LINux on MOBile - RaspBerry PiLINMOB.net is a blog about LINux on MOBile devices. With the PinePhone (Pro) and Librem 5 shipping it is back to report on GNU+Linux on mobile devices.Zola2023-12-02T00:00:00+00:00https://linmob.net/tags/raspberry-pi/feed.xmlEnter Beepy, Esc2023-12-02T00:00:00+00:002023-12-02T00:00:00+00:00https://linmob.net/enter-beepy-esc/<p><em>This is a blog post that has been in draft state since early September, ... and since "finishing it properly" is unlikely, here it is with an overhauled conclusion and additional links.</em></p>
<p>Beepy is a tiny hardware device, that was originally called "BeepBerry", <a href="https://linmob.net/weekly-update-20-2023/#hardware">see Weekly Update 20</a>.<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#1">1</a></sup> Beepy is a joint project by <a href="https://www.beeper.com/">Beeper</a> (who provide a Matrix-based chat app that bridges many other services, and can be used with any Matrix app that supports E2EE) and <a href="https://sqfmi.com/">SQFMI</a>, known for the eInk watch <a href="https://watchy.sqfmi.com/">Watchy</a>.</p>
<span id="continue-reading"></span><h2 id="what-s-a-beepy">What's a Beepy?</h2>
<p>Now, what is it? As its original name suggests, it's a gadget in a classic blackberry form factor, it even uses a keyboard originally made for Blackberry devices. That keyboard is located below a wider-than-high "landscape orientation" screen, which is 400 px wide and 240 px high. Low resolution aside, it's only greyscale, since this is a sharp memory LCD, commonly used in calculators. It's also not backlit or frontlit, meaning, this is a device for daytime use.<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#2">2</a></sup></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="Beepy_(Shot_on_PinePhone).jpg" alt="Beepy, next to a 3D printed case, photographed on PinePhone" title="Beepy, next to a 3D printed case, photographed on PinePhone. Yes, it's been so long that I forgot username and password." style="height:auto; margin:0;">
<figcaption>Beepy, next to the 3D printed OG case.</figcaption>
</div>
<p>You may wonder why technical details like SoC/CPU and RAM are still not mentioned. That's because Beepy is just a board around a RP2040 MCU, that you may plug a Raspberry Pi Zero, Zero 2 or a compatible SBC in via a solderless header (see the official <a href="https://beepy.sqfmi.com/docs/hardware/specs">specs page</a> for further details).</p>
<h3 id="boards-that-can-could-power-beepy">Boards that can/could power Beepy.</h3>
<p>I have been using a boring Raspberry Pi Zero W, that I already had and did not use.<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#3">3</a></sup> It was possible to order Beepy with a Pi with a later shipping date. They will be/are being shipped with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, which is a lot more powerful due to having four ARM Cortex A53 cores instead of single ARMv6 core.</p>
<p>There are other options that one might want to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Banana_Pi_BPI-M2_ZERO">Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero</a>, featuring an AllWinner <a href="https://linux-sunxi.org/H3">H3</a> (Quad-Core ARM Cortex A7 (ARMv7)) SoC,</li>
<li><a href="https://mangopi.org/mqpro">Mango Pi MQ-Pro</a>, featuring an AllWinner D1 (Single-Core C906 (RISC-V 64-bit)) SoC,</li>
<li><a href="https://mangopi.org/mangopi_mqquad">Mango Pi MQ-Quad</a>, featuring an AllWinner [H616](https://linux-sunxi.org/H616 SoC) (Quad-Core Cortex-A53 (ARMv8)) SoC,</li>
<li>... and many more RPi Zero clones.</li>
</ul>
<p>IMHO, when choosing a single board computer most important two questions to ask are:</p>
<ul>
<li>how much performance do I actually need? and</li>
<li>how complicated is this going to be?</li>
</ul>
<p>The latter should then spawn a few follow-up questions like:
How well is that SBC supported? How many distributions support it? Can you boot a (close to) mainline Linux kernel, or does it require dealing with (potentially outdated) vendor-provided images?</p>
<p>All in all, for most people, one of the Raspberry Pi options is likely the best choice, especially given the current state of the software.</p>
<h3 id="getting-started-diving-into-the-software-side-of-things">Getting started / Diving into the software side of things</h3>
