Do I have any OS Options?

[DRoyLenz]

I have been toying with my Pine64 2GB for awhile now, and am about to chalk this up as a bad purchase, and not waste any more time on this. I could really use some help. Here are my issues. When I go to the Pine64 Wiki, they discuss 3 options for OS. Arch, RemixOS, and Android. Seeing as I have a 2 GB, Arch and RemixOS are not an option because "This version of image is not suitable for PineA64 with 2GB Memory due to a bug involving DMA data transfer with the gigabit ethernet" and Android is not an option, because I only have access to a Mac computer.

So... what are my options? I hear that Ubuntu works, but can't find any support for that. It would really be nice if the folks over at Pine had SOME kind of support or documentation to help out their patrons. I'm kind of feeling like I've been left out in the dark.

[rahlquist]

I have been toying with my Pine64 2GB for awhile now, and am about to chalk this up as a bad purchase, and not waste any more time on this. I could really use some help. Here are my issues. When I go to the Pine64 Wiki, they discuss 3 options for OS. Arch, RemixOS, and Android. Seeing as I have a 2 GB, Arch and RemixOS are not an option because "This version of image is not suitable for PineA64 with 2GB Memory due to a bug involving DMA data transfer with the gigabit ethernet" and Android is not an option, because I only have access to a Mac computer.

So... what are my options? I hear that Ubuntu works, but can't find any support for that. It would really be nice if the folks over at Pine had SOME kind of support or documentation to help out their patrons. I'm kind of feeling like I've been left out in the dark.

Actually I believe the Ethernet issue is fixed in Arch and Debian. RemixOS has yet to release a fix. The Debian Images arent mentioned on with Wiki but are here http://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=497  

It is still early. We all have to keep in mind that for good open source dev to happen, the boards need to get to developers, which is still happening. For RemixOS we have to wait on the people Pine arranged to do the images. The issues with the 2GB board are a total screwup on Pine's part because it involved a different ethernet chip so was never tested properly. 

I'd say in less than 30 days we should see huge strides from Arch/Debian/Ubuntu and perhaps others. As for Android and RemixOs... Dunno.

[Harrisburg]

I have been toying with my Pine64 2GB for awhile now, and am about to chalk this up as a bad purchase, and not waste any more time on this.

This is a rather embarrassing (and if we're being honest, elementary) oversight on the part of the devs. For whatever reason, they chose not to test against the 2 GB version and just assumed it would work. They only tested on the 1 GB version. The devs and multiple forum members are now making serious inroads towards fixing the 2GB / OS issues. It's frustrating, but at least they're working on it.

Personally I see this as "silly beginner's mistake" and not "a bad purchase". Give Debian a shot, or give the project a few more days / weeks to straighten things out. What's done is done; progress is being made to fix it.

[rahlquist]

I have been toying with my Pine64 2GB for awhile now, and am about to chalk this up as a bad purchase, and not waste any more time on this.

This is a rather embarrassing (and if we're being honest, elementary) oversight on the part of the devs. For whatever reason, they chose not to test against the 2 GB version and just assumed it would work. They only tested on the 1 GB version. The devs and multiple forum members are now making serious inroads towards fixing the 2GB / OS issues. It's frustrating, but at least they're working on it.

Personally I see this as "silly beginner's mistake" and not "a bad purchase". Give Debian a shot, or give the project a few more days / weeks to straighten things out. What's done is done; progress is being made to fix it.

I agree but I also wonder, did they have a design issue crop up. The revision date on the 2GB boards being 2/25/16 that didnt give much time for testing. Assuming they took 3 days after that to build all the 2GB boards (just a wild guess with no basis in reality) the then needed so package and ship and start getting them to earlybirds in a week or less. So that puts them as shipping the first week of March. The question remains, why was a revision made so late, that was likely part of the issue. It's all academic though, I think nice progress is being made so far.

[umiddelb]

You can see the fix here, and it's obviously not a design issue. Recent Linux images (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu) already contain this fix.

[Tarjei85]

I have been toying with my Pine64 2GB for awhile now, and am about to chalk this up as a bad purchase, and not waste any more time on this.

This is a rather embarrassing (and if we're being honest, elementary) oversight on the part of the devs. For whatever reason, they chose not to test against the 2 GB version and just assumed it would work. They only tested on the 1 GB version. The devs and multiple forum members are now making serious inroads towards fixing the 2GB / OS issues. It's frustrating, but at least they're working on it.

Personally I see this as "silly beginner's mistake" and not "a bad purchase". Give Debian a shot, or give the project a few more days / weeks to straighten things out. What's done is done; progress is being made to fix it.

I couldnt agree more. Give it some time and the pine will turn around to become a great piece of electronics.
Currently running newest android image (after testing an old build. That allso was quite good, and the RemixOS)

Yes there are some issues with networking speed (downspeed) on the 2Gb boards but this will be sorted soon. I'm shure of it.

Personally I'm looking forward for a build pre-Rooted with SuperSU preinstalled on it. Having troubble connecting bluetooth PS4 gamecontrollers to my pine at the moment. You can say its a work in progress.

Wen testing the different builds (android and remix) I found them both good and stable enough. I have experienced some unexpected closing of apps, but nothing in the settings menues. But nothing big.

[rahlquist]

You can see the fix here, and it's obviously not a design issue. Recent Linux images (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu) already contain this fix.

Was this aimed at my response?  Because the point I was Musing over was the 2GB board has a much newer revision date than the other boards even though it was advertised from the very beginning. So my thinking out loud was, did they already have the board design done back in December of 2015 (like the 1gb and 512mb) and have issues that caused them to make newer revisions right up to the last minute (like they evidently had with the camera) that precluded them from having one available to send to testers until it was too late. Something other than the ethernet issue. 

It was just a thought. No matter what, with a board revision date in late Feb it would have been virtually impossible to get completed boards with that date into the hands of testers and meet March shipping dates.