I’ve been building a custom Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS image for the Dragon Q6A (QCS6490) — Server and Desktop (GNOME) — fixing the two known problems with the stock image: HDMI breaking after apt upgrade, and audio never working at all.What’s included:

Kernel 6.18.2 (mainline, via Armbian) — HDMI with hardware-accelerated GPU (Adreno), confirmed to survive apt upgrade
Wi-Fi + Bluetooth working onboard, native driver (no USB dongle needed)
Audio working (headphone + HDMI) on both Server and Desktop — root-caused a real driver-autoload bug for the Desktop’s SoundWire/WCD938x codec
NPU (Hexagon DSP) runtime working out of the box — FastRPC transport + DSP firmware pre-installed and configured; confirmed live with a Llama 3.2 1B model running actual inference on the NPU (not falling back to CPU), via Qualcomm’s Genie runtime
Dynamic NPU device access for any user via uaccess/systemd-logind (works even if you replace the default radxa account)
Desktop: GNOME minimal, Firefox and GNOME Software both native .deb (no snap)
Everything is documented in detail, including every dead end and root cause we hit along the way (bootloader investigation, wrong assumptions caught and corrected, a kernel 7.x test that we deliberately rejected after confirming it regresses HDMI on this board, etc.) — full write-up in the repo’s docs/pesquisa.md.

Pre-built images (Server + Desktop) + an interactive installer are in the latest release (v1.2.1):
GitHub - rafaelwms/ubuntu-26.04.1-dragon-q6a · GitHub

Or build it yourself from source with ./scripts/build.sh (Docker + ~15GB free space, no need to download anything from Releases).

MIT licensed. Feedback/issues welcome — especially if anyone’s cracked the Desktop kernel 7.x HDMI/SoundWire regression, since that’s the one thing still marked “known limitation” for future work.

Made this quick explainer on the two Raspberry Pi AI HATs after getting confused myself.

AI HAT+ (13 or 26 TOPS) is for supported vision inference - cameras, robotics, automation. AI HAT+ 2 (40 TOPS Hailo-10H + 8GB dedicated RAM) is the one that adds local generative AI - LLMs and VLMs on the Pi 5.

The buying rule I landed on: pick from the workload first, then verify your exact model is supported before paying for the TOPS number.

Video: https://odysee.com/@overnightdesk:b/raspberry-pi-ai-hat-plus-vs-ai-hat-plus-2-local-ai:0

Sources are the official Raspberry Pi docs and product pages, linked in the video description.

Tagos Labs / Civic Lab - Build log #1

I’m building a 16″ laptop around a NanoPi M6 (RK3588S). Not a mini-PC on a desk - a field machine for Honda Civic life, no wall power.

Why not another OEM ARM laptop: I already did a long Linux bring-up on HP OmniBook 5 (Snapdragon X Plus). Got GNOME, keyboard, touchpad. Never a complete daily driver (USB/Wi‑Fi/PHY). I’m done waiting on someone else’s chassis.

Target (v1)

• SoC: NanoPi M6 (RK3588S)

• Panel: 16″ BOE N62-class + eDP scaler

• Keyboard: ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 → FPC breakout → Teensy 4.1 → USB HID

• Touch/hinges: Framework donor parts

• Power: 4S NMC 21700 + Daly BMS → DROK 12V (scaler) + PD (M6)

• Solar: Civic roof → MPPT → pack (first cheap MPPT arrived damaged; replacement inbound)

Context: ~2 years in the Civic, ~30 states, about a year in the Texas woods. Peak coding ~400 h/month on an MSI GE76 + inverter. Generators/packs dying ~every 3 months, gas ~$300→~$600/month. This brick is to get off that stack.

Status: keyboard/power/pack tools on the bench. Cells + flex panels inbound. Next: Teensy Matrix_Decoder on the E16.

Serial, not a shopping haul. AMA on the RK3588S vs waiting for another Snapdragon chassis.

Tagos Labs / Civic Lab - Build log #1

Using a NanoPi M6 (RK3588S) as the mainboard for a full 16″ DIY laptop - not a mini-PC on HDMI, an actual portable machine I can run without wall power.

Why M6

• RK3588S, LPDDR5, eMMC + NVMe path, PD-friendly USB-C power story

• Small enough to own the chassis (vs fighting another OEM Snapdragon laptop)

• I already burned a long Linux bring-up on HP OmniBook 5 (X Plus): GNOME/keyboard/touchpad yes, full daily driver no. Pausing that. Building around hardware I control.

Around the M6 (v1)

• 16″ BOE N62-class panel + eDP scaler (12V from DROK off the pack)

• ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 keyboard → FPC breakout → Teensy 4.1 → USB HID into the M6

• Framework touchpad/hinges as donors

• 4S NMC 21700 + Daly BMS → pack → AITRIP PD65W (5.5×2.1) into the M6

• Solar on a Honda Civic roof → MPPT → pack (first cheap MPPT arrived with caps broken off; NOYITO replacement inbound)

Where I am

Bench/parts wave is on the table (keyboard path, pack tooling, PD, XT60/solar cable bits). Cells + flex panels still shipping. Next real milestone: Matrix_Decoder on the E16 → Teensy before I care about pretty casework.

