(ARCHIVED) Ubuntu Xenial Image (BSP Kernel)

[Tommy_2Tall]

Ubuntu, even if in this limited form, is one of the things I'd like to test on my Pine64(+, 2GB) once I get it.

Why do you think it is limited? It not really is, you can do everything with it what is possible with Ubuntu on arm64 platform.

Would it be possible to get this Xenial image going at 720P rather than 1080P?
Would that require an entirely new image to be built or is it something that could be reconfigured once it is up and running on a 1080P HDMI screen?

Well, the resolution is set from the device tree and thus cannot be changed without rebuilding it. It should be possible to modify the device tree in U-Boot before booting the Kernel and switch to a different resolution based on boot environment settings or similar.

Sorry for being unclear and possibly implying (even though that's not what I meant) that the result of your work would be "limited" in functionality.
It wasn't meant as a "barely functional" grade, more like "I see potential problems down the line" kind of thing.

I was thinking about that whole business with "relying on Allwinner's old BSP with missing sourcefiles" and the need for an Android workaround (or has that been sorted out?).

I can't claim that I've read everything about the recent Linux development for Pine but I have gotten the impression that there are still some obstacles in the way of getting a proper (/maintainable and easily patched) kernel based on a more recent Linux mainline kernel and a more straightforward booting/image-packing approach than faking an Android image to boot a "normal" Linux installation?

In terms of functionality though, it seems like a LOT of it is already in place. Just as you mentioned.
Hardware accelerated graphics and stuff like that would be nice but it's certainly not a dealbreaker for me and hopefully that will be solved later on.




Regarding the 720P question,have I understood it correctly that it should be achieved either by:
compiling a slightly different image from scratch (probably above my head) which would then boot into 720P by default
or
applying some configuration changes in the uEnv.txt config-file, add a second version of the existing device tree and rebooting the Pine (which would make the kernel boot with a slightly modified device tree)?

Sounds like the uEnv.txt is an "easier" approach for a Linux-noob like me?

But I am assuming that the uEnv.txt and device tree (.dtb file?) are easily accesible and that the "slightly modified .dtb" part isn't that hard if someone writes a how-to. 


Is there any chance at all to make the SoC perform some sort of "auto-detect" sequence (try 1080P, if that fails try 720P instead) or is that sort of thing just a boot-time single shot kind of deal implied by the SoC?
Since it wasn't mentioned as a viable option by you guys I assume that once you're booted up you can't just change the HDMI mode on the fly?

Thanks for the swift responses from both of you (Simon and Uli)  :-D

PS.
I got curious, did some research and learned a quite a lot about the (U-)boot process ( Get more out of "Das U Boot" - The shortcut ) and what options are available by editing eEnv.txt/boot.ini or with an interactive U-boot session (BT serial module connected to GPIO UART pins?).