I would like to purchase the Pioneer, but it would have to be connected to a Franklin T9 hotspot via USB, rather than Ethernet. Is that tenable, and what extra steps or hardware would be needed to ensure that the auto-setup successfully connects?
My advice would be to try it out on a GNU/Linux desktop computer that uses NetworkManager. Most of the modern Mobile hotspots appear as a āUSB Ethernetā device to a host computer. This is configured automatically by NetworkManager just like an Ethernet device by acquiring IP configuration using DHCP by default. FreedomBox/Pioneer would essentially do the same as they use NetworkManager.
Notes:
- I am not sure of the power requirements for the device when connected via the USB and whether Pioneer board can provide that much power. If this does not work, you may need to connect it via a powered USB hub.
- If the device does not show up as an USB Ethernet device on the host machine, then make sure it is enabled in the hotspotās configuration. See https://www.reddit.com/r/Calyx/comments/l470a9/comment/gzfxajr/
Thanks. Under Linux Mint, Network Manager lists a Qualcomm device, the toggle for which cuts the connection, so Iām guessing thatās it. (I imagine the only hiccup would be if Mint does this by including a driver that Debian does not.) As for the suggestions on Reddit, indeed thatās a setting I had intended to set to USB-only, to disable extraneous Wi-Fi. Looks like Iāll be placing my order, then! 
Well, I bought a Pioneer, put in the card, plugged my Franklin T10 hotspot into it via USB, powered up the Pioneer, powered up the Franklin, and then went off to watch an episode of Archie Bunkerās Place. Came back, plugged my PC into the Pioneerās Ethernet port, and found that my PCās Linux Mint network manager tries but canāt establish a connection. No clue what is going on, or how I should have done things differently with my setup.
Unplugged the Franklin from the Pioneer and put it back on my PC, so as to get to the Internet and read the manual. Pioneerās red light has been on near the power socket since startup, and its Ethernet lights flash when connected to the PC. Disabled my Mullvad VPN app, yanked the plug on the Pioneer, powered it and the Franklin on again; no change.
Perhaps I should also point out that I ordered it from Mouser, and, when removing it from the package, I found it to be very Hobbit-like ā not just small, but with hairy feet. Makes me wonder whether I didnāt get somebodyās return.
Hello! This might sounds obvious but some people miss it. Iāll share just in case. The Pioneer has an internal battery. To power it off, pulling the cord will not suffice. Youād need to open the device and disconnect the battery.
Regarding the rest of the issue. I have no idea, as Iāve never tried that set up.
Indeed, but I never hooked up the battery. It was jangling around inside the case, its sizeable patch of glue all dried up and disconnected from the metal top. (I wonder whether the glue is sensitive to cold ā or else, again, whether I may have been sold a returned item.)
I tried watching the boot sequence, but the āpress any key to cancelā option refuses to accept keystrokes (and yes, my keyboard was plugged in, for the Pioneer responded just fine to Ctrl-Alt-Delete), so everything goes by too fast for me to decipher whatās going on.
It boots into what I assume is the normal command line login screen, but, just like the wiki mentions, thereās no way to sign in from there without going through all kinds of SD card gyrations to install a password ā my lack of an SD card reader being one of the reasons I chose the ready-to-go Pioneer!
Network Manager repeatedly and continually fails to connect to the Pioneer via the Ethernet cable, bringing back error after error, every few seconds, completely disrupting my attempts to operate the menu, until I finally just unplug the cable to shut it up. Maybe Iām doing that part wrong, but I thought that I read somewhere that the Pioneer could be used directly that way, without the need for a router as a go-between.
So, I canāt connect to the Pioneer via Ethernet, I canāt log into the thing via keyboard, and Iām hesitant to go to the local computer repair shop to ask somebody for help with the SD card password trick. Am I overlooking some obvious solution, or is this how things normally go in the FreedomBox world?
Looks like Iām going to need a little hand holding. Whoever gets me through this, Iāll buy him a pizza.
Is it possible to temporarily connect the FreedomBox to a router, (even one without internet access), to do the initial setup, and then set up the USB hotspot, and then finally remove the router?
Iāll have to take it over to a computer shop to do so, but itās worth a try. My main reason for not having tried such already is because I donāt know whether the setup process would in some way āimprintā on his connection and therefore still be troublesome with mine.
Now, if that turns out not to solve the issue, and I go ahead with adding a password via the SD card trick (again, a trip to the computer shop), is that password something which can be reset back to its default blank state, later on?
Yes, the root user can delete another userās password with the following command:
# passwd --delete username
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Iāve had the Pioneer at a local computer repair shop, where the guyās been putting around with it for a few weeks, trying to get it to work. He said heās followed the online instructions for choosing the right image and writing to the micro-SD card, but the Pioneer just wonāt accept the flashed card. I donāt know all of the details, but his conclusion was that the one I received was a dud ā probably a return, which would explain the unit arriving with dusty/hairy feet (on which Iād commented previously).
The question is, if this item purchased from Mouser Electronics was indeed nonfunctional to begin with, but itās taken half a year for me to determine that, what does that mean for the warranty?