I recently received my #pine64 #pinetabv. Going to make a couple of videos on it. I want to publish a tutorial for batch 1 owners on flashing the new test firmware as it requires a new uboot image to be flashed onto the SPI chip.

One major thing I've noticed is that the SOC is highly dependent on the GPU. It cannot handle rendering using software as the CPU is very weak. It is very usable when the desktop is accelerated, web browsing is snappy.

I didn't manage to get the cameras to work, I noticed that there are some cobbled together scripts to get them to work, but that was unsuccessful. I did get display out to work fine though, as seen in the image.

My Gentoo PinePhone(Pro) overlay has been updated. It now features Megapixels 2 Alpha 1 and Phosh 46 im not 100% sure I can upate to phosh 47 when it will release, due to the fact that gnome on gentoo is always abit behind. I will keep you all updated on it.

I've updated the Pine64 Wiki with the up-to-date overlay and documentation locations. https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro_Software_Releases#Gentoo.
I would stongly recommend using the binaryhost since it recudes the compile time on the PinePhonePro. The binaryhost is PinePhonePro Only since lets be real using a normal PinePhone with Gentoo is not really realistic. The Binaryhost is updating to Python 3.13.

Tempted to buy a #Pine64 #PineNote... if only it had a keyboard case option.
Tempted to buy a Pine64 #PineTab 2... if only it had an EMR pen option.

XD

Update on shipping to the US

The PineStore have just set up a special shipping arrangement for US customers. This is done in bulk and will cost customers more, in turn the shipping will be quicker.

Please note that we can't guarantee whether you'll have to pay any extra tax at the border. There is also a 100 USD total cart value limit, this is due to risk as the PineStore are using a flat charge for the shipping method.

Spend the afternoon debugging my personal application after upgrading to #Java24. It would not start on my #PINE64 (#AARCH64 #ARM) . But it worked on my machine (yeah I know). Seems that the latest #openjdk builds are broken on that architecture. I initially thought that Java 24 changes to much it broke but it is the latest patch. It now runs smoothly on 21.0.6. Too bad I can't file a #bug somewhere. It has to do with #classloading. #java #developers #tenmurin

Important update for US customers.

The PinePhone, PineTab, and Pinenote are still able to ship from Hong Kong. However, all shipments from China are already suspended due to our shipping service no longer accepting packages.

The effect of the US tariffs start on May 2nd when shipments reach US customs. So please be aware that even if you place an order before May 2nd that it is possible (and likely if ordered close to the date) to be charged the extra tariff fee on top.

Thank You.

Our bridge bots have been unbanned and whitelisted, it turns out this was due to spam coming through the matrix bridge.

We are going to make some changes to help mitigate spam.

Thank you to the Matrix team for helping us out.

Quick heads up, our bridge bots on the Matrix side are continuing to get banned for an unknown reason. Therefore some channels on Matrix are no longer bridging.

IRC, Discord and Telegram remain unaffected, we will continue looking into possible solutions for the time being.

Happy April (no fools this year)!

Another community update is here. This month we report on the return of the PineTab-V, the release of our micro soldering tip set, the imminent release of the StarPro64 SBC and software improvements to the PineTab 2 and PineNote.

And Charlie the Pinecorn returns for April too .

#pine64

https://pine64.org/2025/04/13/april_2025/

Unfortunately, cameractrl can't control the focus or exposure at all on the original #PINE64 #PinePhone. The resulting image is blurry.

Tested the latest #GNOME #Snapshot on #postmarketOS on my #PINE64 #PinePhonePro! It's been a while since I revisited the PinePhonePro but with cameras and camera utilities coming a long way on newer devices I wanted to revisit #libcamera on the PinePhones. I installed @NekoCWD's cameractrl and it successfully controls focus, but the PPP camera seems to have autoexposure that reduces the utility of cameractrl's exposure slider. Anyways, here's a picture of some other postmarketOS devices.

This week's Linux and FOSS news:

LINUX NEWS

GNOME 48 "Bengaluru" released with dynamic triple buffering to boost the performance on low-end GPUs, Wayland color management protocol support, new Adwaita fonts, HDR (High Dynamic Range) support, new Wellbeing feature with screen time tracking, new Display Control utility, new windows centered by default, OSD notifications for headphone connections, new Papers app as the default document viewer, notifications grouped by apps, improvements to Nautilus and Software, Loupe got image editing support etc.:
https://9to5linux.com/gnome-48-bengaluru-desktop-environment-officially-released-this-is-whats-new

Serpent OS changes name to AerynOS, because of "serpent" having a negative association:
https://9to5linux.com/ikey-dohertys-serpent-os-changes-name-to-aerynos
(Instead of a "negative" name, now it has a name that's hard to spell correctly, judging from how many people spell Python incorrectly lol)

Fedora 42 Beta available with new KDE edition (not spin anymore!), COSMIC spin, refreshed Anaconda installer, DNF5 improvements etc.:
https://betanews.com/2025/03/18/fedora-linux-42-beta-asahi-kde-cosmic-new-features/

Kali Linux 2025.1 released with Xfce 4.20, KDE Plasma 6.2, refreshed theme, new keyboard shortcuts, kernel update, new partition layout etc.:
https://9to5linux.com/kali-linux-2025-1-ethical-hacking-distro-is-here-with-xfce-4-20-refreshed-theme

Lead developer of the Dash to Panel GNOME extension quits due to drama around the animated heart icon with a donation message:
https://news.itsfoss.com/dash-to-panel-drama/
(Linux isn't Linux without a drama each week...)

PINE64 RISC-V tablet (PineTab-V) gets new Debian-based distro, new accelerometer, a fix for a slow charging issue, an LED status indicator light, and a unique identifier for the PineTab-V in the EEPROM:
https://news.itsfoss.com/pinetab-v-upgrade/

(FOSS news in comment)

https://files.hrdl.eu/pn_2025-03-20_sway_hints.mp4
Reposting this video here from community member Hrdl.

This video demos the improved display controller driver for the #pine64 #PineNote, which means goodbye to artifacting and welcome to automatic redrawing on a per pixel basis. As seen in the video, the display runs at a higher (and stable) 84Hz refresh rate than the stock 80Hz thanks to some tuning.

You can find the work Hrdl has been doing here: https://git.sr.ht/~hrdl/linux

The PineTab2 I ordered from Pine64 arrived yesterday .
I am highly impressed and recommend!
Not bad at all for $242.99 delivered.
https://pine64.org/
#Pine64 #pinetab2

767 app updates in Arch BTW.
#ArchLinux

Pine64's RISC-V tablet now ships with a Debian-based Linux and improved hardware: https://liliputing.com/pine64s-risc-v-tablet-now-ships-with-a-debian-based-linux-distro-and-improved-hardware/
#linux #update #release #hardware #pine64 #tablet #riscv