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+--- Thread: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card (/showthread.php?tid=19701)
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - zkajdan - 02-27-2025
(02-26-2025, 10:29 AM)tophneal Wrote:(02-24-2025, 03:16 PM)zkajdan Wrote: @tophneal you mean this, right: https://pine64.com/product/pinebook-pro-lcd-panel-with-top-casing-and-build-in-hd-camera/ - not this: https://pine64.com/product/pinebook-pro-bottom-case/, right? (The latter's out of stock anyway.)
Oopsdefinitely tried to juggle too much other stuff when posting and mixed those up lol
I would definitely suggest revisiting fedora on your other PBP if you can get it reliably booting again, the process is sooooo much simpler now. That forum post is outdated now. I was able to get it going on mine just by writing the official install img to SD and booting from it once I had TowBoot installed. I think at most I needed to add a copr repo to fill in some of the more specific gaps in support from the img. That may not even be needed now
Thanks @tophneal !
Yes, I was wanting to do exactly that (install fedora again), but there's the hardware problem... I am trying to install TowBoot there, as also recommended by @tllim in the post dedicated to that issue (https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=19708), but when I get it to start once in a time (every 10th press or so) I get a message scrolling through infinitely - it may be that from TowBoot in fact, it's something ending in "flash to SPI"... But I can't react to that message...
Do you have advice for me?
(And just to clearly understand, so the spare-parts-thing does not apply, right? There is no replacement for these plastic parts I broke?)
Many thanks again!!
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - tophneal - 02-28-2025
(02-27-2025, 12:10 PM)zkajdan Wrote: Thanks @tophneal !
Yes, I was wanting to do exactly that (install fedora again), but there's the hardware problem... I am trying to install TowBoot there, as also recommended by @tllim in the post dedicated to that issue (https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=19708), but when I get it to start once in a time (every 10th press or so) I get a message scrolling through infinitely - it may be that from TowBoot in fact, it's something ending in "flash to SPI"... But I can't react to that message...
Do you have advice for me?
(And just to clearly understand, so the spare-parts-thing does not apply, right? There is no replacement for these plastic parts I broke?)
Many thanks again!!
so the output you're seeing when trying to install towboot isn't like this, then? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCVcjwpDCYo&t=15
if not, can you share a pic of the output on screen once you get to the "flash for spi"?
could you also share a pic of the broken plastic pieces as well, if they're accessible? it's been a while since i cracked mine open, so the details of the inside are a bit fuzzy to me
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - zkajdan - 03-03-2025
Thanks a lot @tophneal !
And sorry for the late answer.
Just tried to post my reply, together with the attached images, but I got an nginx error for file size and my reply disappeared.
So now will try to first post the reply, then try the resized images.
First, I interrupted the boot process on the old PBP, and I get a prompt in u-boot. Maybe there is something I can do at this point to get Tow Boot (from the SD card) installed to SPI?
(This happens with SD card inserted.)
Second, the picture to come should show how it looks, basically because of the broken plastic I cannot get the bottom case fixed. I was wondering whether I could use the old PBP (in case I don't get to fix the power-on problem) as a spare part, instead of https://pine64.com/product/pinebook-pro-bottom-case/ (which is out of stock anyway)?
Many thanks again!!
first
second
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - tophneal - 03-05-2025
@zkajdan no worries!
concerning uboot, i don't believe there's an easy way to use uboot to tell the pbp which drive to boot from. in fact, if you're seeing that, it would indicate to me that the pbp has already selected and booted a drive (likely the emmc.) the "easiest" way to ensure your PBP boots from the TowBoot installation SD would be to disable the emmc using the internal switch. that will prevent anything already installed from interfering with booting from the SD card. After booting from the SD card and installing TowBoot, you should be able to power down, insert your OS install SD, and when you boot back up you should see the TowBoot logo in the corner with a key interruption option to select your boot media manually.
concerning the possibility of swapping out the part from your older PBP, i do believe that would be possible. though the PBP has undergone some revising between batches, i do not believe any of them were major enough to warrant changing the primary body pieces of the laptop itself. if you wanted to double check, whenever you remove the bottom cover to fli[ the eemc switch, you could put the 2 next to each other, with both bottom plates removed, and compare all the mounting locations. everything should matchup.
