Latest Manjaro-Phosh and Arch-Phosh won't boot

[grinzie]

Yesterday I upgraded Arch-Phosh with "pacman -Syyu". After powering off and on (booting from SD via TowBoot), there was no splash screen, and the screen was not backlit.
Today, I burned the latest release (20220502) to the same SD; the phone booted fine. I was quickly notified of a Software update, so I used Software app to upgrade again, with the same result; after powering off and on, there was no splash screen, and the screen was not backlit.
I switched to Manjaro-Phosh SD and ran "pacman -Syyu" and got the same result.



Anybody got an ETA on resolution?
For now I will run Arch-Phosh 20220502. I will have to torch my Firefox profile since I was running Firefox 101 and will now be stuck with Firefox 97 (there is probably a cute way to make pacman upgrade only firefox and all of its dependencies, but a quick search yielded nothing, and upgrading just Firefox did not work).

[bobjrsenior]

I think this could be your issue: https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pi...issues/370

I have the same problem with updating Arch-Phosh. I updated a couple days ago and the screen wouldn't turn on. Downgrading to linux-megi-5.17.6-1 fixed it for me for now.

One thing to note is that you should be able to ssh into your phone still if you have it enabled.

[Chief]

In my opinion the best overall solution is to ensure towboot is flashed to spi and then reflash Arch Linux Phosh 2022-05 version. Do the initial update and then stop right there. Do no more updates except perhaps one more update after you have installed the apps of your preference to one time update those apps. This is what I have done to my PPP and it always starts and runs because it is unchanged. The updates also can contain new bugs while at the same time fixing other bugs. This is why I suggest once that 'sweet spot' has been achieved leave it alone and run flawlessly. This is also what I have done to my PP Convergence as I rarely to never update it. It runs perfect all the time as a result. I hope this helps to alleviate the frustration.

[bobjrsenior]

That makes sense and is definitely easier than downgrading after having to reinstall the OS. I hadn't gotten the issue til now for similar reasons.

I'll probably check the Pine64-Arch issue tracker and see if the update blog posts have any notable features I'd want before my next update.

[Chief]

I believe that it easier overall to operate daily on this scheme. Should I decide to upgrade say at the end of 2022 I will investigate the available images for in my case Arch Linux Phosh and then consider flashing that image to device. Immediate initial update, then install my fav apps, update once more and then stop. Reload data (takes only minutes) and run again for the next year with no problems.

[grinzie]

Do the initial update and then stop right there. Do no more updates except perhaps one more update after you have installed the apps of your preference to one time update those apps.

What do you mean by "initial update" and "updates"? Software app? Pacman command? Should I be using different pacman flags than "-Syyu"?

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I think this could be your issue: https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pi...issues/370

Bingo! I will use that resource in the future, thanks.

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I was hoping frequent upgrades would deliver that "sweet spot", but I was also checking the reliability of full system upgrades by package. Arch had a good run through May and early June.
In the meantime I decided to try Mobian-Phosh again.

* Stuck with an even earlier version of Firefox in ESR
* Battery life seems comparable to other distributions (contrary to previous experience on PP circa six months ago)
* Better usability in Phone app - proximity to face toggles display
* 2 successful upgrades by Software app (no more manual full system upgrades from command line for now), including one today
* In between, unresolved dependencies prevented Software app from upgrading anything, but dependencies were eventually resolved

So I am happy with Mobian.

[Chief]

Do the initial update and then stop right there. Do no more updates except perhaps one more update after you have installed the apps of your preference to one time update those apps.

What do you mean by "initial update" and "updates"? Software app? Pacman command? Should I be using different pacman flags than "-Syyu"?

---

I think this could be your issue: https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pi...issues/370

Bingo! I will use that resource in the future, thanks.

---

I was hoping frequent upgrades would deliver that "sweet spot", but I was also checking the reliability of full system upgrades by package. Arch had a good run through May and early June.
In the meantime I decided to try Mobian-Phosh again.

* Stuck with an even earlier version of Firefox in ESR
* Battery life seems comparable to other distributions (contrary to previous experience on PP circa six months ago)
* Better usability in Phone app - proximity to face toggles display
* 2 successful upgrades by Software app (no more manual full system upgrades from command line for now), including one today
    * In between, unresolved dependencies prevented Software app from upgrading anything, but dependencies were eventually resolved

So I am happy with Mobian.

grinzie: What I mean by initial update is directly after the initial flash, then reboot, when ready do a pacman -Syu as the initial update (if applicable). After that install apps that you like ie, Libreoffice etc and then reboot, do another pacman -Syu to update new apps (again as/if applicable). Check the device out and if it fits your requirements and performs properly - DONT TOUCH IT !!!