Libre Computer Renegade

The Libre Computer Renegade (also known under the label Firefly ROC-RK3328-CC) is Article description::a Rockchip RK3328 (ARMv8-A, Cortex-A53) based single board computer. Its performance especially with regard to native compilation is rather limited (compile time of firefox-67: ca. 10h). However, Rockchip has been known for its relatively good open source support compared to other system on chip (SoC) manufacturers, especially since the Asus Chromebook C201 which is supported by Libreboot. But despite Libre Computer claiming intentions to liberate their products, too, there are no signs yet that they will deliver on their promise.

Installing Gentoo
Consult Libre Computer Renegade/Installing Gentoo for instructions on how to install Gentoo on the Libre Computer Renegade.

Software development kit
The parts of Firefly's Linux SDK that are essential to get started with the Libre Computer Renegade can be obtained and installed as follows :

First, assemble the DDR init binary needed for flashing to the eMMC:

Then install rkdeveloptool:

Maskrom Mode
To be able to flash to an eMMC installed on the Libre Computer Renegade the latter needs to be forced into the so called :


 * Pull all the USB cables (including micro USB cable and male to male USB cable) out of the board to keep the board powered off and if applicable pull out the SD card
 * Use a male to male USB cable to connect the host system and the USB OTG port (lower one of double-decker, white) of the target device, for pictures see the ROC-RK3328-CC Manual
 * Connect the eMMC and  pads with metal tweezers while plugging in the micro USB cable to power on the board. Wait about 1 second before breaking the connection of the two pads

Flashing to eMMC
With rkdeveloptool data (in the following example the ) can be flashed to an arbitrary offset ( in the example) on an eMMC installed on the Libe Computer Renegade :

Recovery
If a kernel upgrade goes wrong and a backup is at hand the boot partition can be restored by forcing the device into and flashing the backup boot partition to the eMMC: