Endless OS on Pinebook Pro is considered a preview due to limitations noted below. While it generally works well, it requires more technical know-how to install and address issues.
¶ Introduction
Pinebook Pro is an ARM-based laptop product for work, school, or fun, designed to offer an alternative to traditional computing.
Endless OS is available for Pinebook Pro. Once installed, it includes the usual features and functionality, along with a large selection of apps. However, it is released as a preview version due to the complexity of installing.
As a preview release, we especially welcome community feedback regarding interest in using Endless OS on this hardware, particularly in which contexts these devices are used, what works well, and what needs to be improved.
¶ Prepare
Before you install Endless OS, be sure to read this page in its entirety!
¶ Requirements
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Pinebook Pro, of course
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Another computer to download the image and flash the microSD card
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Endless OS for Pinebook Pro image, downloaded from endlessos.org
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microSD card that can hold the uncompressed image you choose to install; at least 16 GB for the base image, at least 32 GB for the full English image
All data on this microSD card will be erased during installation.
Performance can vary greatly depending on the speed and quality of the microSD card used. We recommend the highest speed possible, but at least 10 MB/s. Due to differing ways this is listed, look for any of the following:
- 10 MB/s or faster
- Class 10 or higher
- UHS 1 or higher
- V10 or higher
We also highly recommend a reputable/well-known brand; since this is your main drive, it will be constantly read and written to. Cheap no-name microSD cards can be tempting, but are much more likely to fail than a known brand.
¶ Limitations
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Headset audio is not working at the moment
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Wi-Fi does not work out-of-the-box because we cannot redistribute the firmware; see below for more information
¶ Install
When you're ready, follow these directions carefully.
¶ Flash the microSD Card
Using another computer, flash the downloaded Endless OS image for Pinebook Pro to your microSD card.
If you're not familiar with the process of flashing an image to a microSD card, refer to Flash an Endless OS Image.
Impression does not currently support compressed image files, so you will need to use one of the other listed options, or uncompress the image and open it in Impression from the Files app, first.
¶ Boot from microSD Card
Your Pinebook Pro may be set to boot from the internal eMMC storage (the default). To boot Endless OS from a microSD card, you must first disable the eMMC:
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Power off and unplug your Pinebook Pro
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Carefuly open the bottom of the Pinebook Pro; see Disassembly and Reassembly for instructions
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Disable the eMMC by turning off switch #24 mentioned in Pinebook Pro's Mainboard Switches and Buttons
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Reassemble the Pinebook Pro
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Insert the flashed microSD card into the microSD card slot
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Power the Pinebook Pro on
The Pinebook Pro should now boot to U-Boot from the microSD card, and then into Endless OS.
The first boot may take more time than you expect; be patient!
Once it boots, you're done! Follow the on-screen initial setup and enjoy Endless OS.
¶ Advanced
Here are some additional resources for more technical/advanced users.
¶ Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Endless OS does not come with the proprietary Wi-Fi & Bluetooth firmware due to redistribution concerns. However, you are able to download and install them as an end-user.
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Download the firmware files from Manjaro ARM's ap6256-firmware package; specifically, you will need:
BCM4345C5.hcdbrcmfmac43456-sdio.AP6256.txtfw_bcm43456c5_ag.binbrcmfmac43456-sdio.clm_blob
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Install the downloaded files into
/var/lib/firmware/brcm/:sudo install -Dm644 "BCM4345C5.hcd" -t /var/lib/firmware/brcm/ sudo install -Dm644 "brcmfmac43456-sdio.AP6256.txt" /var/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43456-sdio.pine64,pinebook-pro.txt sudo install -Dm644 "fw_bcm43456c5_ag.bin" /var/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43456-sdio.bin sudo install -Dm644 "brcmfmac43456-sdio.clm_blob" /var/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43456-sdio.clm_blob
Restart the Pinebook Pro, and enjoy built-in Wi-Fi.
¶ Flash the Internal eMMC
Flashing Endless OS to the eMMC will overwrite the existing U-Boot, e.g. the factory Manjaro ARM U-Boot, with the Endless OS version. Note that this may change boot device priority.
If you would like to replace the default OS on the Pinebook Pro internal eMMC, you may flash Endless OS to the eMMC. This enables improved performance and the convenience of not needing to boot from the microSD card.
¶ Re-enable eMMC
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Power off and unplug your Pinebook Pro
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Carefuly open the bottom of the Pinebook Pro; see Disassembly and Reassembly for instructions
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Enable the eMMC by turning on switch #24 mentioned in Pinebook Pro's Mainboard Switches and Buttons
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Reassemble the Pinebook Pro
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Insert the flashed microSD card into the microSD card slot
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Power the Pinebook Pro on
¶ Flash to eMMC
The following steps should be performed on the Pinebook Pro itself, running an OS from the microSD Card. You should first test the Endless OS image you intend to use on the microSD card before flashing it to the eMMC.
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Get the Endless OS for Pinebook Pro image somewhere accessible to the OS on the Pinebook Pro microSD card, e.g. re-download it or copy the original
.img.xzfile to a USB drive and insert that into the Pinebook Pro. -
Identify the device path of the eMMC (usually in the format
/dev/mmcblkX).-
Run
lsblkand identify the device which doesn't have any mount points; one of the microSD card partitions will be mounted on/, so you know that device is not the device you need. -
lsblkalso lists partitions on storage device, so you may have entries like/dev/mmcblk1p1and/dev/mmcblk1p2. You want to write the image to the whole eMMC instead of a partition on it, so ignore any of these partition devices and note the top-level device. -
On the Manjaro ARM build installed by default on the Pinebook Pro, the eMMC device path is usually
/dev/mmcblk2. This can vary between different distributions, so still be sure to check.
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Once you are sure you have the right device for the eMMC, flash the Endless OS image to it:
xzcat <path to .img.xz file> | sudo dd of=<device path> bs=4M status=progressEnsure you replace the bracket sections with the correct path to the image and the correct device path as discovered in step 2, respectively.
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Once the command completes, reboot the Pinebook Pro with the microSD card removed to test the image. The first boot may take longer as it automatically resizes to fill the free space left on the eMMC storage.