Sorry, forgot about that. Here are logs from a boot of Debian minimal with GNOME and updated packages: https://paste.armbian.com/eyaxadazow

https://github.com/ThomasKaiser/sbc-bench/blob/master/results/rca7s.txt here are my results with an old (November 2025) kernel

test with 1.5V CPU voltage, the SBC draws over two amps. You need a really good active heatsink. 7-Zip (r) 25.01 (arm64) : Igor Pavlov : Public domain : 2025-08-03 64-bit arm_v:8-A locale=en_US.UTF-8 Threads:8 OPEN_MAX:1024, ASM Compiler: ver:14.2.0 GCC 14.2.0 : UNALIGNED Linux : 6.6.98-vendor-sun60iw2 : #2 SMP PREEMPT Fri May 15 10:57:21 CEST 2026 : aarch64 PageSize:4KB hwcap:119FFB:CRC32:SHA1:SHA2:AES:ASIMD arm64 1T CPU Freq (MHz): 1267 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 4T CPU Freq (MHz): 366% 1621 367% 1631 8T CPU Freq (MHz): 742% 1561 746% 1580 RAM size: 5906 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 8 RAM usage: 1779 MB, # Benchmark threads: 8 Compressing | Decompressing Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS 22: 9894 757 1272 9625 | 226530 685 2821 19317 23: 9405 767 1249 9583 | 219768 687 2768 19010 24: 8867 766 1245 9535 | 213378 689 2717 18722 25: 8382 753 1271 9571 | 205891 692 2649 18320 ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------ Avr: 9137 761 1259 9578 | 216392 688 2739 18842 Tot: 724 1999 14210 And the same test with 1.32V, SBC draws 1.5 amps Last login: Fri Jun 5 11:11:21 2026 from 192.168.11.50 root@radxa-cubie-a7s:~# 7zr b 7-Zip (r) 25.01 (arm64) : Igor Pavlov : Public domain : 2025-08-03 64-bit arm_v:8-A locale=en_US.UTF-8 Threads:8 OPEN_MAX:1024, ASM Compiler: ver:14.2.0 GCC 14.2.0 : UNALIGNED Linux : 6.6.98-vendor-sun60iw2 : #2 SMP PREEMPT Fri May 15 10:57:21 CEST 2026 : aarch64 PageSize:4KB hwcap:119FFB:CRC32:SHA1:SHA2:AES:ASIMD arm64 1T CPU Freq (MHz): 1393 1682 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 4T CPU Freq (MHz): 369% 1606 367% 1634 8T CPU Freq (MHz): 743% 1552 745% 1573 RAM size: 5906 MB, # CPU hardware threads: 8 RAM usage: 1779 MB, # Benchmark threads: 8 Compressing | Decompressing Dict Speed Usage R/U Rating | Speed Usage R/U Rating KiB/s % MIPS MIPS | KiB/s % MIPS MIPS 22: 9314 722 1254 9061 | 224321 686 2790 19128 23: 8943 752 1211 9113 | 217854 688 2739 18845 24: 8556 749 1228 9200 | 210699 688 2686 18487 25: 8216 754 1244 9382 | 202281 686 2623 17999 ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------ Avr: 8758 745 1234 9189 | 213789 687 2710 18615 Tot: 716 1972 13902 root@radxa-cubie-a7s:~#

I wanted to report a specific regression regarding CPU frequency scaling on the Radxa Cubie A7S and share the DTS workaround that fully restores complete functionality. The Regression Behavior November Kernel State: Using the kernel branch/commit built back in November (running Linux version 6.6.98-vendor-sun60iw2 #SMP PREEMPT Wed Nov 19 2025 ), CPU frequency scaling worked perfectly out of the box. All available frequencies scaled smoothly across both core clusters, and the benchmark results for my specific A7S board were fully aligned with Thomas Kaiser's provided optimization targets. May Kernel State: After updating to the recent kernel build (mid-May 2026), CPU frequency scaling completely broke under the stock DTB configuration. The core clusters refused to scale through their operational performance points properly. The Frequency Trick & DTS Fix The root cause was isolated to how cpufreq binds under the newer kernel configuration, specifically linked to the inclusion of CONFIG_CPUFREQ_DT_PLATDEV=y. To make the scaling work seamlessly on the latest May kernel, the underlying Device Tree needs a dedicated adjustment in the opp-table and driver mapping. By manually adapting the standard DTS bindings for the sun60iw2 platform to explicitly force correct platform-device scaling registration, all operational frequencies are now fully functional and stable again on the new kernel. Request for Review/Merge@Nick (or current DTB maintainer), cubie_a7s.zip could you please verify this behavior against the latest repository changes? If everything checks out on your end, please pull this DTS patch into the main Armbian sunxi tree so that the Cubie A7S doesn't remain locked to lower fallback states on fresh updates.Let me know if you need the raw diff -u dump of the modified .dts files attached! cubie_a7s.zip

Hi @armfan. From what I am able to extract from the flood of braindumps you have a non-working NVME with 2TB that is not working for some reason. If it really stops sometimes in the middle of u-boot::nvme::init then you may have some power issue with this NVME. For comparison: I placed my NVME in the lower m.2 and booted via MTD the u-boot armbian-installed from the "current" image downloadable from my site. See attached capture file. HTH // Sven-Ola nvme-lower-uboot-may-26-2026.cap