humanus

Of course, you can build an A7S image now as well. There's no display output yet.

I'm using armbian trixie/BSP 6.6.98 by @Nick A with thermal throttling disabled (`step_wise` policy) and with the performance governor (shouldn't matter that much).

I ran Geekbench on the A7S with all the clocks at maximum. Here are the results: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/24253556 https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/17727869 And your script gives me: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ CPU Performance Benchmark Tool v1.0 ║ ║ Single · Multi-Core · Big/LITTLE Benchmark ║ ║ Auto-detects heterogeneous cores ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ System Info ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ OS: Linux 6.6.98-vendor-sun60iw2 (aarch64) Processor: aarch64 Logical cores: 8 Core topology: 8 cores [homogeneous / unprobed] Python: 3.13.5 (CPython) Test time: 2026-04-21 00:46:32 Single-core 5s/test | Per-core 3rounds x 3s | 8 dimensions ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Single Core Benchmark (Fastest Core) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ [1/8] Integer (Prime Sieve) ... 4637 iters / 5.00s (927.39 ops/s) [2/8] Float (Matrix Mul) ... 7 iters / 5.12s (1.37 ops/s) [3/8] Float (FFT) ... 3 iters / 7.05s (0.43 ops/s) [4/8] Hash (SHA-256) ... 114 iters / 5.02s (22.70 ops/s) [5/8] Memory Sort ... 4 iters / 6.56s (0.61 ops/s) [6/8] Recursion (Fibonacci) ... 1 iters / 11.63s (0.09 ops/s) [7/8] Math (Pi) ... 1852 iters / 5.00s (370.35 ops/s) [8/8] Compress (zlib) ... 25 iters / 5.14s (4.86 ops/s) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Per-Core Power Probe (8 logical cores) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ System reports no heterogeneous topology, probing empirically 3 rounds x 3s/round, warmup 0.5s, pinned mode, 8 workers Probing Integer (3 rounds): Round 1/3 ... max 923.9 min 277.1 ratio 3.33x pinned Round 2/3 ... max 922.6 min 275.2 ratio 3.35x pinned Round 3/3 ... max 921.8 min 273.9 ratio 3.37x pinned Median results (3 rounds): Core 6: 922.63 ops/s [████████████████████] 100.0% Core 7: 916.12 ops/s [███████████████████░] 99.3% Core 4: 276.21 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.9% Core 1: 276.10 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.9% Core 3: 276.04 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.9% Core 5: 275.76 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.9% Core 2: 275.56 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.9% Core 0: 275.17 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 29.8% -> Heterogeneity detected: 2 big cores (avg 919.4 ops/s) + 6 little cores (avg 275.8 ops/s) ratio 3.33x Probing Float (3 rounds): Round 1/3 ... max 370.4 min 95.4 ratio 3.88x pinned Round 2/3 ... max 371.1 min 95.4 ratio 3.89x pinned Round 3/3 ... max 369.5 min 95.3 ratio 3.88x pinned Median results (3 rounds): Core 6: 370.39 ops/s [████████████████████] 100.0% Core 7: 369.28 ops/s [███████████████████░] 99.7% Core 5: 95.59 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.8% Core 4: 95.51 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.8% Core 1: 95.46 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.8% Core 3: 95.46 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.8% Core 2: 95.45 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.8% Core 0: 95.36 ops/s [█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 25.7% -> Heterogeneity detected: 2 big cores (avg 369.8 ops/s) + 6 little cores (avg 95.5 ops/s) ratio 3.87x Multi-benchmark cross-validation agrees: 2 big + 6 little System didn't report heterogeneous, but probe found 2 big + 6 little (ratio 3.58x) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Big/Little Independent Benchmark (2 big + 6 little) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Three phases: big(2 threads) / little(6 threads) / mixed(8 threads) [1/8] Integer (Prime Sieve) Big ( 2 threads): iters 3637 | throughput 1818.20 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 907.88/909.10/910.33 Little ( 6 threads): iters 5881 | throughput 2939.47 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 275.72/489.91/924.17 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 6989 | throughput 3492.59 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 275.81/436.57/919.04 Speedup: big 1.97x little 3.18x mixed 3.78x Efficiency: big 98.4% little 53.0% mixed 47.3% Big per-core min/avg/max: 907.88/909.10/910.33 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 275.72/489.91/924.17 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 275.81/436.57/919.04 ops/s [2/8] Float (Matrix Mul) Big ( 2 threads): iters 4 | throughput 1.14 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.57/0.57/0.57 Little ( 6 threads): iters 8 | throughput 1.95 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.23/0.32/0.51 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 8 | throughput 2.59 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.24/0.32/0.48 Speedup: big 1.48x little 2.54x mixed 3.37x Efficiency: big 74.2% little 42.3% mixed 42.1% Big per-core min/avg/max: 0.57/0.57/0.57 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 0.23/0.32/0.51 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 0.24/0.32/0.48 ops/s [3/8] Float (FFT) Big ( 2 threads): iters 2 | throughput 0.74 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.37/0.37/0.37 