11-28-2019, 01:47 PM
I've bought one a year ago, attracted by the idea and the somewhat low price point (somewhat because the shipping and import tax doubled the price, but I wanted to support the project) plus the idea of getting better at working with linux.
A year later, I have to say this failed big time. You built a neat product, looks sleek, the premise is awesome. But the included software is ancient, so you start looking for a new OS. Now, I am somewhat proficient with linux in that I can apt-get my way around the command line and maybe understand a simple script or symlink, but compiling something or building something myself is not something I know how to do. And that's where things break down.
None if the images (and I tried neigh all of them) that are mentioned as being fit for the Pinebook were stable in any way. I haven't been able to use any of them with any measure of success. My latest install of Manjaro ARM KDE lasted for 2 bootups: After the first major 'update' the system broke down and the wifi is since inoperable. I'm sure it's easy to fix for a linux guru or when I get down to it and put a couple of hours of research into it, but having to fix a new issue every freaking fresh install is getting up my nerves after a year. I've had update cycles break the system, but often the system will just break itself and stop working after X bootups. Weird audio issues. Weird mouse issues. Weird display issues. Weird network issues. Every time I give it a go something else breaks without me having even touched the system or the configuration.
The actual 'installation procedure' is either boot from SD, install from a capable installer FROM SD to EMMC or the dreaded "DD" which for me, no matter the amount of instructions from people who assume half an word is enough, has never worked. I've tried scripts, after failing those I contacted the people who made the scripts, and they didn't respond or stopped responding after I asked a question. Numerous attempts from users to create something viable have died out, and many of the builds still being produced by avid enthusiasts are riddled with issues.
I know this product was sold with a big disclaimer. It's supposed to be a 'learning experience'. It's such a shame the product is so unusable even that is not an attainable goal because the 'experience' is condensed down to keeping the bloody thing running (or even getting it to work).
I would have loved to be able to have some form of Debian running on it, because that's a system I know. But the 'armbian' images are DD only (and I've tried ever method I've found to DD the installation to the EMMC, every try has borked the system and did not give the described results) so I couldn't get them to work. Heck, I couldn't even figure out why it didn't work as described, and attempts to find support have landed me nothing.
Can't say that I'm anything but dissappointed in this project, and my purchase.
A year later, I have to say this failed big time. You built a neat product, looks sleek, the premise is awesome. But the included software is ancient, so you start looking for a new OS. Now, I am somewhat proficient with linux in that I can apt-get my way around the command line and maybe understand a simple script or symlink, but compiling something or building something myself is not something I know how to do. And that's where things break down.
None if the images (and I tried neigh all of them) that are mentioned as being fit for the Pinebook were stable in any way. I haven't been able to use any of them with any measure of success. My latest install of Manjaro ARM KDE lasted for 2 bootups: After the first major 'update' the system broke down and the wifi is since inoperable. I'm sure it's easy to fix for a linux guru or when I get down to it and put a couple of hours of research into it, but having to fix a new issue every freaking fresh install is getting up my nerves after a year. I've had update cycles break the system, but often the system will just break itself and stop working after X bootups. Weird audio issues. Weird mouse issues. Weird display issues. Weird network issues. Every time I give it a go something else breaks without me having even touched the system or the configuration.
The actual 'installation procedure' is either boot from SD, install from a capable installer FROM SD to EMMC or the dreaded "DD" which for me, no matter the amount of instructions from people who assume half an word is enough, has never worked. I've tried scripts, after failing those I contacted the people who made the scripts, and they didn't respond or stopped responding after I asked a question. Numerous attempts from users to create something viable have died out, and many of the builds still being produced by avid enthusiasts are riddled with issues.
I know this product was sold with a big disclaimer. It's supposed to be a 'learning experience'. It's such a shame the product is so unusable even that is not an attainable goal because the 'experience' is condensed down to keeping the bloody thing running (or even getting it to work).
I would have loved to be able to have some form of Debian running on it, because that's a system I know. But the 'armbian' images are DD only (and I've tried ever method I've found to DD the installation to the EMMC, every try has borked the system and did not give the described results) so I couldn't get them to work. Heck, I couldn't even figure out why it didn't work as described, and attempts to find support have landed me nothing.
Can't say that I'm anything but dissappointed in this project, and my purchase.
