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

  • HiDPI support for GRUB and desktop (automated adjustments on big screen resolutions),
  • immutable firmware (kernel upgrade locked to additionally enhance stability),
  • Intel graphics acceleration works out of the box,
  • preinstalled Google Chrome and Microsoft Visual Studio Code,
  • kernel headers preinstalled (easy additional drivers install),
  • ZFS 2.2.3 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). In case you want to install it to computer and keep Windows 10/11 (dual boot) you will need to disable "Secure Boot" in BIOS, disable BitLocker and shrink partition to make free space you need for Armbian Linux.

By Igor Pečovnik / General purpose / 0 Comments

Khadas VIM2

Serial console:

Blue color line: Tool Pin TXD, orange color: Tool Pin RXD, black: Tool Pin GND

How to boot from SD card? After power on, quickly press the Function key 3 times in 2 seconds, then release the key. More at official manual.

khadas-vim1
By Igor Pečovnik / General purpose / 0 Comments

Khadas VIM1

To be able to boot Armbian SD card image and install Armbian to eMMC, use one of the methods to boot into upgrade mode. If you have most recent board revision (1.4 ->) then you only need to quickly press the function key (middle) 3 times in 2 seconds. Release and boot will proceed from SD card. Then use nand-sata-install utility to flash to eMMC.

Serial console:

Blue color line: Tool Pin TXD, orange color: Tool Pin RXD, black: Tool Pin GND