Rockpi4/Ubuntu

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    ROCK Pi 4 >  Ubuntu

Work with Rock Pi 4 Ubuntu Server

Introduction

The Ubuntu server image for Rock Pi 4 target for minimal, fast and customization.

Create Image

Linux as root or use Etcher in Windows

gunzip -c rockpi4b-ubuntu-bionic-minimal-20190104_2101-gpt.img.gz | dd of=/dev/mmcblk0

Default username/password

default username: rock
default password: rock

rock is sudo user and switch to root can be done with the following command as user rock:

sudo su

root mode

rock is sudo user and switch to root can be done with the following command as user rock:

sudo su

For example:

rock@rockpi-4b:~$ 
rock@rockpi-4b:~$ sudo su
[sudo] password for rock: 
root@rockpi-4b:/home/rock#

There is no password for root user by default. You can set the password via 'passwd root'.

root@rockpi-4b:/home/rock# passwd root
New password: 
Retype new password: 
passwd: password updated successfully
root@rockpi-4b:/home/rock#

Access from the Host PC/Laptop

Option 1: Serial console

Check Serial Console

Option 2: SSH

SSH server is enabled on port 22 of ROCK Pi 4 default image.

Please use angryip to find your board IP address.

$ ping ip-of-device
$ ssh rock@ip-of-device

Add Radxa APT

Follow the Guide of Radxa APT to add Radxa APT.

We suggest that you add bionic-testing APT Source to get the newest packages.

Network Connection

There are two methods for network connection. One is Ethernet and the other is WIFI.

Ethernet Connection

You can use a network cable (one end connected to the external network port or route) to connect your ROCK Pi 4 to the network. The ROCK Pi 4 will automatically configure the network for your surfing on the Internet.

To test the Ethernet, we need to follow the steps:

Switch to super user mode by command

 $ sudo su

Check whether the Ethernet is normal by command, ifconfig, which would show us a network card, eth0, and the Ethernet IP address. Also, use tool, ping, to connect to a normal domain.

 $ ifconfig
 $ ping www.baidu.com

WIFI Connection

When there is not a network cable for your ROCK Pi 4 the WIFI connection is another good choice. ROCK Pi 4 supports 2.4G/5G WIFI wireless network.

To test the WIFI performance, we need to follow the steps:

Switch to super user mode

 $ sudo su

Open the WIFI

 $ nmcli r wifi on

Scan WIFI

 $ nmcli dev wifi

Connect to WIFI network

 $ nmcli dev wifi connect "wifi_name" password "wifi_password"

Test WIFI perpormance by tool iperf.

Bluetooth

Update necessary packages

 $ sudo apt-get update
 $ sudo apt-get install -y rockchip-overlay
 $ sudo apt-get install -y linux-4.4-latest # kernel version(>=4.4.154.100)
 $ sudo apt-get install -y broadcom-wifibt-firmware(>=0.6)

Check bluetooth service

 $ systemctl status bluetooth

Run bluetooth service

 $ systemctl start bluetooth

Check bluetooth device

 $ hciconfig
 hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: UART
         BD Address: AD:B8:A0:DA:A3:27  ACL MTU: 1021:8  SCO MTU: 64:1
         UP RUNNING 
         RX bytes:7900 acl:35 sco:0 events:387 errors:0
         TX bytes:217746 acl:380 sco:0 commands:102 errors:0

Example: Connect to Bluetooth Speaker

Install pulseaudio packages

 $ sudo apt-get install -y pulseaudio-module-bluetooth pulseaudio

Run pulseaudio, otherwise ROCK Pi 4 will not be able to connect to device.

 $ pulseaudio --start

Connect using bluetoothctl

 $ bluetoothctl
 
 [bluetooth]# default-agent 
 Default agent request successful
 
 [bluetooth]# power on
 Changing power on succeeded
 
 [bluetooth]# scan on
 Discovery started
  
[bluetooth]# trust 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC Trusted: yes
 Changing 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC trust succeeded
 
 [bluetooth]# pair 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 Attempting to pair with 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC Connected: yes
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC UUIDs: 00001101-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC UUIDs: 0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC UUIDs: 0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC UUIDs: 0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC UUIDs: 0000111e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC ServicesResolved: yes
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC Paired: yes
 Pairing successful
 
 [bluetooth]# connect 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 Attempting to connect to 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC Connected: yes
 Connection successful
 [CHG] Device 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC ServicesResolved: yes

Play songs and enjoy it.

General purpose input-output (GPIO)

ROCK Pi 4 has one 40-pin expansion header. To control them, see ROCK Pi 4 GPIO Pinout.

Common Hardware Interfaces, I2C, PWM, SPI, UART, etc

The ROCK Pi 4 system images use hw_intfc.conf, provided by the package rockpi4-dtbo, to configure interfaces.

For more details about device tree overlays, see ROCK Pi 4 Device Tree Overlays.

Install essential package

 sudo apt-get install -y rockpi4-dtbo

I2C

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Set "on" to enable the optional hardware interfaces while set "off" to disable.

 intfc:i2c2=on
 intfc:i2c6=on
 intfc:i2c7=on

PWM

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Set "on" to enable the optional hardware interfaces while set "off" to disable.

 intfc:pwm0=on
 intfc:pwm1=on

SPI

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Set "on" to enable the optional hardware interfaces while set "off" to disable.

 intfc:spi1=on
 intfc:spi2=on
 intfc:dtoverlay=devspi1
 intfc:dtoverlay=devspi2

UART

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Set "on" to enable the optional hardware interfaces while set "off" to disable.

 intfc:uart2=on
 intfc:uart4=on

And add "#" to line "intfc:dtoverlay=console-on-ttyS2"

 #intfc:dtoverlay=console-on-ttyS2
 #intfc:dtoverlay=console-on-ttyS4

Please note that when ROCK Pi 4 uart2 is connected with your devices like Raspberry Pi CAN/RS485 hat sending some data to uart2 on ROCK Pi 4. Please do the following step.

