Rock3/Ubuntu

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Work with ROCK 3 Ubuntu

Introduction to ROCK 3 Ubuntu

This guide is available for official ROCK 3 (ROCK 3 A, Radxa CM3, etc) Ubuntu images.

ROCK 3 Ubuntu server is an easy to use system. While working with ROCK 3 Ubuntu Server, you will find it do well on playing music, Internet, Bluetooth, AI and so on.

ROCK 3 Ubuntu server uses systemd to manage system.

Command prepended by $ means the command may be executed by an unprivileged user. And command prepended by # means the command may be executed by an privileged user. But the symbol, $ or #, is not part of the command.

List of boards supported

ROCK 3A
ROCK 3B
Radxa E23
Radxa E25
Radxa CM3 IO

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 3 default image.

Please use angryip to find your board IP address.

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

Ubuntu Default User Account

Non-root User:

User Name : rock
Password  : rock

Radxa APT

Radxa APT source includes stable one and testing one. Stable source includes stable packages while testing source includes latest but maybe unstable packages.

Radxa APT stable source is added by default while testing source is not added.

You can uncomment line like "deb http://apt.radxa.com/focal-testing/ focal main" in file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/apt-radxa-com.list to add testing source.

See file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/apt-radxa-com.list

deb http://apt.radxa.com/focal-stable/ focal main
deb http://apt.radxa.com/focal-testing/ focal main

After adding testing source, you need to update APT and install your needed packages.

$ sudo apt-get update

For more detail about Radxa APT, please see Radxa APT.

Upgrade necessary packages

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y rockchip-overlay
$ sudo apt-get install -y linux-4.19-rock-3-latest

Check DDR size

ROCK 3 comes in several different DDR sizes, such as 1G, 2G, 4G, 8G, etc. Here shows 8GB RAM on ROCK 3A.

root@rock-3a:~# free -h
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:          7.4Gi        72Mi       7.1Gi        16Mi       182Mi       7.2Gi 
Swap:            0B          0B          0B

Storage device

eMMC: /dev/mmcblk0
uSD Card: /dev/mmcblk1
NVME M.2 SDD: /dev/nvme0n1

NPU

SoC RK3566/RK3568 is equipped with 0.8TOPS NPU. See NPU Run Test to test it on your ROCK 3 boards.

General purpose input-output (GPIO)

ROCK 3A has one 40-pin expansion header. To control them, see ROCK 3A GPIO .

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

The ROCK 3 system images use configuration file /boot/uEnv.txt.

Warning: Remember there is only one line including item "overlays=" in file /boot/uEnv.txt.

To enable I2C, PWM, SPI, UART, CAN, etc, please see RK3566/RK3568 Available Overlay (ROCK 3A, ROCK 3B, Radxa CM3) part of Device Tree Overlays.

Test RTC Device

Firstly, plug in RTC battery and power on.Check the rtc device:

root@rock3a:~# dmesg | grep rtc
[    0.749597] rk808-rtc rk808-rtc: registered as rtc0
[    0.751404] rk808-rtc rk808-rtc: setting system clock to 2017-08-04 09:00:02 UTC (1501837202)

Secondly, use the following commands to set the system time and synchronize it to rtc.

root@rock3a:~# date -s "2021-08-17 20:00:00"
root@rock3a:~# hwclock -w
root@rock3a:~# hwclock -r
2021-08-17 20:00:04.745124+00:00
root@rock3a:~# poweroff

and then disconnect the power supply

Finally, 10 minutes later we power on ROCK 3 A via Type-C Port and check the rtc clock.

root@rock3a:~# hwclock -r
2021-08-17 20:10:14.745124+00:00

We see that rtc runs about 10 minutes also. That's good.

Test Audio Player

Download a wav audio file, and use the command to test the HP player.

$ amixer -c 1 cset numid=1 3
   numid=1,iface=MIXER,name='Playback Path'
    ; type=ENUMERATED,access=rw------,values=1,items=11
    ; Item #0 'OFF'
    ; Item #1 'RCV'
    ; Item #2 'SPK'
    ; Item #3 'HP'
    ; Item #4 'HP_NO_MIC'
    ; Item #5 'BT'
    ; Item #6 'SPK_HP'
    ; Item #7 'RING_SPK'
    ; Item #8 'RING_HP'
    ; Item #9 'RING_HP_NO_MIC'
    ; Item #10 'RING_SPK_HP'
    : values=3

$ aplay -D plughw:1,0 test.wav
$ Playing WAVE 'test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo

To test the Mic recordding， please follow:

$ amixer -c 1 cset numid=2 1
$ arecord -Dhw:1,0 -d 10 -f cd -r 44100 -c 2 -t wav ./mic_test.wav      #this is a record command
 Recording WAVE './mic_test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
$ aplay -D plughw:1,0 mic_test.wav

Test USB Host Ports

There are two USB 2.0 host ports and two USB 3.0 host ports.

