Hello people,

 

At this point the Mekotronics R58 is a RK3588 box that supports the following OS:

 

- Debian

- Ubuntu

- Android 12

- Reborn OS (not on Mekotronics site yet, it's pretty recent, but from the download links at Leepspvideo's latest video on the R58X) 

 

I wonder, with the information and builds that are available already, wouldn't it possible to create an Armbian version now? I tested the official Debian version from Mekotronics site and it looks pretty slick, but it has some Wayland issues (not running/installing some standard SW like Gimp, but everything on the board looks and works great).

 

Bas Hamstra

6 hours ago, Bas said:

- Debian

- Ubuntu

 

If you didn't download image from www.debian.org or www.ubuntu.com, then there those OSes does not support this HW. RebornOS is a desktop tweaking on top of one of those "Debian" / "Ubuntu" stock images. Just to straighten things ... and yes, this is common, nothing extraordinary.

 

6 hours ago, Bas said:

wouldn't it possible to create an Armbian version now?

Armbian maintainers are already totally overloaded, your support is almost not existing, vendor does not support us ... there is little we can do. We don't have endless time or equipment to support random purchases people made. But as our build framework is well maintained, making an image is pretty straightforward. Anyone can do it https://docs.armbian.com/Developer-Guide_Adding-Board-Family/ but maintaining and dealing with problems, that lies in this cheap products, is another story.

@BasThere are user built images from @monkaBlyat for the Mekotronics boards.
It has wayland GPU blob + panfork GPU driver + VPU acceleration + box64/86 and wine preïnstalled.
All info and links in the description of this video.

 

Hi Nico, couldn't see the links you mentioned in your video. Somehow you seem to have an Armbian version (famous Monka?) working on the R58 mini PC. Tried Reborn OS, but it seems too unstable for me. After a couple of hangs I gave up (yes I followed instructions carefully). I am very interested in sharing experiences, hopefully we can help each other?

 

So far the best build for me is the latest Debian from Mekotronics site. Put it in dark mode and everything on the board works brilliant, looks GREAT, super fluid. Open office, Firebox, video playback. Except...it seems to have some (Wayland related?) issues if I try to install new software, and turning Wayland off hangs the board so bad i had to reflash. The issues I am seeing are:

• Can not install a working Gimp, installs but fails to start
• Can not install  a working VSCode 
• Can not install a working CodeBlocks++
• Can not install a working GParted, installs but fails to start

Somehow Geany DOES install with no issues...so does Neofetch, Htop, JAVA, but these are console. Some of the above can be started from terminal like Gparted -E but not Gimp. But again: everything that's ON the board works SO well, it's too good to ignore...

 

Bas

 

 

 

@Nico

I used the links from your video (and these are on Mekotronics site now too). So I installed Monka Armbian and it's absolutely great! Finally a working Linux for this box! For about the same cost as a RPI4 the plastic R58 4Gb/32Gb box that I bought for 120EUR is a super snappy Linus mini PC indeed!

 

Geekbench single core: 2000. Multicore: 8000. Only the fastest (and EXPENSIVE!) nucs can dream of these scores! And this power for 120 freaking EUR in a complete ready to use package..!

 

Bas

 

On 3/27/2023 at 6:04 PM, Bas said:

On 3/27/2023 at 6:04 PM, Bas said:

@Nico

I used the links from your video (and these are on Mekotronics site now too). So I installed Monka Armbian and it's absolutely great! Finally a working Linux for this box! For about the same cost as a RPI4 the plastic R58 4Gb/32Gb box that I bought for 120EUR is a super snappy Linus mini PC indeed!

 

Geekbench single core: 2000. Multicore: 8000. Only the fastest (and EXPENSIVE!) nucs can dream of these scores! And this power for 120 freaking EUR in a complete ready to use package..!

 

Bas

 

 

Where did you find it for €120?  

On their site it's almost 150€ without delivery and without VAT...