How ToIoT HardwaresTutorials/DIY

ROCK Pi S Ubuntu | Work with ROCK Pi S Ubuntu

Recently ROCK Pi S Ubuntu Bionic system image is released. Rock Pi is best alternative of Raspberry Pi. Nowadays Rock Pi 4 is popular and used in embedded and IoT Development. In this we learn how to work with Rock Pi S Ubuntu. Rock Pi is a small board by Radxa. Size of this board is only 1.7 inch.

What is ROCK Pi S ?

S is for Small Square. ROCK Pi S is a Rockchip RK3308 based SBC(Single Board Computer) by Radxa. It equips a 64bits quad core processor, USB, ethernet, wireless connectivity and voice detection engine at the size of 1.7 inch, make it perfect for IoT and voice applications. ROCK Pi S comes in two ram sizes 256MB or 512MB DDR3, and uses uSD card for OS and storage. Optionally, ROCK Pi S can provide on board storage version with 1Gb/2Gb/4Gb/8Gb NAND flash.

You may like also: Rock Pi 4 Tutorials | Getting Started with Rock Pi 4


Work with ROCK Pi S Ubuntu


What is ROCK Pi S Ubuntu

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

Access from the Host PC/Laptop

Option 1: USB access(adb)

By default, the ROCK Pi S Linux image enables adbd services, which is a debug bridge from Android now ported on Linux. With one USB A to C cable you can power and access the board, very handy.

To use adb, you need to install adb tool on the PC/Laptop. Check instructions for Windows and Linux.

After you have adb installed successfully, run the following command on console to login the shell of ROCK Pi S:

   adb shell

Check Using adb.

Option 2: Serial console

Check Serial Console

Option 3: SSH

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

Please use angryip to find your board IP address.

To access ROCK Pi S by SSH, try

   ping rockpis.local
   ssh rock@rockpis.local

or if your router/network doesn’t support Local Domain, you need to check your network/router administrator page and look for the ROCK Pi S ip address.

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

Note: You can also get the IP of ROCK Pi S from option 1 or option 2 if you can not access network administrator page.

Debian Default User Account

Non-root User:

   User Name : rock
   Password  : rock

Install and update necessary packages

Add Radxa APT, see Radxa APT.

Install packages;

 $ sudo apt-get update
 $ sudo apt-get install -y rockchip-overlay
 $ sudo apt-get install -y linux-4.4-rockpis-latest rockpis-dtbo

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 S to the network. The ROCK Pi S 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 Connection

When there is not a network cable for your ROCK Pi S the WIFI connection is another good choice. ROCK Pi S supports 2.4G 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
 $ sudp apt-get install -y rockchip-overlay
 $ sudo apt-get install -y linux-4.4-rockpis-latest # kernel version(>=4.4.143.27)
 $ sudo apt-get install -y rtl8723ds-firmware bluez

Check Bluetooth service

 $ systemctl status bluetooth

Run Bluetooth service if the Bluetooth service is inactive.

 $ systemctl start bluetooth

Check Bluetooth device

 $ hciconfig
 hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: UART
         BD Address: 22:22:AA:25:49:1E  ACL MTU: 1021:8  SCO MTU: 255:12
         UP RUNNING 
         RX bytes:4424 acl:0 sco:0 events:81 errors:0
         TX bytes:3820 acl:0 sco:0 commands:52 errors:0

Example: Connect to Bluetooth Speaker.

Change to root mode.

 $ sudo su

Install pulseaudio packages

 # apt-get install -y pulseaudio-module-bluetooth pulseaudio

Run pulseaudio

 # pulseaudio --start

Connect using bluetoothctl

 # bluetoothctl
 [bluetooth]# default-agent 
 [bluetooth]# power on
 [bluetooth]# scan on
 [bluetooth]# trust 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 [bluetooth]# pair 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC
 [bluetooth]# connect 77:EC:79:4F:6B:AC

Play songs and enjoy it.

Storage device

  • uSD Card: /dev/mmcblk0
  • SD Nand: /dev/mmcblk1

Boot device order

SD Nand -> uSD Card

Changelogs

2019.12.19

rockpis_ubuntu_bionic_minimal_arm64_191219_0410-gpt.img

  • U-boot version: 2017.09-02370-g6d65a50f1e
  • Kernel version: 4.4.143-34-rockchip-g3c9d2019dba7
  • System partitions: boot and rootfs
  • Default serial console: UART0
  • Default non-root user: rock (password: rock)
  • Hostname: rockpis
  • Support adb by default.
  • Support SSH by default.
  • Resize root filesystem to fit available disk space for the first boot
  • Automatically load Bluetooth firmware after system startup.

 

Get ROCK Pi S Ubuntu Bionic system image


Thanks for reading. If you like this post probably you might like my next ones, so please support me by subscribing my blog.

You may like also: Rock Pi Boards | Rock Pi 4 | Rock Pi X | Rock Pi N10

Harshvardhan Mishra

Hi, I'm Harshvardhan Mishra. Tech enthusiast and IT professional with a B.Tech in IT, PG Diploma in IoT from CDAC, and 6 years of industry experience. Founder of HVM Smart Solutions, blending technology for real-world solutions. As a passionate technical author, I simplify complex concepts for diverse audiences. Let's connect and explore the tech world together! If you want to help support me on my journey, consider sharing my articles, or Buy me a Coffee! Thank you for reading my blog! Happy learning! Linkedin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *