I just received my pinephone pro and have been in the process of trying to learn and understand the device. I have hit a brick wall as there seems to be no help out there that matches up with the current state of the phone.
1. Images - this took a minute to figure out, which I should never have to do when dealing with a COMPUTER device. It's a computer yeah? So the instructions on the main site, github, all forums are all incorrect in some way. They are either outdated, contain info that is no longer relevant, or just wrong. I went through and have tried:
kali - did not work very well and crashed completely when installing kali-linux-nethunter. Gave up
Mobian - Very wonky. No desktop, problems installing, Oh no you can't use apt at all. There is no software available
Ubuntu touch which everyone talked abaout and the pinephone advertises is not for the pinephone pro even though the main site says it and points to the wrong download
I stopped playing after trying to install glodroid which does not work. So I went for just the Manjaro distros---
None of them work. They have no pgp keys which you need to do anything. The username and password are wrong. You cannot use pacman as there are no keys, you cant make them, and it's a failure.
Everyone mentions the "set up" the initial boot where EVERY computer made by man asks you questions to set up the computer but for some reason not ONE 1 of the distros has any setup. So if there is no set up and the password and user are wrong and you can't create keys then what the heck can I do?
What I would really like is for a developer from pinephone to come on here and tell me EXACTLY what is available.
1. I want a distro that is like ANY DISTRO you get on earth. Install then set up. Not a crappy image burned off some burned out devs raggedy tablet. After all this time how can there not be a stable distro? No set up? How? I paid 400 dollars. Nothing on this phone works including the phone.
2.Instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know that are current? That know that the phone now have the jump and the whatever else so its not telling me 50 instructions that are not needed or don't work.
What from linux can I use? apt, python, guake, anything? I don't know because none of the commands work. They are all missing something. Is there anyone or any place with any integrity and honesty who can tell me exactly where this phone is? So far it just seems way lower on the totem than a rapberry pi. It doesn't even come close to the latte panda, but what you should be most embarrassed about is that it's not even better than an udoo or a khadas
I don't expect any answers. I have a latte panda and an udoo so I know how the euro folk support devices. I still had to get that off my chest. It's a terrible product.
Hi and welcome and chill down a bit. There are people who can help  .
Please remember that almost everyone who is working for mobile linux is doing it without paycheck as volunteers.
PP and PPP are dream come true for many people but it was never designed for everyone who expects everything is going to work immediately (or for everything to work without their own effort which kind of big deal in foss world). This is not hidden fact - Pine64 tells is pretty clear to everyone before buying.
You will get functional Pinephone Pro today but you have to do your homework
Maybe start here:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_P...e_Releases
Notes for some of your examples:
Ubuntu Touch is like situation "yay the device boots" and that's it. If you want to join to developers team follow those links. They never advertise it as working device.
Afaik Kali is same thing.
Maybe my message from here also helps you?
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid117387
(08-08-2023, 12:32 AM)angryuser Wrote: I just received my pinephone pro and have been in the process of trying to learn and understand the device. I have hit a brick wall as there seems to be no help out there that matches up with the current state of the phone.
1. Images - this took a minute to figure out, which I should never have to do when dealing with a COMPUTER device. It's a computer yeah? So the instructions on the main site, github, all forums are all incorrect in some way. They are either outdated, contain info that is no longer relevant, or just wrong. I went through and have tried:
kali - did not work very well and crashed completely when installing kali-linux-nethunter. Gave up
Mobian - Very wonky. No desktop, problems installing, Oh no you can't use apt at all. There is no software available
Ubuntu touch which everyone talked abaout and the pinephone advertises is not for the pinephone pro even though the main site says it and points to the wrong download
I stopped playing after trying to install glodroid which does not work. So I went for just the Manjaro distros---
None of them work. They have no pgp keys which you need to do anything. The username and password are wrong. You cannot use pacman as there are no keys, you cant make them, and it's a failure.
