Pinebook Pro

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Pinebook Pro running stock Debian with MATE

The Pinebook Pro is a Linux and *BSD ARM laptop from PINE64. It is built with the intention to be a compelling alternative to mid-ranged Chromebooks that people convert into Linux laptops. It features an IPS 1080p 14″ LCD panel, a premium magnesium alloy shell, high capacity eMMC storage, a 10,000 mAh capacity battery and the modularity that only an open source project can deliver.

Key features include the RK3399 SOC; USB-C for data, video-out and power-in (3A 5V); privacy switches for the microphone, BT/WiFi module and camera; as well as the possibility to expand storage via NVMe (PCIe 4x).

The Pinebook Pro is equipped with 4GB LPDDR4 system memory, high capacity eMMC flash storage and 128Mb SPI boot Flash. The I/O includes: 1x micro SD card reader (bootable), 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB type C Host with DP 1.2 and power-in; PCIe 4x for NVMe SSD drives (requires an optional adapter) as well as UART.

The mouse and keyboard both use the USB 2.0 protocol, while the LCD panel uses eDP MiPi display protocol.

Many different Operating Systems (OS) are freely available from the open source community and partner projects - these include various flavours of Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Manjaro, etc.,) and *BSD.

Pinebook Pro Internal Layout

PBPL S.jpg

Main chips

  • RK3399 system-on-chip (1)
  • LPDDR4 SDRAM (21)
  • SPI NOR flash memory (29)
  • eMMC flash memory (26)
  • WiFi/BT module (27)

Mainboard Switches and Buttons

There are two switches on the main board: for disabling eMMC (24) and enabling UART (9) via headphone jack.

The Reset and Recovery buttons (28): the reset button performs an immediate reset of the laptop. The Recovery button is used to place the device in maskrom mode; this mode allows flashing eMMC using Rockchip tools (e.g. rkflashtools).

Key Internal Parts

Numbered parts classification and description
Number Type Descriptor
1 Component RK3399 System-On-Chip
2 Socket PCIe 4X socket for optional NVMe adapter
3 Socket Speakers socket
4 Socket Trackpad socket
5 Component Left speaker
6 Connector Male power bridge connector
7 Socket Keyboard Socket
8 Component Optional NVMe SSD adapter
9 Switch UART/Audio switch - outputs UART via headphone jack
10 Socket Female power bridge socket
11 Socket Battery socket
12 Component Trackpad
13 Component Battery
14 Component Right speaker
15 Socket Micro SD socket
16 Socket Headphone / UART jack
17 Socket USB 2.0
18 Socket Daughterboard-to-mainboard ribbon cable socket
19 Cable Daughterboard-to-mainboard ribbon cable
20 Component microphone
21 Component LPDDR4 RAM
22 Socket Mainboard-to-daughterboard ribbon cable socket
22 Socket Mainboard-to-daughterboard ribbon cable socket
23 Socket Microphone socket
24 Switch Switch to hardware disable eMMC
25 Antenna BT/WiFI antenna
26 Component eMMC flash memory module
27 Component BT/WiFi module chip
28 Buttons Reset and recovery buttons
29 Component SPI flash storage
30 Socket eDP LCD socket
31 Socket Power in barrel socket
32 Socket USB 3.0
33 Socket USB type C

Bootable Storage

The Pinebook Pro is capable of booting from: SPI; eMMC; USB 2.0; USB 3.0; and SD.

At the time of writing the boot order for the custom uboot (on eMMC) on the default Debian MATE build is: SD; USB 2.0; eMMC. This boot order is different to the default hard-coded boot order: SPI; eMMC; USB 2.0; USB 3.0; SD. USB 3.0 booting is not available at this time but will be in the future.

Please note that PCIe, which is the interface used for NVMe SSDs on the Pinebook Pro, is not bootable on the RK3399 and therefore is not a part of the boot hierarchy. It is, however, possible to run the desired OS from NVMe by pointing extlinux (on eMMC) to rootfs flashed to NVMe. This requires the following on eMMC in a /boot partition: uboot, the Kernel image, DTB, extlinux.conf

Bypass Cables

The mainboard features two (disconnected by default) bypass cables that are only to be used with the battery disconnected. The female (10) male (6) ends of the bypass cables can be connected to provide power to the mainboard in the event of battery failure OR if the laptop needs to run with the battery disconnected. Please refer to this engineering notice.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Pinebook Pro is available in two keyboard configurations: ISO and ANSI. Both the keyboard and trackpad in the Pinebook Pro use the USB 2.0 protocol and show up as such in xinput. The keyboard features function (Fn) keys in the F-key row, which include display brightness controls, sound volume, trackpad lock and other functionality. There is also a custom PINE64 logo key that functions as menu/SUPER key, but has a secondary functionality for triggering privacy switches (see following sub-section).

The trackpad is large, smooth (metallic to-the-touch) and two actuating buttons. It is the only component of the Pinebook Pro held in place with strong adhesive tape. It supports multi-touch functionality.

The keyboard and trackpad firmware is open sourced can be flashed from userspace using the provided utility.

Documentation for the keyboard and trackpad can be found in Datasheets for Components and Peripherals section.