<p>When getting started, I followed the official getting started guide and had bad luck - just check out <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@linmob/110962857882621663">my Mastodon thread</a>. I thus seriously recommend following forks of this guide:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://beepy.sqfmi.com/docs/getting-started">Official Guide</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/ardangelo/beepy-docs/blob/main/docs/getting-started.md">Fork</a></li>
<li>and of course there's a helpful pinned message on Discord<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#4">4</a></sup>, which you can't really access in the bridged Matrix channels.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Advice: Don't mix and match guides, unless you feel like troubleshooting. Not all combinations of the keyboard driver and the keyboard/RP2040 firmware work well together, you may end up with eeeee on a short e press, making plain login almost impossible.</em></p>
<p>In most cases (early on it were all cases), you start with Raspberry Pi OS Lite, follow a "getting started guide", and then build upon it by customizing your environment, e.g., by installing and configuring tmux in a way so that it shows you the current battery level, installing a few apps (mostly <abbr title="Command Line Interface">CLI</abbr>, but a few people have toyed with lightweight GUI frameworks such as LVGL).</p>
<p>If you want to use Beeper (or any Matrix server of your choice) on the device, you can then follow <a href="https://beeper.notion.site/Beepy-Beeper-Client-Setup-Tutorial-a2200b76f8764813bf7a70e9f69f46b3">this guide</a> to setup <a href="https://maunium.net/go/gomuks/">gomuks</a> properly. I have not done this yet, as procrastinating with <a href="https://www.seehuhn.de/pages/moon-buggy.html">moon-buggy</a> is so much more fun.</p>
<p>To get an idea of what's happening, you may want to search common code forges (terms: beepy, beepberry), or you have to take part in the Discord.</p>
<p>I have not really done much - I have adopted a .tmux.conf featuring battery info, and played around with "light mode" (dark text on "white" background), but that's pretty much it.</p>
<h3 id="diy-cases">DIY: Cases</h3>
<p>I had the <a href="https://github.com/sqfmi/beepy-hardware/tree/main/3D/beepy-cases/v1">O.G. case (the v1) 3d printed</a> printed<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#5">5</a></sup> - I do not recommend it. <a href="https://github.com/a8ksh4/beepberry-hardware/tree/snap_case/3D/beepberry-cases/snap_flat/">This should be a better choice.</a></p>
<h3 id="flaws">Flaws</h3>
<p>Aside from the messiness of the ecosystem (see above), and the limitations of a 400x240px greyscale display, Beepy, in it's current form, has a few more flaws.</p>
<h4 id="slow-charging">Slow charging</h4>
<p>By default, Beepy is built to charge it's 2000mAh battery at 100mA, which at least by my flawed math suggests that a full charge is going to take about 20 hours. This can be fixed, as the following blog post explains, but you better be comfortable with (de-)soldering:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://m0yng.uk/2023/09/Beepy-charge-mods-for-infinite-battery-life/">Beepy charge mods for infinite battery life - M0YNG.uk</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The post also contains mods for wireless charging, if that's your thing.</p>
<h4 id="battery-life">Battery life</h4>
<p>This device features a Sharp Memory LCD and a 2000mAh battery, so you may think, that battery life is going to be a non-issue, especially with a 1st-gen Pi Zero. At least with a Raspberry Pi's, it is not really - these devices do not support a suspend mode, which almost makes the aforementioned Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero with it's <a href="https://linux-sunxi.org/AR100">AR100</a> core and <a href="https://github.com/crust-firmware/crust">working beta Crust support</a> an attractive choice.<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#6">6</a></sup></p>
<p>If you wonder: How long does it last? I honestly did not do measurements, it's less than a day, I'd say - this section just has the purpose of telling you: No, this is not like your E-Reader, you can't just let it sit and expect to push its button and still have a charge. </p>
<h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3>
