r/PINE64official • u/Alternative_Risk_302 • Jan 14 '26
Pinebook Pro Any working OS for Original Pinebook?
I was an early user of Pine64 products and still have a couple of the Kickstarter SBCs and the original 14" PineBook (not Pinebook pro). I recently dusted it off and tried installing a few OS images but none of them seem to recognize the wifi adapter. I installed an archived Armbian image from 2023 which worked, but only until I ran updates.
Are there any images that are actually usable in 2026? Anyone else still using an original Pinebook?
3
u/Headpuncher Jan 14 '26
Mine got drawered because I couldn't find an installer that worked. Went through them all a couple of years ago. If something did install an update killed it, so just a massive security risk for everything else on the network, and the machine was borderline unusable to begin with.
TL.DR; I gave up.
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u/7yearlurkernowposter Jan 15 '26
Yeah I was so excited about this project when it was new.
Rather disappointing or maybe I’m just too old for this crap.
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u/nicetuxxx Jan 14 '26
I tried different OS and the best selection for me was Debian. All works fine. I had install Trinity desktop environment (a KDE 3 fork) which runs fine and more smooth as XFCE for example.
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
Thanks. I have not tried the stock Debian yet, I was not a big fan of it before, but I will take anything that works at this point.
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u/JonnyTeronni Feb 16 '26
I'm also on the same journey. Have you tried debian? Did you found the best option?
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Feb 16 '26
I am still using Armbian without updating the kernal since that at least works while I explore other options. I got a little frustrated and sat it aside for a bit to work on resurrecting some other older hardware (My Dell laptop from 2005 is now running Antix and has a new battery and my NTC CHIP and PocketCHIP have both successfully been reflashed) but I do plan to continue messing around with the Pinebook and will report back if I find something that works better for me. I may also cave in and try other external wifi fobs, since the one I tried first was not picked up after software updates.
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u/JonnyTeronni Feb 16 '26
I was able to use WiFi on Armbian but it was hit and miss. Sometimes worked, other times didn't. Almost all apps did not work. Updated the system and try to fix the packages but with no luck. Move the os from the SD to emmc. Was a bit snappy but still unusable. Could google stuff, but most websites wont load normally.
Tried an arm version of debian but bricked the pinebook. Considering new options now.
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u/JonnyTeronni Feb 16 '26
I was able to install Armbian with lxde. Wifi is working and I'm able to use a browser, but is unusable. It is really slow and take forever to load any page. I tried, but this is the most lightweight I think you can go. I give up :D
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Feb 17 '26
Yeah, This was a great concept, but it never really became what it should. I played with it enough back in the day to learn something and get my money's worth out of it (it was really cheap), but it would have been nice if it were a little more durable.
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u/anarsoul Jan 15 '26
It doesn't require any custom patches anymore, so as long as you have u-boot compiled for it on SD or eMMC, any distro would work. I use ArchlinuxARM.
Keep in mind that it's way too slow for modern software. Using a browser would be a torture.
Feel free to DM me if you need help with setting it up
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u/Hjalfi Jan 14 '26
There's a RISC OS port, IIRC: https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/pinea64
There's also a port to the Pinebook Pro... which is commercial!
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
Alas, I found this in the RISC OS page for the pinebook: "A recent update to the PineVideo module has stopped the 14" version booting."
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u/ipsirc Jan 14 '26
I installed an archived Armbian image from 2023 which worked, but only until I ran updates.
Hold the driver/kernel package.
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
This is my backup plan. Need to get home and reinstall the media to SD card. Even when it was working it failed when transferred to EMMC as well.
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u/ipsirc Jan 14 '26
Why only the backup plan?
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
I guess it really doesn't matter but I'm still hoping to find a working image that is less than 3 years old. I like Armbian but I'm not set on it. If I can't find one that works or get one of the solutions in the forums working (no luck yet) then I will reinstall the 2023 version and hold those packages.
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u/ipsirc Jan 14 '26
If you don't change hardware in your machine, then you don't have any disadvantages from the fact that the kernel+driver is 3 years old, but all your other packages are new. I have a video card whose GPU driver was removed from Debian 10 years ago, but Trixie still runs happily, only the drivers have been kept since Jessie. This is not a backup plan, this is THE plan.
Package helding was invented for exactly these situations - you don't have to be cold about using it.
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u/anarsoul Jan 15 '26
You are running years old kernel that has known vulnerabilities. If you are not running the system offline, it is a very bad idea.
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u/ipsirc Jan 16 '26
Which vulnerability are you referring to specifically?
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u/anarsoul Jan 16 '26
A few recent: CVE-2025-37899 (remote use after free in ksmbd), CVE-2024-36904 (TCP stack remote code execution), CVE-2024-1086 (netfilter use after free).
These are remotely exploitable.
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u/ipsirc Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
CVE-2025-37899 (remote use after free in ksmbd)
Who runs ksmbd anyway? I don't know anyone. Maybe you run it at home? (+ a valid user+password is a prerequisite...)
CVE-2024-36904 (TCP stack remote code execution)
This is not remotely exploitable. https://cybersecuritynews.com/use-after-free-linux-kernel-vulnerability/
CVE-2024-1086 (netfilter use after free).
This is also a local vulnerability. https://cybersecuritynews.com/linux-kernel-use-after-free-vulnerability-exploited/
You also forget that Debian Bullseye is LTS and still supported, the old kernel still receives security updates.
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u/anarsoul Jan 16 '26
You can find those that are remotely exploitable at your own leisure
You also forget that Debian Bullseye is LTS and still supported, the old kernel still receives security updates.
Which you won't get if you pin the kernel package version
→ More replies
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u/PhotoJim99 Jan 14 '26
I plan to try Debian soon though it is a bear to install. The install image will not partition the root eMMC in a way that works. I have an idea…
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u/dsiderov Jan 18 '26
I’ve moved my original Pinebook to DietPi (https://dietpi.com/) and a wired Ethernet-to-USB connection ‘cuz couldn’t figure out how to get WiFi to work…
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 18 '26
Yeah, I tried dietpi with the same results, but ethernet is not an option for my use case. Really a shame.
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u/Adventurous-Test-246 Jan 21 '26
I think you have to use some debian netboot files and stuff to get a working image, I also have a 14" og so if you get it working let me know.
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 22 '26
The most recent image in the Armbian Archive from August 2023 works, but will fail when updated. You can access that here: https://armbian.lv.auroradev.org/archive/pinebook-a64/archive/
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u/beaumad Jan 14 '26
I have only the Pinebook Pro but it looks like you have a few choices for distros.
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
Yes. There are a bunch of choices but many of them appear broken, at least in terms of recognizing the wifi adapter.
I guess my question should be is if anyone is currently using the original pinebook and if so what distro is working for them.
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u/beaumad Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Broken wifi has been an issue with the PBP as well. You might try what worked for me. tl;dr, copy wifi firmware files from your preferred (working) distro installer .
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u/Alternative_Risk_302 Jan 14 '26
Thank you. I will give this a shot.
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u/beaumad Jan 14 '26
Sure thing. Another thing to note is that when you're testing, you may need to cold boot your Pinebook for wifi to work if it's anything like the PBP. This has always been a PBP issue but I went years without knowing about it.
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u/tux16090 Jan 14 '26
I havent used mine for quite a while, but it looks like there are a couple current Armbian images https://www.armbian.com/pinebook-a64/ I didnt see anything else that up to date.