StarPro64 EIC7700X is the (literally) Hot New RISC-V SBC by PINE64. In this article we chat about:

(1) ESWIN EIC7700X, the RISC-V SoC inside StarPro64

(2) Its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that supports Large Language Models (LLM)

(3) Booting RockOS Linux on StarPro64

(4) Apache NuttX RTOS boots OK on StarPro64 and passes OSTest! (Multiple Harts are a little problematic)

(5) How LLM on NPU on NuttX might work

(6) Beware of Overheating! (Smart Power Plug might help)

Check out the article: https://lupyuen.org/articles/starpro64.html



Lup

Just to see if it happened to someone else: I just broke one of the 4 small golden battery connectors ☹

My battery was a Samsung one, it was a tad too big so it was a bit hard to set and remove, maybe it helped weaken the connectors...

I'm not sure there's an easy fix, that's why I'm asking if it happend to someone else.

If it's dead I'll recycle it as a small home server maybe to try Home Assistant or something

I’ve been experimenting with ways to tweak this. I’ve managed to set up a system where the battery cuts off from charging when it hits a certain point but remains available for discharge down to a lower threshold if the phone needs it.

Here’s how the scripts work under various conditions:

• Standard Charging: The phone charges to a predetermined upper limit (like 90%) and then stops to prevent battery strain.
  
  
• Continuous Power Supply: If it remains plugged in post-charge, the phone priorities drawing power directly off the charger, sparing the battery , and only use the battery if the power supply is not producing enough juice.
  
  
• Reconnection Nuances: Unplugging and replugging doesn’t immediately resume charging. It waits until the battery drops below a set lower threshold (say, 60%), which helps in maintaining battery health by avoiding short, unnecessary charge cycles.
  
  
• Handling Power Fluctuations: For those times when the power source is unstable or you’re frequently plugging and unplugging, the script ensures that repetitive charging doesn’t kick in unless truly needed.
  
  
• Customization: The thresholds for both the upper and lower limits can be adjusted to fit personal usage patterns and battery longevity goals.
  
  

I recently purchased a new PinePhone Pro and I'm working on getting everything working with my carrier, but I've found that the sudo command appears to be missing entirely and I don't know if there's a default root password set on these when shipped new. I tried the recovery mode process by shutting the phone completely off then holding power and volume up, but the phone will not even turn on when doing this. I'm a Linux professional and I know my way around in bash rather well, but I need to get past this initial hurdle before I can do much of anything.

Have any of you gotten gnome-snapshot to work on trixie?    https://blog.mobian.org

This is from my own experimentation.  I am certain other similar software will work just as well.  Pretty much every tutorial explains how to install Kali to a SD card for the PinePhone Pro.  I am assuming that his method works because the same drivers are used while setting up the OS on the SD card.  I have done this twice succesfully.  And with Terabyte imaging software you can create an image first on your computer just in case.  Don't forget to create the EFI partition first in step 4 before disconnecting unless you want extra steps to recover from an unbootable phone.

Preparation:
1. Download the Kali Linux Image:
        Obtain the Kali Linux image file specifically designed for ARM devices (like the PinePhone Pro). Make sure you download the correct version.

2. Prepare a Spare SD Card:
        Get a spare SD card with enough storage to hold the Kali Linux image.
        Use Etcher (or a similar tool) to flash the Kali Linux image onto the spare SD card. This will create a bootable Kali Linux environment on the SD card.

Preparing the PinePhone Pro:
3. Enter USB Mode (Tow-Boot):
        Power off your PinePhone Pro.
        Boot the PinePhone Pro into USB mode (Tow-Boot). The instructions usually involve pressing and holding specific volume buttons while powering on the device. Consult your PinePhone Pro documentation if needed.
        Connect your PinePhone Pro to your computer using a USB-C cable.

4. Prepare the PinePhone Pro's Internal Storage:
        On your Windows computer, use Partwork for Windows (or a similar partition management tool).
        Identify the PinePhone Pro's internal storage as a drive.
        Delete all existing partitions on the PinePhone Pro's internal storage.
        Create a new EFI partition. This is very important for the phone to be able to boot.
        Once the new EFI partition is created, safely disconnect the PinePhone Pro from your computer.

