I have installed Xorg*, lightdm, and xfce4

The only log I can find is lightdm's, and the pertinant errors seems to be:
failed to launch plymouth

and

Can't launch X server X not found in path

Whats next?

Thanks all

Cheers, Gene

I purchased the Rock64 4G for a single purpose: To monitor cheap IP based network cameras bought off eBay, running a program called Motion 4.0.1.

I attached a external self powered USB 3.0 8TB hard drive, and currently monitor 5 cameras via the GB Ethernet interface.  The camera configurations are 3x 1080P 2MP cameras, and 2x 720P 1MP cameras. 

For the 1080P cams, a JPEG picture is downloaded 5 times per second.  The 720P cams are streaming 640x360 video at 30 frames per second.  This setup is dictated by the FW presently on the cameras, which I hope to change soon.  All pictures, videos, and log files are written to the HD, to reduce wear on the SD card.

I previously had this setup running on a Raspberry Pi 2B, and found the CPU was always running around 98%.  I also had continuous frame corruption recordings from the 720P cameras.  Once I moved to the Rock64, I see CPU usage varying from 70% to occasionally near 200%.  Average is typically between 70% and 90%.  Also, I have seen no frame corruption since moving to the Rock64.

I found some valuable info on this forum, that helped get everything set up.  However, what I don't ever see, is a complete list of instructions on how to go from a blank SD card, to a running system.  I thought I would post that here, in case the various bits of information might help someone get their project up and running sooner.

Much of the procedure below is carried forward from the RPi, but some steps have been picked or deduced from info found on this forum.  This is what I did.  I know there are different ways to do things, but this worked for me.  I did everything using a Linux laptop (w/ built in SD card reader), running Ubuntu 12.04.  The image I started with was jessie-minimal-rock64-0.5.7-101-arm64.img.

*******************************************************
Copy image to SD Card :
> dd if=<image name> of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=30M

Make following edits before putting card in Rock64 (mount locally, paths need mount point pre-pended) :

Allow root login over SSH (personal preference) :
Change 'PermitRootLogin' to 'yes' in /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Update NTP to use my local network NPT server (skip if you don't have one) :
Edit /etc/ntp.conf, and add (change x.y to your NTP server) :
> server 192.168.x.y iburst

Set fixed IP address (my AP doesn't handle this) :
Edit /etc/network/interfaces/eth0
Change line "iface eth0 inet dhcp" to :
iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.x.y  (change x.y to your IP address)
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.x.z  (change x.y to your gateway address)
Also update routing info, since DHCP would do that :
> rm -f /etc/resolv.conf
> vim /etc/resolv.conf
Insert : (change to the nameserver of your choice)
nameserver 75.75.75.75
nameserver 75.75.76.76
search hsd1.or.comcast.net

Add any external drives to auto mount (/video is the USB HD) :
Edit /etc/fstab, adding
/dev/sda1 /video ext4 defaults,noatime,nofail 0 0

Add to /etc/profile (before last "if" (personal preferences)) :
alias l='ls -ahl'
alias lc='ls -aCF'
alias cls='tput clear'

Set Default Locale (these are mine, change to match yours) :
vim /etc/default/locale and add :
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8

I have a Serial to USB adapter connected to the Rock64 UART, and use it for console messages and initial setup login, in case ssh doesn't work.

Put SD Card in Rock64, and boot with it.

Login to user account, and change password (rock64/rock64 for my image) :
> passwd (follow prompts for directions)
Login to root :
> sudo su - root (user account password).
Set root password (it's my preference to have a root login, and use it).
> passwd
From here on, everything is done as root.  Prepend 'sudo' if using a user account.
If first boot of Rock64, fix random MAC address changing on Ethernet port :
> dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mtd3 (writes zero to SPI Flash)
reboot twice (once to write new MAC, second to boot with it?)

> reboot

Expand file system so /root has all available space : (not needed after 0.5.9, as it's done automatically)  - Thanks for the tip jl_678!

If exists /usr/local/sbin/resize_rootfs.sh, execute it (that should work).
Otherwise, manual method is as follows :
> parted -l  (It should ask to Fix GPT, enter F to fix)
> fdisk /dev/mmcblk1
   d (delete root partition, should be last one)
   n (new root partition), select defaults for size
   w (write new partition table)
> partprobe /dev/mmcblk1 (force kernel to re-read partition table)
> resize2fs /dev/mmcblk1p7 (where 7 is the root partition number)
> df -h (to print out new sizes)

Set correct Time Zone :
> dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

If using USB3.0 HD, disable UAS mode unti drivers get fixed.  To check, do :
lsusb -t
If device is listed as using uas driver ("driver=uas"), edit :
> vim /etc/modprobe.d/rk3328-usb-storage-quirks.conf
Add to end of line :
options usb-storage quirks=0x2537:0x1066:u,0x2537:0x1068:u,0x0bc2:0xa013:u,0x0bc2:0x2101:u,0x2109:0x0715:u,0x<HD VID>:0x<HD PID>:u
Substitute HD VID/ HD PID with actual USB device VID/PID
Then reboot twice.  Once done, lsusb -t should show "driver=usb-storage"
Downside is speed is reduced, but makes it stable.

