Rock64

Install to a micro SD card

Replace sdX in the following instructions with the device name for the SD card as it appears on your computer.

1. Zero the beginning of the SD card:

   dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M count=32

2. Start fdisk to partition the SD card:

   fdisk /dev/sdX

3. At the fdisk prompt, create the new partition:
   1. Type o. This will clear out any partitions on the drive.
   2. Type p to list partitions. There should be no partitions left.
   3. Type n, then p for primary, 1 for the first partition on the drive, 32768 for the first sector, and then press ENTER to accept the default last sector.
   4. Write the partition table and exit by typing w.
4. Create the ext4 filesystem:

   mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1

5. Mount the filesystem:

   mkdir root
   mount /dev/sdX1 root

6. Download and extract the root filesystem (as root, not via sudo):

   wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz
   bsdtar -xpf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C root

7. Download the boot.scr script for U-Boot and place it in the /boot directory:

   wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/rockchip/boot/rock64/boot.scr -O root/boot/boot.scr

8. Unmount the partition:

   umount root

9. Download and install the U-Boot bootloader:

   wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/rockchip/boot/rock64/rksd_loader.img
   wget http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/rockchip/boot/rock64/u-boot.itb
   dd if=rksd_loader.img of=/dev/sdX seek=64 conv=notrunc
   dd if=u-boot.itb of=/dev/sdX seek=16384 conv=notrunc

10. Insert the micro SD card into the Rock64, connect ethernet, and apply 5V power.
11. Use the serial console or SSH to the IP address given to the board by your router.
    • Login as the default user alarm with the password alarm.
    • The default root password is root.
    • HDMI video is not yet supported in the mainline kernel.
12. Initialize the pacman keyring and populate the Arch Linux ARM package signing keys:

    pacman-key --init
    pacman-key --populate archlinuxarm

Install the U-Boot package

1. Remove the boot.scr file manually downloaded previously:

   rm /boot/boot.scr

2. Install the U-Boot package:

   pacman -Sy uboot-rock64

3. When prompted, press y and hit enter to write the latest bootloader to the micro SD card.