Little ( 6 threads): iters 6 | throughput 1.51 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.18/0.25/0.36 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 8 | throughput 1.79 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.16/0.22/0.35 Speedup: big 1.93x little 3.93x mixed 4.65x Efficiency: big 96.3% little 65.4% mixed 58.1% Big per-core min/avg/max: 0.37/0.37/0.37 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 0.18/0.25/0.36 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 0.16/0.22/0.35 ops/s [4/8] Hash (SHA-256) Big ( 2 threads): iters 90 | throughput 44.91 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 22.44/22.45/22.47 Little ( 6 threads): iters 192 | throughput 93.90 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 12.15/15.65/22.60 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 241 | throughput 117.73 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 12.10/14.72/22.54 Speedup: big 1.98x little 4.14x mixed 5.19x Efficiency: big 99.0% little 69.0% mixed 64.9% Big per-core min/avg/max: 22.44/22.45/22.47 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 12.15/15.65/22.60 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 12.10/14.72/22.54 ops/s [5/8] Memory Sort Big ( 2 threads): iters 4 | throughput 1.06 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.53/0.53/0.53 Little ( 6 threads): iters 6 | throughput 2.01 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.23/0.33/0.49 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 8 | throughput 2.28 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.19/0.29/0.47 Speedup: big 1.78x little 3.37x mixed 3.83x Efficiency: big 89.1% little 56.2% mixed 47.9% Big per-core min/avg/max: 0.53/0.53/0.53 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 0.23/0.33/0.49 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 0.19/0.29/0.47 ops/s [6/8] Recursion (Fibonacci) Big ( 2 threads): iters 2 | throughput 0.17 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.08/0.08/0.09 Little ( 6 threads): iters 6 | throughput 0.36 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.04/0.06/0.08 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 8 | throughput 0.43 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 0.04/0.05/0.08 Speedup: big 2.00x little 4.20x mixed 5.07x Efficiency: big 100.0% little 70.1% mixed 63.4% Big per-core min/avg/max: 0.08/0.08/0.09 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 0.04/0.06/0.08 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 0.04/0.05/0.08 ops/s [7/8] Math (Pi) Big ( 2 threads): iters 1492 | throughput 745.39 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 370.74/372.70/374.65 Little ( 6 threads): iters 2263 | throughput 1130.50 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 94.95/188.42/375.07 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 2642 | throughput 1319.41 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 95.16/164.93/374.73 Speedup: big 2.03x little 3.07x mixed 3.58x Efficiency: big 101.3% little 51.2% mixed 44.8% Big per-core min/avg/max: 370.74/372.70/374.65 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 94.95/188.42/375.07 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 95.16/164.93/374.73 ops/s [8/8] Compress (zlib) Big ( 2 threads): iters 20 | throughput 9.51 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 4.73/4.75/4.78 Little ( 6 threads): iters 40 | throughput 18.53 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 2.21/3.09/4.78 Mixed ( 8 threads): iters 50 | throughput 22.02 ops/s | per-core min/avg/max: 2.09/2.75/4.62 Speedup: big 1.96x little 3.81x mixed 4.53x Efficiency: big 97.8% little 63.5% mixed 56.6% Big per-core min/avg/max: 4.73/4.75/4.78 ops/s Little per-core min/avg/max: 2.21/3.09/4.78 ops/s Mixed per-core min/avg/max: 2.09/2.75/4.62 ops/s ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Score Report (Heterogeneous: 2 big + 6 little) ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Test Single Big Little Mixed Big eff Little eff ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Integer (Prime Sieve) 11592 22728 36743 43657 98.4% 53.0% Float (Matrix Mul) 2733 2282 3899 5183 74.2% 42.3% Float (FFT) 142 247 503 596 96.3% 65.4% Hash (SHA-256) 1514 2994 6260 7849 99.0% 69.0% Memory Sort 203 354 670 761 89.1% 56.2% Recursion (Fibonacci) 29 57 119 144 100.0% 70.1% Math (Pi) 1852 3727 5652 6597 101.3% 51.2% Compress (zlib) 972 1901 3705 4405 97.8% 63.5% ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Single geomean.................... 719 Big group geomean................. 1236 Little group geomean.............. 2289 Mixed geomean..................... 2760 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Big/Little Power Comparison ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Big/Little power ratio (from per-core probe): 3.58x Big avg ops/s: 1.99 Little avg ops/s: 0.56 Power composition: Big (2 cores): [████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 54.4% 54.4% Little (6 cores): [█████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 45.6% 45.6% Equivalent big cores: 3.7 (little cores converted to big power) ══════════════════════════════════════════════════ Single score: 719 (fastest core) Big group score: 1236 (big cores only) Little group score: 2289 (little cores only) Mixed score: 2760 (big+little mixed) Mixed / Single: 3.84x ══════════════════════════════════════════════════ Benchmark complete!

