Pine64

r/linux

r/pine64official

Not to start a long depressing discussion, that won't get things any better for anyone, and are really out of most readers control, but this is really sad to read.

I do hope the pinephone pro to be a success, though it's not quite there yet, and controversy as this doesn't really help. Less devs won't help at all either, :(

TL;DR

Housekeeping
    New PineTalk episode is out 
    Quarterly Q&A on August 13, at 8:00PM CEST (UTC+2)
    Alternative payment methods available in Pine Store again
    The Pinebook Pro is available 
    PINE64 EU has launched 
Pinecil (V2)
    New RISC-V SoC 
    Adds BLE – opening potential for OTA updates & remote telemetry
    Automatic detection of tip resistance
    Compatible with existing peripherals and accessories, including cases
    Range of new, shorter 6.2ohm tips for higher power level 
    IronOS already ported 
    Counterfeit protection; future option for users to verify if their Pinecil V2 is legit
    Available very soon
Star64
    Congratulations to Gav for being the first to solve the riddle!
    Star64 is in final layout stages and we want to bring it to the market soon
    Uses StarFive JH7110 64bit CPU paired with BXE-2-32 GPU
    Available in 4 and 8GB RAM configuration
    Equipped with 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (a variant with 1x GbE will be available later on for $5 less), PCIe, USB 3.0 as well as 2x USB 2.0 and GPIO
    Follows Quartz64 model-A pricing and footprint
PineSound
    PineBuds plastic molding is now complete and first test molds underway
    Hoping to being PineBuds to the market as soon as possible – maybe in October
    Similarly to the Pinecil and PineTime, PineBuds have been built to deliver a great out-of-the-box experience for everyone, while also offering depth for tinkerers and those who wish to hack
QuartzPro64 & Quartz64
    QuartzPro64 dev units started shipping; we’re still accepting coupon requests from developers
    Quartz64 receives DietPi support; now supported by Armbian, Manjaro, DietPi as well as giving option to run Arch Linux and NetBSD
    Pillow submitted patches enabling PCIe and analog audio, a fix for fast SD cards has been accepted upstream, and patches enabling JPEG encoder have been merged
PineTime
    Infinitime 1.10 released with many changes & improvements under the hood
    It is now possible to dismiss notifications
    Tweaks to display, colour and gamma settings – making things look better
    InfiniSim new features include animations & allows screen capture in GIF format
    Ongoing work to improve memory situation by leveraging additional 4MB of internal flash
    InfiniTime has 584 forks

reddit comments

I mean, gnu+linux desktop jami-qt client. I'd guess as it's Qt, it might work just fine on gnu+linux phone, but the UI should be totally different...

Original link: https://mobile.twitter.com/thepine64/status/1420769527030296584

This is a point of conflict for me. On one hand, Pine64 does quite a bit for open source software development, but one of their staple chip vendors is Allwinner, whose processors are used in their most popular products like the Pinephone, Pinetab, Pinebook, SOPINE and many of their single board computers. Allwinner has a history of GPL violations, such as failing to provide source code and including proprietary binaries in GPL codebases. They also don't seem that eager to properly support open source or open source their own code.

What do you think? Does it matter to you? If so, what chip brand would you prefer Pine64 switch to?

I have a SOPINE module on the Model A baseboard, with the 7 inch touchscreen kit installed. However, when I try to boot an OS from the SD card, neither the touchscreen nor the HDMI port output anything (my monitor doesn't even detect the connection). I have tried imaging the card with dd, vanilla etcher, and the Pine64 installer. Nothing has worked. The power lights on both the board and the module light up, and the processor gets somewhat warm to the touch, but not hot or even that warm, so I suspect that it's just not booting.

What are the steps for diagnosing a situation like this? I'm starting to worry that I got a defective part.

How good is the experience of running postmarketOS the regular Pine64 SOPINE module with the carrier board and the official touchscreen attachment? It has the same processor as the PinePhone, so can I expect a similar level of performance, and will things like the touchscreen work plug and play?

The Pine64 website didn't make that clear and I want to make sure which one it is.

Genode OS is adding Pine Allwinner A64 with the intention to eventually support the PinePhone by end of 2021.

A detailed blog describes the journey.

PinePhone is currently prototyping a fingerprint scanner that goes on the back of the phone. I'm just curious, how important would a dedicated killswitch be for you?

Also, a bit of a tangent, but how do you feel about the fact that the killswitches are hidden behind the back cover instead of easily reachable on the side like the Librem?

TL;DR for this month’s update

• RK3566 boards available to developers next month; more info in January
• Community page (.org) getting a make-over & chat bridge will be worked on over the holidays.
• An apology to early KDE CE pre-orders who received refunds and an explanation of what happened
• A word about retail stores coming early next year
• Look back at 2020 – our shortcomings and accomplishments discussed
• PineTime – classy analogue watch faces available for InfiniTime
• PineTime – InfiniTime receives many fixes including wake-up time, battery readout and call notifications
• PineTime – new WaspOS version has been released
• PineTime – Amazefish companion app now runs on multiple distros, including KDE Plasma Mobile; you can now sync your PineTime to the * PinePhone running Manjaro KDE & more!
• Pinebook Pro – production resumes after Chinese New Year, late February/ early March 2021
• Pinebook Pro – is now supported by official Debian Installer (Alpha 3)
• Pinebook Pro – the Docking Deck receives a warm response from end-users and reviewers
• PinePhone – software and firmware news: Megi’s 5.10 kernel and new firmware for the modem result in improved power management + thermals
• PinePhone – Megapixels camera app now supports smooth 30FPS viewfinder; works on multiple mobile UIs.
• PinePhone – We signed a contract for a PSION5-like keyboard with a specialized vendor(!); developers will receive keyboards already in January 2021
• PinePhone – Qi charging back case entered production (molding process)
• PinePhone – We’re working on a fingerprint reader back case with a community member who created a working prototype
• PinePhone – showcase of awesome PinePhone hacks and DIY projects
• PinePower – a range of power supplies (PSUs) for PINE64 products coming soon
• PinePower – portable 65W GaN PSU due in late Jan/ early Feb and a 120W desktop PSU coming later in 2021
• PineCube – we now have Armbian support (Debian & Ubuntu) for the PineCube
• PineCube – we created a case for the PineCube and released STL files for it
• Pinecil – initial batch sold out incredibly fast, more units are being produced for January 2021
• Nutcracker Challenge – more evaluation boards shipped
• Nutcracker Challenge – we’re getting more source code soon & early community developed flashing tools now available

More updates in January, but the gist is there will be a online retail presence (North America and Europe were both mentioned) complete with support options like RMA but at an increased cost; the PineStore will still have the same (lower) prices we're used to.

Edited: Said USA instead of North America