Everyone mentions the "set up" the initial boot where EVERY computer made by man asks you questions to set up the computer but for some reason not ONE 1 of the distros has any setup. So if there is no set up and the password and user are wrong and you can't create keys then what the heck can I do?
What I would really like is for a developer from pinephone to come on here and tell me EXACTLY what is available.
1. I want a distro that is like ANY DISTRO you get on earth. Install then set up. Not a crappy image burned off some burned out devs raggedy tablet. After all this time how can there not be a stable distro? No set up? How? I paid 400 dollars. Nothing on this phone works including the phone.
2.Instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know that are current? That know that the phone now have the jump and the whatever else so its not telling me 50 instructions that are not needed or don't work.
What from linux can I use? apt, python, guake, anything? I don't know because none of the commands work. They are all missing something. Is there anyone or any place with any integrity and honesty who can tell me exactly where this phone is? So far it just seems way lower on the totem than a rapberry pi. It doesn't even come close to the latte panda, but what you should be most embarrassed about is that it's not even better than an udoo or a khadas
I don't expect any answers. I have a latte panda and an udoo so I know how the euro folk support devices. I still had to get that off my chest. It's a terrible product.
If it helps
I also support what the previous person said
This is a volunteer led project.
I have tried pretty much most of the distros
Sailfish was great (needs some camera love) and has improved alot thanks to the efforts of Adam
Ubuntu Touch is moving at a pace led by Oren Klopfe with regular new images but yes -lots to do
I currently have Mobian installed and it is very polished and has a (at the moment) poor camera.
I also had a pinephone earlier and used it to experiment and was never a daily driver
With the pinephone pro - there seems less quick progress but none the less lots of effort
If I would recommend anything - get an SD Card, ensure you have tow boot installed and try each one - figure which one suits you best and help report bugs, keep it updated and (try to) enjoy it.
1 Now with Pinephone Pro (used to have Pinephone and Pinetab) cooking on Mobian - Seasoned Ubuntu user since 2007
2 Known to break things - often
3 Sometimes known to fix things then see 2 above
(08-08-2023, 12:32 AM)angryuser Wrote: I just received my pinephone pro and have been in the process of trying to learn and understand the device. I have hit a brick wall as there seems to be no help out there that matches up with the current state of the phone.
...
Everyone mentions the "set up" the initial boot where EVERY computer made by man asks you questions to set up the computer but for some reason not ONE 1 of the distros has any setup. So if there is no set up and the password and user are wrong and you can't create keys then what the heck can I do?
Sorry you are having trouble. I have used Arch Linux for years. So, having Arch on my PinePhone is really cool. Most of the videos should apply to other distributions.
See this post for a complete install and setup.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18192
See this post for my experience on functionally
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid118783
(08-08-2023, 12:32 AM)angryuser Wrote: I just received my pinephone pro and have been in the process of trying to learn and understand the device. I have hit a brick wall as there seems to be no help out there that matches up with the current state of the phone.
1. Images - this took a minute to figure out, which I should never have to do when dealing with a COMPUTER device. It's a computer yeah? So the instructions on the main site, github, all forums are all incorrect in some way. They are either outdated, contain info that is no longer relevant, or just wrong. I went through and have tried:
kali - did not work very well and crashed completely when installing kali-linux-nethunter. Gave up
Mobian - Very wonky. No desktop, problems installing, Oh no you can't use apt at all. There is no software available
Ubuntu touch which everyone talked abaout and the pinephone advertises is not for the pinephone pro even though the main site says it and points to the wrong download
I stopped playing after trying to install glodroid which does not work. So I went for just the Manjaro distros---
None of them work. They have no pgp keys which you need to do anything. The username and password are wrong. You cannot use pacman as there are no keys, you cant make them, and it's a failure.
Everyone mentions the "set up" the initial boot where EVERY computer made by man asks you questions to set up the computer but for some reason not ONE 1 of the distros has any setup. So if there is no set up and the password and user are wrong and you can't create keys then what the heck can I do?
What I would really like is for a developer from pinephone to come on here and tell me EXACTLY what is available.