<p>Beepy is a fun thing, that can be hacked upon in various ways, and that - currently - needs to be hacked upon to be truly useful (assuming you can imagine a use case for this device, given it's outlined limitations), especially regarding battery life. You will definitely need to bring some time to make it work for you. It's definitely alive, as projects such as <a href="https://retro.social/@kelbot/111461402781079133">these two</a> show. You can do fun things, like 3d print a case, hack on software and hardware features, and last, but not least, play <code>moon-buggy</code> on it.</p>
<p>Personally, I have decided that I should pass it on to someone who has more time and patience - so if you're interested, and in the EU, contact me via <a href="mailto:beepy@linmob.net?subject=I%20am%20interested%20in%20your%20beepy!&body=Hi%2C%0A%0Aplease%20send%20me%20your%20Beepy.%20I%20offer%20you%20...%20EUR%20for%20it.">email</a> or find it on eBay in a few days. :-)</p>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="1"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">1</sup>
<p>The name change is due to obvious legal reasons - Blackberry is still alive and kicking, they just do other things these days.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="2"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">2</sup>
<p>It has been pointed out, SQFMI and Beeper could have opted for a lit display instead.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="3"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">3</sup>
<p>It had been deployed as a simple networked audio player. Eventually, the system had bugged out, and I did not redeploy it. </p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="4"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">4</sup>
<p>Boy, do I dislike Discord! TL;DR: This <a href="https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=oHhgllqSKro">eight second short video</a>. Longer: I get that it somewhat of a standard modus operandi for many open source projects these days, despite its proprietary nature. <a href="https://drewdevault.com/2021/12/28/Dont-use-Discord-for-FOSS.html">Enough has been said about why it's bad</a>. My main gripes are 1) that there's no "client freedom", 2) that it keeps useful information from the open web and thus forces people to join it, 3) that it's an unorganized mess that is somewhat searchable, but not well structured. Usually I deal with Discord through Beeper, and that has been mostly fine, as the projects I've been following previously were smaller/less noisy, or heavily bridged (PINE64). The bridging works less good here - people frequently link to posts in other channels, which you can't really follow in the bridged environment. </p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="5"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">5</sup>
<p>I did this using a local 3d printing service, and it was the first I time I did such a thing.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="6"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">6</sup>
<p>"Almost" because a) I am not aware of anyone having tried this board with Beepy, and b) I don't know how well this board is support in mainline Linux and u-boot.</p>
</div>
LinBits 5: Weekly PinePhone news / media roundup (week 32)2020-08-09T11:15:18+00:002020-08-09T11:15:18+00:00https://linmob.net/linbits5-weekly-pinephone-news-week32/<p><em>It's sunday. Time for a short rounding up of the past week.</em></p>
<p>This is some the best stuff that happened around the PinePhone this week. <em>Commentary in italics.</em></p>
<span id="continue-reading"></span><h3 id="software-releases-and-improvements">Software: releases and improvements</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mamot.fr/@KekunPlazas/104648142113069390">libhandy 0.90 released</a>. <em>This is a bigger deal than the version might suggest: The API is now stable.</em></li>
<li><a href="https://social.librem.one/@agx/104624591847644767">phosh 0.4.3 released</a>. <em>Just a small release, but every release is progress.</em></li>
<li><a href="https://xnux.eu/devices/feature/modem-pp.html">megi has released a modem power management driver</a>. <em>While this effort is apparently unlikely to be upstreamed in this form, it is an important step for better battery life on the PinePhone.</em> </li>