Plug in U Disk and fire command lsblk. Here /dev/sda is related to U Disk.

root@rock-3a:~# lsblk
NAME         MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda            8:0    1 14.4G  0 disk 
|-sda1         8:1    1  200M  0 part 
`-sda2         8:2    1 14.2G  0 part 
mmcblk0      179:0    0 14.5G  0 disk 
|-mmcblk0p1  179:1    0  512M  0 part /boot
`-mmcblk0p2  179:2    0   14G  0 part /
mmcblk0boot0 179:32   0    4M  1 disk 
mmcblk0boot1 179:64   0    4M  1 disk

Mount U Disk.

root@rock-3a:~# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/

Confirm that U Disk is mounted.

root@rock-3a:~# lsblk
NAME         MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda            8:0    1 14.4G  0 disk 
|-sda1         8:1    1  200M  0 part 
`-sda2         8:2    1 14.2G  0 part /mnt
mmcblk0      179:0    0 14.5G  0 disk 
|-mmcblk0p1  179:1    0  512M  0 part /boot
`-mmcblk0p2  179:2    0   14G  0 part /
mmcblk0boot0 179:32   0    4M  1 disk 
mmcblk0boot1 179:64   0    4M  1 disk

Control PWM Fan

There is one 3-pin PWM Fan header on ROCK 3A/3B.

To control it, try the following steps.

Step 1: Add rk3568-pwm8-m0-fan overlay

You need to add the item "rk3568-pwm8-m0-fan" to line "overlays=" in file /boot/uEnv.txt. For example.

root@rock-3a:~# cat /boot/uEnv.txt | grep overlays=
overlays=rk3568-can1-m0 rk3568-pwm8-m0-fan

Step 2: Reboot ROCK 3A/3B and confirm that the directory /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm related to pwm8 is created.

root@rock-3a:~# ls /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm
driver	driver_override  modalias  of_node  power  pwm	subsystem  uevent

Step 3: Set PWM period, duty_cycle, polarity and enable with root permission.

root@rock-3a:~# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/export
root@rock-3a:~# echo 10000 > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/pwm0/period
root@rock-3a:~# echo 5000 > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/pwm0/duty_cycle
root@rock-3a:~# echo normal > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/pwm0/polarity
root@rock-3a:~# echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/pwm0/enable # Turn on fan
root@rock-3a:~# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/fe6f0000.pwm/pwm/pwmchip*/pwm0/enable # Turn off fan

Desktop

Option one: Mate Desktop

root@rock3a:~# sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-core
root@rock3a:~# sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop

Ethernet

3A Ethernet

ROCK 3A is equipped with one 1G Ethernet port. You can use a network cable (one end connected to the external network port or route) to connect your ROCK 3 to the network. The ROCK 3 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

If failed to connect to a normal domain. , try

$ sudo dhclient eth0

3B Ethernet

ROCK 3B is equipped with two 1G Ethernet ports. You can use two network cable (one end connected to the external network port or route) to connect your ROCK 3B to the network. The ROCK 3B 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 two network card, eth0 and eth1, and the Ethernet IP address. Also, use tool, ping, to connect to a normal domain.

$ ifconfig
$ ping www.baidu.com

If failed to connect to a normal domain. , try

$ sudo dhclient eth0
$ sudo dhclient eth1

CM3 IO Ethernet

CM3 IO is equipped with one 1G Ethernet port. You can use a network cable (one end connected to the external network port or route) to connect your CM3 IO to the network. CM3 IO 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

If failed to connect to a normal domain. , try

$ sudo dhclient eth0

WiFi

3A WiFi

Table of wireless modules supported on ROCK 3A.

Model	Chip	WiFi	BT	Others
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A1	BCM43436B0	2.4G, 36Mbps	4.2
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A2	BCM43456	2.4G&5G, 200Mbps	5.0
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A3	BCM43598	2.4G&5G, >400Mbps	5.0	Support RSDB
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A6	BCM43752	2.4G&5G, WiFi 6	5.0
Realtek RTL8723BE	RTL8723BE	2.4G	4.0
Realtek RTL8822CE	RTL8822CE	2.4G&5G	5.0
Intel 0MHK36	Intel 3165	2.4G&5G	4.2
Intel 7265NGW	Intel 7265	2.4G&5G	4.2

3B WiFi

Table of wireless modules supported on ROCK 3B.