Get latest packages :
> apt-get update
> apt-get upgrade

Install zip/unzip :
> apt-get install zip

Install NFS server & tools, for sharing HD to Linux network :
> apt-get install nfs-kernel-server nfs-common
After installing NFS, add shares to /etc/exports (change x to subnet number) :
> vim /etc/exports
Add : /video   192.168.x.0/255.255.255.0(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)
Next, enable RPC bind :
> systemctl enable rpcbind
Restart NFS Kernel server :
> service nfs-kernel-server restart
> exportfs -ra (to re-read exports file)
On Client, mount using mount.nfs4 or 'mount -t nfs4'

Install build tools :
> apt-get install autoconf automake pkgconf libtool build-essential libzip-dev

Install Motion 4.0 application :
> apt-get install motion (installs 3.3, but use it to get all dependencies and expedite setup)
Install FFMPEG/Libav packages :
> apt-get install libjpeg62-turbo-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libavdevice-dev
Now download, build, and install the actual 4.0.1 version :
> cd /usr/local/src
> wget https://github.com/Motion-Project/motion...master.zip
> unzip master.zip
> cd motion-master
> autoreconf -fiv
> ./configure
> make
> make install
When done, remove version 3.3 installed by apt-get :
> apt-get remove motion
Move config files and log file to HD, to reduce SDCard wear.  Update paths so startup finds correct config files :
> cp /usr/local/etc/motion /video/motion
> mv /etc/motion /etc/motion.bak
> ln -s /video/motion /etc/motion
> mv /usr/local/etc/motion /usr/local/etc/motion.bak
> ln -s /video/motion /usr/local/etc/motion
Make sure all config files are owned by user motion :
> chown -R motion /video
> chgrp -R motion /video
> chown -R motion /run/motion
> chgrp -R motion /run/motion
Update startup script with new paths :
> vim /etc/init.d/motion
Add ':/usr/local/bin' to the end of the PATH_BIN variable
Change variable 'DAEMON= to point to new motion binary (/usr/local/bin)
Change 'status_of_proc' path (in 'status' case) to /usr/local/bin
Change 'start' case, to add " -c /video/motion/motion.conf" after "--exec $DAEMON"
Update Unit file :
> systemctl daemon-reload
Install latest ffmpeg from source :
> cd /usr/local/src
> wget http://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-3.3.4.tar.bz2
> tar -xjf ffmpeg-3.3.4.tar.bz2
> cd ffmpeg-3.3.4
> ./configure
> make -j4
> make install
If starting motion automatically at boot, enable daemon mode :
> vim /etc/default/motion
Change "start_motion_daemon=no" to yes
Start motion manually first time (should auto-start at boot going forward) :
> service motion start
Check log file /video/motion.log to see if everything worked.
*************************************************************


I documented these steps for my own use, in case I ever need to rebuild the system from scratch.  I figured someone else might find it helpful, hence posting it here.  I have no interest in debating different ways of doing things, but if you have helpful suggestions, please share them.

I would also suggest moving any actively written directories to the HD, to help reduce SD card wear.  One might even go so far as to make the HD the root file system, and boot to it (did this on one of my RPis, and will do it here soon).

So what's your Rock64 doing?

Hello everyone, I have got the first version of Pine 64 with 1GB of ram.
When streaming a 720p video with VLC on debian, audio is ok but video is stuttering.
Furthermore, when playing FullHD video from the SD card, the playback is not smooth.
Is there any option or configuration to enhance video playback or should I move to another OS?
Is Win10 IoT available for my board?

I'm going to use USB2BARREL PS cables to the ROCK64.
I see in the store that I can buy type H OD: 3.4mm, ID:1.3mm cables. (not sure why I can only add 1 of those to my shopping cart though - no option to increase items, and when I try to go back and add one more to the cart, I'm informed that I cannot add another?)
I have ordered, on amazon, OD: 3.5mm, ID:1.35mm cables.
So my question is: which size is it?

Ok, I have been trying to launch a program from a desktop script file. This failed miserably until I wrote the code:

Kickstarter backer, finally getting to playing with my A64+ 2gb

Using the new Etcher image burner on a Transcend 300x 16gb card UHS-1

No matter what image I use (Android, Linux, RemixOS, etc.), won't boot.

Power supply is a 5V 2.5A power supply I use with my Raspberry Pi 3 which works fine

Symptoms:

Red LED works/on when USB power is plugged in
HDMI out makes the monitor turn on, then off because 'no signal is detected', turns back on, turn off no signal -- keeps repeating

I'm unsure if this is power supply, memory card, or simply bunk A64 related.

Any help?

Hi Folks,

Have just got a Rock64, not with the power supply though, so have picked a suitable one up from my
local electronics store. Does anyone know what the power supply pin polarity should be ?

Tip positive or tip negative ? Would rather not blow the board up ;-) I did look at schematics but electronics was
never my strong suit :-)

Thanks again !

I just got my Rock64 and used the pine64 installer from pine64dev's github and installed Debian Stretch Minimal to my 32gb sd card. However, when I plug in the Rock64 and insert the sd card, nothing happens on screen. Am I doing something wrong? All 3 leds are on and I can turn the red and white ones off by holding the power button, but nothing happens on screen.

Hi,
I'm trying to run Netbeans on my Pinebook but it fail:

Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.

Anybody know why?

I like to used reversed ips and have my router assign the ip address based upon the MAC address of the network adapter.

So I find the IP address (172.16.90) assigned to the rock, and then assign an ip addressed to that MAC address. I reboot, and I can't ping it.  I look again and I see the Rock has now gotten 172.16.0.90 again.  I figure I made a mistake so I create a new one.  The same thing happens.  I'm looking at my reservations and sure enough I'm seeing different mac addresses for "linaro-alip".  I SSH into the terminal and "ip a" confirms that I'm getting a different MAC address.

What is going on here?