Pinephone Pro does not start with RE button pressed

[c0ssan]

Hello,

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but my Pinephone Pro does not start with RE button pressed in order to boot from SD card.  

I just want to install Tow-Boot.


Thank you!

[c0ssan]

Tried this:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk2 seek=64 count=400 conv=fsync

as per the note:

Note: The bootloader (such as U-Boot) resides in the free space in front of the first partition. Wiping the bootloader from the eMMC to make the PinePhone Pro boot from microSD card can be done using sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk2 seek=64 count=400 conv=fsync. Formatting the drive or deleting the partition table is not sufficient to wipe the bootloader.

from here:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#Boot_order

... and (surprisingly for me) manjaro-arm still boots


I cannot get it to boot from the SD Card to install Tow-Boot

and I thought that would be the easiest part

any advice is much appreciated.

Than you!

[shulamy]

Hello,

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but my Pinephone Pro does not start with RE button pressed in order to boot from SD card.  

I just want to install Tow-Boot.


Thank you!

 i don't know about pro but pinephone boots from sd first

 are you sure the sd has boot loader on it ?

 and usually  mmcblk2 is the sd so the phone still boots from emmc

 did you check with fdisk?
 
 ezik

[wibble]

Hello,

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but my Pinephone Pro does not start with RE button pressed in order to boot from SD card.  

I just want to install Tow-Boot.


Thank you!

 i don't know about pro but pinephone boots from sd first

 are you sure the sd has boot loader on it ?

 and usually  mmcblk2 is the sd so the phone still boots from emmc

 did you check with fdisk?
 
 ezik

The PinePhone boots from SD first, but the Pro doesn't.

The common causes of failure to boot from uSD are using a non-Pro PinePhone image in a Pro, and writing the image to the uSD incorrectly, such as to one of the partitions rather than the raw device. Always worth double checking the basics.

[c0ssan]

Hi wibble,


I think the issue is even before boot.  
Pinephone pro does not start while pressing the RE button.
Also it does not start after that, until I remove the battery and then it starts normally

On the SD card I flashed  tow-boot spi.installer.img as I would like to install tow-boot to SPI.  

So far the phone when it starts, always boots the stock manjaro-arm.



and the strange (for me at least) bit

from fdisk -l   with or without the SD card and I tried 2 different cards (seems like it does not see the SD card at all)

mtdblock0 16 MB

mmcblk2 115.23 GiB

mmcblk2p1 - MS basic data 457.8M
mmcblk2p2 - Linuux filesystem  114.8G


mmcblk2boot0 4 MB

mmcblk2boot1 4 MB

zram 5.67 GiB

[wibble]

Assuming for now that you've verified there's nothing wrong with your cards.

Card not inserted correctly, or in wrong slot? See https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid108447

Some people have managed to damage the slots by sticking the wrong thing in them. Hope you've not done this.

There have been rare cases of the uSD connector having a faulty or broken card detect switch. I'm not sure if this has happened on the Pro, or just the non-Pro where it was worked around with a custom bootloader build and kernel build to ignore the switch.

[emsyr]

Is there any news? I'm quoting the following notes from Tow-Boot instructions that are relative to unsuccessful try to boot from SDcard in Pinephone Pro:

NOTE: Reminder that at this point you should be holding the RE button until the phone vibrates and the LED lights up red.

TIP: It may be easier to connect the phone to a power source via USB instead of pressing the power button.

WARNING: Make sure you are holding the RE button before either powering-on using the power button or by connecting to a power source.

When starting up with Tow-Boot, which the installer image use, the phone will vibrate slightly and the LED will turn red. After a short moment, the LED should turn yellow.

Sometimes, removing the battery and pressing the Power Button for about 10 to 20 seconds in order to fully discharge the device resolves issues related to starting up or booting.

[c0ssan]

SD card does not seem to be recognized.

lsblk only shows mmcblk2, so no other device.

don't really see any errors related to SD Card in dmesg either.

from what I can see, this phone version does not give you options to insert the SD card more than one way - see screenshot.

https://i.postimg.cc/JzQ07Pxt/WIN-202209...-Pro-2.jpg

[wibble]

People have managed not to insert the card completely, stuck the SIM adapter in the uSD slot and vice versa, and other variations. Some of those cause physical damage. That's why the question needs asking.

I'd be investigating the card detect switch at this point. It's an unusual fault but not unknown, and fits the symptoms I think.

[fxc]

SD card does not seem to be recognized.

lsblk only shows mmcblk2, so no other device.

don't really see any errors related to SD Card in dmesg either.

from what I can see, this phone version does not give you options to insert the SD card more than one way - see screenshot.

https://i.postimg.cc/JzQ07Pxt/WIN-202209...-Pro-2.jpg

I would suggest to grab a good flashlight and to shine it from the side and to look from the side if any pins are bent or missing in the (empty) microSD card slot. If it's a hardware defect you might have to open a ticket.