<li><a href="https://forum.manjaro.org/t/manjaro-arm-alpha2-with-phosh-pinephone/157249">Manjaro ARM Alpha2 with Phosh</a>. <em>Moving forward, getting better bit by bit. Also: <a href="https://twitter.com/fkardame/status/1291736063682252800">More Lomiri Teasing</a>.</em></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pine64-Arch/releases/tag/20200805">Arch Linux ARM</a>. <em>The big feature for me in this one is <a href="https://twitter.com/linmobblog/status/1290987799135563776">"Fix incoming calls not showing."</a></em></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="worth-reading">Worth reading</h3>
<ul>
<li>Purism: <a href="https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-june-2020-software-development-update/">Librem 5 June 2020 Software Development Update</a>. <em>These updates are always late, but still interesting.</em></li>
<li>amosbbatto: <a href="https://amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/advantages-of-phosh/">The strategic advantages of Phosh for mobile Linux</a>. <em>This post is long, but definitely worth reading. I think that the many PinePhone distributions and all the GNU/Linux software that works with Phosh show how great Purism's approach is working already.</em></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="worth-watching">Worth watching</h3>
<ul>
<li>anino207: <a href="https://invidious.13ad.de/watch?v=FM2RawI_iE0">Gearboy Color (GBC Emulator) on the PinePhone with Ubuntu Touch</a>. <em>One for the gamers!</em></li>
<li>GeoTech Land: <a href="https://invidious.13ad.de//watch?v=3pj-htOwGjM">Manjaro Phosh Impressions on Pinephone</a>. <em>A quick look at the current state of Manjaro on the PinePhone.</em></li>
<li>N-O-D-E: <a href="https://invidious.13ad.de/watch?v=wiJqUWfR90I">Trying to build the ultimate Raspberry Pi computer (Zero Terminal V3)</a>. <em>While a Raspberry Pi Zero Pocket computer sounds way less interesting to me now that the PinePhone is available, the keyboard build is quite interesting.</em></li>
<li>Purism: <a href="https://invidious.13ad.de/watch?v=rHO43kh6zN8">Librem 5 Web Apps</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="stuff-i-did">Stuff I did</h3>
<p>I was on holiday and took it easy. I played around with some more software on Arch Linux ARM, which now ̣— with incoming calls working — is definitely my favourite distribution. Also, I contributed a bit to the Mobian wiki and played with an Arch Linux ARM chroot on UBports but could not figure out Wayland support in the chroot.</p>
LinBits 1: Weekly PinePhone news / media roundup (week 28)2020-07-12T00:45:18+00:002020-07-12T00:45:18+00:00https://linmob.net/linbits1-weekly-pinephone-news-week28/<p><em>One day late, sorry!</em></p>
<p>This is some the best stuff that happened around the PinePhone this week. <span id="continue-reading"></span><em>Commentary in italics.</em></p>
<h3 id="software-releases-and-improvements">Software: releases and improvements</h3>
<ul>
<li>postmarketOS developer Martijn Braam made a <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~martijnbraam/python-pinecamera">Camera script</a> for the Pinephone, and <a href="https://blog.brixit.nl/camera-on-the-pinephone/">wrote about it on his blog</a> <a href="https://blog.brixit.nl/pinephone-camera-part-2/">twice</a>. <em>(This should have been in linbits 0, sorry.)</em></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mobian-project.org">Mobian</a> has integrated a new, working <a href="https://gitlab.gnome.org/jwestman/camera">Gnome Camera app</a>. It's available in the current nightly images and works. The developer <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@flyingpimonster/104476040503554037">attributes</a> the slowness to the app, not the sensor. <em>The camera is slow, but it is great to have a camera app now. If it does not work on your Mobian install yet, check out this <a href="https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=10578">thread</a>.</em></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pine64-Arch/releases/tag/20200711">Huang Tram Linux, the Arch Linux ARM</a> build for the Pinephone, has made some progress and comes with an <a href="https://twitter.com/RealDanct12/status/1282022262455930881#m">adjusted keyboard layout</a> for terminal usage. <em>I really look forward to trying this keyboard. It should be relatively trivial to bring it to other Phosh-based distributions if I am not completely mistaken.</em></li>
