<Irenes[m]>
hm. I was going to test the FEL mode but I got sidetracked. I realized that the easiest way to do that would be to power it on with no bootable medium, which would mean wiping the eMMC. I'm not willing to do that until I have more stuff working.
<samueldr>
there is "the FEL sdcard" that should work
<samueldr>
basically exposes the eMMC like a flash drive to the host computer via usb gadget mode
<Irenes[m]>
oh excellent
<Irenes[m]>
but it doesn't work on yours?
<samueldr>
nope
<Irenes[m]>
any idea why not?
<samueldr>
not really, there's no way to verify if it's the usb daughterboard, or the mainboard that has issues AFAIK
<samueldr>
(I asked where relevant)
<Irenes[m]>
ah yeah
<samueldr>
I did try and reseat the FPC (connectors) both on the mainboard and that daughterboard
<samueldr>
though didn't change anything
<samueldr>
it might also be that flat cable that's defective!
<samueldr>
if it is it would be amazingly annoying to change considering it's behind a protective layer
<samueldr>
though I'm pretty sure it's not something like the whole usb that's broken, since the GSM modem tests do work
<samueldr>
and it does charge with a dumb cable
<samueldr>
(not with any of my PD chargers, but that's still unknown if it is expected it should work or not)
<samueldr>
(some devs say no, some devs say yes... and they both may be right)
<samueldr>
(it could very well depend on the particular PD charger!)
<Irenes[m]>
yuck, that sounds super frustrating
<samueldr>
the worst part is getting clear yes and no information about that
<Irenes[m]>
yeah putting firmware in power cords was hubris
<samueldr>
oh, not even from the PD situation
<samueldr>
what I could get is that anything else than dumb charger and gadget mode should not be expected to work at the time
<Irenes[m]>
(it's not even just the charger, USB-C cables from Apple and Google have active components these days)
<samueldr>
yes
<samueldr>
not only apple and google
<Irenes[m]>
yeah
<Irenes[m]>
people tend to not think it's widespread so I say it that way to explain why it is more common than they might assume
<samueldr>
good intentions paves the way to hell
<Irenes[m]>
yeah
<Irenes[m]>
for whatever it's worth, I have been having trouble charging it also but I think that may be because the kernel is expected to have some role in making PD happen
<Irenes[m]>
thus far what I know works is booting it up and then charging it while it's booted
<Irenes[m]>
I don't really understand what's going on there
<Irenes[m]>
I haven't definitively determined that it won't charge while powered down, yet
<samueldr>
yep, anything else than dumb charger needs some involvement from bits still unfinished software-wise
<samueldr>
when shut down it does charge
<samueldr>
(though in my case nudging the cable acts as if I plugged/unplugged and it will turn it back on)
<Irenes[m]>
good to know
<samueldr>
(which is to be expected)
<samueldr>
yes, it will also charge faster when shut down
<samueldr>
it's not really able to charge when running with the display on :/
<Irenes[m]>
yeah I have a lot of high-durability full-featured C-to-C cables because I got so frustrated with wondering whether the flake was the connector or the wire, but even so, I find it flaky
<Irenes[m]>
I really wish type-C connectors were just a little bit better, mechanically
<samueldr>
oh, I have a power-only type-c to type-a cable that doesn't charge the pinephone
<samueldr>
but works on everything else as a dumb charger