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+--- Thread: Pinebook Pro/Pinetab replacement (/showthread.php?tid=14528)
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RE: Pinebook Pro/Pinetab replacement - moonwalkers - 07-29-2021
(07-29-2021, 02:22 AM)as400 Wrote: Well, if I did my detective work properly, JingOS team uses BSP kernel (4.14.133-something). And probably also BSP u-boot. Which is not good.
Thought as much - I didn't dig into it as much as I guess you did, but nothing I found so far was suggesting mainline support even in the works, and therefore this device is a no-go for me as of right now.
(07-29-2021, 02:22 AM)as400 Wrote: They say, they have also Vulkan working and it is still in works. That would suggest that they are working on it. Not Unisoc. Maybe they will mainline the driver. Who knows.
I'll believe it when I see it. Until then - nah.
(07-29-2021, 02:22 AM)as400 Wrote: As to the hardware from China - almost everything nowadays is from ChinaPinebook Pro, Pinetab and Pinephone too
Oh I'm perfectly aware of that! Heck, recently I've become more reserved even about my beloved ThinkPads, which (unlike Pinebooks) come with manufacturer-provided firmware that I for the most part can do nothing about if it decides to take over the system using some ACPI hooks or hypervisor mode. My only hope there is that ThinkPads are intended to be enterprise-level business machines that at least in theory should have more stringent QA and certification processes, unlike consumer-grade machines. And with PB/PBP the "untouchable" firmware is limited to just the 32K bootrom (AFAIK - ignorance is bliss?), though at least in theory those 32K could be plenty to plug in something nasty. Still, the more software/firmware is under my control - the better I sleep.
RE: Pinebook Pro/Pinetab replacement - as400 - 07-30-2021
(07-29-2021, 02:50 PM)moonwalkers Wrote: Still, the more software/firmware is under my control - the better I sleep.
I'm 100% with you.
(07-29-2021, 02:50 PM)moonwalkers Wrote: And with PB/PBP the "untouchable" firmware is limited to just the 32K bootrom (AFAIK - ignorance is bliss?), though at least in theory those 32K could be plenty to plug in something nasty.
Well, not only. Actually, for instance, there is also firmware in wifi card, touchpad, keyboard, eDP, USB-C, charge controller. Which is anyway probably less than in any other, similar product on the market.
Whether this firmware is a viable attack surface is a debatable thing of course. And we'll probably never know for sure. Like with this modified chinese northbridge firmware that was loaded into many server motherboards.