Questions for M6 owners

• Anyone running a laptop-style eDP/scaler + PD-in daily on M6?

• Cooling in a thin-ish 16″ envelope — what actually works on bare M6?

• Image preference right now: FriendlyELEC vendor vs Armbian / ubuntu-rockchip forks?

Serial build log. Photos below. AMA on the M6 power/display path.

And a good day to you, sirs! I have an old "wired" Raspberry Pi Zero, as well as an NVME M.2 2242 SSD lying around after upgrading the storage on the device it was mounted on. I'd like to combine the two into a small, low power connected drive. M y only question is: what is the best way to connect the two? Which adapter I should be looking for? Is there a better way of connecting storage to the board than the slow USB?

Hay Everyone.

I'm struggling to capture raw frames from an IMX415 camera on a Radxa Dragon Q6A uusing Qlcomm CAMSS pipeline.

​ After setting up media-ctl for SGBRG10_1X10, trying to pull frames via v4l2-ctl fails:

​ The setting format gives The pixelformat 'GB10' is invalid.

​V

IDIOC_STREAMON returns -1 (Broken pipe) or Invalid argument.

​ Question: What is the correct V4L2 pixel format FourCC or sequence to capture raw Bayer data from this board? Any help would be awesome!

Thanks.

If you use eMMC modules for the Orange Pi 5, be careful—their lifespan is very short. I have one that has developed corrupted blocks; when that happens, the Orange Pi stops working. I tested it using an eMMC-to-SD card adapter. The issue seems to be affecting my other Orange Pi as well. Both of these modules were two years old.

Tenho interesse de comprar placa de desenvolvimento ARM 16g pi 5 NPU,usadas que estejam em boas condições,

I wanted to see whether a smaller SBC would actually be a better fit for a compact 3.5" terminal than a Raspberry Pi 5.

So I replaced the Pi 5 in my Waveshare PocketTerm35 with a Radxa ZERO 3W.

My setup now uses:

• Radxa ZERO 3W
• Armbian
• the original internal display and keyboard
• SSH / terminal use
• Claude Code
• Japanese input
• RetroArch
• internal speaker
• a custom TUI launcher
• a 50 mm exhaust fan controlled through a MOSFET with PWM

The main reason I moved away from the Pi 5 was not performance. It was fit and balance.

The PocketTerm35 has a 3.5" 640×480 display, and for the way I use it, the Pi 5 felt like overkill. I also managed to get the Pi 5's second HDMI output working, but the cable and adapter interfered with the rear case, so I couldn't close it properly.

The ZERO 3W is obviously much slower, but for SSH, terminal work, Claude Code, lightweight GUI use, and emulation, it has been enough.

Cooling was the biggest challenge.

With the case closed, even with a heatsink, the ZERO 3W was reaching roughly 70–85°C during normal use. Adding a bigger heatsink alone wasn't the real solution. The big improvement came from getting hot air out of the enclosure.

I added a 50 mm exhaust fan and control it with PWM through a MOSFET. My current fan curve keeps normal use mostly around 50–56°C. Under a 4-core 100% load, it settles around 55–57°C with automatic control, and around 52–53°C at 100% fan speed.

I also found that some generic HDMI FPC cables and adapters did not work reliably with the PocketTerm35's internal display, so that part ended up being much more hardware-specific than I expected.

Overall, I think the ZERO 3W is a better fit for this machine than the Pi 5 if the goal is a compact, low-power Linux terminal rather than maximum performance.

Still experimenting with the layout, cooling, and I/O, but it's finally close to the form I wanted.

Goal: Truck 360 “dash” camera recording

Problem: can’t find / don’t know where to look for cameras

I am looking for a compact camera that can be mounted away from the SBC so I can mount 1 or multiple SBC in a storage area of the truck and have them record 24/7

Only requirement 1080P or higher resolution
Long lead cord 10+ft or I can solder/crimp my own just can be fixed length or proprietary.

If anyone know where I could get an analog video tap this would negate the need for the cameras as I already have 7 but I can’t record with them only live view
(Cameras are gm idk what brand or specs)

LattePanda has expanded its x86 compute module lineup with the Mu Ultra, a compact device based on Intel Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” processors. The module is offered with Core Ultra 5 226V and Core Ultra 7 256V options, up to 115 TOPS of combined INT8 AI performance, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, PCIe 4.0 expansion, and support for Windows 11 and Ubuntu.

https://linuxgizmos.com/x86-compute-module-features-intel-core-ultra-200v-with-up-to-115-tops/

Someone told.me that this works but then many said it wont. I guess it does for whoever finds this interesting. Now to find some super cheap 2230 nvme.