Wow, thank you for this comprehensive answer. It will probably take me about as much time as until 6.19 is released to try and understand it 😂 Why does this say archlinux? And also, where to get these "idbloader.img" and "u-boot.itb" files from? The console is ttyS0, it works.

yeah, this is quite helpful, although the best solution is to wait at least until 6.19. But now I can see that the board was not abandoned, which I was a bit worried about. It seems to be a nice entry-level option and compatibility of both boards with rpi5 HATs due to the exposed PCIe is a great feature. I found the A53 cores quite speedy on Rock 2F and also not to produce much heat. That's why I might have been a bit impatient (I want to be able to use the pcie with mainline fixes).

Hi again, it booted and I get console output using this config: # Rockchip RK3528 quad core 1-4GB SoC WIFI/BT 0-32GB eMMC BOARD_NAME="ROCK 2F" BOARD_VENDOR="radxa" BOARDFAMILY="rk35xx" BOOTCONFIG="rock-2-rk3528_defconfig" BOARD_MAINTAINER="CodeChenL" KERNEL_TARGET="vendor,edge" KERNEL_TEST_TARGET="vendor" FULL_DESKTOP="yes" BOOT_LOGO="desktop" BOOT_FDT_FILE="rockchip/rk3528-rock-2f.dtb" BOOT_SCENARIO="spl-blobs" IMAGE_PARTITION_TABLE="gpt" enable_extension "radxa-aic8800" AIC8800_TYPE="usb" function post_family_config__rock2f_use_mainline_uboot() { [[ "${BRANCH}" == "vendor" ]] && return 0 display_alert "$BOARD" "Mainline U-Boot overrides for $BOARD - $BRANCH" "info" # To reuse ATF code in rockchip64_common, let's change the BOOT_SCENARIO and call prepare_boot_configuration() again # BOOT_SCENARIO="tpl-blob-atf-mainline" # prepare_boot_configuration # declare -g BOOTCONFIG="generic-rk3528_defconfig" declare -g BOOTDELAY=1 declare -g BOOTSOURCE="https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot.git" declare -g BOOTBRANCH="tag:v2026.01-rc4" declare -g BOOTPATCHDIR="v2026.01" declare -g BOOTDIR="u-boot-${BOARD}" declare -g UBOOT_TARGET_MAP="BL31=${RKBIN_DIR}/${BL31_BLOB} ROCKCHIP_TPL=${RKBIN_DIR}/${DDR_BLOB};;u-boot-rockchip.bin" unset uboot_custom_postprocess write_uboot_platform write_uboot_platform_mtd # disable stuff from rockchip64_common; we're using binman here which does all the work already declare -g BOOTSCRIPT="boot-rockchip64-ttyS0.cmd:boot.cmd" declare -g SERIALCON="ttyS0" # Just use the binman-provided u-boot-rockchip.bin, which is ready-to-go function write_uboot_platform() { dd "if=$1/u-boot-rockchip.bin" "of=$2" bs=32k seek=1 conv=notrunc status=none } function write_uboot_platform_mtd() { flashcp -v -p "$1/u-boot-rockchip-spi.bin" /dev/mtd0 } } I'll try working on it using github. Still I cannot write in the serial console for some reason. There is zero input. So from what I understand, USB won't work with kernel 6.18, right? The wifi won't work as its aic8800-usb, and usb Ethernet either. With no serial input I have no way to communicate with the board. EDIT: I fixed the issue with not being able to conect via serial, it was because of a HAT that was connected. EDIT2: I figured out how to compile kernel 6.19-rc1. Some patches failed, I just removed them for now. I can send you @johlnx the command. EDIT3: Managed to boot 6.19 but it's pretty barebones. No usb, no pci etc. Time is not correct below. Linux rock-2f 6.19.0-rc1-edge-rockchip64 #8 SMP PREEMPT Sun Dec 14 04:05:07 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux Now I can wait for your proper implementation.

@johlnx Please use paste.armbian.eu, also it seems a bit off-topic Ah I see, you just made a typo and wrote "RK3588" instead of "RK3528".