<li>In other Arch/Manjaro news, there are efforts to port over Lomiri (which used to be called Unity 8 and is well known from Ubuntu Touch) to <a href="https://twitter.com/RealDanct12/status/1281576483610189829">Arch</a>/<a href="https://twitter.com/DMConstantino/status/1279797058334048257">Manjaro</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="worth-reading">Worth reading</h3>
<ul>
<li>Slashdot: <a href="https://linux.slashdot.org/story/20/07/03/2133201/linus-torvalds-i-do-no-coding-any-more">Linus Torvalds: 'I Do No Coding Any More'</a></li>
<li>omg!ubuntu!: <a href="https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/07/flutter-sdk-linux-desktop">Google & Ubuntu Team Up to Bring Flutter Apps to Linux</a>. <em>This might proove useful for the PinePhone, Librem5 and similar projects. If Flutter should be supported on Linux Desktops with Touch interfaces in mind, easy ports of existing flutter apps might become a thing and help with app availability.</em></li>
<li><a href="https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GNOME-3.37.3-Released">Phoronix: GNOME 3.37.3 Released With More Features, Code Improvements</a> <em>GNOME 3.37 is the development branch that is going to become GNOME 3.38 in September. What's notable is the progress on GTK 4, and the new features Epiphany/Gnome Web is going to get, most notably the 'running in the background' feature for web apps which will certainly come in handy on the PinePhone. Eye of Gnome improvements for phone form factors are certainly welcome, too.</em></li>
<li>TuxPhones: <a href="https://tuxphones.com/cutiepi-shell-sidekick-linux-convergent-dual-screen-touchpad-keyboard/">New CutiePi Shell "Sidekick" mode brings Linux convergence to the next level</a> <em>Convergent computing on Raspberry Pi 3 powered hardware? I am not getting my hopes up, but it is interesting nontheless.</em></li>
<li>Purism has posted two blog posts this week. The <a href="https://puri.sm/posts/mobile-app-stores-and-the-power-of-incentives/">first one by CSO Kyle Rankin</a> is an interesting read about the incentives on mobile app stores. The <a href="https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-dogwood-update-3/">second one</a> shares some details about their forthcoming fourth Librem 5 production batch, which is the last one before the Evergreen batch, which will be the real, high number production run the majority of backers are going to receive. <em>I like that they decided to include a larger battery compared to their previous iterations. This should really help with getting decent enough battery life.</em></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="worth-watching">Worth watching</h3>
<ul>
<li>Дмитрий Куртуков: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1XQ5Hv0sZo">Keyboard for PinePhone</a>. <em>This is a weird one, but you are going to see a (rare!) Nokia N950 being used as a PinePhone keyboard which is quite cool.</em></li>
<li>PizzaLovingNerd: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLfbIIAycc">PinePhone OSes: Mobian</a>. <em>Better than my video, PizzaLovingNerd actually prepare their videos and it shows. Also: The Pure Maps suggestion is a good one.</em></li>
<li>PizzaLovingNerd: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbAkoRTHl-U">Taking Photos on the PinePhone</a>. <em>Good video. Minor nitpick: Upgrading Mobian generally works, if you are stuck on an old kernel, run</em> <code>sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-5.7-pinephone</code> <em>, as the <a href="https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=troubleshooting">Mobian Wiki</a> suggests. Worked for me!</em></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="stuff-i-did">Stuff I did</h3>
<p><em>This really was a busy week for me. Aside from <a href="https://linmob.net/2020/07/09/pinephone-daily-driver-challenge-part0.html">thursdays blog post</a>, I did not really manage to do anyting at all.</em></p>
Necunos NC_1 or a Lunchbox Smartphone?2019-01-05T00:10:06+00:002019-01-05T00:10:06+00:00https://linmob.net/necunos-nc-1-or-a-lunchbox-smartphone/<p><em>While Purism has allegedly finally managed to ship out their developer kits, Necunos will provide you with a thingy they call a smartphone much faster.</em><span id="continue-reading"></span><sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#1">1</a></sup> </p>
