Experiences installing on Pinebook Pro

[djzort]

Just posting my experiences getting armbian going on pinebook pro. I had a pinebook pro on a shelf for a while, picked it up and ran "apt-get update" after which booting the system broke. So without anything important on there i figured i would reinstall.

 

Tow Boot

 

I had already installed an older version of Tow Boot, but i updated it to 2023.07-007 

 

This is a simple process. Write out the spi.installer.img to an sd card (i used dd). Insert the sd card in to the slot on the side of the pinebook. Start the system. Follow the prompts. Shut down the system. Remove the sd card. Power on the system and hit "Esc" to see the Tow Boot menus and verify the version has been updated in the "Firmware Console" by typing "version"

 

A major change appears to be that Tow Boot has inherited a minimum viable EFI interface from U-Boot. This allows generic efi arm images to boot, but because the efi configuration is stored in the efi partition rather than spi flash, tools like efibootmgr don't work. Read more here in github

 

(I don't think its worth trying to run without Tow Boot installed on the spi, despite the limited efi)

 

Install Armbian

 

I downloaded the Cinnamon Debian version listed on the Pinebook Pro page - the exact file was Armbian_25.2.1_Uefi-arm64_bookworm_current_6.12.13_cinnamon-backported-mesa_desktop.img.xz

 

I then unxz'd that file and dd the image to the sd card.

 

Insert the sd card in to the pinebook and power on. Armbian boots!

 

Install works as normal, but you will notice that efibootmgr commands are failing in the install script although they are non fatal at this stage. This is due to the Tow Boot efi limitations mentioned above.

 

Unfortunately, Armbian will install the grub efi binary as /EFI/Armbian/grubaa64.efi and failing to add a boot entry, the system will fail to boot.

 

You have two options.

The first is to copy /EFI/Armbian/grubaa64.efi to default location /EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI - this is also perhaps the safest in the short term.

(note that on the installer sd card the file is located at /EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI). You may need to manually mount the new EFI partition on the mmc and copy the file - do this before rebooting the system so the system remains bootable. If you don't there is no need to panic, adding a boot entry to Tow Boot's efi is very simple from its menus as i will now describe...

 

The second is to add a boot entry in the Tow Boot menus.

 

Contrary to the github issue linked above, it seems that in Tow Boot the "efidebug" command has been replaced with a more convenient set of commands to manage boot options.

 

Power on your pinebook pro, press "Esc" to see the Tow Boot menu and go in to "Firmware Console". Type "eficonfig" and use the convenient menu to add a new boot entry - not that the tow boot console has tab completion which is very convenient. In "eficonfig" hit enter on "Add Boot Option", set "Description" to "Armbian", hit enter on "File" then "Select File" then "mmc 0:1" and find the Armbian/grubaa64.efi file. Then "Save" (initrd and optional data left empty). Then "Change Boot Order" and move the new Armbian entry to the top with -/+ keys then Save. Exit "eficonfig" and continue with a normal boot by typing "bootefi bootmgr"

 

I suggest do both, and once the system is booting from the new boot entry you can remove the BOOTAA64.EFI file as good hygiene

 

I also observed that the Tow Boot menu does freeze up occasionally and the only solution is to press the power button. Also you do seem to need to press keys slowly.

 

Minor issue at log in

 

I observed that for a brief period the keyboard doesn't work at the log in prompt. 

 

The speakers give their normal tick sound and the cursor stops flashing - which presents like the system has frozen. I found that pressing the power button causes the system to gracefully shut down - so the system hasn't locked up. 

 

Be patient and a moment or two later, the cursor starts flashing again and the keyboard works. I dont know what is causing this behavior but perhaps someone else is interested to dive in to it.

 

Apt update and beyond

 

With the system booted and logged in, i ran updates and rebooted. Things continued to work properly