Booting Kali from the SD Card:
5. Insert the Prepared SD Card:
        Insert the SD card with the flashed Kali Linux image into the PinePhone Pro.

6. Boot from the SD Card:
        Power on the PinePhone Pro.
        If needed, press and hold the specified volume buttons during boot to force it to boot from the SD card.

7. Initial Kali Setup:
        Allow Kali Linux to boot and complete its initial setup. This might take some time.
        Once the initial setup is complete, reboot the PinePhone Pro. This will allow Kali to finalize its setup on the SD card.

8. Power Off and Remove SD Card:
        Power off the PinePhone Pro.
        Remove the SD card.

Cloning Kali to the PinePhone Pro's Internal Storage:
9. Reconnect in USB Mode:
        Boot the PinePhone Pro back into USB mode (Tow-Boot) and connect it to your computer using a USB-C cable.
     
10. Insert the Kali SD Card into Your Computer:
        Insert the SD card that contains the working Kali Linux system into your computers SD card reader.
     
11. Clone with Terabyte IFW:
        Open Terabyte Image for Windows (IFW).
        Select the SD card as the source drive.
        Select the PinePhone Pro's internal storage as the destination drive.
        Use the "Copy Drive" (or similar) function to clone the entire contents of the SD card to the PinePhone Pro's internal storage.
        Ensure that you are copying the entire disk, and not just a partition.
     
12. Complete and Reboot:
        Once the cloning process is finished, safely disconnect the PinePhone Pro from your computer.
        Reboot the PinePhone Pro.

13. Update Kali:
        Once Kali has booted from the internal storage, open a terminal and run the following commands to update the system:
        sudo apt update
        sudo apt full-upgrade

That's it.  The main system on the PinePhone Pro is now Kali.  You can now use your SD card for storage or whatever you want.

Hi,

I have a PBP which when I press the power button, powers on about 1 in 10 times. Otherwise, the power light does not come on.

Has anyone encountered this? What could I do?

One thing I noticed is that successes and failures seem to appear in a row, e.g., 9 failures - 3 successes - 6 failures...
Also, it seems like when it had been powered off for some minutes, it always starts with a series of failures - as if it had to "warm up" somehow?
(Of course, that may be nonsense, it but wanted to mention just in case it is not :-))

Many thanks for any hints!!

I've had my PinePhone Pro for a few months, and tinker with it on occasion, mostly trying to get my Bluetooth headsets to work with it. I can get the phone to output media, and even the recorder does pickup the microphone when I set the audio profile to HFP. However, when I make a phone call, it reverts back to using the phone's speaker and microphone. The past 2 days I have been really trying hard to force it, with the help of ChatGPT, and deciphering the differences it was advising me to do to the device (such as telling me to restart Pipewire service using systemctl when it should be rc-service in the case of using PostmarketOS). I have searched, and thought I would get the PineBuds, but I don't want to get them if it's not going to work, considering I don't really like earbuds, but I would deal with it if it worked. In my searches, I have seen a lot of people are happy with their PineBuds, but they all mention just media playback, no mention of making phone calls (unless I'm not searching in the right places?) I've been using it lately just as a glorified music streamer connected directly to my trucks aux input, but I would actually like to use it, as a phone, and Bluetooth connectivity is very important to me as I am a truck driver, and spend most of my day driving. A wired headset does work as it should, but I would much rather not have a wire dangling limiting my maneuverability, or having the wire in my field of view (I have my existing phone on a mount on the top shelf above the windshield, so if I daily the PinePhone, it would go in that spot).

So, my question is, are there any reports of working Bluetooth headsets that work for calls on any OS? I have tried PostmarketOS (with plasma-mobile, as Plasma is my preferred DE), Mobian (Phosh and Plasma), Arch (Phosh), Ubuntu Touch, Manjaro, and the factory installed SailfishOS (although, not very thoroughly as for some reason or another it won't accept my APN settings for AT&T, so that was a quick jump off)

Hello,

FYI...
https://www.heise.de/en/news/ISO-writing...89100.html
https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html

Ciao
Walter

Is it possible to ssh over USB? I found this very useful with the remarkable 2 since it avoids having to deal with dynamic IP addresses etc. and you can use tools like rsync which don't seem to play nicely with a USB storage mounting.