Some old , same old. Phone on Fritz Again

[Privacy2]

@irvinewade

So, what I was hinting is that you could reflash again but this time flash crimson - which @FranklyFlawless may be best able to guide you to achieve (since I am still running byzantium).

crimson is based on a later release of the underlying Debian distro code base, and should contain some bugfixes which were long ago addressed in Debian but which therefore have not been addressed in PureOS (at least not on the Librem 5).

IMO: She would just be swapping one set of bugs for another.

[irvinewade]

You aren’t running crimson though, whereas Frankly is (my recollection). So better that he comments in favour or otherwise.

[FranklyFlawless]

Since following @Sharon’s various topics/posts, my conclusion is that their Librem 5 issues are somehow unable to be fully addressed, even after reflashing it with Byzantium and sending it in to Purism support. Therefore, I see two options left:

1. Reflash with Crimson.
2. Get a new Liberty Phone with anti-interdiction.

I do not think reflashing Byzantium again will accomplish much in this particular case. There is a high probability that replacing this Librem 5 with a new device will resolve these various issues, and the Liberty Phone with anti-interdiction will provide some insight as to whether or not it is a worthy target. At the moment, I consider @Sharon’s Librem 5 fully compromised and marked as untrusted.

[amarok]

Apart from the bug that’s the topic of this thread, which many of us are also experiencing from time to time, Sharon has had a unique set of issues with her L5, leading to lots of frustration.

I question whether flashing Crimson, which the devs have already said is not ready, will result in satisfaction. But then, I haven’t used it myself, so I could be wrong.

In any case, it’s easy to reflash Byzantium if Crimson doesn’t work out.

[irvinewade]

@amarok

But then, I haven’t used it myself

And neither have I, which is why I tagged Frankly. He could comment on whether he has ever experienced hang-on-shutdown with crimson and, if so, at what approximate rate. He could comment on how ready crimson is.

As far as reflashing byzantium goes, I think it is stated above that the problems started happening after an update - which could mean that reflashing from the original disk image (if kept - I certainly do) would make the problem go away but it would come back later on after updates are applied. So while that would narrow down the problem, and help to troubleshoot it, it would not lead to an ultimately successful outcome.

As you say, it actually only takes a few minutes to reflash either way, provided that nothing goes wrong with the reflash.

[FranklyFlawless]

I do not share any issues with @Sharon on either Byzantium or Crimson, but my use cases dramatically differ from them. Most of the time, I use Firefox ESR, Secrets, Lollypop, and Shortwave, while fetching SMS every 8-48 hours when appropriate, otherwise I am constantly in Lockdown Mode. I prefer asynchronous communication, so I never initiate or respond to calls on the Librem 5, nor do I use Bluetooth. While Crimson might be acceptable for me, I cannot provide any guarantee whether it will be appropriate for anyone else.

[Sharon]

@FranklyFlawless

Therefore, I see two options left:

1. Reflash with Crimson.

I stopped being a beta tester eons ago.

@FranklyFlawless

Get a new Liberty Phone with anti-.

The phone has not been interdictionized. If it were if would have to be in the kernel. or hardware and Puri support had it long enough to detect that.

Any way, I already pointed out why I would not buy anything else from Puri at this time. Also, I think I’d just be buying in to the same problems. Trust is earned.
~s

[FranklyFlawless]

Okay, well the only half-baked suggestion I have left is buying a used Librem 5 from a previous owner, but that can carry its own set of problems that would be difficult to reverse the decision.

[Sharon]

@FranklyFlawless

Okay, well the only half-baked suggestion I have left is

Yes. I have that suggestion as well as blowing $2k on a Liberty phone with anti-interdiction.
I have 2 fully baked suggestions.

1. Fix Byzantium before creating another digital monster.
   
   
2. Swap this possessed, old and decrepit device from nightmares for a phone that isn't made with antique fork(?), parts and over-tweaked kernel.

I know I'll never be able to get a replacement. But it's clear that this is a device with old hardware that needed tweaking to be passable - but like soup, too many cooks tweaks spoil the broth device.

Too bad there ins’t a list of the what-ever-they-are things like Amber, Fir, Evergreen, Byzantium… etcetera. Are they “forks”, OS.
I tried to find a history but alas I couldn’t any after 40 minutes of reading and chasing down links.

~s

[carlosgonz]

@Sharon

old hardware

It is not old, as it has a fancy AV1 video decode support via NEON via Libdav1d on Gnu Crimson.

