(12-09-2020, 12:18 PM)tophneal Wrote:

(12-09-2020, 11:33 AM)pivic Wrote: Thanks a lot for your time, effort, and patience with myself, being a complete noob.

You're not rude at all; I should have been clear: I don't know Linux much, and even though I've now read up a lot about U-boot.

Firstly, the bind/mount commands didn't mount anything. I performed an lsdsk, which actually listed the eMMC, but still.

Secondly, I ran Mr. Fixit's script as sudo:



Reboot did nothing: eMMC switch was in the correct position (towards the hinge) so eMMC wasn't turned off. I couldn't boot Pinebook Pro from the eMMC, but it could boot from SD.

Thirdly, I retried the script:



That did nothing either; the same result as mentioned at my second attempt (as mentioned in this post).

Fourthly, I did this:



After that little manoeuvre, the computer won't start at all, not from SD nor eMMC. I'm guessing I've now either completely bricked the computer or something else is the matter. At any rate, this computer is becoming my Joker's Origin Story, but I could have myself to blame completely, which I naturally accept. Desperation has brought me to this moment. 

Any help at this point would greatly be appreciated.

You're on the right path in that last image.

judging from the lsblk output, the emmc was bound and mountable. I goofed there. Binding will make it visible to the PBP again, so it can be mounted, but you don't necessarily need it mounted for this.

Concerning the dd commands you ran:
1. it'll need to be run with sudo.
2. do NOT include any partitions. you used mmcblk1p1, but you should be using mmcblk1. Look at the commands given on the page for pcm720's uboot that i linked previously.
3. don't bother with the SPI img. get rid of it, it's considered unstable even for those that know what they're doing, and it won't work on the emmc (it's made specifically for the PBP's SPI.) you write that to the wrong place, and you'll likely need to rewrite your emmc.

If your Debian SD won't boot, I'd just rewrite it. Easiest/fastest way to get it back up and booting.

(12-09-2020, 12:46 PM)wdt Wrote: Don't write uboot or idbloader or trust to any partitions NOT mmcblk1p1,,
unless you have made those partitions in EXACTLY the right place
ie, 64 sectors, 8M, 12M (and a raw write, obviously no filesystem)
Normally, partitions start at 16M (32768 sectors) or more after start of device,
the 1st 16M is for mbr and uboot files

(12-10-2020, 07:57 AM)pivic Wrote: Thanks a lot for your kind response.

Since I did all that I described there, the computer won't boot at all, which is a shame. I've tried maybe ten different distributions and versions—all, according to the Pine64 software-wiki page, OK for boot via SD/eMMC—but sadly, the computer won't start at all.

By this, I mean there's no starting lights going on at all. The only light that comes on is the red light that goes on when the machine is charged; I left it charging for a few hours, both via the Pine64 charger and via USB-C, so I'm quite sure the battery's charged.

I tried using the reset button, and nothing happens. I've used three different MicroSD cards (which have all worked on the computer in the past).

Either the computer is fed up with me, I've destroyed its ability to boot from MicroSD by what I've done so far, or there's another way to salvage this. I hope you guys feel the energy to come up with some kind of tip because I'm at my (already tiny) wit's end here. Please, if you can, run a tip by me. Thanks.

(12-10-2020, 08:07 AM)tophneal Wrote:

(12-10-2020, 07:57 AM)pivic Wrote: Thanks a lot for your kind response.

Since I did all that I described there, the computer won't boot at all, which is a shame. I've tried maybe ten different distributions and versions—all, according to the Pine64 software-wiki page, OK for boot via SD/eMMC—but sadly, the computer won't start at all.

By this, I mean there's no starting lights going on at all. The only light that comes on is the red light that goes on when the machine is charged; I left it charging for a few hours, both via the Pine64 charger and via USB-C, so I'm quite sure the battery's charged.

I tried using the reset button, and nothing happens. I've used three different MicroSD cards (which have all worked on the computer in the past).

Either the computer is fed up with me, I've destroyed its ability to boot from MicroSD by what I've done so far, or there's another way to salvage this. I hope you guys feel the energy to come up with some kind of tip because I'm at my (already tiny) wit's end here. Please, if you can, run a tip by me. Thanks.

That sounds more like your PBP had its battery completely drained. Unfortunately, if it was drained dead then you'll need more than a few hours to get it charged enough to boot again. Try 6-8 hours of charge time. When I do that, I let mine charge for at least 8 before attempting to boot. Since the PBP has a low draw, even for charging, it takes a lot longer than conventional laptops to recharge.

You may also need to hold the power button for a few more seconds after it gets charged back up.

(12-10-2020, 07:04 PM)KC9UDX Wrote: It's been reported in other threads that if you drain it that far, you might need to charge it once with a USB-C charging cable to revive it.  I'm not sure why.

Then, as @tophneal brought up, it might be executing a software loop or the SOC has otherwise crashed and is "running" with no signs of life.  If that's happening, you need to hold the power button for twenty seconds or so to get it to turn off.  Then press it for a second to get it to turn back on.

But have no fear, it's impossible to "brick" the PBP; and nearly impossible to get to a point where it just won't boot.

Don't worry about the reset button; you shouldn't need that unless you've written something to SPI F-ROM.