06-19-2021, 05:55 AM
So I got my new Pinephone and obviously started playing with it immediately. While the phone itself worked, I was running into various issues with the hardware I was sticking in it. Various non compatible sims, bad micro SD cards, etc. (The stuff that is frustrating but in no way pinephones fault and all part of the process.) The micro SD cards im more salty about as I purchased a 3 pack of fast 64gb micro SD's and when they arrived they were labeled as 64gb but they were actually around 8 gig and not fast. (I had fell victim to one of the fake SD card scams that had been going around lately.) Basically every time I tried to resize to 64 gig, the SD card would corrupt itself. I used various tricks in Gparted to resize to just under 8 gig and it booted Mobian. (Frustrated, I went out to Wallyworld and purchased a new set of 64 gig SD cards and they worked.) Needless to say, if your new SD card dont work, consider using a different make/model.
The operating systems I used: Mobian as well as Manjero Phosh, I played around with the included Plasma and decided it had enough potential I would let it stay....it just needs to mature a bit.
I learned that patience is a virtue. When booting your OS for the first time, be prepared for Manjero Phosh to dump you to a terminal login prompt and look like it is hung for a good several minutes.
(This is OK...dont shut your phone down and screw it up like I did
)
Mobian was nice enough to put up a splash screen informing me that it was resizing the SD and thus was going to take a bit......like about an hour and a half......
(Apparently this is also OK...dont shut your phone down and screw it up like I did )
Once the OS's are set up, they work pretty well although a bit laggy at times. The last sytem update for Mobian speed up Mobian a noticeable amout for me. (Currently Mobian is feeling like it will be my favorite all though Manjero is very similar and has a precompiled Anbox which works well enough.
The sim experience.
Me sticking in a verizon sim via Visible: Fail..... Nothing works...proceed to spend 4 hours looking for APN configurations and then finally realize that Visible is listed on the not compatible carrier list generously provided by the PinePhone Wiki. Lol Should have researched that one ahead of time.
Me then grabbing an old flipphone that has a Verizon sim via Straight Talk: Success! I made 2 call and made 1 text before ST shut me down and send me a message informing me to put the sim back in the original phone. (Well gee thanks ST....wont be doing business with you anytime soon
)
I finally got a US Mobile sim and it worked great. I highly recommend them. Service costs about 16USD after tax and the customer service is decent.
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Things that work:
All Calls, Text, and data seem to be working well. Very pleased.
The dock is proving very helpful
The camera is better than expected.
Screen rotation works on all OS's
Anbox works!.....enough.
Most apps work with the occasional cant fit on the screen issue.
The battery lasts longer than anticipated!
Mobian can mount a docked SD card.....eventually
Things that dont work or significant issues.
Apparently im dead.....the GPS says I am currently residing in the Lynn Wood Cemetery. (At Least I got good reception out here
)
Oh....this is an Arm based CPU.....I guess a lot of my linux programs aren't going to like that much very much......
Everything is rather slow....... The Plasma OS seemed much snappier. I wonder if it has to do with it being on the EMMC instead of the SD card. (Does putting the OS on the EMMC speed the OS's up any?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things i haven't tried but am going to.
Hot Spot.
Setting up my VPN
Installing my first successful 3rd party linux app on this thing. (Just got to find one that will work lol)
Overall, this phone is pretty exciting. I have started carrying it on my person along with my android. (My pinephone is getting its daily driver training
) I look forward to each update and thank everyone for their hard work on this project! Its looking good so far!
The operating systems I used: Mobian as well as Manjero Phosh, I played around with the included Plasma and decided it had enough potential I would let it stay....it just needs to mature a bit.
I learned that patience is a virtue. When booting your OS for the first time, be prepared for Manjero Phosh to dump you to a terminal login prompt and look like it is hung for a good several minutes.
(This is OK...dont shut your phone down and screw it up like I did
) Mobian was nice enough to put up a splash screen informing me that it was resizing the SD and thus was going to take a bit......like about an hour and a half......
(Apparently this is also OK...dont shut your phone down and screw it up like I did
) Once the OS's are set up, they work pretty well although a bit laggy at times. The last sytem update for Mobian speed up Mobian a noticeable amout for me. (Currently Mobian is feeling like it will be my favorite all though Manjero is very similar and has a precompiled Anbox which works well enough.
The sim experience.
Me sticking in a verizon sim via Visible: Fail..... Nothing works...proceed to spend 4 hours looking for APN configurations and then finally realize that Visible is listed on the not compatible carrier list generously provided by the PinePhone Wiki. Lol Should have researched that one ahead of time.
Me then grabbing an old flipphone that has a Verizon sim via Straight Talk: Success! I made 2 call and made 1 text before ST shut me down and send me a message informing me to put the sim back in the original phone. (Well gee thanks ST....wont be doing business with you anytime soon
)I finally got a US Mobile sim and it worked great. I highly recommend them. Service costs about 16USD after tax and the customer service is decent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things that work:
All Calls, Text, and data seem to be working well. Very pleased.
The dock is proving very helpful
The camera is better than expected.
Screen rotation works on all OS's
Anbox works!.....enough.
Most apps work with the occasional cant fit on the screen issue.
The battery lasts longer than anticipated!
Mobian can mount a docked SD card.....eventually
Things that dont work or significant issues.
Apparently im dead.....the GPS says I am currently residing in the Lynn Wood Cemetery. (At Least I got good reception out here
)Oh....this is an Arm based CPU.....I guess a lot of my linux programs aren't going to like that much very much......
Everything is rather slow....... The Plasma OS seemed much snappier. I wonder if it has to do with it being on the EMMC instead of the SD card. (Does putting the OS on the EMMC speed the OS's up any?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things i haven't tried but am going to.
Hot Spot.
Setting up my VPN
Installing my first successful 3rd party linux app on this thing. (Just got to find one that will work lol)
Overall, this phone is pretty exciting. I have started carrying it on my person along with my android. (My pinephone is getting its daily driver training
) I look forward to each update and thank everyone for their hard work on this project! Its looking good so far!