Re-flash the emmc

[For_lack_of_a_better_name]

My phone will just go dead for days at a time, and it will not update. I think that my software is corrupted. How can I safely reflash the emmc?

[bcnaz]

... as per the wiki, for now it is 'better to run from the sd card' for the Pro series phones.

Although we do advance with people who explore "beyond the safe zone"

[thechillhacker]

If you search the forums, you will see there is a branch of Tow-Boot that will successfully let you flash new images to the eMMC of the PPP. I am using it, as are many other community members with great results. Much nicer speed than going off of the vast majority of SD cards, and this keeps the slot available for mounting a large SD card (up to 2TB) as a data drive. Speed and storage FTW.

[bcnaz]

Yes both series of Pine phones have a very limited pipeline for the sd card reading, compared to the emmc.

In fact : on the Pro series the emmc reads approximately 7 times faster than the sd card reader.

However it can also be much more difficult to recover when something goes wrong with an emmc installation.

For now, I am looking for a candidate that is good enough to put on my emmc.
(I may even use tow boot at that time.)
Since Jan or February of 2020 I have flashed hundreds (maybe thousands) of Pine phone operating systems.
So flashing a few more is no big deal.
First I want function, until then, Speed is not that important.
***
Proud owner : 1 Brave Heart, 3 PMOS convergent, 1 Manjaro convergent, 1 Explorer Pro, Pine phones

[thechillhacker]

I see your point, but as I see it, improving performance by running off of the eMMC is not hindering the ability to test different operating systems, or keep a chosen one updated. Nor is it really blocking the ability to use the SD slot for testing out other operating systems, and having a more stable 'daily driver' image flashed internally. As tow-boot is flashed to the SPI flash chip, instead of the eMMC, I do not feel it is as dangerous for experimental use. That being said, this is of course all experimental and YMMV. I do however, run from eMMC on my pmOS edition and my Explorer, with great results.

[ragreenburg]

Yes both series of Pine phones have a very limited pipeline for the sd card reading, compared to the emmc.

In fact :  on the Pro series the emmc reads approximately 7 times faster than the sd card reader.

However it can also be much more difficult to recover when something goes wrong with an emmc installation.

For now,  I am looking for a candidate that is good enough to put on my emmc.
(I may even use tow boot at that time.)
Since Jan or February of 2020 I have flashed hundreds (maybe thousands) of Pine phone operating systems.
So flashing a few more is no big deal.
First I want function,    until then,    Speed is not that important.
***
Proud owner :  1 Brave Heart, 3 PMOS convergent, 1 Manjaro convergent, 1 Explorer Pro,  Pine phones

It is very worth noting, that section of the Wiki is only applicable if you are using u-boot. If you are using tow-boot then there is nothing to worry about.