Mini-Tutorial to get a linux Desktop GUI working on Pine64+

[speedro86]

Hey everyone, I decided to make this small mini tutorial for newbs with little if no experience with linux, embedded computers, or raspberry pi, though the more experience you the better.

I am fairly new to linux, and the pine64, I have some experience with rpi mostly with noobs/raspbian, and building a wifibroadcast setup from supplied images. I also have a fair amount of experience with Arduino, and flight controllers for multirotors. I know that most should be able to get this working without problems

I have tried almost every image available in this forum, and the wiki; Android, Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Armbian, and simple linux CLI, but no matter which i used I could never get any of them to get all my peripherals(i needed) to work together, if HDMI worked(most always did, aswell as keyboard) but ethernet would never work despite configuring to the t each time. Well last night, I am glad to say that I finally got a build that had my internet working through ethernet, and I ultimately was able to install a Desktop GUI that is working very well! So I am going to detail what I did for you all so that you too can get use from your pine64 if you havent been able to.

The image you want to download is the most recent openSUSE from Terra854, which uses a kernal from Lonsleep his linux Kernel updated to 3.10.104-1-pine64-longsleep-103. The link for the dl is http://pine64suse.weebly.com/download.html I used the HDMI image as thats what im using, but download which one suits your needs. Once finished extract the img, then use Etcher or WinDiskImager to burn it to your sdcard, I recommend at least a 16gb Class 10. Once you've got your sdcard ready, put it into your Pine64+(I wouldnt recommend using the 512mb version), plug in what things your going to use like HDMI, Keyboard, Ethernet, USB, etc, now your ready to power up.

Boot happens fairly quickly, and the login is directly after the verbose output from the boot process. The username is: pine64 and Password is: pine64linux, once logged in run 

Code:

sudo ifconfig

Which will spit out your network info, make sure your network is up by running

Code:

sudo ping www.pine64.org

This should give you a response from the website, also there will be a very easy to notice message stating that your network is UP.
Now you need to change to the root directory I ran

Code:

sudo -s

This will ask for the root password which is pine64root, you will know you're in root from the text color change to red indicating you're in the root level. From here run:

Code:

resize_rootfs.sh

This lets you use the full sd card capacity.

Now this is a linux distro, however there are minor differences in commands, and programs that install software compared to ubuntu, or debian. 
The Desktop GUI is called KDE, and the install program is called zypper, which was included in the image, so now you need to  install KDE by running this

Code:

zypper install -t pattern kde kde_plasma

This will take a while, like a couple hours, I let it run over night. Once it has finished, reboot your pine64, and on the next boot, yu will now have a GUI desktop!!!!!! If you run into problems during the first install, as I did try to reboot. If you do not get any type of monitor output, then power off your pine, remove the sdcard, and put it into your card reader on a windows machine, you will be able to fix the disk without removing anything. Now you are ready to try again, this time the install should work fine.
There you go a smooth running Desktop on your Pine64+!!!!!
Any questions, please ask as I will try my best to help.

[speedro86]

UPDATE: I have been able to get my wifi USB dongle working! If you have followed the above how-to and have a working OpenSUSE desktop with ethernet internet, then you can also get your USB wifi working. You need to go down to the little chameleon in the bottom left corner and click, this is the equivalent of windows start, then in system you will find install/remove software, select it, then put in the root password the default is: pine64root, then you will see many different places to find software, you will need to search the different lists of repositories, and other software to select any/all the USB related packages, wireless packages, network packages, and any other things you would want to add. You can tell what is already installed and what isn't by the checks in the boxes for the various packages, scroll down to where the checked packages stop and where the unchecked aka available, but not installed software is, and select the relevant packages, when you are finished select accept, then your new software will be downloaded and installed. Reboot with your hardware connected and your devices will be recognized. NOTE: I was using a USB hub in the top USB port on the pine, and it was able to see my wireless keyboard, mouse, and wifi dongle without issue.

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If this has helped you, please add me to your buddy list and add rep or comment. I will also happily answer any questions I can, so please ask here or message me. I am no expert, but I am happy to share my knowledge with everyone!

[tllim]

UPDATE: I have been able to get my wifi USB dongle working! If you have followed the above how-to and have a working OpenSUSE desktop with ethernet internet, then you can also get your USB wifi working. You need to go down to the little chameleon in the bottom left corner and click, this is the equivalent of windows start, then in system you will find install/remove software, select it, then put in the root password the default is: pine64root, then you will see many different places to find software, you will need to search the different lists of repositories, and other software to select any/all the USB related packages, wireless packages, network packages, and any other things you would want to add. You can tell what is already installed and what isn't by the checks in the boxes for the various packages, scroll down to where the checked packages stop and where the unchecked aka available, but not installed software is, and select the relevant packages, when you are finished select accept, then your new software will be downloaded and installed. Reboot with your hardware connected and your devices will be recognized. NOTE: I was using a USB hub in the top USB port on the pine, and it was able to see my wireless keyboard, mouse, and wifi dongle without issue.

