I was wondering if there is any chance any of the Pine64 computers like the latest Quartz64 would ever be compatible with the Reform. I like the idea of being able to update my cpu, and also want to be a part of the community working on pine stuff.
The Quartz64 is particularly exciting because it has a built in epaper driver, that is now being used in the PineNote epaper tablet (actually looking at this I thought it used the quartz64 but apparently it does not).
My ideal computer would be the MNT with its above average keyboard, and an epaper screen. This is just the simplest way I can picture it being approachable.
Appreciate your insight! Looking forward to owning one soon.
Hi, Quartz64 looks like a Raspberry Pi-like SBC (single board computer) to me with its own full size connectors etc. That’s not really suitable for putting into MNT Reform. What you would need is a SoM (system-on-module) that doesn’t have so many connectors and peripherals included, but has the bare SoC (in this case, RK3566) and some memory on it, and maybe ethernet PHY and some eMMC. This looks more like it: SOQuartz is a Raspberry Pi CM4 compatible SoM powered by Rockchip RK3566 SoC - CNX Software
Coincidentally, I had started work on a CM4 adapter for MNT Reform. I would “just” need to finish it and then we could experiment with the CM4 and pin compatible modules: Reform / MNT Reform Raspberry Pi CM4 SoM · GitLab
Of course, one could also adapt the MNT Reform motherboard itself to be able to carry CM4-compatible modules, but the adapter would be a good first step for prototyping.
Fantastic, thank you for the optimistic reply. I am really looking forward to having a liberated computer down the line that checks all my boxes.
Any thoughts on the epaper screen modification? I can’t find it now but I saw it come up briefly in conversation once. Even more than an alternative processor the combination of a nice keyboard and an epaper screen would make me so productive