Partner Projects
#1
Hi

The PBP was delivered with a Debian system pre-installed, but I'm unsure which it is from the 'Partner Projects' menu on the main website- or is it not listed there?

I read somewhere that Debian allows for FDE on PBP, is this correct ?
#2
it is referred to as the default mrfixit2001 debian os.

the unofficial debian installer supports LUKS. i believe a few other diy solutions exist for other distros also.
#3
(03-19-2020, 02:33 PM)xmixahlx Wrote: it is referred to as the default mrfixit2001 debian os.

the unofficial debian installer supports LUKS. i believe a few other diy solutions exist for other distros also.

Does any of the distros support LUKS while installation/setup, or does it have to be done manually after everything has been installed?
I've landed on a couple of forum post while searching for a solution, but it seems they are not working properly (at least from the comments) so I really have no idea how to solve it.
#4
i believe the unofficial debian installer is currently the easiest method. imho it is the best solution, also.

if you are looking for an out-of-the-box experience i would wait for manjaro to support.
#5
I previously asked in Manjaros forum, and I got some seemingly ambivalent answers. I could be wrong, but I did not get the impression this was in any way prioritized or even planned for. Sure Manjaro has the built in Vault functionality (which doesn't seem to work out of the box after install), but that doesn't even encrypt the whole home dir and having to remember to unlock an encrypted Vault when launching certain programs (like email or browsers) would be nothing but a hassle. I hope I'm wrong and someone adds encryption to Manjaro soon. Frustrating, but I'll just have to wait to use my PBP as my main work computer I guess as the Debian installer from what I understand will not be particularly maintained :/
#6
you use the debian installer once* and it is fine as is. try it out on an sdcard first.
i would keep an sdcard installation around anyways for emergency just in case.
#7
I downloaded the latest from here: https://github.com/mrfixit2001/debian_desktop/releases
I find no instructions on installation, or any installer once booted. How is it installed to eMMC?

I found the "Daniel Thompson" installer for Deb, don't know if this is the proper way to go but I at least tried it out since I can't find any info on installing MrFixIt2001 Deb directly. I got the Thompson installer from GitHub but it ends in:

Are you sure? (Type uppercase yes): YES
Enter passphrase:
Verify passphrase:
Enter passphrase for /dev/mmcblk1p6:
device-mapper: reload ioctl on mmcblk1-RootFS failed: Invalid argument
rock@Debian-Desktop:~/pinebook-pro-debian-installer$

If this is the way to go, I have no idea what to do here.
#8
(03-21-2020, 05:32 AM)GloriousCoffee Wrote:
I found the "Daniel Thompson" installer for Deb, don't know if this is the proper way to go but I at least tried it out since I can't find any info on installing MrFixIt2001 Deb directly. I got the Thompson installer from GitHub but it ends in:
[...]
device-mapper: reload ioctl on mmcblk1-RootFS failed: Invalid argument
Unfortunately, the default MrFixIt debian kernel doesn't support mounting encrypted disks. So this is the installer creating your encrypted root partition and then being unable to mount it so it can install a debian system on it.

To get an encrypted root you have to go through two steps. First, boot an image that supports encrypted devices (e.g. run the debian installer, but don't request an encrypted root) and then from that image, run the installer again to create your final install with LUKS.

I did this by installing debian unencrypted on an sd card, booting that, and then after using it for a few days to make sure I was happy with it, running the installer to replace the default image on emmc with andencrypted debian image. After taking out the sdcard, I could then boot from emmc and experiment with using the sdcard for other things. The good thing about the pinebook pro is that the sdcard slot makes it easy to dual-boot if you want to try out new things or rescue your laptop if the emmc image isn't working for you.

Hope that helps!
#9
(03-21-2020, 12:30 PM)rillian Wrote:
(03-21-2020, 05:32 AM)GloriousCoffee Wrote:
I found the "Daniel Thompson" installer for Deb, don't know if this is the proper way to go but I at least tried it out since I can't find any info on installing MrFixIt2001 Deb directly. I got the Thompson installer from GitHub but it ends in:
[...]
device-mapper: reload ioctl on mmcblk1-RootFS failed: Invalid argument
Unfortunately, the default MrFixIt debian kernel doesn't support mounting encrypted disks. So this is the installer creating your encrypted root partition and then being unable to mount it so it can install a debian system on it.

To get an encrypted root you have to go through two steps. First, boot an image that supports encrypted devices (e.g. run the debian installer, but don't request an encrypted root) and then from that image, run the installer again to create your final install with LUKS.

I did this by installing debian unencrypted on an sd card, booting that, and then after using it for a few days to make sure I was happy with it, running the installer to replace the default image on emmc with andencrypted debian image. After taking out the sdcard, I could then boot from emmc and experiment with using the sdcard for other things. The good thing about the pinebook pro is that the sdcard slot makes it easy to dual-boot if you want to try out new things or rescue your laptop if the emmc image isn't working for you.

Hope that helps!

Thank you kindly for your reply, but I don't think I've got the hang of this quite yet.
By 'boot an image that supports encrypted devices', do you mean boot by MrFixit and launch the Thompson installer from it, except do not use the 'CRYPT=y' parameter when doing so?

If that is correct, do you mean to write installation to another USB/SD and then run the Thompson installer from that USB/SD and then write to eMMC the second time, and in that process add encryption with 'CRYPT=y'?

I feel much more home with Deb compared to Manjaro, don't need to mess around with SD cards, I mainly want to get my system up and running with encryption so I can use it for work on the go.

EDIT: What I asked is probably not it. Whatever I try with the Thompson installer, Debian seems to get stuck while booting, to SD or to eMMC. Starts loading, mouse cursor shows up, screen goes blank with a text cursor and it repeats, over and over again. I have no idea whats up.
#10
(03-21-2020, 12:51 PM)GloriousCoffee Wrote: By 'boot an image that supports encrypted devices', do you mean boot by MrFixit and launch the Thompson installer from it, except do not use the 'CRYPT=y' parameter when doing so?

If that is correct, do you mean to write installation to another USB/SD and then run the Thompson installer from that USB/SD and then write to eMMC the second time, and in that process add encryption with 'CRYPT=y'?

Yes, that's what I did, tedious, but worked great. No idea on the startup looping you're seeing though. Sad


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