---

If this has helped you, please add me to your buddy list and add rep or comment. I will also happily answer any questions I can, so please ask here or message me. I am no expert, but I am happy to share my knowledge with everyone!

Thanks on the write up.

[speedro86]

No problem, I just wanted to share my info, I also have found a fully working Raspbian with everything working.

[aarturo]

Nice!!
I'm going to try this last one soon
ciao

[Chief1820]

Cool - I am perhaps posting this in the wrong place, I have not explored the entire site and this may well be answered elsewhere. At any rate, here it is:

I want to install a Linux distribution that I can use while mobile that uses the LCD Screen that I now have running Android. Thus far I have not had any luck finding one that has that claim to fame. My PC is running both Win 10 and Linux Mint Cinnamon duel boot, I would like to put a Linux distribution on one of my 32 gig cards, while maintaining my 64 gig Android 5 OS to slip in when dealing with things best dealt with in Android using those Apps.

Oh forgot to mention I am running a Pine64 2 gig with 64 gig SD card in a Playbox using the Pine64 battery pack to keep her running with the Wifi and BT adapter board. I purchased as a unit from a fellow enthusiast who got it in the contributor mode and found it was not what he was seeking so he sold it outright to me. I also have another Pine64 board 2 gig with a 32 gig card and plexiglass case sitting at home, this one also has the wifi.bt adapter, the i2c board and had a screen till it was bumped and the flimsy cable tore off. The good folks at Pine64 had promised to replace the screen but for some reason, it has never arrived at our summer home in South Dakota. We are currently in our winter digs sitting in an RV in the Mohave Desert of Arizona, a gentle 35 MPH breeze is hiding all the Mountains that surround our little piece of paradise, and gently rocks the RV much like a loving mother would rock the cradle, the sound of everything on the outside of the rig that is not tied down keeps a steady beat like the drummer in a Galley cruising the Mediterranean Sea, slaves down below manning the oars while above the Barbary Pirates of Old fire upon the ships of some young upstart of a nation called the United States of America. Oh wait a minute, what was I asking, oh ya, can I find a Linux that runs on my little Pine64+ using the LCD screen?

[Ghost]

Heh, poetic.

Have you read this thread?

[Logan5]

Boot happens fairly quickly, and the login is directly after the verbose output from the boot process. The username is: pine64 and Password is: pine64linux, once logged in run 

Code:

sudo ifconfig

Which will spit out your network info, make sure your network is up by running

Code:

sudo ping www.pine64.org

This should give you a response from the website, also there will be a very easy to notice message stating that your network is UP.
Now you need to change to the root directory I ran

Code:

sudo -s

This will ask for the root password which is pine64root, you will know you're in root from the text color change to red indicating you're in the root level. From here run:

Code:

resize_rootfs.sh

This lets you use the full sd card capacity.

Now this is a linux distro, however there are minor differences in commands, and programs that install software compared to ubuntu, or debian. 
The Desktop GUI is called KDE, and the install program is called zypper, which was included in the image, so now you need to  install KDE by running this

Code:

zypper install -t pattern kde kde_plasma

This will take a while, like a couple hours, I let it run over night. Once it has finished, reboot your pine64, and on the next boot, yu will now have a GUI desktop!!!!!! If you run into problems during the first install, as I did try to reboot. If you do not get any type of monitor output, then power off your pine, remove the sdcard, and put it into your card reader on a windows machine, you will be able to fix the disk without removing anything. Now you are ready to try again, this time the install should work fine.
There you go a smooth running Desktop on your Pine64+!!!!!
Any questions, please ask as I will try my best to help.

I wrote this image to my EVO 32gb micro SD and it booted straight up. I then logged in with username= pine64 and PW=pine64linux no problem. then I type "sudo ifconfig" and it ask for root PW. I have entered, PW's pine64, pine64linux and root, but still password incorrect. Am I again missing something? Can not go further until this root PW issue is resolved. Thanks in advance

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Ok, I found "pine64root" as root PW, setting up KDE now.

[Logan5]

Ok during setup, resizing of partition was unsuccessful and during install of KDE, I had to press "S" a couple of times to skip feedback errors, I suspect are related to partition size. took about an hour, to end at a blank Pinecone screen, no prompt, so I rebooted. It booted to a graphic screen with 2 windows, one is a command line prompt and the other is a console log for pine64. I attempted to resize by install gparted and it failed. I am sure my disk space is limitation is part of my troubles. I will attempt to use the command line entries again in the partial GUI environment. If anyone has advice please advise..

[xalius]

If your partition resizing failed, it probably just ran out of space installing KDE?