PinePhone Beta Edition will not boot from MicroSD card

[Timothy_Ecc]

Very interesting that it can be set up to ignore the card detection. I wonder if there is a specific reason that card detection is turned on, because if there isn't then I agree that having it off by default sounds like a much better idea.

[8bit]

I think it's just the default for U-Boot. It's used on a lot of other devices.
I asked DanctNIX on Discord if they could compile a modified U-Boot. A JumpDrive with the modified U-Boot would let you reflash your internal eMMC. https://discord.gg/AvtdRJ3

[Timothy_Ecc]

I think it's just the default for U-Boot. It's used on a lot of other devices.
I asked DanctNIX on Discord if they could compile a modified U-Boot. A JumpDrive with the modified U-Boot would let you reflash your internal eMMC. https://discord.gg/AvtdRJ3

That would be interesting to try and see if it works.

[Timothy_Ecc]

Since this PinePhone is still under warranty Pine64 has given me a RMA number so I can ship it to them and get a replacement. Should I wait a few days to try a modified U-Boot to see if this would be a workaround for the problem so that others know the solution, or should I just send it out?

Thanks again for helping me troubleshoot this issue so I could confirm that it is a hardware problem!

[8bit]

Since this PinePhone is still under warranty Pine64 has given me a RMA number so I can ship it to them and get a replacement. Should I wait a few days to try a modified U-Boot to see if this would be a workaround for the problem so that others know the solution, or should I just send it out?

Thanks again for helping me troubleshoot this issue so I could confirm that it is a hardware problem!

I would send it in, I think I can make mine fail again. I took a look at it with the board out of the phone and can see how the switch pin is bent and wedged against the metal shell.

[8bit]

If you still have it, I managed to compile JumpDrive with CONFIG_MMC_BROKEN_CD https://github.com/8bitgc/Jumpdrive/tree/master/test
It boots fine but have not tried to break mine yet to see if it bypasses the broken switch.

[Timothy_Ecc]

If you still have it, I managed to compile JumpDrive with CONFIG_MMC_BROKEN_CD https://github.com/8bitgc/Jumpdrive/tree/master/test
It boots fine but have not tried to break mine yet to see if it bypasses the broken switch.

I gave it a try. On both of my PinePhones I get the error below. I think this still proves that little switch is the problem though since it boots further on the damaged phone than it would before.

Code:

[font=monospace][color=#000000]DRAM: 4096 MiB [/color]
Trying to boot from MMC1
NOTICE:  BL31: v2.2():0.7-6-g3383f27
NOTICE:  BL31: Built : 09:44:36, May 10 2021
NOTICE:  BL31: Detected Allwinner A64/H64/R18 SoC (1689)
NOTICE:  BL31: Found U-Boot DTB at 0x4063a38, model: PinePhone
NOTICE:  PSCI: System suspend is unavailable


U-Boot 2020.04 (May 10 2021 - 10:25:36 -1000)

DRAM:  3 GiB
"Synchronous Abort" handler, esr 0x02000000
elr: 00000000fff73d64 lr : 00000000fff74064
x0 : 00000000ffff0000 x1 : 00000000ffff0000
x2 : 000000004a063a38 x3 : 000000004a063a38
x4 : 00000000fffb9200 x5 : 0000000000017404
x6 : 00000000ffffffd8 x7 : 00000000000178c0
x8 : 0000000000017888 x9 : 00000000b5f74000
x10: 000000004a045200 x11: 000000004a001850
x12: 0000000000000006 x13: 000000000001869f
x14: 000000004a063a38 x15: 0000000000000000
x16: 000000004a02b100 x17: 0000000000000000
x18: 00000000fbf53df0 x19: 00000000ffff0000
x20: 0000000000006000 x21: 0000000000000000
x22: 0000000000000000 x23: 0000000000000000
x24: 00000000fffc8000 x25: 00000000fffffff7
x26: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000
x28: 0000000000000000 x29: 00000000fbf4dce0

Code: 06aab249 d6683444 5558340c 466a3554 (76ca3535)  
Resetting CPU ...

resetting ...
 

[8bit]

Thanks for testing. The CONFIG_MMC_BROKEN_CD seems to do what it's supposed to.

I was able to boot and flash a 2GB 1.2 (UBports) phone with this image. I think I need to pull the correct branch for 3GB to work.

Do you have to ship your phone back to Hong Kong, or do they have a US address for RMA?

[Timothy_Ecc]

Thanks for testing. The CONFIG_MMC_BROKEN_CD seems to do what it's supposed to.

I was able to boot and flash a 2GB 1.2 (UBports) phone with this image. I think I need to pull the correct branch for 3GB to work.

Do you have to ship your phone back to Hong Kong, or do they have a US address for RMA?

I wondered if it was for the 2GB version and that was why, both of the ones I tried were 3GB.

Thankfully there is a US address for RMA. In my case, they actually only want the Mainboard so I got to disassemble it for the first time. Those ribbon cables sure are tiny!

[8bit]

Make sure you keep the rubber boot on the proximity sensor. Usually gets stuck to display, but it can stick to the mainboard. They don't have spares for those.