Releases
This page contains a list of all available releases and tools for the PineTab2 in alphabetical order.
Factory releases
The PineTab2 ships with Danctnix Arch Linux ARM. The latest factory image can be found here:
| The factory image is flashed to a microSD card and it will overwrite the eMMC installation after booting. |
Older versions
| Older versions ship without Wi-Fi drivers. See below under Arch Linux ARM how to fix it |
Linux
Arch Linux ARM
(Unofficial) Arch Linux ARM maintained by the DanctNIX community (GitHub: danctnix, dreemurrs-embedded).
Download
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
Notes
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Bluetooth drivers were not available at launch. These have been added later on, but were disabled by default, since kernel 6.6.13-danctnix1. The wifi driver is enabled by default since kernel 6.9.2-danctnix1.
The latest factory image (20240625) ships with a kernel which has Wi-Fi drivers enabled by default.
The factory image 20240307 ships with a kernel which has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers, but they are disabled by default.
The oldest factory image (20230527) ships with a kernel which has no Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers.
If Wi-Fi is not working for you, verify your current kernel version with this command:
$ uname -a
Depending on the version reported, youāll either need to do the following:
If on a kernel version older than 6.6.13-danctnix1:
Connect a supported USB wifi dongle and update your system, or reflash the latest factory image (see link above)
If on a kernel version between 6.6.13 and 6.9.2:
Enable the driver manually once, and then update your system:
$ sudo modprobe bes2600 # You can now connect to wifi. $ sudo pacman -Syu > sudo reboot
Bluetooth
The following information may not work with the latest kernel (version 6.9)
Bluetooth is still disabled by default, because the drivers are unstable.
Make sure your kernel is version 6.6.13 or newer.
Run the following commands to enable Bluetooth for a single session (until the next time you reboot your PineTab) (source):
$ sudo pacman -S bluez-deprecated-tools > sudo -i > echo ifname:bt cmd:BT_ON > /dev/bes2600 > rfkill unblock bluetooth > hciattach -s 1500000 /dev/ttyS1 any 1500000 flow nosleep > hciconfig hci0 up > exit > sudo systemctl enable bluetooth
Other issues
HP/Speaker switching via Alsa UCM - Unsure if this is fixed or not
Buildroot
Buildroot is a simple, efficient and easy-to-use tool to generate embedded Linux systems through cross-compilation.
An external tree for the PINE64 PineTab2 is developed and maintained by Danct12 (same developer behind the PineTab2 port of Arch Linux ARM).
LuneOS
LuneOS is one of the original multi-tasking OS-es that runs on Linux. Based on HP/Palmās webOS, merged with latest technology stack from LG called webOS OSE (a derivative of what LG uses on their Smart TVās), software such as Qt6, Maliit, PulseAudio, Wayland and makes use of the Yocto build system.
Download
| U-Boot is required to boot the images. If you have the factory image installed and updated to the latest version, you can boot Mobian from an SD card without installing U-Boot. |
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
Notes
The development is work in progress, but all hardware thatās supported by the kernel should work (WiFi/BT included). Cameraās arenāt working, similar to all other distros due to lack of drivers.
In order to connect to the device using SSH/SCP, you simply can connect to the deviceās IP address on port 5522.
Teams can be reached via Telegram or Libera IRC #webos-ports
Mobian
An unofficial Debian build for ARM64 running with Phosh. The current version of the base Debian system is Debian Bookworm. See the installation instructions here. If you have questions about Mobian, please ask them in the Mobian Matrix room.
Download
| U-Boot is required to boot the images. If you have the factory image installed and updated to the latest version, you can boot Mobian from an SD card without installing U-Boot. |
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
Notes
The development is work in progress. Mobianās support for the PineTab2 is maintained by Julian. The Mobian wiki can be found here.
In order to connect to the device using SSH/SCP, you need to install SSH on the device. You can do this by executing the following in a shell: "sudo apt-get install ssh", afterwards you can connect via SSH/SCP using the PineTab2ās IP address on port 22.
When installing Mobian with full disk encryption and booting with the keyboard case connected, you will have to touch the screen or press a key to show the decryption screen. This is an upstream issue.
NixOS
NixOS is an immutable Linux distribution built around the Nix configuration language. The NixOS image for PineTab2 uses some downstream modifications to packages, such as an U-Boot package based on 2023.07-rc4 and a kernel also used by the Arch Linux Arm image.
This image is extremely basic and currently boots to a console. A NixOS configuration can be applied after booting to gain a full graphical system.
Notes
After booting, enable networking (with wpa_supplicant, see https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/unstable/#sec-installation-manual-networking) and download (for example by entering nix-shell wget to get access to wget) this flake to the pinetab and place it at /etc/nixos/flake.nix:
Run the following commands:
$ sudo su > cd > nixos-rebuild switch > nixos-rebuild switch # yes, do it two times > reboot
After the first nixos-rebuild, you may need to reconnect to the network using nmtui.
After rebooting, there will be a new user account.
Note that booting can take a while, and does not show anything on the screen. After about 18 seconds the keyboard backlight turns on, then itās about 30 seconds until the first text appears on the screen, and another 10 seconds before the session manager shows up.
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
postmarketOS
postmarketOS extends Alpine Linux to run on smartphones and other mobile devices.
It offers various user interfaces (Phosh, Plasma Mobile, Sxmo, Plasma Desktop, Gnome 3, Kodi, XFCE4 and more). As of writing, this distro is currently in testing and no official releases are available for download. Instead, users will need to create their own image with the distributionās install and development tool pmbootstrap.
Download
Build the image with pmbootstrap and flash it to an SD.
Rhino Linux
Rhino Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution that uses the rolling-release model by tracking the devel branch of repositories. The port is currently maintained by Oren Klopfer (oklopfer).
The bootloader (u-boot) comes pre-flashed in the port. Installation just requires flashing the .img.xz to an SD or the eMMC.
Download
Rhino Linux Downloads (select Pine64 on the dropdown)
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
Ubuntu Touch
A Mobile Version of the Ubuntu Operating System made and maintained by the UBports Community. The port is currently maintained by Oren Klopfer (oklopfer).
The bootloader (u-boot) comes pre-flashed in the port. Installation just requires flashing the .img.xz to an SD or the eMMC.
Download
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user | Set during boot |
root |
|
Notes
Scroll down to the middle of the GitLab project page, or directly here at the UBports website to see which features work.
Contributions and bug reports can be made at the UBports PineTab2 GitLab page. See UBports website for how to donate.
Plasma Mobile on Debian
Images of Plasma Mobile on either Debian Bookworm or Debian Trixie created by dieselnutjob
The images include uboot, and are an SDcard installer (modified from the Danctnix OS Factory Tool). Using the installer wipes the eMMC drive.
Download
| Default credentials | |
|---|---|
Default user |
|
root |
|
Notes
The image will not autoexpand to the fill the eMMC, however once booted it is easy to adjust the size of the rootfs using the included KDE Partition Manager.
The PineTab2 may be reluctant to shutdown, with several minutes delay whilst the BES2600 wifi driver unloads. This can be avoided by turning off the wifi in the menu that can be pulled down from the top of the screen before shutting down or rebooting.
There is a video of the PineTab2 running one of these images here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xpSuG63Rck
The author may be contacted via the pinetab discord channel on the Pine64 discord.