I thought that if something is in mainline it would be quite usable out of the box. I guess not really... And I just learned about this ATF/TF-A thing, not sure what this does yet other than not existing for RK3528. And yes, if I was more experienced I would probably use GitHub to work on this. However, git is quite a complicated tool for people with no formal training in it, with a lot of jargon and assumed knowledge about how branches work. GitHub adds another layer of complexity with its forks. So you are right in principle but only assuming someone knows how to use these tools properly. Anyway, with some stuff commented out and one of Werner's lines changed to declare -g UBOOT_TARGET_MAP="BL31=${RKBIN_DIR}/${BL31_BLOB} ROCKCHIP_TPL=${RKBIN_DIR}/${DDR_BLOB};;u-boot-rockchip.bin" the image builds. I also saw the KERNELBRANCH parameter for the build command, but as far as I understand, 6.19.something doesn't exist yet?

Thanks, this seems to need the generic config line because the platform doesn't exist: https://paste.armbian.com/molihizoga EDIT: doesn't work with this line added either. https://paste.armbian.com/linixijomo

Thank you @rpardini , I'll try to do this but I'm just using the armbian build framework and I have no idea how to bump the kernel or uboot versions. Should I just switch to the beta branch? Reading commits might be useful if I was able to 1) find them and 2) understand them - I'm not a kernel developer and both are quite unlikely.

What is happening with the board maintainer in general? I think they have been incommunicado pretty much since the first release and now is the time to do something (especially since the board has been "upgraded" now). One more detail. The filesystem does get expanded to fill the whole SD. Which part of the booting process does this happen at? Is there any way to set journal or dmesg logging to a file while not being able to log in (ie by editing a config file, or maybe crontab but externally?)

Weird. I set verbosity to 7 but still nothing. See this https://paste.armbian.eu/zubunigowi.vbnet Nothing afterwards. Claude suggested adding the parameter SERIALCON="ttyS0" because apparently the default is ttyS2, which does not match rk3528. Let's see if it's just a hallucination. EDIT: nope. Still no luck. EDIT2. Something is wrong with the serial console on the vendor image too. I cannot type in it. It is connected correctly.

Yup, there are numerous boot attempts if you take a look. There are two that are successful but not much happens afterwards, look for "Starting kernel". So when it finds the tree, it "boots" but there is no further output.

The kernel seems to be starting but there is no further output from the serial console. Here are some attemps (forst one with FDT commented out, which prevented the kernel from loading, the last ones also, maybe due to SD card corruption). The green light is on and the blue light is pulsing. This is the config it came up with with my guidance: # Rockchip RK3528 quad core 1-4GB SoC WIFI/BT 0-32GB eMMC BOARD_NAME="ROCK 2F" BOARD_VENDOR="radxa" BOARDFAMILY="rk35xx" BOOTCONFIG="rock-2-rk3528_defconfig" BOARD_MAINTAINER="CodeChenL" KERNEL_TARGET="vendor,edge" KERNEL_TEST_TARGET="vendor" FULL_DESKTOP="yes" BOOT_LOGO="desktop" BOOT_FDT_FILE="rockchip/rk3528-rock-2f.dtb" BOOT_SCENARIO="spl-blobs" IMAGE_PARTITION_TABLE="gpt" enable_extension "radxa-aic8800" AIC8800_TYPE="usb" function post_family_config__rock-2f_use_mainline_uboot() { # use mainline uboot for _edge_ [[ "${BRANCH}" == "vendor" ]] && return 0 display_alert "$BOARD" "Mainline U-Boot overrides for $BOARD - $BRANCH" "info" declare -g BOOTCONFIG="generic-rk3528_defconfig" # Use generic RK3528 config since rock-2f specific config doesn't exist yet in mainline declare -g BOOTDELAY=1 declare -g BOOTSOURCE="https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot" declare -g BOOTBRANCH="tag:v2025.10" declare -g BOOTPATCHDIR="v2025.10" declare -g BOOTDIR="u-boot-${BOARD}" declare -g UBOOT_TARGET_MAP="BL31=${RKBIN_DIR}/${BL31_BLOB} ROCKCHIP_TPL=${RKBIN_DIR}/${DDR_BLOB};;u-boot-rockchip.bin" unset uboot_custom_postprocess write_uboot_platform write_uboot_platform_mtd # disable stuff from rockchip64_common; we're using binman here which does all the work already # Just use the binman-provided u-boot-rockchip.bin, which is ready-to-go function write_uboot_platform() { dd "if=$1/u-boot-rockchip.bin" "of=$2" bs=32k seek=1 conv=notrunc status=none } } Here is the log: pastebin Any ideas? I observed that with some boards, the line "BOOT_FDT_FILE=..." is absent altogether. is removing it possibly the way to go?

With the help of Claude I generated a config with both. Compiling now. Hopefully it boots this time. If it does, I may then do a PR.