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

orangepi-r1plus
By Kat Schwarz / Networking / 0 Comments

Orange Pi R1+

  • There may be a known issue that could affect this board on some IPv4 only networks. Symptoms are variable, from intermittent drop-outs and slow-downs to total loss of one NIC or total loss of networking. The issue can be completely eliminated by disabling IPv6. Don’t try to do this through armbian-config this method does not work. IPv6 must be disabled by adding a line extraargs="ipv6.disable=1" to /boot/armbianEnv.txt
nanopi-r2s
By Igor Pečovnik / General purpose • Networking / 0 Comments

Nanopi R2S

  • Login console is enabled also on mUSB connector
  • Known problem: reboot sometimes doesn’t bring the device back.
  • Network devices are not managed by Network manager. Configure via /etc/network/interfaces
rockpi-s
By Roman Brent / IOT • Networking / 0 Comments

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.

espressobin
By manofthesea manofthesea / NAS • Networking • General purpose / 0 Comments

Espressobin / Ultra

  • Version 7 EspressoBIN (identifiable by sata power connection instead of molex) has ethernet ports in the reverse order.  This can be fixed in armbianEnv.txt with the line “fdtfile=marvell/armada-3720-espressobin-v7.dtb”
  • manual flashing to latest u-boot is mandatory, again (as part of 2022.05 release)! Download the right boot flash for your board: 512,1G,2G, number of RAM chips (identify by visual inspection – one on each side of the PCB opposite to each other. Later 1GB models have only one chip at the bottom) and appropriate memory speeds. You can obtain numbers from the current boot prompt. Also choose right memory: ddr3 are for V3-V5 EspressoBin’s (i.e. V5, 1g-2cs) and ddr4 images are for v7 EspressoBin’s. Insert ‘ddr3’ or ‘ddr4’ into the bubt command string. Copy this flash-image-{ddr3,ddr4}-MEM-RAM_CHIPS-CPU_DDR.bin to your formatted USB key, plug it into USB3.0 port and execute from u-boot prompt: 
    bubt flash-image-ddr3/ddr4-MEM-RAM_CHIPS-CPU_DDR.bin spi usb

    In case you experience instability reflash boot loader with lower CPU speed values!  SoC speed can be found printed on the armada chip, under the heat sink.  No 1200 chips have been reported, 800 is a safe option, 1000 is a likely option.  It can also be found as part of the current u-boot output.

  • Updated u-boot (2022.04) needs new default boot environment and boot script. U-boot now respects ethaddr and eth[0,1,2]addr variables. This is what you need to copy/paste into u-boot prompt: 
    printenv ethaddr
env default -a
saveenv
# Including this line to make sure saveenv is executed.
  • If ethaddr was previously changed, it can be set with “setenv ethaddr f0:ad:4e:08:00:00”, then “saveenv”
  • If you manage to crash your SPI flash, get appropriate files and proceed with one of the rescue options: SATA, UART,
  • if you need USB2 port on your mPCI slot (for Bluetooth or 4G/LTE modems) you need to move both jumpers near to the USB2 port. Position for this function is: away from the port.
clearfogbase
By Jannis / General purpose • NAS • Networking / 0 Comments

Clearfog base

 

To boot the image from USB flash:

  • Write the image to a USB flash drive
  • Insert the flash drive into the USB3.0 port
  • Load the modified u-boot (from the Armbian image) using the UART method
  • Stop the default boot sequence
  • Execute in u-boot prompt: run usbboot

To flash the image to eMMC:

  • Boot the image from USB flash
  • Write the image to eMMC using dd or other methods
  • Mount the eMMC partition and add a line emmc_fix=on to /boot/armbianEnv.txt file – this changes the DT during boot to switch from SD with card detect switch to a non-removable eMMC.
  • Unmount the eMMC partition and reboot

Please refer to this forum thread for the USB boot details and this thread for a discussion of known eMMC issues.