Architectures/ARM/PinePhone

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Introduction

The PinePhone is a Linux-native mobile phone. It is based on an AllWinner CPU. Fedora does not (yet) support the PinePhone, but it is possible to get it running with a custom kernel. (Update: 03/30/2020 - It should now be possible to boot regular Fedora Rawhide, provided you can get u-boot to cooperate. This has not been tested, so you should still follow the custom kernel guide for now.) This documentation describes how to install Fedora on a PinePhone, and links to useful resources.

Installation Guide

An unofficial script that generates a flashable image can be found here, and unofficial prebuilt images can be found here. Currently, the images do not support the internal eMMC and most be booted from an SD card.

Recommended Packages

The default GNOME install doesn't work very well on such a small touch screen. Instead, librem's Phosh and various other related software have been packaged in the njha/mobile COPR, and are slowly moving over to the main package repository. KDE Plasma Mobile should also be compatible, but hasn't been packaged. If you're interested in packaging it, coordinate with others in the chat.

njha/mobile packages

italic packages are now directly maintained in the main package repository in F33, so you won't need the copr to use them

• phoc - A wayland compositor, needed to run phosh.
• phosh - A mobile version of the GNOME shell.
• carbons - XMPP Message sync for libpurple. Used by chatty.
• chatty - A libpurple client (alternative to Pidgin) optimized for Phosh.
• calls - A phone dialer and call handler.
• feedbackd - Physical feedback daemon (LED, vibration, sound) integrated with Phosh.
• pidgin - A mildly hacked up version of pidgin that exposes private libraries for chatty to link with. (Don't worry, upstream is working on it.)
• purple-mm-sms - A libpurple plugin for SMS- integrates with ModemManager.
• rtl8723cs-firmware - Firmware needed for Bluetooth on the PinePhone.
• squeekboard - A touchscreen mobile keyboard, integrated with Phosh.
• pinephone-helpers - Runs some scripts to initialize the modem, switch audio routing when a call is in progress, etc. Ideally all these tweaks will be built into the respective software eventually.

Main repository

• NetworkManager - Connect to the modem, needed for data, sms, calls.
• gnome-terminal - Self explanatory
• gnome-contacts - Self explanatory
• purple-matrix - Matrix plugin for libpurple.
• purple-telegram - Telegram plugin for libpurple.
• gdm - Self explanatory. Ideally this would be switched out for lightdm but I (njha) haven't been able to get that to work.

Contributing

We need help with everything! Please help :)

Chat

If you're interested in improving Fedora on PinePhone, there is a bridged chatroom for Telegram, Matrix, and IRC.

• Telegram: https://t.me/fedoraphone
• IRC: #fedora-phone on Freenode (not recommended, images and video aren't bridged)
• Matrix: #fedora-mobile:matrix.org

Other Resources

• Pine64's Wiki: https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone
• Megi' Website + Kernel: https://xnux.eu/devices/pine64-pinephone.html
• Pine64's Kernel: https://gitlab.com/pine64-org/linux/
• PostmarketOS Wiki: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/PINE64_PinePhone_(pine64-pinephone)
• Pine64 Forum: https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=120