Originally published at: Pine64: Will it ever be ready? // Review Update 2 - MickMake - Live. Learn. Make.
4 months later. Is the Pine64 now ready for the Maker? How has the Pine64 development progressed?
Find out in this video if the Pine64 has addressed all the concerns I had in my original review.
I have 2 Pine Books and think they Are a Value for the price paid… this said, there’s still a couple things that sour the deal… I originally ordered a 32GB emmc upgrade and installed it on Pine Book 1, and it would Not boot. I contacted their support (which I found competent and responsive), but they told me there was a problem with firmware and I’d need to wait for a fix… Never heard from them again on that subject. The 2nd problem (more insidious) … I plugged its external HDMI into my HDMI TV and no image … I messed with the pre-boot (uEnv.txt) based on recommendations and known specs without any luck… even bricked the boot from emmc and had to reinstall OS from SD card.
All this said, in the latest weekly roundup #242 I watched MickMate talk briefly about “mis-configured HDMI”… he said tweeking the parameters in x11 config made an easy fix (after he did some debugging of an obscure behavior). I’m wondering if MickMate has played with hooking a PineBook (think it uses Pine64 identical) and a standard large screen 1080P TV HDMI input. I’ve been to Every PineBook source and heard numerous people discussing the existing problem … several declared victory in their case without details. MickMate making an easy fix of his SBC HDMI issue gave me hope… Seriously, any insights will be appreciated.
Thank you!
Hi Lisanke,
I haven’t really played around with a PineBook, but I should pull out and dust off my old Pine64 and see if it is usable at all.
I also have access to a 4K TV now, so will be able to test it out.