https://blog.mlich.cz/2021/12/nemomobile...-part-two/

and happy new year!

I am political activist so having a secure and privacy respecting phone is critical for me where I am concerned about:
a) The modem backdoor mentioned in https://www.pine64.org/2020/01/24/settin...nceptions/

> The LTE modem on the PinePhone is a ‘black box’, and runs its own Linux system internally. This includes all the proprietary modules (blobs) needed to run the actual cellular radios.

So preferably i want to review the routes and change the design as needed.

b) Supply chain attack

-> i want to fabricate the PCB myself.

+ I am Free Software/Hardware developer so i want to have the option to learn how it works, use, share and improve it.

This may sound strange but does anybody know where I would be able to find a full size bracket for the the NVME PCI-E Card that is sold in the Pine Store ? I find this model a lot more reliable than some of the ones I have tried in the past and would like to be able to screw them into my desktops properly.

I have noticed that the 20mm CPU fan I bought for my RockPro64 doesn’t turn on when using Manjaro ARM. It works with Armbian though. Is there a driver/firmware/etc that has to be downloaded after install to use it ? I ask because I noticed I had to install the firmware for the wifi after the install for it to work as well. I would really prefer to use Manjaro ARM if I can get this working. I bought the 20mm fan from the Pine Store. I am using Manjaro ARM 21.12 Mate.

Any idea when the clusterboard and compute modules will be available on the Pine Store again?

Or if anyone is selling a clusterboard and x number of compute SOPINES please let me know. I am in the market. [REMOVED]

I added a music, pdf and vcf (for contacts) to an SSD and inserted it into my pinephone running Manjaro (version 18). Unfortunately, Lollypop, Document viewer and Contacts can only access files on the eMMC. I can see both the eMMC and micro SSD using Disks so I know the OS is seeing the micro SSD. I have also confirmed everything is mounted and ready to be accessed using lsblk in terminal. I am basically trying the different programs in this OS to learn what they do and what parts of the phone respond (work). Thanks to all for getting me this far but I need insight and assistance from more experienced Linux gurus. 

Please note the camera is working but stores the photos on the eMMC whereas, I would like to store them on the removable SSD.

Looking for an operating system suited to the RockPro64 has led me into trying several Linux distributions. But many, I found, were unable boot from the eMMC module. One distro that did was Fedora 35. I had mentioned this in passing and during the course of another thread but after some more experience, I realized those steps needed revision. So here I'll describe the procedure which got Fedora 35 booting from my eMMC. Note the same procedure can also be employed for installation onto a μSD card: Simply make sure you are selecting the correct storage medium from Fedora installer's disk setup menu before partitioning; so, if you'd rather dump Fedora onto a μSD card you can perform the same steps, just make sure to select the appropriate device wherever eMMC is mentioned. Everything herein simply assumes eMMC is the preferred device.

A few things to quickly get out of the way.:
i ) I was unable to achieve success after flashing SPI with Fedora's U-Boot package. Acting on research, I found Sigmaris U-Boot and flashed that to the SPI, after which things fell into place. My advice is to ignore the U-Boot image distributed by Fedora since it appears not to support eMMC booting (even though it may be fine if all you want is μSD installations). Experiences may vary: I'm passing along what worked on my kit, so another might just as well (or not).
ii) Looking at these forums reveals that some eMMC storage (even those ordered directly from the Pine Store) may not be bootable, no matter what. You'll have to see if your eMMC operates in a way you need it to. A SanDisk branded 128GB eMMC, sent from Pine64, is what I'm using.

Assuming SPI has been flashed with a U-Boot capable of booting from eMMC (such as Sigmaris U-Boot), and the machine is outfitted with a booting eMMC device:

-  Download the Fedora 35 Workstation aarch64 ISO and flash it a USB memory stick. Then use that USB memory stick as your primary boot device during the installation process (see U-Boot documentation for setting boot_targets). Another, easier (albeit data-destructive) way, is just erase the boot sectors of any eMMC or μSD drives in the RockPro64, since these are by default set to boot before USB.