1. I want a distro that is like ANY DISTRO you get on earth. Install then set up. Not a crappy image burned off some burned out devs raggedy tablet. After all this time how can there not be a stable distro? No set up? How? I paid 400 dollars. Nothing on this phone works including the phone.
2.Instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know that are current? That know that the phone now have the jump and the whatever else so its not telling me 50 instructions that are not needed or don't work.
What from linux can I use? apt, python, guake, anything? I don't know because none of the commands work. They are all missing something. Is there anyone or any place with any integrity and honesty who can tell me exactly where this phone is? So far it just seems way lower on the totem than a rapberry pi. It doesn't even come close to the latte panda, but what you should be most embarrassed about is that it's not even better than an udoo or a khadas
I don't expect any answers. I have a latte panda and an udoo so I know how the euro folk support devices. I still had to get that off my chest. It's a terrible product.
Regarding your statement that the main site is "either outdated, contain info that is no longer relevant, or just wrong" I can say that this is not correct. I just verified the wiki and it is still up-to-date and the information are correct. I update the wiki on a regular basis.
Regarding your issue with Mobian and apt: you probably meant that it didn't show you available software in the software GUI. Such GUIs are already buggy and never really worked well in the history of Linux. Instead I would recommend to run apt from the command line, from which it works perfectly fine.
Glodroid and Kali (and even Ubuntu Touch) are a bit of odd choices there, I would suggest you to stick to the major and maintained distributions.
The issue with pacman under Manjaro you had was an issue with a very old release. Did you maybe flash the wrong version instead of a recent release?
I don't know what you mean buy commands like "apt" and "python" not being available, those commands are available (depending on the distribution) and working. Please provide log files if something is not working so that we can help you.
Regarding the rest of your statements I want to point you to rule 6 of the Community Rules and Code of Conduct, https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PINE64_Comm...e_Feedback. If you buy a developer device intended for mobile developers (coding for the distributions, writing kernel patches and device drivers for the phone) and then you tell us that the device is in a state intended for developers, it's a bit of a shitty thing to do. Don't piss us on our legs and tell us it's raining. 
The factory Manjaro OS image is very old. Yes, you have to do a lot of work to bring it up to date.
Here are my notes, but I gave up because an update broke the OS partway through. I switched to Mobian a few days ago (in which the apt command definitely works) and am liking it so far.
Note that the lock screen kicking in and showing nothing but a blank screen might be the same problem that I ran into with Mobian where it would not come out of suspend properly. I had to upgrade the Quectel modem's firmware to the latest stock firmware version to fix that issue on Mobian. It is possible that I would also be able to run Manjaro now that I have upgraded the modem firmware.
-----
Manjaro Update Notes
First, must remove some packages:
sudo -s
pacman -R kpeoplesink sink kdav2 kimap2
pacman -R ktrip
pacman -R kclock
pacman -R kirigami-addons
Then update the keyrings:
pacman -S archlinux-keyring
pacman -S archlinux-arm-keyring
pacman -S manjaro-keyring
pacman-key --populate manjaro
pacman -S manjaro-arm-keyring
pacman-key --populate manjaro-arm
pacman -Syu
during update, lock screen kicked in and then went blank
later, got an error saying I had to open a virtual terminal and run loginctl unlock-session c1
Rebooted but that got a blank but backlit screen.
Attached USB-to-serial-console cable and was able to log in, found that /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.3 was damaged and could not run pacman nor sudo. Copied that from the pacman package cache in /var/cache/pacman/pkg/openssl....
Could only partially run su command. Found that /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.1.1 was missing; copied that from factory image on microSD card.
Reinstalled openssl 3 package from cache as root:
pacman -S /var/cache/pacman/pkg/openssl....
Restarted entire OS update using local cache:
pacman -Su (no y because we didn't have internet)
Looked like it worked, but after reboot, the OS kept going into emergency mode. Seems unable to load some kernel modules.
Going to have to re-image the eMMC from microSD
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