Notebook
By Igor Pečovnik / IOT • NAS • Networking • Desktop • General purpose / 0 Comments

ARM64

Better then Ubuntu? No Canonical proprietary solutions. Better then Debian? More recent package base.

Better then both:

  • HiDPI support for GRUB and desktop (automated adjustments on big screen resolutions),
  • immutable firmware (kernel upgrade locked to additionally enhance stability),
  • kernel headers preinstalled (easy additional drivers install),
  • ZFS 2.2.2 ready (apt install zfsutils-linux zfs-dkms),
  • face unlock works perfectly (if your camera is supported),
  • additional (hibernation) power saving method comes pre-configured (since standby doesn't always works),
  • snapd is not installed (user can install it).

Installation to HDD/SSD drive is done by transferring live image to the target (sudo armbian-install).

Notebook
By Igor Pečovnik / General purpose • IOT • NAS • Networking • Desktop / 0 Comments

Intel / AMD

Better then Ubuntu? No Canonical proprietary solutions. Better then Debian? More recent package base.

Better then both:

  • kernel is maintained by Armbian and kernel community,
  • HiDPI support for GRUB and desktop (automated adjustments on big screen resolutions),
  • Intel graphics acceleration works out of the box,
  • preinstalled Google Chrome and Microsoft Visual Studio Code,
  • ZFS 2.2.4 ready (apt install zfsutils-linux zfs-dkms),
  • snapd is not installed (user can install it).

Installation to HDD/SSD drive is done by transferring live image to the target (sudo armbian-install). In case you want to install it to computer and keep Windows 10/11 (dual boot) you will need to disable "Secure Boot" / TPM in BIOS, disable BitLocker and shrink partition to make free space you need for Armbian Linux.

Radxa Zero
By Yakov / IOT • General purpose / 0 Comments

Radxa Zero

If you have a Radxa Zero with eMMC (any model with 2GB or 4GB of RAM), you’ll need to erase the eMMC before you can boot it from a microSD card and use Armbian. 1GB version is not supported.

Full instructions are available on the Radxa wiki, but here are some quick notes.

– Connect a USB cable to the Zero’s OTG port (the USB-C plug marked USB-PWR)
– Hold down the “USB BOOT” button on the Radxa Zero while connecting the USB cable to a USB port on the Linux host
– sudo pip3 install pyamlboot on the host
– curl -O https://dl.armbian.com/radxa-zero/loader/radxa-zero-erase-emmc.bin
– sudo boot-g12.py radxa-zero-erase-emmc.bin

You may have to run the sudo boot-g12.py command a second time to fully clear the eMMC. In case you encounter boot issues, try this hint and report there.

rockpi-s
By Roman Brent / IOT • Networking / 0 Comments

Radxa Rockpi S

  • If your RockPi-S is equipped with >=2GB SDNAND, you may flash an OS image directly to this internal flash as follows:
    • Build Linux x86 binary rkdeveloptool (sources) on host
    • Remove any SDcard
    • Hold down MASKROM button while you…
    • Power on or press the RESET button to enter flash mode
    • Release the MASKROM button after 2 seconds
      800px-Keys
      Next, run these host commands to flash the internal SDnand:

       

  • Holding the MASKROM button during reset prevents booting from internal the SDNAND.
  • But, the board will always boot from the SD Card, if it finds a valid image there.
  • Kernel serial console is on UART0.  [some older images have their console on UART2]
  • The serial console operates at 1.5Mbaud with 8 data, 1 stop, and no parity bits.
  • Black(left)=GND, White(center)=TxD, Green(right)=RxD

If you have a recent board (revision >=1.3), you should add the following line to your /boot/armbianEnv.txt file to tune for the newer “BS” silicon:

overlays=bs bs@1.3ghz

Refer to /boot/dtb/rockchip/overlay/README.rockchip-overlays for more information.