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - wdt - 03-05-2025
>i don't believe there's an easy way to use uboot to tell the pbp which drive to boot from
easy, no
if you flip switch (to turn headphone jack to serial) , make/buy a
cable and usb->serial adapter, then you can tell uboot what priority you wish
printenv boot_targets
setenv boot_targets=MMC1 (or USB1, try both usb ports if necessary, or USB0?)
boot
Do set adapter to 3.3V,, DO NOT use 5V
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - zkajdan - 03-06-2025
Thanks a lot @tophneal @wdt !
It seems that in this case, I'll have to unscrew the bottom case to flip a switch (hopefully without breaking the plastic parts, this time
)...So then I'll flip the emmc switch, see if that lets me install tow-boot, and proceed from there.
I'll get back to you to let you know if it worked :-)
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - tophneal - 03-06-2025
(03-06-2025, 12:51 AM)zkajdan Wrote: It seems that in this case, I'll have to unscrew the bottom case to flip a switch (hopefully without breaking the plastic parts, this time
So then I'll flip the emmc switch, see if that lets me install tow-boot, and proceed from there.
I'll get back to you to let you know if it worked :-)
You can do it, we believe in you!
That is exactly what you'll want to do. I have a little bit of hopefully helpful advice to help avoid anymore potential breakage during your emmc switch shuffle, from the last time I had to do this. if you haven't begun this yet, i suggest the following things to help make it easier on you overall:
Before removing the bottom panel, open the lid and have it hanging off the edge of your work surface as you remove the panel and work inside the PBP. When the bottom panel is removed, the hinge pieces are more susceptible to breaking when trying to open the lid. You can mitigate this by already having the lid open. Then you can also remove the tedious steps of removing/installing the bottom panel as you go between getting into the PBP and installing from the SD.
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - zkajdan - 03-07-2025
(03-06-2025, 08:43 AM)tophneal Wrote:(03-06-2025, 12:51 AM)zkajdan Wrote: It seems that in this case, I'll have to unscrew the bottom case to flip a switch (hopefully without breaking the plastic parts, this time
So then I'll flip the emmc switch, see if that lets me install tow-boot, and proceed from there.
I'll get back to you to let you know if it worked :-)
You can do it, we believe in you!
That is exactly what you'll want to do. I have a little bit of hopefully helpful advice to help avoid anymore potential breakage during your emmc switch shuffle, from the last time I had to do this. if you haven't begun this yet, i suggest the following things to help make it easier on you overall:
Before removing the bottom panel, open the lid and have it hanging off the edge of your work surface as you remove the panel and work inside the PBP. When the bottom panel is removed, the hinge pieces are more susceptible to breaking when trying to open the lid. You can mitigate this by already having the lid open. Then you can also remove the tedious steps of removing/installing the bottom panel as you go between getting into the PBP and installing from the SD.
@tophneal thanks again!!!
No it wasn't too late
... and so I did it today and the PBP survived, but ...
... the exact same thing happened ... I don't really understand how that's possible, I remember that for the other PBP, it also seemed that the switch was off before, I turned it because I thought it might have been labeled the wrong way round - same thing here, it looked like the emmc had already been disabled, I switched it, but the behavior is the same as before: u-boot starting (see pic above)... No idea how that's possible really
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - wdt - 03-07-2025
Yes, the switch is mislabeled, think short (clock) disabled, so there is a emmc clock working since not shorted
you have a uboot prompt, type help
also.... mmc help
that version of uboot is either not scanning mmc or card is not setup right
(or not a good card)
try writing the image to a usb stick, try BOTH usb sockets
is it a 1 or 2 partition image?
uboot will be looking for either boot,scr or extlinux.conf or aarch64.efi (only 1)
any of these must be in correct location
-----
as well, sometimes the paths in extlinux.conf can be wrong, paths are in relation to itself,
I had that happen only last week from my inherited son's pbp
RE: PBP does not start from postmarket OS image burnt to sd card - tophneal - 03-10-2025
(03-07-2025, 06:54 PM)wdt Wrote: is it a 1 or 2 partition image?
uboot will be looking for either boot,scr or extlinux.conf or aarch64.efi (only 1)
any of these must be in correct location
-----
as well, sometimes the paths in extlinux.conf can be wrong, paths are in relation to itself,
I had that happen only last week from my inherited son's pbp
OP is trying to boot an install SD of TowBoot