The presence of i2c devices isn't required during setup.
Maybe Robert got some other issues, such bad kernel image.
No, it actually wasnt connected. I also can connect a i2c device to a running system and it will be instantly recognized now (although that is probably not recommended).
Robert, I presume you didn't figured out what was the differences between before and after you upgrade.
it would be interesting to know if someone else face the same issue.
Hi, sorry for the late reply.
Unfortunately i couldn't figure it out, since i overwrote the SD card. But it coul well be that I screwed the image up somehow. There were several problems, that made me go into the config files. I was pretty sure I haven't touched anything i2c related, but maybe i accidentally did. It is very unstatisfying not to know the reason, but the new image worked out of the box.
Generally, i think the images on pine64.pro are more up to date, than the ones on the wiki, but that might just be my impression, and should be irrelevant, since i updated the kernel every time.
It was not an connection issue, since I used the same cables both times, but you are right, that is generally something to look out for.