the internet?

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  • [–] [S] 16 points 2 days ago* (5 children)

    Cloudflare Tunnel. cloudflared is running directly on the phone, so I didn’t need to open any ports on my router.

    Also, if you meant how I connected the phone to the internet, not the website — just Wi-Fi. :)

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  • [–] 7 points 2 days ago (3 children)

    Boo Cloudflare, but I still love the idea. Given that I'm not planning to turn in this current phone for a few dollars of "credit" when I need to replace it, this seems like a cool weekend project!

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Can always use your own tunnel, like wireguard or even just SSH. You are then responsible for where the tunnel terminates, of course.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 days ago

    You should put a webcam showing the server log scrolling on the phone screen. Sanitized of any sensitive info, of course.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    That's super cool :)

    I'd love a visitors book on the website, where one could leave a little message.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    This is awesome I appreciate you sharing all the details with us

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  • [–] 5 points 2 days ago

    Dude, that NAND is going to get chewed up by the database? Platter still do good with a long time of writes.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 days ago (3 children)

    How do you keep it powered?

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  • [–] [S] 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    For now, it's just sitting on a charger, until I find a solution on how to bypass the battery. The great thing about the Motorola E5 Play is that it has removable battery, so I just need to figure out how to turn it on without the battery inside.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    What brand of keyboard is that in the background, looks comfortable. Also interesting project.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 days ago (1 child)