PinePhone Developer edition
#1
Wink 
Hi ... I just received my PinePhone from the Developer batch ...

... it came in a nice transparent plastic case inside a paper envelope.  The telephone looks very nice (good work) ... however, there is no battery in it, neither a recharger, cables or any other accessory, just the phone.

Is that OK? ... just to clarify.


Anyway, I will dig deeply on this device to see how to make magic ;-) ...
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#2
There should be a battery at least, I think. Mail Tl and ask him.
Come have a chat in the Pine IRC channel >>
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#3
(12-14-2019, 05:06 PM)xalius Wrote: There should be a battery at least, I think. Mail Tl and ask him.
I supposed that ... (they sent me one by now) ...  no idea why the phone arrived "naked", just the empty phone ... could be possible more people have the same problem?
Whatever ... I wanted to test the phone, so I connected a USB-C cable to power and I am using it without the battery (not really a cellular this way, but it works).  Although I suppose this is an unexpected scenario, I found some things.
- When using a 5V 3A power supply and a USB-A to USB-C cable, the phone works.
- When using a variable power supply, the one needed for Chromebook Plus to fast-charge and a complete USB-C to USB-C cable (the only one that the same Chromebook Plus needs to charge correctly), the phone shows no life signs.
- When using a UCB-C modem between the cable and the phone, the phone shows no life signs, no matter what power supply I use.
So ... and this is weird ... I will suppose that will be complicated to connect more than the power supply to the phone, and no all them work.  At least, standard USB-C hubs and related will not work, limiting the phone usability.
Already used Ubuntu Touch and AftermarketOS.  Neither of them have a useful WIFI, and ... again, I have no idea why, both block the screen with an unknown PIN that I need to guess.  I am booting the phone from the SD.
I really love the screen.  It is clear and crisp.  I will try not to kick it because it seems a little fragile and I still have no way to protect it.
... work in progress ... I must understand well this wild little horse ...
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#4
Hi,
I received mine yesterday - with battery.
Nice unit. Thanks!

Initially it did not show signs of activity until I found out:
* plugging in an USB-C cable connected to a hub makes the flashligt flash and Display show a RGB bar for a moment
* I tried to unpack an Ubuntu image to an 8GB µSD by:
Code:
wget -O - https://ci.ubports.com/job/rootfs/job/rootfs-pinephone/lastBuild/artifact/ubuntu-touch-pinephone.img.gz | gunzip | cat >/dev/sdb
This seems to create a nice file system.
* but the phone does not boot - there is even no short flash and RGB bar with µSD inserted - only if I remove it
* I tried to switch headphone kill-switch and check if there is console I/O but I could not identify one by oscilloscope
So how should I proceeed to get it up and running?
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#5
(12-16-2019, 04:42 AM)hns Wrote: Hi,
I received mine yesterday - with battery.
Nice unit. Thanks!

Initially it did not show signs of activity until I found out:
* plugging in an USB-C cable connected to a hub makes the flashligt flash and Display show a RGB bar for a moment
* I tried to unpack an Ubuntu image to an 8GB µSD by:
Code:
wget -O - https://ci.ubports.com/job/rootfs/job/rootfs-pinephone/lastBuild/artifact/ubuntu-touch-pinephone.img.gz | gunzip | cat >/dev/sdb
This seems to create a nice file system.
* but the phone does not boot - there is even no short flash and RGB bar with µSD inserted - only if I remove it
* I tried to switch headphone kill-switch and check if there is console I/O but I could not identify one by oscilloscope
So how should I proceeed to get it up and running?
Oh, you are lucky ... had a battery  Smile

As I have no battery, I must work with the USB-C cable always connected.  I remember the 3 colored bars but they only appear when I have no SD card loaded with an image (already tested postmarketos and ubuntu touch, both boot).  Could be possible that you put the card in the wrong slot?  you have the SD on top of the SIM (or the other, way, I don't remember), and the SD must enter completely to work.  Once I didn't load the card well and ...  colored bars.

When you have ubuntu touch, you see the traditional four penguins and all booting messages to be read by ants.  When using postmarketos, you have their logo.

I am not so sophisticated with the images.  What I do is to download them, expand them and just copy them to the /dev unit in a linux virtual machine with control of USB ports.  This always work for whatever SBC I use.

