[MyL5] L5 first impressions

Hardware Librem 5
1

L5 arrived todays and I tried it out. I have actually been using Mobian on a Pinephone so I knew what to expect UI wise. First impressions though:

  • Nice box, no handwritten cards by Todd anymore :). (but a quickstart guide on heavy paper)

    1. Thought taking it out of the box. “That thing is massive!”
    1. Compared to the Pinephone: “That thing is FAST”

  • The headphones delivered with it are actually decent (on a first glance).

  • with plugged in headphones, phone ringing only comes out of the headphones, not the speakers (it vibrates though)

  • Wifi worked well but slow (estimated avg 200kb/s download of a big file, going up and down a lot, with 420kb/s max). My router claims: 2,4 GHz (81 Mbit/s - 135 Mbit/s)

  • but then you have a phone with “wget” preinstalled :slight_smile:

  • Calling worked, sound quality good. Outgoing Microphone seems not very loud.

  • The BASEUS dock works well with it, I can plug in a keyboard and it charges with 5V 2A, have not tested external HDMI.The phone is so thick that it just about fits into the slots and stands rather upright in there.

  • charging is a bit finicky, it took a few tries (turning cables), switching chargers, rebooting with and without USB plugged in. Need to investigate closer under which conditions it reliably charges.

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2

Try experimenting with the various volume controls in Settings. (And the volume buttons, of course.) :slightly_smiling_face:

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The quick start guide and user docs are also installable on your Librem 5, by installing the packages; librem5-quick-start-viewer , librem5-user-docs

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Manual is also here, for those who don’t know:
https://docs.puri.sm/Librem_5.html

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I want to add this to the wiki. Are you talking about this dock? Can you provide the USB number? (use the lsusb command to get it.)

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@amosbatto: It’s already on the list at https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/firmware-tps6598x-nonfree/-/blob/master/dp-alt-mode-adapters.org

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Compared to the Pinephone: “That thing is FAST”

This is what I’m looking forward to, thanks for sharing!

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Hmm, the table you refer to, mentions “firmware versions”. Does anyone know how to check or change these?

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@dort: it’s all described in the repository’s README file

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Says cat /sys/kernel/debug/tps6598x/0-003f/customer_use

which for me gives 0x4c35445000000101

i.e. L5DP 0x00 00 01 01

Should that be interpreted as 0.1.1 for the purposes of that table?

(and probably means that I should be updating my firmware?)

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I have 0x4c35445000000200, here, which could be 0.2.0 by this reading.

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@spaetz: What carrier/MVNO are you using, and do you have solid voice, text, and data? Can you update the Wiki: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Cellular-Providers

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One more thing, I plugged in a random USB-C to HDMI adaptor and it worked out of the box. Unfortunately, it is no touchscreen, so I cannot press those … well visible … keys :).

screenshot
screenshot450×600 39.2 KB

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@spaetz. You might make something wrong. I’ve seen more or less proper convergence with the pinephone. I only tested to drag the settings dialog from the librem5 phone’s display onto the monitor, where it appears as a regular window, but it should all work likely well. Try to plug in a keyboard and mouse to your dock. Check Settings > Devices > Displays on the phone. The settings has a few confusing options, whether the phosh is to be shown on the phones display or the monitor. Hope it helps …

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Ohh, there was no dock involved, so I had no keyboard or mouse available. It was a simply USBC->HDMI adaptor. I simply plugged it in and did not configure anything and had to laugh. I am well aware that it will work nicely with keyboard/mouse and a real dock (which I have).

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17

hi @spaetz i see you have “umlaute” on your phone. What german you have choosen?
i cant find them on my L5
thanks

18

Do you mean on the keyboard?

Which input methods did you enable? Is your L5 software up to date?

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To be honest, I can’t replicate that keyboard layout. It is neither the German one nor the terminal layout. Good catch.

20

problem solved now the “right” german

21

Likely the “wide” German layout. Turn the phone sideways.

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