Also still waiting ... and still quite eager

Is the ubuntu version available now? If so please provide a link!

From the last couple of IGG updates

"And we are start to ship the Ubuntu version GPD Pocket now, and will keep report the tracking information.  Much appreciated for all your great support and patience for us."

"For all of Ubuntu user,We have published the Source Code of the Ubuntu system. here is the link blow:
https://github.com/253647445/Pocket-Ubuntu-kernel
Anyone who wants the Source code of the Ubuntu system,Just click into the above link to get it,"

Not sure how much use the git is, with no history it would seem a bit of a faff to figure out what they changed.

I unpicked it here: https://github.com/gpd-pocket-hacker/linux
but it's not the kernel the device shipped with - the fan spins in S3 for example because the fan driver has no power management. I expect you'd do better with Hans de Goede's kernels as he is doing active development on the platform.

Finally got a tracking number from GPD

Cue several days of anxiously checking the tracking website, and trying to brace myself for the inevitable disappointment when it finally arrives (which may vary from 'its broken' to 'its almost perfect, but Chens qwerty device will be better', but is always present)

Perhaps this should be its own thread,
but from those of us
who have down 'been there done that' disappointment road
may be able to cushion the blow.
(Not just me - I am certain there are other insights as well.)


No matter how useless it may seem when you get it unboxed,
always remember there will always be a few use cases for
such a device in the event it ends up far downstream from perfect.

Case 1 - usable obscurity

My Ubuntu phone, for instance:
Quite useful as being a giant combo
USB stick,
a micro-SD chip reader,
No one who picks it up has a single clue as to what to do with it.
Being "being dumb as a brick" it is safe from being
hacked by the dweebs who do that sort of thing,
since the front-end is so unreliable I can safely assume
the back-end is probably broken for doing things like
spying through the camera or the sporadically working microphone.
Now that updates have ceased,
I no longer worry about breakage by update.
It does take fotos, phone calls and texting
and for all that I still take it with me on trips.


Case 2 - torment someone with its unusability

After a couple of years of head-slamming an AIGO MID device
that would simply never work using linux,
I gave it to a relative who thought that because it would boot to a pretty screen that it would be useful.
I still get a laugh out of fantasizing how much time and electricity he may have put into trying to use it.

Case 3 - "Just for Laughs"®

leave it out somewhere in public and foto someone steal it,
then report it missing with full fotos of who did it.
I did this with an old Acer computer - on a barstool,
(but did not report it, it was an inside joke that turned out well)
- we all shared a laugh and a beer
over the culprit who never showed his face at the venue again.

Case 4 - dedicated wired-in-place server

I did this with one of my older tablets.
It now streams music, and runs a few server softwares
to provide local services for things like i2p and other things...
Since the battery was a nogo,
and the hardware was no longer something to brag about,
it became useful as a background device and does not need
the kind of inbuilt device drivers we are all looking for.
Simply pasting a Bluetooth or other dongle in place it works well.
This is a success story that took a couple of years to get to.
The bottom line is that once you abandon hope of using
such hardware as a mobile,
it has great potential for helping out from a fixed location.

Case 5 - the GPD device

is probably not that hopeless,
and the only limitation will be getting device drivers to work.
to put it all in perspective, unless it comes bricked,
there is almost no way it can be that bad.

...I sincerely hope

In case 1, my Ubuntu phone is now the workshop camera, as if it dies drowned in a bucket of old axle oil, who cares?

In case 2, maybe I should resurrect my OQO Model 01? Always wanted to think of a use for that.

In case 4, even my Toshiba Libretto 70 still finds occasional use. When the obsolete config software for some obsolete hardware drives the parallel port directly from DOS, no VM is going to help.

I don't think (hope!) the GPD is destined for any such fate any time soon!

GPD Pocket arrived this morning

Haven't had much chance to play yet, but checked out the hardware and everything appears to work as advertised.

Supplied USB-C adapter is cute but useless, as others have complained about on IGG.

Supplied mains charger is not uk or euro, so will be getting modded very shortly, and an amazon order looks likely.

Build quality seems great, keyboard is more 'roomy' than I expected, certainly more suited to two thumbs than ten fingers, but I like it.

Going to mod the charger, then try to put Mint on it with the modded kernels mentioned earlier.

DHL charged me 41 UKP for tax and handling fees.

Happy to answer questions if anyone wants to know anything specific

Photos highlighting anything you find interesting/noteworthy would be nice!

Especially close up shot of the hinges would be interesting to me!
Do they feel solid built?