<p><strong>Necunos NC_1</strong></p>
<p><del><em>The Necunos project may be a scam. Be careful!</em></del>
<em> Update 2/3/2019: After FOSDEM it seems a little more real. Necuno Solutions plan to ship the NC_1 in March. Let's see.</em></p>
<p><strong>Specifications:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>SoC: NXP i.MX Quad, ARM Cortex A9 quadcore @ 1.2 GHz, Vivante GPU (Etnaviv driver, hardware acceleration)</li>
<li>1 GB Ram <em>(meh!)</em></li>
<li>8 GB Storage</li>
<li>3500 mAh Battery</li>
<li>5,0" display <em>(no resolution given)</em></li>
<li>Aluminum body</li>
<li>5 MP Camera</li>
<li>Audio: 3.5mm audio jack</li>
<li>Charging: Micro-USB, Data transfer disabled</li>
<li>Microphone: Built-in microphone</li>
<li>Speakers: 2 Built-in speaker</li>
<li>WLAN: WiFi (via SDIO) WL1801 (2.4 GHz)</li>
<li>Ethernet: High speed 100Mb/s</li>
<li>Serial: Internal</li>
<li>Closed source firmware <em>with memory access</em>: NO</li>
<li>Binary blobs: NO</li>
<li>Locked bootloader: NO</li>
<li>Operating Systems: Multiple community driven operating systems to choose from.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.plasma-mobile.org">Plasma Mobile</a> on Debian</li>
<li>Plasma Mobile on <a href="https://postmarketos.org/">postmarketOS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://leste.maemo.org/Main_Page">Maemo Leste</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wiki.merproject.org/wiki/Nemo">Nemo Mobile</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LuneOS">Lune OS</a></li>
<li>maybe <a href="https://www.replicant.us/">Replicant later?</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Price:</strong> 1199 EUR</p>
<p>Um. Yeah. That is pricey, and you don't get a phone, but a WiFi only thing for open source OS. While their argument, that mobile connectivity is a privacy and security concern is true, a "phone" without any mobile connectivity is a problem. Also, it is saddening to see a WLan chip used that requires the use of proprietary firmware, where "free as in free software" alternatives exist.<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#2">2</a></sup> With this device, you practically need to carry another device if you any kind of communications service in areas without open WiFi coverage which – at least here in Germany – feels like practically everywhere.
<em>I really don't know how this is much better than what I will continue with, besides the fact that the <strong>NC_1</strong> will likely feel like an actual product instead of something you cobbled together.</em></p>
<p><strong>"Butterbrotdosen-Smartphone"</strong> is a talk by Bücherratte that took place at the 35th Chaos Communication Congress (which I attended) — <a href="https://media.ccc.de/v/35c3-9681-butterbrotdosen-smartphone">go watch the recording</a>. It details the process of building a "smartphone" using a Raspberry Pi 3, a 4" Waveshare GPIO-connected HVGA (320 x 480 pixels) resistive touchscreen, an USB soundcard plus a power bank for power supply. All that stuff is arranged into a tiny lunchbox. It runs Arch Linux ARM, but could essentially run anything that supports the Pi and the display. Phone calls are done with LinPhone, a popular SIP softfone and require the headset to be plugged in.</p>
<p>Sure, this seems terrible, and the fact, that Arch Linux ARM is used instead one of all these FOSS phone distributions is certainly terrible. But the BOM is a lot cheaper, it should be buildable with a budget of about 100 Euros.</p>
<p><strong>Remarks/ideas on "building your own smartphone/gadget/pda/portable terminal"</strong></p>
<p>If you are considering such a build, I would recommend to tweak a few things: Use a soundcard that has a combined plug for headset and microphone – if you can't find any, resort to the <a href="https://github.com/boboianbobo/piusbc/wiki/Apple-USB-C-to-3.5-mm-on-the-Raspberry-Pi">USB-C iPad Dongle</a>. This will enable you to use less bulky headsets. Consider using a battery designed for use with the Pi. Use an HDMI connected display, GUI will be a lot better, you'll be able to play games or watch video. There are 3.5" IPS WVGA (800x480 pixels) displays available. That is not an amazing screen resolution, but it should make your life a whole lot easier when dealing with "desktop apps". Get a really fast microSDXC card, that is known to work fast with the Pi and can survice being used for swap purposes. Employ technologies like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zram">zram</a>.</p>
