+- PINE64 (https://forum.pine64.org)
+-- Forum: Pinebook (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=76)
+--- Forum: Linux on Pinebook (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=79)
+--- Thread: Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" (/showthread.php?tid=15662)
Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" - irongarment - 01-01-2022
Ok. This has probably been done to death, but I'm trying to get my head around writing a bootable image to the eMMC.
As far as I can tell there are two steps.
1 Download an image and write it to an SD card, and boot the Pinebook from it.
2 After booting, download another image (same or different- but basically the one you want on the eMMC) then use dd to write to of=/dev/mmcblk1
Then power off, remove SD card, power on. The Pinebook should boot from the image that was written in step 2. Is that basically it?
I just got the 1080p image from here:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinebook_Software_Release#KDE_Neon_Image
I flashed it to my SD card using dd, and it boots. I've "set it up" but I realise that that has only affected the SD card image. My guess is I have to dd the image again (as I said) and then reboot and set it up (again).
Thanks.
RE: Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" - irongarment - 01-02-2022
Actually I might try Manjaro KDE. It seems a little more recent. I'm guessing the process is the same.
RE: Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" - irongarment - 01-02-2022
Not sure. Now that I have the original KDE Neon working I might just update that. Anyone know if there will be a later version than August 2020? Manjaro KDE is December 2021 (w00t!).
RE: Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" - jezek - 01-02-2022
I'm using Manjaro Sway on my pinebook 11 and I'm satisfied with it.
Quote:... Then power off, remove SD card, power on. The Pinebook should boot from the image that was written in step 2. Is that basically it?
Yes, that's how I always do it.
RE: Write image to eMMC - Pinebook 11.6" - irongarment - 01-04-2022
Success!
I went with KDE Neon. The image is from August 2020, but it should be fine for what I want.
I didn't have a big enough SD card to boot the image and download another copy of the image to write to eMMC, but I did have a USB stick with sufficient space.
So, I downloaded the KDE Neon image to a Raspberry Pi and copied it to the USB stick. I then used dd to write the same image to an SD card. Next, I booted the Pinebook from the SD card and inserted the USB stick. Then, I used dd to write the image from the USB stick to the Pinebook eMMC. That was successful, so I shut down the Pinebook, removed the SD card and USB stick, then booted it up.
I then ran the installer from the icon at top left, which set up the image for me.
The last step it did was resize the partition so that I used all of the 16Gb eMMC. I think this step failed when I originally bought the Pinebook, meaning I only had access to about 5Gb of the eMMC. This quickly filled up, and I got into great difficulty booting and trying to do anything. I shouldn't have that problem now.
Finally, I logged in as me and ran "Discover" to install any updates. Now I'm going to reboot and hope everything still works.
I still like the Pinebook (original 11.6" 1080p). It's a bit slow, but it's functional, and the screen is very nice. I plan to use it as a bCNC controller for my DIY CNC machine.
Thank you all for reading.