My image came from ( I choose the last one )

https://ci.ubports.com/job/rootfs/job/ro...ne/changes

it seems they must be the same.

Take into consideration that not all power supplies neither all cables work with this phone.  I really don't know if this is a limitation or a bug (even Raspberry people made a mistake with their RP4, why not an early pinephone device?).


A note about these OS

No WIFI, No Sound, No Calls ... at least with the provided software.  ... sometimes the Ubuntu freeze or the applications become black.  PMOS has just some programs for you to see that it boots, although not very useful.  But it seems they are assembling what is necessary, work in progress.
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#6
(12-14-2019, 05:06 PM)xalius Wrote: There should be a battery at least, I think. Mail Tl and ask him.

Alternatively you can use a Samsung Galaxy J7 compatible battery, I think those from J7 2015 devices should work.
Find me in the forest, when I'm at my lowest. I don't really think you should continue..

HOLD YOUR BREATH.
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#7
(12-16-2019, 09:04 PM)malvcr Wrote: Oh, you are lucky ... had a battery  Smile 

As I have no battery, I must work with the USB-C cable always connected.  I remember the 3 colored bars but they only appear when I have no SD card loaded with an image (already tested postmarketos and ubuntu touch, both boot).  Could be possible that you put the card in the wrong slot?  you have the SD on top of the SIM (or the other, way, I don't remember), and the SD must enter completely to work.  Once I didn't load the card well and ...  colored bars.

When you have ubuntu touch, you see the traditional four penguins and all booting messages to be read by ants.  When using postmarketos, you have their logo.

I am not so sophisticated with the images.  What I do is to download them, expand them and just copy them to the /dev unit in a linux virtual machine with control of USB ports.  This always work for whatever SBC I use.

My image came from ( I choose the last one )

https://ci.ubports.com/job/rootfs/job/ro...ne/changes

it seems they must be the same.

Take into consideration that not all power supplies neither all cables work with this phone.  I really don't know if this is a limitation or a bug (even Raspberry people made a mistake with their RP4, why not an early pinephone device?).


A note about these OS

No WIFI, No Sound, No Calls ... at least with the provided software.  ... sometimes the Ubuntu freeze or the applications become black.  PMOS has just some programs for you to see that it boots, although not very useful.  But it seems they are assembling what is necessary, work in progress.
Hm. The SD card is in the right position and is obviously recognised because there is not RGB bar if it is inserted.
Maybe the battery is not yet well charged and then many smartphones have problems booting up.
I'll check battery status and cable next.
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#8
(12-17-2019, 12:52 AM)hns Wrote: Hm. The SD card is in the right position and is obviously recognised because there is not RGB bar if it is inserted.
Maybe the battery is not yet well charged and then many smartphones have problems booting up.
I'll check battery status and cable next.

Well, the batters is a white and unlabeled brick with 4 gold contacts and 52g weight.
First, I though it is only a mechanical dummy, because I could not measure any voltage across any pair of gold contacts.
But in Ohm mode I got ca. 50 kOhm and 2.7kOhm between 3 of the 4 pins.
The fourth pin seems to be unconnected.
Unfortunately I could not match it with the schematics (Page 6 "Power") where the battery connector J600 should have 6 pins?

So at the moment I conclude that the battery is deeply discharged and the protector circuit has disconnected it.

How can I revitalize it?
Does the PinePhone do trickle charging if powered off?
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#9
Someone on chat says to me that wifi and modem alimentation is connected directly on battery causing that is impossible to use these modules whitout it.
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#10
(12-17-2019, 06:26 AM)hns Wrote: How can I revitalize it?
Does the PinePhone do trickle charging if powered off?

I'd hope that the PinePhone would charge the battery when off, but can't say for sure. Your best bet may be a universal external charger - they're fairly cheap and handy to have around anyway. They've usually got spring contacts with adjustable spacing. At a push you can use a bench supply if it has an adjustable current limit. Either should let you get enough charge into the battery to start the phone.

The battery datasheet is in the wiki now, including the schematic and board layout for the protection PCB. The contacts aren't explicitly labelled but if I'm interpreting the pcb layers correctly the 4 terminals are as follows, starting with the one closest to the edge of the battery:
  • V+
  • thermistor
  • V-
  • n/c
I've just spotted the + and - markings in sharpie on the battery connector in this photo which look consistent with that.
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