<p>Consider using a different hardware design, especially if you can get your hands on a 3D-printer, read the following links for inspiraton:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://n-o-d-e.net/terminal_3.html">N-O-D-E: The Handheld Linux Terminal Version 3</a></li>
<li><a href="https://n-o-d-e.net/zeroterminal.html">N-O-D-E: The Zero-Terminal (Portable Pi Zero Terminal)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hash42/noodle-pi-the-complete-raspberry-pi-pocket-compute">Kickstarter: NoodlePi</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.instructables.com/id/Pocket-Sized-Linux-Computer-Pi-Micro/">instructables: Pi Micro</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Now, why do I recommed to stick to a Raspberry Pi?<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#3">3</a></sup> While there are a ton of other SBCs out there, few have as good support, especially with regards to accelerated graphics and the ecosystem of peripherals and tutorials. NXP i.MX 6 based SBCs would be a great option, but they are prohibitively expensive. Tiny boards – e.g. the Raspberry Pi Zero W, Nano Pi or tiny Orange Pi Boards, that would be great for projects like these – often top out at 512 MB Ram, making them difficult to recommend, when standard distributions with standard desktops apps are what you are aiming at. It really depends on the software you want to use, though. Just consider all these routers with 32 MB Ram. <em>The sky is the limit!</em></p>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="1"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">1</sup>
<p>To me, this — while it is an admirable effort — is not a smartphone, but rather a modern Linux PDA since it has no modem to connect to cell services. I'll keep sticking to this 22 year old definition, where a smartphone has to be an actual phone.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="2"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">2</sup>
<p>ath9k-htc, anyone? Only caveat: USB instead of SDIO.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote-definition" id="3"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">3</sup>
<p>BTW, if you have one, I would recommend an old Pi 2 B, and use some USB Wifi-Dongle for openness and power consumption/heat.</p>
</div>
Raspberry Pi: A 25 USD USB Stick sized PC2011-05-09T14:19:00+00:002011-05-09T14:19:00+00:00https://linmob.net/raspberry-pi-a-25-usd-usb-stick-sized-pc/<p>When I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/">this</a> three days ago, I felt like I absolutely had to blog this. Let's have a look at the provisional specs first:</p>
<ul>
<li>700MHz ARM11</li>
<li>128MB of SDRAM</li>
<li>OpenGL ES 2.0</li>
<li>1080p30 H.264 high-profile decoder</li>
<li>Composite and HDMI video output</li>
<li>USB 2.0</li>
<li>SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot</li>
<li>General-purpose I/O</li>
<li>Open software (Ubuntu, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)</li>
</ul>
<p>Let's talk about the SoC first. While a 700MHz ARM11 SoC isn't what you'd call fast, it's good enough for basic tasks. I think that a likely SoC for this thing is the Telechips TCC8902, which is a popular SoC for low cost tablets and supports 1080p thanks to an included ARM Mali 200 GPU—it would fit. But then again, this isn't a finalized device yet and there are tons of ARM-based SoCs out there, and as ARM11 ones aren't exactly high end, many of them remain pretty much unknown.</p>
<p>As I said: The SoC is ok. What's not convincing is the amount of RAM; 128MB is barely enough for todays smartphone OS like Android—Ubuntu won't be much fun, you will be forced into using swap which will certainly cause some wear out on your memory card and slow the overall system down.</p>
<p>Nontheless, after <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ7N4rycsy4&feature=player_embedded">having listened to the interview with the man behind this foundation </a>(Raspberry Pi foundation), David Braben, which is not yet founded afaik—this seems to be a nice idea, as the relative scarceness of memory is even great for the purpose it's meant for: It's about eduction, educating kids about computing.</p>