Rock64 - Use as desktop

[tbalci]

Hi,

I am considering setting up Rock64 as a desktop system. I am comfortable with Linux, so the flavor really does not matter.

What I want to achieve is a complete desktop solution with Rock64 + Wifi + 64 GB eMMC.
 
My questions are:

• Do the Linux images released contain all the drivers needed? In other words, will I be able to assemble the system, flash the eMMC, boot and everything just works? 
  
• Does the distros available for download use their official repositories (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch... ) or do we need to use ayufan's repositories?
  
• Can we enable distro's official ARM repository and be able to download software, or are we restricted to Pine64 repositories?
  
• I see the A/V jack on the board. Is this for a general purpose 3.5 mm sound jack?
  

To be absolutely honest, I want to be a bit comfortable - I am fine with Linux, terminal and troubleshooting, but not so far up to drivers or other low level tasks. So I'd like to have a working system as a baseline to start with.

These are the questions that are holding me back from ordering, really.

Thank you for your replies!

Regards

[Luke]

Before answering your question let me voice my opinion: SBCs do not make good desktops. There are better options for that, which these days are just marginally more expensive.

As for the questions:
1) the Linux images contain all the available drivers. Note that development is ongoing and not all features will work flawlessly on day 1.
2)Yes - they use the official distro repositories yes.
3) Not sure what you mean by 'general purpose audio jack' - you can connect headphones and they'll play sound

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Before I answer your question allow me to say that I have been using the PineA64 as primary desktop system (by choice for research) since last November;  

... the Rock64 is going to be a great desktop option;  as a one-design for instance, the Rock64 can be bolted to the back of a Samsung LED flat panel (wifi dongle) and Logitech wireless keyboard -- either the K400+ , K400r , or K360;  with Logitech Track marble M570.

The Rock64 is going to be a better option than the Pine64 because its a better video processor ;  even for gnu+linux !

The Rock64 is also going to be a better option because of the eMMC availability;  that with usb3.0 (and usb sata bridge) the performance storage options are also available. You can make a very nice desktop system;  several of us have !

   Lukasz makes a good point  ( I'll let that stand ).

Here is the rub:

Your comment that you want to be comfortable;   ha!   If you want to be comfortable buy a wintel appliance and sit back and relax;  or spend a lot of bucks with an apple appliance;  you'll be comfortable.   With SBC(s) you will need to tinker, and you'll need to be very patient;  but, I spare you.  Just be aware that "relaxing" may not be part of the gig.

SBC(s) are still experimental, and the images we are working with are definitely experimental;  You will get out of them what you put into them.  Don't expect to be "comfortable".

[tbalci]

Thank you both for your comments.

For my inability to express myself clearly, here are my clarifications; especially for the people who will read this post in the future:

1. With general purpose audio jack, I meant 3.5 mm audio jack.
2. Read comfort as "I am comfortable with Linux, terminal, troubleshooting, asking questions in the forums" and "as a baseline the comfort, I am seeking is a computer that boots to the desktop, has its hardware working (no driver issues), and enables me to go online."

So, I think all is answered and time to go

Thank you once again!

[Vasant]

Hi,

I have ODROID-C1, ODROID-C2 and PINE64. I have to say that Linux desktop on them are quiet sluggish.
Most cannot play YouTube HD videos or Netflix. Android works much better since the SOC manufacturer supports it.
Linux fans tend to be over optimistic about their desktop -. This is just the reality of the situation.
If you want to run Linux desktop the Rapsberry Pi 3 is still the best choice. At least they have worked on optimizing their platform
for many years. 

Vasant

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Linux fans tend to be over optimistic about their desktop -. This is just the reality of the situation.
If you want to run Linux desktop the Rapsberry Pi 3 is still the best choice.

I must disagree with both of your assertions:

1)  gnu+linux fans are no more or less optimistic about their desktops;  they ARE more optimistic about their use cases;  and that's all that is important, really.  My use case is not video intertainment;  I develop, and I use the board as a comms server (print, VPN, others).  For those use cases the desktop environment I've been using on the Pine board since early November of last year is very clean and highly useful.  Other use cases equally optimistic are virtualization ;  for which the pine boards are very good;

2)  The RPi is clearly not the best choice;  not enough RAM is the main problem,  but also 32bit armhf is a real problem;   the pine boards run ArmV8 64bit, they are fast, and they've got 2G RAM; clearly the best choice ( for my use cases ) !


The Rock64 is going to be the best desktop for my use cases overall; usb3.0 sata storage, 4G RAM, eMMC module, and RK3328 cpu|gpu; truly a PI killer; and an optimal competition for the ODroid boards as well; very pleased! Plus its video is superb !

[Jakr]

I have a 4 gig rock 64, and I have a pi 3 (b).

I would not use the pi3 as a desktop .. it is very slow, loading web pages .. painfully slow.

The rock 64 loads web pages much faster then the pi3. I am having some problems with the Linux images .. but I feel confident these problems will be worked out in time ( the problems I am having, are software problems, not hardware). After all, the rock 64 has only .. officially been launched, a couple of weeks now.

Jake

[Vasant]

"1)  gnu+linux fans are no more or less optimistic about their desktops;  they ARE more optimistic about their use cases;  and that's all that is important, really.  My use case is not video intertainment; "

Thanks for clarifying. 

Most desktop users would expect their desktop to be able to play online video content. And Linux desktop on ARM fails in this regard.  True, If you are not interested in multimedia playback Linux does have some good applications.

Vasant

[Luke]

Hi,

I have ODROID-C1, ODROID-C2 and PINE64. I have to say that Linux desktop on them are quiet sluggish.
Most cannot play YouTube HD videos or Netflix. Android works much better since the SOC manufacturer supports it.
Linux fans tend to be over optimistic about their desktop -. This is just the reality of the situation.
If you want to run Linux desktop the Rapsberry Pi 3 is still the best choice. At least they have worked on optimizing their platform
for many years. 

Vasant

Pi3 for desktop use? its sluggish and borderline unusable as a desktop, especially if you use anything other than Raspbian (great board for other things tho!). The Rock64 has been out just a couple of days - and despite the early images hurdles and bugs it already makes for a better desktop replacement than the RPI3 ...

[rhille]

That is also my ultimate goal but with a little difference - rock64 should replace my laptop motherboard.
My current specs, believe it or not, are

System:    Host: linuslap Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.11.8 (Gtk 2.24.23) Distro: Ubuntu 14.04 trusty
Machine:   Mobo: N/A model: N/A Bios: Phoenix version: 4.06 date: 01/01/92
CPU:       Single core Intel Pentium M (-UP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (pae sse sse2) bmips: 2987.8 clocked at 1500.00 MHz 
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV250/M9 GL [Mobility FireGL 9000/Radeon 9000] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1400x1050@56.1hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI R200 (RV250 4C66) x86/MMX/SSE2 TCL DRI2 GLX Version: 1.3 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller 
           driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: 1c00 18c0 bus-ID: 00:1f.5 
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5705 Gigabit Ethernet driver: tg3 ver: 3.134 bus-ID: 02:02.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter driver: ipw2100 ver: git-1.2.2 bus-ID: 02:04.0
           IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 40.1GB (80.4% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_MP0402H size: 40.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 36G used: 31G (90%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 1.34GB used: 0.05GB (3%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 182 Uptime: 4:16 Memory: 737.2/1255.0MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17

So, once I get my rock64 running as I like to have, I need to find driver board for my lcd and find out how to connect keyboard 
and synaptics touchpad.

Greetings
Reinhard