Orange Pi RV2

[sven-ola]

Hi @sivert! The downloadable Ubuntu noble image has a bcmdhd module for Wifi, so basically Wifi is working. While checking, I discovered that the bcmdhd kernel module is removed and not rebuilt during kernel update. You need to re-add it manually until I know whats wrong with that:

dpkg-reconfigure bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio-dkms

The bcmdhd automatic rebuild seems to work with the Debian Trixie image. Also, that "edge" Image is meant for devel. No UART, no devel so to speak 😉

HTH // Sven-Ola

Edited 4 hours ago by sven-ola
Note on Ubuntu, replaced dkms rebuild with dpkg-reconfigure

[sivert]

Hi @sven-ola, thanks for the reply.
Before you edited it, I have seen different set of commands to build the module.

I'm not using ubuntu, I tried a debian trixie without desktop. I build the image few days ago and I have no exact command but it seems to be something like:
 

./compile.sh BOARD=orangepirv2 BRANCH=current RELEASE=trixie KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no BUILD_MINIMAL=no BUILD_DESKTOP=no

and there is no (apt) package with bcmdhd in the name, I suppose that the older version of your post was helpful, because it was about compiling from the source.

 

I just started a new build using:

./compile.sh BOARD=orangepirv2 BRANCH=current RELEASE=trixie KERNEL_CONFIGURE=yes KERNEL_GIT=shallow BUILD_MINIMAL=no SKIP_ARMBIAN_REPO=yes KERNEL_BTF=no INSTALL_HEADERS=yes

I'll report the status later.

[sven-ola]

Hey @sivert. The Ubuntu "dkms" package is borked somehow. It removes the dkms config from the file system during kernel update. The Debian "dkms" package works as expected, it removes the modules and rebuilds them on kernel update. The bcmdhd driver is of -ähh- questionable code quality and will never made it in the official kernel. For that reason, I have added an internal package named bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio-dkms that contains driver source in /usr/src and a dkms.conf which is build and installed during Armbian compile.sh. Internal means: that package is installed during build but is not installable via Armbian package repo.

 

Using "dpkg-reconfigure bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio-dkms" is a shorter command than the previously posted "dkms add, dkms build, dkms install" sequence. If your build does not include the bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio-dkms package and therefore does not have /usr/src/bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio-101.10.591.84.37-4/ directory, then something else is wrong here.

 

HTH // Sven-Ola

[sven-ola]

As an addon to @sivert: Ubuntu has dkms "3.0.11-1ubuntu13" while Debian has the newer "3.2.2-1~deb13u1". There is a difference in /etc/kernel/prerm.d/dkms: Ubuntu starts "dkms remove..." and Debian starts "dkms kernel_prerm". Both should work normally, because if you update the kernel there are two kernels: the old one and the incoming one. If you happen to have only one kernel, and thus only one compiled dkms module version, the Ubuntu "remove" completely removes anything dkms-module related. Now Armbian is offering a kernel update to the absolute same kernel version number, thus simply overwriting linux-image.

 

Also, a "dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-current-spacemit" (with only one Ubuntu kernel version installed) will also remove the Wifi module. I am not sure how to fix this...

[sivert]

I have wifi  and it worked without building or installing anything. During the first boot I was asked if I would like to use wifi, I saw the list of SSIDs, but I was unable to connect. I used nmcli and I'm connected now.

dkms status outputs:

bcmdhd-spacemit-sdio/101.10.591.84.37-4, 6.18.36-current-spacemit, riscv64: installed

 

Update:
It boots from eMMC

Edited 10 minutes ago by sivert