Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions

[neilman]

Thanks for the 32-bit steer for the Arduino IDE.

I uninstalled the packaged version of Arduino and downloaded and installed the 32-bit ARM version of 1.8.10.
It messed up the desktop icon but nevertheless worked like a charm when I fired it up.
Compiling and uploading "blink" code into a UNO board was much faster than on a Windows machine.

Some other good news - I have two USB-C to HDMI cables...

One is a "Pro-Signal" display-port cable from CPC and it the one I have been using but failing to power off with.
The second one is a Chinese "Choetec" thunderbolt-compatible cable from Amazon.
So I gave it a try and, not only does it also work fine with my screen BUT it also allows Pinebook shutdown whilst still connected.
Looking good eh?

Back to earth with a thump I still cant get my "Voxon" Bluetooth mouse to work after a shutdown.
Its listed in devices but refuses to work until I go through the re-pairing process again.
The same mouse worked perfectly, repeatedly, with my Pinebook 1080p so there's a problem of some sort with this Debian?

I'm definitely moving forward with this machine with only minor steps back now.  

PS Anyone selling dozen packs of tiny black screws to replace the chrome ones fitted to this PineBook Pro?
Don't yet know what thread size or length of each screw - need 10 of them plus a few spares.

[Arwen]

...

PS Anyone selling dozen packs of tiny black screws to replace the chrome ones fitted to this PineBook Pro?
Don't yet know what thread size or length of each screw - need 10 of them plus a few spares.

That's actually good information we need on the Wiki.

Ocasionally I've seen philips heads damaged by too many removals. Being able to know what replacements to buy would help.

So if you find out what the specifications of the screws are, update the Wiki!

[jaylittle]

Got my unit today and took it for a spin. So far so good. I thought getting used to an ISO keyboard would be easy, but it's going to take some more time than I thought. Beyond that I was pretty impressed how things seemed to work out of the box. After taking it for a spin, I shut down and took off the cover and attempted to install the NVME adapter and drive (as well as flip the UART switch). Installation went well but after re-assembling the unit I realized that one side of the touchpad was now barely usable and required quite a bit more force than the other side. I tried all kinds of things with the NVME adapter to try and make this better and eventually just gave up and removed it altogether as the trackpad being usable is absolutely critical for me.

For reference this is the NVME drive I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J2Q4SWZ/

FWIW: It's power consumption is perfect for the PBP based on the measurements I found in a Toms Hardware review on the device. It's shame the case can't seem to handle it without rendering the touchpad much more difficult to use.

Other quirks I noticed during my initial exploration of the system:

1. Tried to use xrandr to add a new 1600x900 resolution using a modeline I generated using cvt. I was able to add the resolution to the eDP-1 adapter but attempting to switch it produces a black screen. 1080p is just a bit too small for my tastes on a 14" screen. In addition there weren't any other 16x9 resolutions available by default other than 1080p.

2. The default config for lightdm should probably have the session selector configured to display somewhere on the top bar. While it's relatively easy to add this if you know what you are doing, this could be problematic for newbies who install another desktop environment and want to switch to that environment using the display manager (though maybe there is a better way to do it for newbies... if there is I don't know it).

3. I installed cinnamon using the included repos after running "apt update && apt dist-upgrade" and while it installed without issue, it immediately crashes on startup when trying to log in with it. Truthfully based on what I read, these were the results I was expecting as I know that Gnome 3 isn't supposed to work and these DEs share a lineage.

4. Tested YouTube with Firefox and it worked great. Got full screen video playback running without issue.

5. The default MATE installation had a software compositor enabled that doesn't support transparency as I quickly discovered. I was able to work around this by disabling the built-in compositor altogether and adding compton to the "Startup Applications" list. Transparent terminals FTW.

6. During the brief period of time that I had the NVME adapter installed I was able to see my NVME drive and interact with it using gdisk (which I had to install using apt of course). So that's good. I was wondering however, is it currently possible or will it be possible in the future to boot directly off the NVME drive?

All in all I'm impressed. Though the NVME / Trackpad issue was a definite setback. Beyond that I am very impressed with the general level of quality and polish of the hardware itself. So kudos on that. Sadly I won't have any more time to work with it until early next week as I'm going to be traveling over the weekend but I am definitely looking forward to it.

[Luke]

@jaylittle 1) in /boot edit extlinux.conf with the desired resolution - see if that works (should be something like eDP: 1600x900 ) ; 2) will let @Mrfixit2001 know and include in an update (collecting feedback for now) ; 6) re. booting from NVMe the answer is yes and no. Yes, if you leave the /boot partition (with extlinux, kernel image, dtb) on eMMC and point extlinux to rootfs on NVMe. However, its a 'no' for booting the way SD, USB 2/3.0 and eMMC are bootable on RK3399, since PCIe which NVMe uses is not a part of the boot sequence on this SOC.