Model	Chip	WiFi	BT	Others
AP7275S	BCM43752	2.4G&5G, WiFi 6	5.0

CM3 IO WiFi

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 iperf3.

Bluetooth

3A Bluetooth

Table of wireless modules supported on ROCK 3A.

Model	Chip	WiFi	BT	Others
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A1	BCM43436B0	2.4G, 36Mbps	4.2
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A2	BCM43456	2.4G&5G, 200Mbps	5.0
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A3	BCM43598	2.4G&5G, >400Mbps	5.0	Support RSDB
ROCK Pi Wireless Module A6	BCM43752	2.4G&5G, WiFi 6	5.0
Realtek RTL8723BE	RTL8723BE	2.4G	4.0
Realtek RTL8822CE	RTL8822CE	2.4G&5G	5.0
Intel 0MHK36	Intel 3165	2.4G&5G	4.2
Intel 7265NGW	Intel 7265	2.4G&5G	4.2

Radxa APT includes broadcom-wifibt-firmware package for Broadcom wireless modules and intel-wifibt-firmware package for Intel wireless modules. Take a look at your module and download the corresponding packages.

For example:

root@rock3a:~# apt-get update -y
root@rock3a:~# apt-get install -y broadcom-wifibt-firmware intel-wifibt-firmware

Below is the example of testing Broadcom modules bluetooth.

Check Bluetooth service.

root@rock3a:~# systemctl status bluetooth

Run Bluetooth service if the Bluetooth service is inactive.

root@rock3a:~# systemctl start bluetooth

Check Bluetooth device.

root@rock3a:~# hciconfig
hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: UART
       BD Address: 10:2C:6B:49:D5:53  ACL MTU: 1021:8  SCO MTU: 64:1
       UP RUNNING 
       RX bytes:850 acl:0 sco:0 events:58 errors:0
       TX bytes:2814 acl:0 sco:0 commands:58 errors:0

Example: Connect to Bluetooth Speaker.
Install pulseaudio packages.

root@rock3a:~# apt-get install -y pulseaudio-module-bluetooth pulseaudio

Run pulseaudio.

root@rock3a:~# pulseaudio --start

Connect using bluetoothctl.

root@rock3a:~# bluetoothctl
[bluetooth]# default-agent 
[bluetooth]# power on
[bluetooth]# scan on
[bluetooth]# trust 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65       #BT-280
[bluetooth]# pair 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65
[bluetooth]# connect 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65

Play songs and enjoy it.

3B Bluetooth

Table of wireless modules supported on ROCK 3B.

Model	Chip	WiFi	BT	Others
AP7275S	BCM43752	2.4G&5G, WiFi 6	5.0

CM3 IO Bluetooth

Changelogs of ROCK 3 Ubuntu Release

2021.11.15

rock3a_ubuntu_focal_server_arm64_20211113_0103-gpt.img

Kernel version: 4.19.193-16-rockchip-g0cca7bdf9cdb
U-Boot version: 2017.09-gf95bc56c33d-210525
Support Intel Wireless 3165 / 7265 modules
Support boot.scr and dt overlays

2021.09.15

rock3a_ubuntu_focal_server_arm64_20210914_0859-gpt.img

Kernel version: 4.19.193-10-rockchip-g152e34a538b4
Package broadcom-wifibt-firmware version: 1.3
Package rockchip-overlay version: 2.9
Package rtl8723be-firmware version: 0.1

2021.08.24

rock3a_ubuntu_focal_server_arm64_20210823_2119-gpt.img

Kernel version: 4.19.193-2-rockchip-g7cf7399ddb5c
U-Boot version: 2017.09-gbd2fa07970e-210525

Rock3/Ubuntu

Contents

Work with ROCK 3 Ubuntu

Introduction to ROCK 3 Ubuntu

List of boards supported

Access from the Host PC/Laptop

Option 1: Serial console

Option 2: SSH

Ubuntu Default User Account

Radxa APT

Upgrade necessary packages

Check DDR size

Storage device

NPU

General purpose input-output (GPIO)

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

Test RTC Device

Test Audio Player

Test USB Host Ports

Control PWM Fan

Desktop

Option one: Mate Desktop

Ethernet

3A Ethernet

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

3B Ethernet

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

CM3 IO Ethernet

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

WiFi

3A WiFi

3B WiFi

CM3 IO WiFi

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

Bluetooth

3A Bluetooth

3B Bluetooth

CM3 IO Bluetooth

Changelogs of ROCK 3 Ubuntu Release

2021.11.15

2021.09.15

2021.08.24