pine64 News - Page 8 of 16 - CNX Software

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Linux 5.9 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.9 on lkml: Ok, so I’ll be honest – I had hoped for quite a bit fewer changes this last week, but at the same time there doesn’t really seem to be anything particularly scary in here. It’s just more commits and more lines changed than I would have wished for. The bulk of this is the networking fixes that I already mentioned as being pending in the rc8 release notes last weekend. In fact, about half the patch (and probably more of the number of commits) is from the networking stuff (both drivers and elsewhere). Outside of that, the most visible thing is a reinstatement of the fbdev amba-clcd driver – that’s a noticeable patch, but it’s basically just mainly a revert. The rest is really really tiny (mostly some other minor driver updates, but some filesystem and architecture fixes […]

September 16, 2020September 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Pinephone Multiboot Image Boots 13 Different Linux Distributions

Pinephone Multiboot 13 Linux distributions

You’ve certainly heard about dual-boot systems with Windows and Linux, and possibly about triple-boot systems with an extra OS like Chromium OS or Android, but pine64’s forum user Megous has gone much further with a multiboot image for Pinephone able to boot 13 different Linux distributions! You’d think the image would occupy a lot of space on the device, but since all 13 distributions share the same Linux 5.9 kernel, all 13 operating systems fit on the internal eMMC flash or a MicroSD card with 8GB or greater capacity. The image is based on the p-boot bootloader allowing you to select the distribution of your choice and supports all PinePhones from the Braveheart Edition to the most recent revisions with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. So what Linux distributions are supported by the multiboot image exactly? Here’s the list: Arch Linux Arm 2020-09-08 Lune OS 0.113 Maemo Leste 20200906 Mobian […]

September 1, 2020December 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition Linux Phone Pre-orders to Start Mid-September

Pine64 is producing PinePhone Linux phone in batches and each time there’s a different Linux operating system. It started with the BraveHeart edition in November 2019 without any OS at all, following by the UBPorts community edition, then the PostMarkerOS community edition, and we should expect pre-orders for PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition to start mid-September 2020. Just like for the PostMarketOS edition, the new PinePhone Manjaro CE will be offered in two versions: $149 with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash $199 with 3GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash and a USB-C dock for people wanting to connect the phone to a monitor and use it as an entry-level Linux PC The phone still has the same hardware with an Allwinner A64 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, a 5.95-inch IPS display, rear & front-facing cameras, as well as 4G LTE, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. The additional USB-C dock that comes with the […]

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ATCwatch Arduino Firmware Works with PineTime, COLMI P8, “Da Fit” Smartwatches

Earlier this week, we wrote about fake heart rate sensors found in ultra-low-cost fitness trackers as reported by Aaron Christophel. It turns out he also maintains an open-source project specific to P8 watch, PineTime, and other smartwatches compatible with Da Fit Android app: ATCwatch Arduino firmware. The firmware provides a basic menu system, notifications, and the latest implementation enables direct HTTP or HTTPS GET requests to control IoT devices and get info from the Internet. The current firmware consumes about 150-200uA standby current, and last roughly 92 hours on a charge with heavy notification and usage. While it’s possible to connect an SWD St-Link V2 to flash the bootloader and firmware, it’s not necessary, as it’s possible to flash ATCwatch Arduino firmware without having to open the watch by using over-the-air update function with DaFlasherFiles for PineTime or P8 watch together with DaFlasher Android app. Once the update is done, […]

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Pinephone “Community Edition: PostmarketOS” Launched with 3GB RAM, 32GB Flash, USB-C Hub

After PinePhone “BraveHeart Edition” with any OS pre-installed introduced at the end of last year, Pine64 launched PinePhone “Community Edition: UBports” with Ubuntu Touch last April, and now the company is taking pre-orders for Pinephone “Community Edition: PostmarketOS with Convergence Package”. Besides using a different operating system, the new PinePhone also got a hardware upgrade with 3GB RAM and 32GB flash instead of the 2GB/16GB configuration from earlier models. Due to the changes and the addition of a USB-C dock for convergence, the price has also gone up from $149.99 to $199.99 with shipping scheduled to start at the end of August. If you don’t need the extra memory, storage, and convergence package, you can still pre-order PinePhone with postmarketOS for $149.99. PinePhone “Community Edition: PostmarketOS with Convergence Package” specifications: SoC – Allwinner A64 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 3GB […]

July 15, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

GloDroid Brings Android 10 OS to Raspberry Pi 4, Orange Pi SBC’s, PinePhone, and PineTab

The community of developers working on software for single board computers often prefer to focus on Linux support, as companies will often provide Android firmware images. But those Android OS images are often not maintained at all, so we’ve seen some projects like the past such as H3droid bringing a better Android OS to Allwinner H3 and H2+ boards and devices. The project is still using Android 4.4 KitKat and that’s getting old with some apps like the latest version of Kodi not working anymore. But a new project has just been brought to my attention with GloDroid leveraging AOSP to bring Android 10 to various Allwinner based boards and platforms, as well as Raspberry Pi 4B. List of supported Allwinner hardware: Allwinner H3 (32-bit) based – Orange Pi Plus 2 SBC, Orange Pi Plus 2E board, Orange Pi PC Allwinner H5 (64-bit) based – Orange Pi Prime, Orange Pi […]

July 10, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Debian based Mobian Linux OS Brings Librem 5 Phosh Shell to Pinephone

2020 is the year of the Linux phone. Sort of… At least, we now have smartphones that ships with Linux thanks to PinePhone and Librem 5, and several Linux mobile operating systems with Ubuntu Touch based UBPorts, postmarketOS, and others. Mobian is another Linux distribution which as its name implies is based on Debian and targets mobile devices. Interestingly, the project relies on Purism Phosh phone shell/user interface used in Librem 5, but the first Mobian image has been released for PinePhone with plans for PineTab and Librem 5 support coming later. Mobian supports a nice list of apps include Chromium, Firefox ESR, Calls, Files, Telegram messaging app, MPV media player, GNOME 2048, and more 3D graphics works, you can make phone calls, browse the web, and use GPS/GNSS applications, but it’s still work in progress as for example, USB and the camera does not work, the phone may take […]

June 10, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

PineTab 10.1″ Linux tablet Launched for $99.99 with UBPorts OS

As expected, Pine64 PineTab Linux tablet with Allwinner A64 processor, 2GB RAM, and a 10.1″ touchscreen display has just launched for $99.99 or $119.98 with a detachable backlit keyboard on Pine64 Store. Note those are pre-orders with shipping scheduled for the end of July. PineTab won’t shatter performance records with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with Mali-400MP GPU, 2GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, but it’s one of the rare Linux tablets on the market, and certainly the most affordable. The tablet offers a decent set of features too with a 10.1″ 720p capacitive display support for M.2 SATA SSD, Mini HDMI output, front-facing, and rear cameras, built-in WiFi and optional 4G LTE via the M.2 socket. It also comes with a 6,000 mAh battery that should be good for many hours. PineTab also leverages all the software work done since the launch of Pine A64 board in 2016 including mainline U-boot […]