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HPR4402: pinetab2

Hosted by Brian in Ohio on 2025-06-17 01:00:00
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1 intro

  • hpr 4346 swift 110

2 prior tablet

  • samsung tablet
  • lineageos

3 my use case

  • reading pdfs/epubs
  • using emacs
  • forth developement on microcontrollers, serial port access was a challenge

4 my not use case

  • video media consumption
  • audio consumption

5 pinetab2

  • tablet based on rockchip rk3566
  • 4 gig and 8 gig models
  • community driven developement

6 impressions

  • kids love rolling releases and glitzy desktops
  • this device needs minimum everything to be useful
  • stuck with arch
  • stuck with systemd
  • wayland

7 so what i did

  • installed x11, better, mature system, virtual keyboards
  • installed fluxbox, low system resources needed. lots of customization done by config files, yes suckless is no good
  • installed emacs-lucid (gtk no good), why you ask?
  • emacs is a lisp environment focused on text editing
  • emacs has mechanisms that allow intereaction with X
  • easy to build functions to get basic tablet motions
  • epub modes, pdf modes, terminal emulator , org mode!
  • installed xvkbd for virtual keyboard in tablet mode
  • installed xpdf
  • all programs in factory arch install available

8 where this is at

  • functions ok
  • laptop mode is nice, keyboard case works well
  • tablet rotation is done via emacs commands (need to bind these to keys) and has three modes
  • tablet mode with virtual keyboard
  • tablet mode with external key board (full screen portrait mode)
  • tablet mode using keyboard case, book mode
  • still suffer random crashes, still tracking that down
  • good battery life (battery status available on emacs modeline)
  • wifi works, bluetooth doesn't
  • easy access to serial ports using standard tools

9 what i'd like to do

  • install slackware
  • spify up the desktop
  • add functionality things like brightness control

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