Check the file /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf. And delete the following line.

 menu title select kernel

Debug console

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Set ttyS2 as debug console.

Disable UART2

 intfc:uart2=off

And uncomment the following line.

 intfc:dtoverlay=console-on-ttyS2

Use SPI Flash on board

Modify file /boot/hw_intfc.conf. Disable UART4 and enable SPI1. Besides, need to load spi1-flash overlay.

 intfc:uart4=off
 intfc:spi1=on
 intfc:dtoverlay=spi1-flash

Additional software

OpenCV

There are two ways to get OpenCV. One is building OpenCV by yourself (Option one) and the other is installing opencv4.0 package (Option two).

Option 1: Manually build

Build OpenCV by yourself. See Install OpenCV.

Option 2: Install pre-built binaries

Install Ubuntu desktop

To use OpenCV, an OS desktop is necessary. If your ROCK Pi 4 is running Ubuntu but without desktop, you can install Ubuntu mate desktop.

   $ sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-core && sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop

Install all the recommended packages

Required:

   $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
   $ sudo apt-get install build-essential
   $ sudo apt-get install cmake git libgtk2.0-dev pkg-config libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libswscale-dev

Recommended optional packages:

   $ sudo apt-get install python-dev python-numpy libtbb2 libtbb-dev libjpeg-dev libpng-dev libtiff-dev libdc1394-22-dev
   $ sudo apt install libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libavresample-dev
   $ sudo apt install tesseract-ocr cmake-data liblept5

Install OpenCV package:

   $ sudo apt-get install opencv4.0

Step 3: Test OpenCV

To check the version of your installed OpenCV, try this:

   rock@linux:~$ python
   Python 2.7.15rc1 (default, Nov 12 2018, 14:31:15) 
   [GCC 7.3.0] on linux2
   Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
   >>> import cv2
   >>> cv2.__version__
   '4.0.1'
   >>>

Obtain OpenCV sample:

   $ cd ~
   $ wget -O opencv.zip https://github.com/opencv/opencv/archive/4.0.1.zip
   $ unzip opencv.zip
   
   $ cd ~/opencv-4.0.1/samples/python
   $ python watershed.py

OpenGL ES

Install glmark2

 $ sudo apt update
 $ sudo apt install -y git gcc g++ libpng-dev libjpeg-dev pkg-config libx11-dev libdrm-dev libgbm-dev libgbm1 libudev-dev
 $ mkdir -p /home/rock/work
 $ cd /home/rock/work
 $ git clone https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2.git
 $ ./waf configure --with-flavors=drm-glesv2
 $ ./waf build -j 4
 $ ./waf install

Install mali packages

 $ sudo apt install -y rockchip-mali-midgard14=1.6-2
 $ sudo apt install -y rockchip-mali-midgard-dev=1.6-2

Test OpenGL via glmark2-es2-drm

 $ glmark2-es2-drm

 =======================================================
    glmark2 2021.02
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     ARM
    GL_RENDERER:   Mali-T860
    GL_VERSION:    OpenGL ES 3.2 v1.r14p0-01rel0-git(966ed26).f44c85cb3d2ceb87e8be88e7592755c3
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 59 FrameTime: 16.949 ms                             
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                              
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                  
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                   
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                   
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                         
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                 
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms                           
[shading] shading=cel:^C^V FPS: 60 FrameTime: 16.667 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 59 
=======================================================

Networking

Since bionic networking has moved to netplan /etc/netplan netplan

Changelogs

2019.11.27

rockpi4b-ubuntu-bionic-minimal-20191127_1942-gpt.img.gz

Kernel version updated to linux-4.4.154-95-rockchip-gd2ab1f26e1b3
U-Boot version updated to 2017.09-00013-g6d910b7
systemd version: 237
Support SSH

2019.01.04

rockpi4b-ubuntu-bionic-minimal-20190104_2101-gpt.img.gz

Add radxa apt repository in the release image
Rockchip hardware overylay are now managed by deb package
New DRM hotplug management script fix screen resolution change issue
Kernel version updated to linux-4.4.154-59-rockchip-g5e70f14
- Kernel modules support AppArmor, Docker, WireGuard and UFW
- Support USB gadget network, see USB Net
- Support TP-Link UE300 ethernet adapter
- A lot of kernel features are enabled as modules
Uboot version updated to 2017.09-02085-g5a6aeld
- Support kernel boot menu selection(serial console only)
- Support device tree directory boot
- Support manually flash uboot in running system
Fix ethernet is not managed by Network Manager issue
Kernel package installation automatically adds to the boot menu

Rockpi4/Ubuntu

Contents

Work with Rock Pi 4 Ubuntu Server

Introduction

Create Image

Default username/password

root mode

Access from the Host PC/Laptop

Option 1: Serial console

Option 2: SSH

Add Radxa APT

Network Connection

Ethernet Connection

To test the Ethernet, we need to follow the steps:

WIFI Connection

To test the WIFI performance, we need to follow the steps:

Bluetooth

General purpose input-output (GPIO)

Common Hardware Interfaces, I2C, PWM, SPI, UART, etc

Install essential package

I2C

PWM

SPI

UART

Debug console

Use SPI Flash on board

Additional software

OpenCV

Option 1: Manually build

Option 2: Install pre-built binaries

Install Ubuntu desktop

Install all the recommended packages

Step 3: Test OpenCV

OpenGL ES

Install glmark2

Install mali packages

Test OpenGL via glmark2-es2-drm

Networking

Changelogs

2019.11.27

2019.01.04