Sometimes just having a directory that is outside ~ and putting the documents in it will do the trick.
Sometimes advanced mount functionality can do the trick.
That might not help with building software though because you may not directly control what directories the build process uses. You would have to know where exactly the build was trying to put stuff. A āniceā build environment will be directory-independent i.e. put the sources anywhere you like, cd there, and build.
A different approach might be to use a cross-build environment i.e. build on your x86 desktop / laptop but for ARM.
Thanks for the tips, I will try some of them. I am using Gnome Builder and tried to use a folder on the SD card, but as you indicated, the build files are put somewhere phones internal storage. Didnāt know that I could build for ARM on my laptop. Is that so also with Gnome Builder?
Edit: Unfortunately I get an error trying to clone loupe to Builder on my laptop, will dig into that later.
Either symlinks or bind mounts would work. I use a bind mount in /etc/fstab for my own SDcard, but if you do it, be sure to add the nofail option (my full list of options are auto,bind,nofail) so that you wonāt get stuck at boot if there isnāt an sd card present.
For instance this is how I ensure my Documents directory is stored on my SD card:
@Kyle_Rankin I put in a beefy sd card of 128GB and mounted according to your instructions, just to realize I didnāt move the contents of my previous Documents folder to the sd card folder before mounting.
Do you keep the Documents folder etc. on the device and just empty them or what do you recommend?
EDIT: Just noticed that all of the mounts are write protected for the user purism, how can I change that?
It sounds like the SD card is still some form of fat32/ntfs/etc?
I recommend first just mounting /mnt/sda1, it should be formatted with a Linux-permissions-friendly file system (such as ext4) so you can set file permissions. Once it is mounted, create a Documents directory on it and set the permissions how you wish. Then move over the files from your ~/Documents/ directory to it. Then you can mount /home/purism/Documents and it should behave as expected.
I know itās typically bad form to revive a dead thread, but I felt like I should update this. Yesterday I decided to try out my Nexdock 360 after spending a few months on the X Mini. Since it had been so long it provided me a fresh perspective and means of comparison.
I have to say I think I prefer the Nexdock. In particular what is swaying me the most is two things:
screen quality
charging ability
While I prefer the X Miniās size, the screen is inferior in crispness and quality compared to the nexdock. Switching back made that abundantly clear. Secondly, the X Mini only provides 500mA charging, which means the Librem 5 slowly drains. This isnāt a big deal for home use, however if I were at a conference, one of the advantages of using a dock is that I would be extending my Librem 5 use because it would be charging the whole time.
Both have pros and cons, but at least for now I think I might switch back to my Nexdock 360 for awhile.
Another update. I decided to do a battery test in this Nexdock similar to the X Mini, because I noticed yesterday that it seemed like the battery drained pretty fast. Sure enough, I just had my Librem 5 docked and left it idle with a stopwatch running. After 50 minutes the Nexdock battery is at 50%. Of course my Librem 5 is still at 100% battery, but this points to less than 2 hours of use with cellular and wifi on.
Yes, based on the tests I ran before in this thread, it appears the X Mini lasts 5.5 hours when charging the L5, after which the L5 had 60% charge. Which I guess makes some sense, since it is only providing at maximum, half the current to the Librem 5 (500mA vs 1A), and the smaller screen likely also draws less power.
So this makes the choice between the two even less clear. For instance, right now Iām not entirely sure which I would prefer to take to a conference. Or, which I would prefer to use on an inter-continental flight.
I guess itās pretty case-by-case. Do you need a keyboard or mouse? Will you be away from an outlet for a while? How long will you need a bigger screen? etc.
If on a flight (which is the instance Iāve done recently myself) I wouldnāt want to pay for internet access, so I would bring the X Mini to watch movies or read. The conference would depend on if I wanted to take notes or just follow along on slides or something.
So I would say if you just want a bigger screen, use the X Mini. If you need something more laptop-y, use the Nexdock, though perhaps sparingly.
I would tend to agree with you I think. At least if I had to make the decision today, Iād probably use the Nexdock as my home laptop, and when traveling, the X Mini because the smaller footprint is better for travel, especially on those ever-shrinking coach seats on airplanes.
At a conference I donāt know. If Iām carrying a lapdock itās in a backpack and if so I tend to also have a 20,000mAh battery pack in there as well, that I can use to charge the Librem 5 independently. But then I could also use that 20,000mAh battery to extend the life of the NexDock significantly.
Depends on the nature of the conference. If itās a tech conference then the more equipment the better and, if you are desperate, the batteries in the two lapdocks together extend your total run-time (albeit I saw that you also mentioned your 20Ah battery pack).
This is a really good point. At conferences where I would find myself walking around wearing a backpack anyway, adding the X Mini to the backpack along with the Nexdock wouldnāt add all that much weight. This is one area where the lapdock model gives you much more flexibility than a traditional laptop, you can swap from one lapdock to the next without closing any applications. Try that with a pair of traditional laptops!.
About the only issue I have with the Mini X is the rigidity of the usb c to usb c cable that comes with it. It makes it awkward to position your phone and the dock. Does anyone know of a cable to that is more flexible and not so long? I mean I need 6in / 15cm cable and that is it. The phone is always being used as a second screen, and so I donāt need it to be long.
Iāve found this sort of cable to work well. Having a high quality cable seems to be important. The lower quality cables have a tendency to fail, causing flickering on the screen and other problems:
Thanks Kyle. I didnāt get that one because Amazon.de could get me something a bit faster. I have been using my L5 quite a bit lately with the Mini X and it has been an ideal situation for the most part!!!
My only real gripe about the Mini X is that it canāt be charged via USB C. Only the little barrel connector that comes with it. Which I canāt find at the moment.
But the Mini X has basically tuned my Librem 5 into the work break programming station. I am able to work on my side projects and it all works awesomely. Syncing things with Resilio Sync things are all synced up when I get home.
The only bummer is that the L5 cannot negotiate cell signals when close to the border here.
Still being able to have a pocket computer like the L5 enable this kind of thing is truly awesome.
