I just put `Armbian_20.08.1_Rock64_buster_legacy_4.4.213.img.xz` onto my `Iconikal Rockchip RK3328` and installed the multimedia framework using steps like this:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install media-buster-legacy-rk3328 --install-recommends
sudo armbian-config # Then use System->Desktop to enable desktop environment.
These are the issues I've run into so far:
The install of media-buster-legacy-rk3328 made changes to /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf, which I merged by hand. It would have adding a bunch of commented-out defaults and replaced the "[greeter]" section's default values with empty values (nothing on the right-side of equals signs). I merged in the commented-out defaults and kept the original "[greeter]" section from before the install (so "background=#888a85", "theme-name = Numix", etc). It seems to work, I think?
The system seems to be stuttering or dropping frames (a lot) when playing 1080p videos on Youtube with Chromium. Examples include this stream and this video. It seems to be autonegotiating to lower resolutions by default (ex: 360p, 480p), but I'd expect 1080p to work smoothly on something that is supposedly capable of 4K playback and has a 1Mbps ethernet connection.
I had to install Firefox/Iceweasel on my own. Firefox is mentioned in the preceding Media Script thread, so I thought I might find it in this bundle.
Firefox/Iceweasel is unbearably slow. Once I try to have it do anything with Firefox+Youtube at all, I start experiencing 10s+ input latencies on every part of the system (including clicks on LXDE widgets and stuff).
Display rotation is not available. When I try to use the GUI display config, there are no options available under "Rotation" or "Reflection". The only HDMI-capable display I have dedicated access to right now is permanently in upside-down orientation for posture/health reasons. As a result, I'm being forced to do all of my setup on this machine upside-down. The missing option can be seen in this video: Google Photos link, Youtube link. (Sorry for the shaky-cam.) I have also tried to set it with xrandr using the command `xrandr --output HDMI-1 --rotate inverted`. It responds with `xrandr: output HDMI-1 cannot use rotation "inverted" reflection "none"`, and the display is unaffected. The display itself has no rotation option in its OSD menu. My main system can rotate it with no issues. I've even been able to rotate the output on the RK3328 with a different Armbian image (Armbian_20.08.1_Rock64_bionic_legacy_4.4.213_desktop.img.xz, I think). That Armbian image could do software rendering, which allowed it to kinda work, but was very slow and couldn't install the multimedia framework. Long-term, this could be important for 90-degree vertical displays used for programming and reading.
(1) is mostly going to be a concern for other people installing this. In my case, it involved a disproportionate amount of CLI interaction. That's fine for me, but it could be confusing for others. It also interrupted the install process with an interaction, which can be frustrating when the user wants the computer to just finish the long-running process on its own.
The rest (2-5) are things I care about, but don't necessarily know what to inspect to figure these out. I might be able to figure these out with a lot of effort, but I was wondering if anyone else already solved these issues, or if there are exact explanations for why these things are the way they are... so I can give up if the problems are absurdly complicated, of course
So, any thoughts on how I might solve these issues, or why they might be happening? What's missing?
In terms of experience report, this isn't terribly complete, as there are some things I have yet to try:
Audio
mpv
obs-studio + camera&mic capture
GPIO pins
Dual monitors (by USB display if need be)
So I'm not sure yet if those work for me.
I'm kind of holding off on spending more time on this until a new HDMI+1080p monitor arrives, so that I can set it up in normal orientation and not have to think upside-down all the time.
Given that it's at least a working desktop environment that can in principle handle some multimedia work, this is promising. I am poor and have a computer shortage. It could help a lot. So, thank you JMCC and anyone else involved in putting this together.