[edit] drafted info about bootable storage on wiki, will polish it up this week: https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/Pinebo...le_Storage

[bcnaz]

Thanks for the 32-bit steer for the Arduino IDE.

I uninstalled the packaged version of Arduino and downloaded and installed the 32-bit ARM version of 1.8.10.
It messed up the desktop icon but nevertheless worked like a charm when I fired it up.
Compiling and uploading "blink" code into a UNO board was much faster than on a Windows machine.

Some other good news - I have two USB-C to HDMI cables...

One is a "Pro-Signal" display-port cable from CPC and it the one I have been using but failing to power off with.
The second one is a Chinese "Choetec" thunderbolt-compatible cable from Amazon.
So I gave it a try and, not only does it also work fine with my screen BUT it also allows Pinebook shutdown whilst still connected.
Looking good eh?

Back to earth with a thump I still cant get my "Voxon" Bluetooth mouse to work after a shutdown.
Its listed in devices but refuses to work until I go through the re-pairing process again.
The same mouse worked perfectly, repeatedly, with my Pinebook 1080p so there's a problem of some sort with this Debian?

I'm definitely moving forward with this machine with only minor steps back now.  

PS Anyone selling dozen packs of tiny black screws to replace the chrome ones fitted to this PineBook Pro?
Don't yet know what thread size or length of each screw - need 10 of them plus a few spares.

                                         ****


 ****   RE :  Replacement screws

       There are several Chinese Vendors on EBay that sell the 500 piece Laptop Assortment packages
              Most are under $5 USD,  Free shipping  I have found these very useful
                    
                                  Just they can take a while to arrive.
                  
               Living in the southwest US,    IF   they come in thru California,  I get them 2 - 3 days after they arrive in the USA.
                      IF they come in anywhere on the East Coast,  It will always take 3 - 4 weeks sometimes even longer.!

But at the price it would be handy to have the extra screws for other projects.............

[cristobalhdez]

@jaylittle 1) in /boot edit extlinux.conf with the desired resolution - see if that works (should be something like eDP: 1600x900 ) ; 2) will let @Mrfixit2001 know and include in an update (collecting feedback for now) ; 6) re. booting from NVMe the answer is yes and no. Yes, if you leave the /boot partition (with extlinux, kernel image, dtb) on eMMC and point extlinux to rootfs on NVMe. However, its a 'no' for booting the way SD, USB 2/3.0 and eMMC are bootable on RK3399, since PCIe which NVMe uses is not a part of the boot sequence on this SOC.

[edit] drafted info about bootable storage on wiki, will polish it up this week: https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/Pinebo...le_Storage

Hi Luke,
I ordered the nvme adapter.
I read some comments for others members that they have major issues mounting the adapter + the SSD.
I would like to know if you have plans to work on a solution for this.
I don't know if it is possible get a "cable" extender to install the nvme adapter on the other site of the PBP, I saw a picture from one of the members and looks like there are a lot of room on the opposite side (next to the right speaker ).

[leonardchen]

I was a little thrown by the UK keyboard configured as a US keyboard

This shouldn't be the case under default user: rock

Hi Luke, is there a guide for fixing or replacing the laptop keyboard? Or a guide for fixing individual keys?

[bcnaz]

***********************



  How tall are the stand-offs holding the mounting nuts  ?
     Perhaps some nuts could be epoxied or super glued to the case after carefully removing the original posts holding the mounting nuts ?
   May Gain a little space  ?
           or
     Perhaps just find a thinner M.2 module  ?


                                    ********************
     PS :
      Is it the module itself hitting  ?    OR   The threaded post that holds the end of the M.2 module to the adapter  ?
        I have my adapter sitting here and I noticed it has that long(ish) threaded piece that appears to be what holds the module to the adapter...
       I do not have all the pieces,  no laptop yet,  or M.2 module....  but perhaps there is another way to attach it    .....    ?

                       *x*x*x*x*

[bcnaz]

*x*x*x*x*

       NOT a production  FIX

                 **********

   BUT Maybe a "Mod Fix"

  ?  This adapter board only adapts the module to the ribbon cable
            There is NO circuitry on the rest of the adapter board.

       IF  a person could Hold the module against the adapter by the edges.....          

      **   You could CUT the end of the adapter board to clear the touch pad..

       I am Looking at the picture in the "WIKI"

         Not sure exactly what would be an acceptable method  ...
         as I know the module goes into the socket at an angle then it must be lowered to seat properly.
          Perhaps the heat sink pad I heard someone mention could be wrapped around it like tape  ???

           (That could be a "baling wire/duct tape"  solution  ?)

                               ***************************
                  "Cowboy Fix"

               That should gain you potentially a half an inch  

           Should be more than enough space to clear the touch pad that way
[/quote]

[zaius]

bcnaz, could please set your account to receive PM's

Thanks