04-13-2023, 05:55 AM
The most reliable way to flash the eMMC is indeed to use:
Then you can connect the phone to a computer using a USB C-A or C-C cable and flash it just like a USB stick or an SD card.
Flashing directly from a running image on a MicroSD card is not so safe because you will be copying a running system, unless you copy another image file into the dd'd image beforehand and use that as the dd source on the phone rather than the running system.
- on the PinePhone pro, the USB Mass Storage (jump drive) mode of Tow-Boot ("The phone can be started in USB Mass Storage mode by holding the volume up button at startup before and during the second vibration. The LED will turn blue if done successfully. In this mode, the phone will work like a USB drive when connected to a host computer.") (as is mentioned on the video, though you cannot actually see it being done),
- on the original (A64) PinePhone, a MicroSD card with the dedicated JumpDrive image (download the image and dd it to an empty MicroSD card, or one whose data you do not need anymore, as all data on the MicroSD card will be overwritten and hence wiped by dd) that turns it into a USB mass storage device.
Then you can connect the phone to a computer using a USB C-A or C-C cable and flash it just like a USB stick or an SD card.
Flashing directly from a running image on a MicroSD card is not so safe because you will be copying a running system, unless you copy another image file into the dd'd image beforehand and use that as the dd source on the phone rather than the running system.