Ubuntu MATE 21.10 Released for the GPD Pocket 3 Tiny Computer

Ubuntu MATE GPD Pocket

Ubuntu MATE developer Martin Wimpress announced today the release and general availability of the Ubuntu MATE 21.10 distribution for the tiny GPD Pocket 3 computer.

Ubuntu MATE 21.10 was released on October 14th, 2021, for 64-bit computers as part of the Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri) release. It comes with the latest MATE 1.26 desktop environment with support for guest sessions, as well as the RedShift app pre-installed for adjusting the color temperature of your screen.

After several months of hard work, Martin Wimpress finally managed to release Ubuntu MATE 21.10 for owners of the GPD Pocket 3 computer, an 8-inch mini-laptop with 2-in-1 design, making most of the device’s hardware work flawlessly, and also adding some specific functionality.

For example, it enables frame buffer support and automatic screen rotation (including rotation of touch screen and stylus) via new accelerometer support, enables audio support via the HDaudio legacy driver, and enables scroll wheel emulation while holding down the middle trackpad button.

In addition, Ubuntu MATE 21.10 for GPD Pocket 3 enables fractional scaling by default, enables double size console (tty) font resolution, implements suspend function via s2idle, and enables tear-free rendering by default.

Since fractional scaling is now enabled by default, users who want to restore full resolution can use the Display Scaler app to toggle fractional scaling on or off. Due to fractional scaling, an effective resolution of 1280×800 pixels is available in Ubuntu MATE 21.10 for GPD Pocket 3 to make the display panels easily readable.

Unfortunately, this release doesn’t ship with support for GPD Pocket 3’s fingerprint reader, but you can always use an external one via USB.

If you own a tiny GPD Pocket 3 computer and you want to use the Ubuntu MAT distribution on it, you can download the installer image right now from the official website. However, please keep in mind that this release will be supported until July 2022, when Canonical will terminate support for its Impish Indri release.

Image credits: Martin Wimpress (edited by Marius Nestor)

Last updated 2 years ago

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com