Privacy Switches

There are three privacy switches mapped to the F10, F11 and F12 keys on the Pinebook Pro keyboard. They de/activate the following:

Privacy switch function and description
Combination Effect Description
PINE64 logo key+F10 Microphone Privacy switch CAPs lock LED blinks. 2 blinks = enabled, 3 blinks = disabled
PINE64 logo key+F11 WiFi Privacy switch NUM lock LED blinks. 2 blinks = enabled, 3 blinks = disabled. Re-enabling requires reboot.
PINE64 logo key+F12 Camera privacy switch CAPs lock and NUM lock LEDs blink together. 2 blinks = enabled, 3 blinks = disabled

(Press the PINE64 logo key plus Fn (10/11/12) for 3 seconds)

The keyboard has a special firmware that lives on, and operates separately of, the operating system. In a nutshell, it detects if F10, F11 and F12 keys are pressed for 3s. Once one of the keys get pressed for the set duration, the keyboard firmware cuts power to the chosen aforementioned peripheral. The implementation is no different to cutting a peripheral power mechanically via a physical switch, and the power state settings for each is stored across reboots.

This is privacy switch implementation is highly secure since the firmware that dictates if peripherals get powered is not a part of the Pinebook Pro’s operating system. The power state value for each peripheral also cannot be overridden from the operating system. In fact, the keyboard firmware itself cannot be accessed from the operating system.

LEDs

In total there are 4 LEDs on the Pinebook Pro, three of which are placed in the top left side of the keyboard and one near the barrel-port.

The amber LED next to the barrel-port indicates charging. It will illuminate when mains power is supplied to the Pinebook Pro from either the standard power supply unit or a USB-C smartphone charger.

The power indicator LED on the Pinebook Pro supports three different colours: green, amber and red. It is also capable of flashing/blinking to indicate activity. In the default Debian with MATE build, green LED means power and red means suspend (amber is unused).

The remaining two LED indicators are used for Num and Caps locks. They only use green LEDs. These two LEDs have a secondary function; when privacy switches get activated they blink to confirm that the switch has been activated.

Webcam

WIP

Microphones

WIP

Bluetooth and WiFi

WIP

LCD Panel

WIP

Software and OS Image Downloads

Pinebook Pro

Under 'Pinebook Pro Software and OS Image Download Section' you will find a complete list of currently supported Operating System images that work with the Pinebook as well as other related software.

The list includes OS images and descriptions of:

Quick Links to OS Images Build Sources

Some of the provided OS images are still in beta or nightly build and only fit for testing purposes. These images ought to be avoided for normal usage - use them at your own risk

Pinebook Service Step-by-Step Guides

Placeholder for Pinebook Pro specific guides

Under 'Service Guides for Pinebook' you can find instructions guides concerning disassembly of:

Note: The installation process on Pinebook Pro similar to 14" Pinebook

Note: The installation process is the reverse order of removal guide

  • 14″ Pinebook Lithium Battery Pack Removal Guide
  • 14″ Pinebook LCD Panel Screen Removal Guide
  • 14″ Pinebook eMMC Module Removal Guide

Pinebook Pro Information

  • Dimensions: 329mm x 220mm x 12mm (WxDxH)
  • Weight: 1.26Kg
  • Input Power: DC 5V @ 3A 3.5mm OD/ 1.35mm ID Barrel jack or USB-C 15W PD quickcharge

SoC and Memory Specification

Rockchip RK3399.png
  • Based on Rockchip RK3399

CPU Architecture

  • big.LITTLE architecture: Dual Cortex-A72 + Quad Cortex-A53, 64-bit CPU
    • Full implementation of the ARM architecture v8-A instruction set (both AArch64 and AArch32)
    • ARM Neon Advanced SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) support for accelerated media and signal processing computation
    • ARMv8 Cryptography Extensions
    • VFPv4 floating point unit supporting single and double-precision operations
    • Hardware virtualization support
    • TrustZone technology support
    • Full CoreSight debug solution
    • One isolated voltage domain to support DVFS
  • Cortex-A72 (big cluster):
  • Cortex-A53 (little cluster):
    • Quad-core Cortex-A53 up to 1.5GHz CPU
    • In-order pipeline with symmetric dual-issue of most instructions
    • L1 cache 32KB Icache and 32KB Dcache for each A53
    • L2 cache 512KB for little cluster

GPU Architecture

  • ARM Mali-T860MP4 Quad-core GPU
  • The highest performance GPUs built on Arm Mali’s famous Midgard architecture, the Mali-T860 GPU is designed for complex graphics use cases and provide stunning visuals for UHD content.
  • Frequency 650MHz
  • Throughput 1300Mtri/s, 10.4Gpix/s
  • OpenGL® ES 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 3.1, 3.2., Vulkan 1.0*., OpenCL™ 1.1, 1.2., DirectX® 11 FL11_1., RenderScript™.

System Memory

  • LPDDR4 RAM Memory Variants: Dual Channels 4GB.
  • Storage Memory:
    • 64GB eMMC module, can be upgrade to 128GB eMMC module. The initial PINE64 community build version comes with 128GB eMMC configuration
    • 128Mb (16MB) built-in SPI Flash memory

Battery

  • Lithium Polymer Battery (10,000mAH)

Display

  • 14.1" 1920x1080 IPS LCD panel

Video

  • USB-C Alt model DP up to 3840x2160p60

Audio

  • 3.5mm stereo earphone/microphone plug
  • Build in stereo speaker

Network

  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac with Bluetooth 5.0

Expansion Ports

  • microSD - bootable, support SDHC and SDXC, storage up to 256GB
  • USB ports:
    • 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A Host Port
    • 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A Host Port
    • 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C OTG Port, (includes laptop charging function)
  • Optional NVMe adapter:
    • PCIe 2.x, 5GT/s per lane
    • 4 PCIe lanes
    • Maximum length for M.2 card is 80mm
    • Does not support SATA M.2 cards
    • Does not support USB M.2 cards
  • earphone plug with UART console mux circuit

Pinebook Pro Schematics and Certifications

  • Pinebook Pro Certifications:
    • Not Yet Available

Datasheets for Components and Peripherals

Other Resources

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