-  Get to the Fedora live session, and select the 'Install to Disk' option.

-  Important: Be sure the eMMC drive is the selected target device.

-   After all partitions are set, begin the installation. It will run for some time before spewing an error message about not being able to install GRUB. It will ask if you want to continue installation without GRUB. DO NOTHING YET. Leave the error message on screen for now, and open a Terminal window in the concurrent live session.

-   In said terminal window, enter the following shell commands:

     sudo bash
     mv /mnt/sysimage/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI /mnt/sysimage/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.BAK
     cp /mnt/sysimage/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grubaa64.efi /mnt/sysimage/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI
     sync
     exit
     exit

-   Now accept the offer to continue without GRUB by clicking an affirmative reply on that error dialogue. The operation should now move to a successful conclusion.

By following these steps, Fedora 35 can be made to boot off eMMC.

Using the stock Fedora 35 kernel (5.14), everything is fine. I can also confirm that upgrading to Linux kernel 5.15 (available in Fedora Updates) works, but you will no longer see a wonky boot menu.

In my several months using Fedora on aarch64, I've discovered a clean, efficient OS to use with my RockPro64. The only thing is Fedora's rapid upgrade cycles: But I find it's still better than the concept of rolling distribution (i.e. CentOS 9, or Manjaro), which doesn't appeal to me.

Maybe someone looking to get Fedora up-and-running from eMMC finds these points useful.

Have not been able to move my Google contacts to my Pinephone. I get the response that my gmail address is not valid. I have been working on Chromebooks since they came out I know the email address I am providing is valid. Any ideas on what might be happening. The problem appears to be distro independent (I have successfully installed and evaluated 4). Any thoughts, comments, or workarounds are appreciated. Thanks to members of the forum.

We're running a poll to better understand the PinePhone community. If you're a PinePhone user, please fill in this short, 9 questions multiple choice poll, and help us better understand the state and direction of the project.

Link https://www.pine64.org/2021/12/29/pinephone-community-poll/

I'm trying to install a package that requires the pamac command. At this time, I'm only interested in pamac. I have some familiarity with the existing "pacman" command.

I have tried several tutorials online to install pamac with no success. I can clone the git repository just fine, but get an error after the makepkg command.

Installed git:
sudo pacman -Syyu base-devel git

Created the directory:
mkdir pamac-aur

Listed the directories to confirm:
ls
(All of my directories appeared including the newly created pamac-aur directory)

Changed the directory:
cd pamac-aur

Listed the contents inside "pamac-aur"
ls
(pamac-aur is listed)

Changed into this directory:
cd pamac-aur

Listed the contents of this directory:
ls
(pamac.install and PKGBUILD are listed)

At the command prompt inside this directory, I typed "makepkg" and the process began. It listed some missing dependencies and the process ended with an error.

==> ERROR: Could not resolve all dependencies.

Did I miss something? Can I complete this process with the dependencies acquired automatically? Please correct or add to what I should do to complete the process. Thanks for the help.

(12-29-2021, 02:23 PM)tk1107 Wrote: I'm trying to install a package that requires the pamac command. At this time, I'm only interested in pamac. I have some familiarity with the existing "pacman" command.

I have tried several tutorials online to install pamac with no success. I can clone the git repository just fine, but get an error after the makepkg command.

Installed git:
sudo pacman -Syyu base-devel git

Created the directory:
mkdir pamac-aur

Listed the directories to confirm:
ls
(All of my directories appeared including the newly created pamac-aur directory)

Changed the directory:
cd pamac-aur

Listed the contents inside "pamac-aur"
ls
(pamac-aur is listed)

Changed into this directory:
cd pamac-aur

Listed the contents of this directory:
ls
(pamac.install and PKGBUILD are listed)

At the command prompt inside this directory, I typed "makepkg" and the process began. It listed some missing dependencies and the process ended with an error.

==> ERROR: Could not resolve all dependencies.

Did I miss something? Can I complete this process with the dependencies acquired automatically? Please correct or add to what I should do to complete the process. Thanks for the help.