mobian installed to eMMC - how to install tow-boot
#4
(07-09-2023, 01:33 AM)vusra Wrote: a) no.
b) why?
c) yes. remove u-boot first utilizing  sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/[DEVICE] bs=8k seek=1 count=4 
Code:
# Startup order conflicts

The Allwinner SoC used in the Pinephone (A64) will always prefer starting
the platform firmware (U-Boot) from SD card when available.

When using some pre-built distribution images, it may be desirable to neuter
the U-Boot that is baked into the image.

With the usual U-Boot setup for Allwinner, the easiest way to strip U-Boot
from an eMMC or SD image is by running the following command, taking care
to replace `[DEVICE]` with the device for the storage device.

```
$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/[DEVICE] bs=8k seek=1 count=4
```

When running the command on the Pinephone (A64), *usually* the block device
for the SD card is `mmcblk0`, and the block device for the eMMC is `mmcblk2`.
You can use `lsblk` to look at the block devices available.

> **NOTE**: Make sure the operating system image has a baked-in U-Boot
> install before issuing the command, and that you are targeting the right
> storage device.
>
> Some distributions target UEFI boot, and use GPT. Issuing this command
> **will break the partition table**.

Finally, on distributions shipping U-Boot, it is prudent to disable the
package that provides the automatic upgrade facilities.

- For Manjaro and Arch Linux, the package is called `uboot-pinephone`.


## Additional features

The phone can be started in *USB Mass Storage* mode by holding the *volume up*
d) not needed.  but  dd backup for safety before upgrade. tow boot is small code written to start of eMMC.


Hello, as someone new this, I'm also having a bit of a confusing time with this. 

The installation guide (https://tow-boot.org/devices/pine64-pinephoneA64.html) lists an image file (mmcboot.installer.img) that needs to be written to an sd card (I assume) from my pc onto the sd card. I looked for the image file on the listed github link at right--where is this file? 

After getting the image file and writing it to the sd card using dd, do I just take and load the sd card into the pinephone and start it up? Will there be any prompts to install Tow-Boot to the emmc module? Would this same installer allow one to wipe the memory of the emmc or is this a separate step?

I don't particularly care about what is on the pinephone emmc module, in fact, I'd prefer to wipe it clean so I can install, in this case mobian, which requres it to be loaded on the module instead of running off of the sd card directly. 
  Reply


Messages In This Thread
RE: mobian installed to eMMC - how to install tow-boot - by uncleanblessing - 11-21-2023, 01:05 AM

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