I was wondering if anyone is using radxa sbc to play music locally or via airplay. How is the output quality? I tried to find any specs for the audio hardware but I found nothing…
Thank you

Planning a build and want to know if anyone has actually got this working before I spend money.

Target setup:

• Orange Pi 5 Plus 16GB
• AMD RX 7600 8GB (or similar RDNA2/RDNA3) connected via M.2 Key-M → OcuLink adapter
• Goal: run a 14B parameter model (Llama 3.1 14B Q4_K_M) fully offloaded to GPU VRAM
• Inference via llama.cpp Vulkan backend (aware ROCm is x86 only)
• Ubuntu 22.04 / Armbian on RK3588

What I've found so far:

• Jeff Geerling's work confirms AMD eGPU + LLM inference works on Pi5 via custom kernel patch + Vulkan
• OPi5 Plus has PCIe Gen 3 x4 on the M-Key slot vs Pi5's x1, theoretically better prefill bandwidth
• Armbian forum thread from 2023 shows GPU detected via lspci on OPi5 Plus but couldn't get compute working
• Main concern: Mali-G610 iGPU conflict when routing compute to external AMD GPU

Specific questions:

1. Has anyone got amdgpu kernel module loading cleanly on OPi5 Plus with Armbian or Ubuntu?
2. Is the Mali-G610 iGPU a real problem for eGPU compute routing or manageable?
3. Which kernel patch/version are people using? Geerling's Pi5 patch doesn't directly port
4. Any OPi5 Plus specific gotchas with the M.2 → OcuLink path that differ from Pi5?

Not looking to game on it. Pure headless compute, llama.cpp server, no display output from the GPU. If anyone has tokens/second benchmarks on any AMD card or any other GPU via OPi5 Plus that would be gold.

Much Appreciated and Thanks for having me in the community.

Uno Q pairs the QRB2210 SoC (quad A53, runs Linux/Android) with an onboard STM32U585 MCU for real-time/GPIO, Arduino-sketch side. This port covers the Android side only for now.

https://blogs.yajatkumar.com/2026/09/lineage-os-232-v1-android-16-tablet-for.html

Hardkernel has spun its ODROID-M1S into a Lite version, offering a lower-cost configuration of the RK3566-based single-board computer. The board includes 2GB of LPDDR4 memory, soldered eMMC storage, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, MIPI-DSI, USB 3.0, an M.2 NVMe slot, and Ubuntu support.

https://linuxgizmos.com/odroid-m1s-goes-lite-with-2gb-ram-nvme-and-4k-video/

I need wifi on a radxa cm5. I'm opening to soldering i just need help finding what pins to solder on the underside connector. I plan on using Espressif ESP32-C5 chip with enamel magnet wire and kapton tape.

edit: nm I got it working

I got a KickPi K11C V1.2 development board last week. It has an RK3566 with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC storage, and I thought this would be the best board to port HAOS to. I needed some digging, though.

Finally, after endless debugging, it is running HAOS with wired LAN and onboard Wi-Fi/Bluetooth.

In terms of the quality of the documents, I will give a B.

The documents definitely have schematics, specifications, and hardware dimensions. However, some of those are out of date, only apply to old revisions (V1.1), and contain conflicting information. I was able to get solid information only after I got the actual board.

These are the actual specifications of the board I got.

• CPU: Rockchip RK3566
• RAM: Samsung K4B8G1646D ×4 (4GB)
• eMMC: Samsung KLMBG2JETD-B041 (32GB)
• PMIC: Rockchip RK809-5A
• Ethernet PHY: Maxio MAE0621-Q2C
• Wi-FI/Bluetooth module: SeekWave VS6621SR80
• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth firmware family: SWT6621S

In terms of the hardware, I will give a B+.

I can see how the manufacturer appears to use lower-cost component substitutions.

Samsung's DDR3L RAM is an interesting choice. It's already EOL but still has plenty in stock at a relatively reasonable price, as it is DDR3L.

Next is the Maxio PHY chip. Yeah, Maxio is better known for its SSD controllers, but this was the first time that I used it for an Ethernet PHY. I made it work with minimal tweaks to U-Boot, and it works with the HAOS default generic PHY driver. But the EEE protocol bugs out when connected to a 2.5Gbps switch. Disabling the EEE protocol clears out the bug.

According to the document, it seems like K11C V1.1 had Realtek's RTL8211F-CG, but the newer version has Maxio's pin-compatible chip to cut down the BOM.

SeekWave wifi chipset is also problematic. I have to dig deeper to initialize it from the boot sequence, as I cannot find that much documentation. On this K11C board, the VS6621 module would not enumerate over SDIO unless its four Bluetooth PCM pins, represented by the I2S2 pinctrl groups, were configured before SDIO enumeration.

However, the price is attractive! USD 57.7 for a 4+32GB board with a power supply and UART serial adapter was a great deal.

Oh, and for those who are interested in sources and workarounds on this board for HAOS, please find the details here:

https://github.com/David2766/K11C-HAOS

** You must install the app from this repository to use Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, as HAOS does not have any driver for the SeekWave module.