[News from Armbian] - Github Highlights

This week's work centers on release and CI infrastructure, board and U-Boot updates, and build framework hardening.

On the release pipeline, asset manifest JSON is now emitted alongside uploads, third-party armbian-images.json sources are merged into the main download index, and dispatch chains were rewired so that build completion fans out cleanly to download-index regeneration and website sync. Ubuntu resolute (26.04) entered the daily build matrix, with corresponding prepare-host adjustments for its qemu-user packaging and a targeted blacklist for boards failing resolute plus GNOME. The new Armbian SDK images are now surfaced on the website and ship preloaded with the build framework, code-server, and developer tooling.

On the platform side, U-Boot v2026.04 lands for Helios4, Rock-5B-Plus, Rock-5T, and NanoPi-M5 (with mainline UFS via a vendor-SPL hybrid), while new bleedingedge branches were introduced for rockchip64 and meson64. Initial support arrived for the Photonicat2 board, new RK3576 SPL and RK3588 DDR blobs were added, Panthor firmware expanded to cover additional Mali GPUs, and a PCIe LTSSM timeout fix improves cold-boot NVMe detection on Rockchip. NanoPC-T6 LTS Plus was renamed, panther-x2 moved from CSC to EOS, and odroidxu4-current advanced to 6.6.138.

In the build framework, an unsafe eval was replaced with declare -g and namerefs, destructive commands were properly quoted, and Docker --privileged is now gated behind an explicit DOCKER_PRIVILEGED toggle. The desktop configuration tree migrated to the armbian-config module_desktops system, kernel build failures now propagate exit codes correctly, missing BOOT_FDT_FILE surfaces as an error alert, and SysRq-via-BREAK was restored on dw-apb-uart for mvebu-6.18 and rockchip64-7.0 kernels.

#Armbian #EmbeddedLinux #UBoot #Rockchip #SBC #LinuxKernel

Changes

• (#9400 P1b) Replace unsafe eval with declare -g and nameref. by @iav in armbian/build#9461
• action: emit assets manifest JSON alongside release uploads. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9772
• action: leave torrent URLs empty in per-image asset manifests. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9792
• Add expect-dev to package dependencies. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#904
• Add support for Photonicat2 board with USB hub watchdog. by @HackingGate in armbian/build#9765
• arm64: dts: rockchip: rename NanoPC-T6 LTS Plus to NanoPC-T6 Plus. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/linux-rockchip#478
• Build-Switches: document DOCKER_PRUNE opt-in. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/documentation#920
• build: misc cleanup — DEBUG-gated mmdebstrap verbosity, DOCKER_PRUNE opt-in. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9704
• chore(config/common): remove dead FAST_CREATE_IMAGE variable. by @iav in armbian/build#9756
• ci/maintenance-unit-tests: skip draft PRs. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#910
• ci: add Maintenance: Watchdog workflow. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/docker-armbian-build#23
• ci: add Ubuntu resolute to the build matrix. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#22
• ci: aggregate per-cell asset manifests into armbian-sdk-images.json. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#13
• ci: cancel in-flight download-index runs when a new one starts. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#313
• ci: dispatch armbian.github.io download-index regen after green build. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#21
• ci: dispatch armbian/website sync after web-directory generation. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#310
• ci: fix dispatch chain — download-index fan-out + redirector ends with directory regen. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#311
• ci: rename build workflow to 'Docker Images For Automation'. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/docker-armbian-build#24
• Community: blacklist xpressreal-t3 (resolute desktops failing). by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#308
• Community: enable Ubuntu minimal CLI for all boards (not just headless). by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#309
• desktops: migrate from config/desktop/ tree to armbian-config module_desktops. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9683
• Disable UDev Rule for Radxa Display 10 FHD. by @FlorianKohn in armbian/build#9503
• docker: gate --privileged behind DOCKER_PRIVILEGED toggle (default yes). by @iav in armbian/build#9733
• docs: add extensions reference list. by @iav in armbian/documentation#881
• feat(boards/helios4): enable watchdog extension by default. by @iav in armbian/build#9757
• Fix cmdline fsck argument. by @QwaSeeK in armbian/build#9779
• Fix rk3528 nanopi zero2 snps reset gpio property. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9770
• fix(config): skip host filesystem compatibility check for ROOTFS_TYPE=nfs. by @iav in armbian/build#9759
• fix(kernel/mvebu-6.18): restore SysRq-via-BREAK on dw-apb-uart (8250_dw). by @iav in armbian/build#9760
• fix(kernel/rockchip64-7.0): restore SysRq-via-BREAK on dw-apb-uart (8250_dw). by @iav in armbian/build#9750
• framework: add resolute (Ubuntu 26.04) image to the daily matrix. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/docker-armbian-build#26
• helios4: bump u-boot to v2026.04. by @iav in armbian/build#9786
• image/compress-checksum: maximize CPU + memory use. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9758
• Introduce bleedingedge BRANCH for rockchip64. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9738
• kernel-dtb: surface missing BOOT_FDT_FILE as err alert (fixes #8083). by @iav in armbian/build#9700
• kernel: fix process not exit with kernel build failure. by @amazingfate in armbian/build#9771
• manage_zsh → module_zsh: align with current module style. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/configng#911
• Merge third-party armbian-images.json sources into the main download index. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#306
• meson64: introduce bleedingedge BRANCH with 7.1-rc2. by @EvilOlaf in armbian/build#9761
• nanopi-m5: mainline U-Boot v2026.04 + UFS (vendor-SPL hybrid). by @SuperKali in armbian/build#9788
• Nightly: blacklist 16 boards failing resolute+gnome_desktop. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#307
• panther-x2: move from CSC to EOS. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9778
• panthor: Add firmware for more Mali GPUs. by @nyanmisaka in armbian/firmware#124
• pci: pcie_dw_rockchip: increase PCIe LTSSM timeout for cold boot NVMe. by @rpahle in armbian/build#9751
• Pre-load SDK images with build framework, code-server, Python + Claude Code, and SSH keys. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#16
• prepare-host: support Ubuntu resolute's qemu-user packaging changes. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9790
• Quote variables in destructive commands (#9400 P0). by @iav in armbian/build#9401
• README: cover both image families this repo publishes. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/docker-armbian-build#25
• reporting-release-summary: prepend 'Armbian' to digest titles. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/armbian.github.io#305
• Revert zsh integration from SDK image. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#23
• rk3576: Add SPL v1.08 blob. by @SuperKali in armbian/rkbin#44
• RK3588: Add v1.20 DDR blob. by @HeyMeco in armbian/rkbin#43
• Rock-5B-Plus and Rock-5T: Move to u-boot 2026.04. by @HeyMeco in armbian/build#9773
• SpacemiT: Update EDGE branch to linux-7.1. by @pyavitz in armbian/build#9784
• Surface armbian-sdk images in Dedicated Applications. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/website#19
• Update odroidxu4-current to 6.6.137. by @belegdol in armbian/build#9768
• Update odroidxu4-current to 6.6.138. by @belegdol in armbian/build#9793
• Update README to clarify Armbian SDK purpose. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#18
• Update USB version in odroidhc4.conf. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/build#9754
• userpatches: install zsh via armbian-config --api, not direct apt. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#20
• userpatches: pre-install gh + first-boot provisioning stub. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#14
• userpatches: pre-install tig, nodejs and Claude Code CLI host-side. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#17
• userpatches: pre-install zsh in the chroot. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#19
• userpatches: switch pre-install from gh to git. by @igorpecovnik in armbian/sdk#15

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