Stock Ubuntu Server for ARM vs. Armbian?

[h4rp00n33r]

Hi @all,

 

is it possible to run a stock Ubuntu Server for ARM (https://ubuntu.com/download/server/arm) on my Banana Pi M1? Don't get me wrong: I love the Armbian images but I try to understand the differences...

 

Thanks in advance

[lanefu]

quick answer is the official arm images from upstream linux distributions don't support most SBCS's off-the-shelf.    Generally they expect UEFI and support "Server-Ready" class ARM hosts.

 

Most SBCs don't have UEFI, and need custom u-boot configurations for the initial bootstrapping of the boards.   Armbian provides this.

 

Additionally Armbian provides kernels that have patches to enable hardware functionality on most SBCs that have not otherwise made it into upstream kernels.

[Werner]

M1 is built around the Allwiner A20 SoC which is 32bit or armhf to say.

The Ubuntu server image for arm seems to be built for arm64. So no, won't work.

Also I do not see this board in the list of supported SBCs: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/Server/Install