01-30-2022, 11:40 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2022, 03:13 AM by phelion.
Edit Reason: Update on 2A Charger now working with updated Software
)
Charging/Battery Drain Update
Just anecdotally from this thread, @Stitch was able to charge with a 2.5A charger but @Stickman did not get good results from using a 2.5A charger and the battery drained even with the screen off, so it would appear it might be a bit hit or miss with a charger less than the recommended 5V 3A, depending on the charger used.
--UPDATE: I've added an update to my original post, but the Pinephone Pro is less picky about chargers once the Software is updated - even the pre-installed Manjaro Plasma, once updated, is now happy with my 2A charger!
With any new device, there's always the worry that there's a fault with the hardware but currently most users in the threads seem to be saying that they experience the same behaviour:
If the Pinephone Pro is plugged into a charger then it will restart if you try to shutdown using whichever method:
-Hold power button for 8 seconds
-Choose Shutdown option from Operating System
-Use 'sudo shutdown now' from the Terminal
So if you're charger is not charging the phone (but is giving enough power to register that it thinks the phone is charging) and then the battery gets low and you think "I'll just switch off the phone and leave it to charge" you could well end up with a drained battery as the phone keeps trying to restart.
This could be a hardware/software/firmware issue but the main thing to stop the battery draining flat is to find a charger that works first and then it's not quite such a problem
Booting From An SD Card
Incidentally, I've noticed that if you insert an SD Card with a bootable Pinephone Pro image then it will always default to that, which is not the expected behaviour:
The extra step does not seem to be necessary at the moment - it always chooses the SD Card in my case. Not expected but quite a pleasant surprise and gives a nice easy way to be able to try out other distros on the Pinephone Pro.
(So far I've only tried out the pre-installed Manjaro Plasma and Mobian on the SD Card, but it's nice to be able to easily compare them and see their different features and quirks)
Manjaro Updates
@Luziferus very kindly provided a link to the Manjaro forum: https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Pacma...Resolution which I liked because it tells you what the commands are actually doing so hopefully that's the more straightforward way to get updates working and then you can update/upgrade as normal anytime using 'sudo pacman -Syu'
@Emilio had said in his thread that he got things working after searching the interweb for a solution and, after a shutdown and restart, using 'sudo pacman-db-upgrade && Sync'
I had success using 'sudo pinephonepro-post-install' after noticing that it was a pre-installed script and then could update using 'sudo pacman -Syu' without issues after that (although it might also have created a user called KDE which may or may not have been there initially, so might not be the most optimal solution)
So it looks like there are a few different ways to get updates working on the pre-installed image and, with the boot order seeming to favour the SD Card at the moment, you can try out a few different distros without having to wipe the eMMc.
It does say in the Pinephone Pro wiki page "If the default installation was corrupted or overwritten by a differently configured bootloader, the eMMC may have to be bypassed to boot from microSD card and to alter the eMMC contents." but I'm not sure how easy or likely it is to corrupt or overwrite the bootloader whilst experimenting with other distros on the SD Card.
If that does happen though, they have details of how to fix it:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro
It also mentions there that there is an RE Button underneath the cover on the Explorer Edition (to temporarily bypass the eMMc on boot) but on the Developer Edition you would have to "short the eMMC bypass contacts while booting", so there is possibly a very slight difference in the Hardware of the Developer and Explorer editions?
Just anecdotally from this thread, @Stitch was able to charge with a 2.5A charger but @Stickman did not get good results from using a 2.5A charger and the battery drained even with the screen off, so it would appear it might be a bit hit or miss with a charger less than the recommended 5V 3A, depending on the charger used.
--UPDATE: I've added an update to my original post, but the Pinephone Pro is less picky about chargers once the Software is updated - even the pre-installed Manjaro Plasma, once updated, is now happy with my 2A charger!
With any new device, there's always the worry that there's a fault with the hardware but currently most users in the threads seem to be saying that they experience the same behaviour:
If the Pinephone Pro is plugged into a charger then it will restart if you try to shutdown using whichever method:
-Hold power button for 8 seconds
-Choose Shutdown option from Operating System
-Use 'sudo shutdown now' from the Terminal
So if you're charger is not charging the phone (but is giving enough power to register that it thinks the phone is charging) and then the battery gets low and you think "I'll just switch off the phone and leave it to charge" you could well end up with a drained battery as the phone keeps trying to restart.
This could be a hardware/software/firmware issue but the main thing to stop the battery draining flat is to find a charger that works first and then it's not quite such a problem
Booting From An SD Card
Incidentally, I've noticed that if you insert an SD Card with a bootable Pinephone Pro image then it will always default to that, which is not the expected behaviour:
Quote:"The Explorer Edition comes with a modified U-Boot pointing to the microSD card pre-installed to the eMMC. The microSD card can be (temporarily) booted instead of the pre-installed operating system, when the power key is shortly held at boot."
The extra step does not seem to be necessary at the moment - it always chooses the SD Card in my case. Not expected but quite a pleasant surprise and gives a nice easy way to be able to try out other distros on the Pinephone Pro.
(So far I've only tried out the pre-installed Manjaro Plasma and Mobian on the SD Card, but it's nice to be able to easily compare them and see their different features and quirks)
Manjaro Updates
@Luziferus very kindly provided a link to the Manjaro forum: https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Pacma...Resolution which I liked because it tells you what the commands are actually doing so hopefully that's the more straightforward way to get updates working and then you can update/upgrade as normal anytime using 'sudo pacman -Syu'
@Emilio had said in his thread that he got things working after searching the interweb for a solution and, after a shutdown and restart, using 'sudo pacman-db-upgrade && Sync'
I had success using 'sudo pinephonepro-post-install' after noticing that it was a pre-installed script and then could update using 'sudo pacman -Syu' without issues after that (although it might also have created a user called KDE which may or may not have been there initially, so might not be the most optimal solution)
So it looks like there are a few different ways to get updates working on the pre-installed image and, with the boot order seeming to favour the SD Card at the moment, you can try out a few different distros without having to wipe the eMMc.
It does say in the Pinephone Pro wiki page "If the default installation was corrupted or overwritten by a differently configured bootloader, the eMMC may have to be bypassed to boot from microSD card and to alter the eMMC contents." but I'm not sure how easy or likely it is to corrupt or overwrite the bootloader whilst experimenting with other distros on the SD Card.
If that does happen though, they have details of how to fix it:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro
It also mentions there that there is an RE Button underneath the cover on the Explorer Edition (to temporarily bypass the eMMc on boot) but on the Developer Edition you would have to "short the eMMC bypass contacts while booting", so there is possibly a very slight difference in the Hardware of the Developer and Explorer editions?