• Also i have plan to develop a: GPL v3 Libsuperheavy to Boost Gnu Apps on Librem 5.

[ASwyD2]

@Sharon

Too bad there ins’t a list of the what-ever-they-are things like Amber, Fir, Evergreen, Byzantium… etcetera. Are they “forks”, OS.

Amber, Byzantium, Crimson, and Dawn are colors. They are code names for the PureOS version.
A-(I forgot the first name), Birch, Chestnut, Dogwood, Evergreen, and Fir are trees. They are code names for the different Hardware versions of the Librem 5 device specifically.
Most of the Librem5s in use today are Evergreen with PureOS Byzantium. Does this make sense?
*
*
Caveat: @anyone Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

[amarok]

@ASwyD2

A-(I forgot the first name)

Aspen.

@Sharon

Fix Byzantium before creating another digital monster.

What if Crimson is the fix?

Derivative Linux distros need to keep up with the distribution they’re based on, i.e. DebianOS > PureOS, or else they run the risk of missing important security updates, package fixes, or system changes.

@Sharon

a phone that isn’t made with antique fork(?), parts and over-tweaked kernel.

There are very specific reasons the particular components for the Librem 5 were chosen by Purism. This community FAQ provides a lot of the background info, especially this section.

The Linux kernel is “tweaked” out of necessity to run the hardware and the applications.

@Sharon

Too bad there ins’t a list of the what-ever-they-are things like Amber, Fir, Evergreen, Byzantium… etcetera. Are they “forks”, OS.
I tried to find a history but alas I couldn’t any after 40 minutes of reading and chasing down links.

Time to flash is now - but how?

“Evergreen” is the current production version of the Librem 5 (hardware). “Amber” and “Byzantium” (and soon “Crimson”) are iterations of the operating system. The flashing process is precisely to replace the operating system, either to go from an earlier to later version, or to reflash the existing version. EDIT: Notice the theme: a - b - c. Amber - Byzantium - Crimson (names of somewhat exotic colors in the art world) Birch - Chestnut - Dogwood - Evergreen - and someday, Fir (names of tree…

6.1. What are the Aspen, Birch, Chestnut, Dogwood, Evergreen and Fir batches?

Frequently Asked Questions · Wiki · Librem5 / Librem 5 Community Wiki · GitLab

[FranklyFlawless]

If you have the interest and resources to do so, you could attempt to fix Byzantium yourself, as PureOS is gratis and libre open-source software. Otherwise, the PinePhone Pro is another suggestion I mentioned in a different topic using different hardware, but it does not have an OpenPGP card slot.

[irvinewade]

@Sharon

I stopped being a beta tester eons ago.

And that’s fine. But that then comes back to one of my original suggestions: wait for crimson

That way, other people are the guinea pigs - and you will be able to assess from the forum chatter how well crimson is working for people - and when you think that the general consensus is that crimson is solid, you can upgrade. (May not need a reflash - but we will have to wait and see on what the upgrade path from byzantium to crimson looks like i.e. reflash v. in place upgrade.)

[Poseidon]

@Sharon

WT do I need to do so I don’t have to power off the hard way? Because the right way doesn’t work any more and causes .

Buy a Fairphone 5 from Murena shop that has /e operating system on it. You will die of old age before this thing becomes usable.

[Sharon]

@Poseidon

Buy a Fairphone 5 from Murena shop that has /e operating system on it. You will die of old age before this thing becomes usable.

   
But I AM old age.

The link sound great, and even have a superior camera but don’t toot the privacy part as much as L5 ads show. Too, the Murena store says “This product is not available for your country” (Canada).
And budget says ‘Never buy another cell phone again’.

I wished they shipped the phone with invoice and I could say ‘wait - I’m working on getting your money to you - just behind due to having no money.
I’ve had 3 people not pay me, am raising funds to raise a payment, experiencing block chain issues, and have half the income I had before’.

Thanks for the tip,
~s

[amarok]

@Poseidon

Buy a Fairphone 5 from Murena shop that has /e operating system on it.

Just want to interject here, that /e/OS, iodéOS, etc., can be easily installed by the user, usually, as long as the phone has a current custom OS image available. So, it’s not necessary to buy a Fairphone with the OS already installed. The user can install a (mostly-)degoogled OS for free on a cheap, even used phone if its model number matches a custom ROM built for it.

Installing a custom Android ROM might seem daunting, but it’s not that hard, really. (With a compatible phone, that is.)

The process is somewhat similar to flashing the L5.