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Dear Armbians, It’s been a month since our last newsletter. We hope you are enjoying our new release! Here are the topics we are working on: Infra We are aware that our primary repository management and rsync servers need serious upgrades, as it takes hours and hours to deliver a release. Past week we have enabled two additional servers and several others are waiting for the upgrade. This will further improve time to deliver updates and new images. Documentation We are working on improving the documentation, focusing on the build framework. The current build framework documentation is largely outdated, which poses a challenge for those unfamiliar with the tool. Builds We are very close to making immutable and reproducible builds. A few ideas for improving UX have been proposed, such as being able to choose the network management at build or first run. Advanced users may not require Network Manager during server deployment. How to Participate If you encounter any issues with the current release or notice any old unresolved bugs, please jump in and help us make Armbian better! You can join us at https://www.armbian.com/participate/ Thank you for your support, and keep watching for more exciting news! Best regards, The Armbian Team View the full article

Armbian 23.8 Colobus We are very pleased to announce the public availability of Armbian OS 23.08, the Linux distribution, and 23.08 package set, under the codename »Colobus«. After the complete rework of our build framework, we proceeded with refreshing repository management and automation processes. We have significantly stabilized both our framework and many hardware platforms we are taking care of. Continue reading to learn more about our latest news and updates! Our Focus Armbian delivers four point releases each year, representing our team’s dedicated efforts to stabilize this complex and ever-changing system. We release updates every 4 months, with weekly meetings for both our developers and community. Our team consists of individuals with varying levels of experience/interaction, including full-time contributors, part-time contributors, and helpful volunteers. Armbian serves as a foundational project that brings immense value to the entire Linux community. Even if you opt for a different Linux distribution on your single board computer, there’s a high possibility that you’re still benefiting from Armbian. Our primary focus is to provide optimized images tailored to specific hardware. Additionally, we offer a generic aarch64 image that works seamlessly on compatible UEFI hardware like Ampere Altra. However, only a few single board computers support this standard, and it is currently in the early alpha phase, lacking certain important features for these devices. Hence, we adhere to existing boot scenarios and provide specific images for each hardware. Our entire ecosystem is designed to handle the generation of numerous images efficiently when the need arises. Another significant aspect driving our efforts is addressing the diversity in single board computers. We strive to simplify the process to a point where anyone can create OS images from sources. Improvements and enhancements Users have not been left behind! Check out what’s new. Remarkable Contributors and Supporters We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the exceptional individuals who have poured their time and expertise into constantly making Armbian great. Warm “Thank You” goes to Armbian developers & contributors @rpardini @igorpecovnik @viraniac @pyavitz @paolosabatino @efectn @amazingfate @Tonymac32 @lanefu @glneo @hzyitc @belegdol @adeepn … to Armbian infrastructure support staff @EvilOlaf @Rafal-Hacus @TheLinuxBug and many more! Everyone, please enjoy new Armbian 23.08! Join Us Excited about being a part of the project? Join us at https://www.armbian.com/participate/ Best regards, The Armbian Team Further information View the full article

Dear Armbians, Here are the latest updates! Device Support, Enhancements, and Progress We’re excited to announce the addition of support for several new devices, including Khadas VIM1S, VIM4, TI AM26, and Licheepi 4a. To enhance user experience, all Khadas images are now available in their “oowow” format, streamlining the installation process. Bananapi M5 and M2PRO users can look forward to numerous fixes that enhance stability and performance. Updates for the Thinkpad X13s have transformed it into a highly usable device. Additionally, thermal support for Opi4 has been fixed, eliminating issues with high-load operation. Our latest release introduces overlays for the Amlogic family of devices, enhancing their functionality. We’re pleased to share that the cryptoroot build functionality has been successfully resolved, contributing to a smoother overall experience. The development of mainline-based images for Rockchip RK3588 boards, including Rock5 and Nanopi T6, is making excellent progress. Our build runners are already up and running on these machines, ensuring the quality of the upcoming release. We’re in the final stages of preparing a stable packages update that will significantly enhance your Armbian experience. Stay tuned for its release within the upcoming major update by the end of the month. Wallpaper Contest We’ve initiated a wallpaper contest, and the submissions are already pouring in. It’s exciting to see the creative contributions from the community! How to Participate Join us in testing nightly builds and providing valuable feedback. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please open tickets on our Participation Page. Thank you for your continuous support, and stay tuned for more exciting updates! Best regards, The Armbian Team View the full article

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Dear Armbians, Some fresh news for you! Device additions and development updates In the past few weeks, we have been actively adding support for new devices. Our team is currently working on bringing up the Khadas VIM1S and the highly anticipated Lenovo X13S, one of the best ARM-based laptops available, and the TI SK-AM64B board, developed by Texas Instruments. Furthermore, Intelligent Agent has submitted their Allwinner-based 3D printer controller. The developers’ section has been particularly active lately. We are in the final stages of upgrading u-boot and implementing power management support for the entire Allwinner family. Additionally, we are continuously improving our automated testing procedures, which involve testing all possible kernel combinations for around 50 different boards. Once these tests are completed, we will finally release the missing 23.05 release updates and more on the stable branch, fulfilling the requests of many users. However, for those who can’t wait, building from sources remains a viable option. Rest assured, we are diligently maintaining the build system to ensure its reliability. Moreover, our development team is actively working on projects such as Radxa CM5, NanoPC T6, Nanopi R4SE, Mixtile Blade 3 and more. We have also made significant updates to core boot components, enhancing stability and expanding hardware support for newer revisions. Wallpaper contest We are thrilled to announce the wallpaper contest! If you have a passion for design, this is your chance to have your work featured on Armbian. Let your creativity shine, be original, and above all, have fun! In collaboration with SinoVoip, the Bananapi maker, we have prepared three boards as rewards for participants in the contest. We also encourage the community to become a Desktop Maintainer, and help us with Armbian! You can learn more about the role here. August release We are already hard at work on our next release, code-name Colobus, scheduled for August. Our primary focus will be on stability improvements, boot-loader upgrades, enhanced auto-testing, advancing the refactoring of armbian-config, and introducing a mainline-based kernel for RK3588 / 3566. We aim to test as much hardware as possible to provide comprehensive support but your involvement is highly appreciated. Thank you for your continuous support, and stay tuned for more exciting updates! Best regards, The Armbian Team View the full article