PineTab/Early-Adopter

The PineTab Early Adopter edition was the first hardware revision of the PineTab which shipped to customers. Shipping began on September 6, 2020.

Software

The device shipped with a beta build of Ubuntu Touch by UBports. This build is available to download at https://ci.ubports.com/job/rootfs/job/rootfs-pinetab-systemimage/18/. It has the following problems which are software, not hardware, issues:

• The mouse fails to move around the entire screen. It is stuck in an 800px horizontal box.
• It is not possible to enable Bluetooth
• Cameras do not function
• Portrait mode does not function

The first-time setup wizard advises the user to unplug the keyboard dock (avoiding the mouse issues) and update the system. Unfortunately, as of this update to this page (September 8, 2020) this will not fix any of the issues above.

16GB/64GB storage software error

The image installed on the device was sized for a 16GB (~14GiB) eMMC, but the PineTab shipped with a 64GB (~58GiB) eMMC chip installed. This means that the "Storage" page in the "About" section of Ubuntu Touch System Settings will show total storage as 14.0GiB until the partition table on the device is edited.

UBports developers are currently working on a solution that will automatically edit the partition table and resize the data partition without disturbing any user data.

Installing using apt

Presumably, be careful as this could bork your system. Many programs don't work as expected, but I wanted to install emacs so:

  sudo mount -o remount,rw /
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install emacs   # or whatever

Enabling ssh

Naturally, you should be wary of enabling ssh for security reasons but everything is there. Almost.

Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Change the following:

• PasswordAuthentication yes
• ChallengeResponseAuthentication yes

Then:

   /etc/init.d/sshd start

Use user phablet along with your password or PIN to log in.

Wifi

Wifi disappears

If wifi stopped working, first try usual means:

• switching wifi off and on again
• reboot PineTab

If it still doesn't work, open terminal and type this:

nmcli r

If output is two lines with red word disabled under word WIFI - rejoice, since this issue is known (although it's not yet investigated well enough to figure out when it happens, so clues to developers are likely welcome). To fix it, just type this in the terminal:

nmcli r wifi on

Wifi missing if started with keyboard attached

UT [OS version: RC#6 (2020-W37)]

symptom: if you started with keyboard attached wifi will not come up

reason: the service urfkill is not running

fix:

sudo service urfkill restart

Wifi radio reception is very weak (tweak needed)

This needs a tweak! How to open the PineTab?

Tested with UT, Mobian and Archlinux: sitting right beside the router gives a connection (ca. 60% level). No reception in a distance of 7 meters, no wall, just an opened door, some edges, router not directly visible. Pinephone right beside the Pinetab has an absolutly stable wifi connection.