Pinephone/Pinephone Pro+Mobian+free software only
I have just seen Mobian has main and non-free repositories.
So I wonder if somebody tried installing that system, booting, changing non-free repos to main, installing vrms package and afterwards deleting non-free stuff. Finally trying to boot again.
If that works, it could be really interesting, al least for me.
Maybe, wireless connection could be achieved with a USB OTG plus an Atheros wifi card like Replicant does.
Greetings.
I am a translator!
I just tried on the pinephone.
vrms said there were two non-free packages installed:
- firmware-realtek-rtl8723cs-bt, described as "Bluetooth firmaware for Realtek RTL9723CS"
- firmware-ov5640, described as "binary firmware for the OV5640 sensor driver"
I removed the first one, this also removed "pinephone-support".
I removed the second one, then I could not type anything in the terminal. I managed to open another terminal and type "sudo reboot".
It boots but when on the lock screen (you get there sometimes after entering the cryptsetup password), on unlock the screen remains as if locked and does not respond to touch anymore. Pressing the power button returns to a functional lock screen, but I can't unlock.
So not usable. Not sure why nothing appears for wifi. I will think later what to do next with this device (reinstall mobian or something else). I don't actually use it anyway.
Thank you so much for your time trying that.
It was a pity, anyway
One interesting development is that there is now a community-developed firmware for the Pinephone modem. While it is not completely free, everything running in the userspace is free, so this significantly reduces the amount of proprietary software running on a Pinephone.
Oh really? How do you find this project online?