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RockPro64

  • no german retailer
  • No real support, forum only
  • The ROCKPro64 4GB board designated as LTS (long Term Supply) model, PINE64 committed to supply at least for 5 years until year 2023 and beyond.

Pine64 NASCase

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/NASCase https://pine64.com/product/rockpro64-metal-desktop-nas-casing/?v=0446c16e2e66

Components:

Software options

Official Debian

Prerequisite: Flash U-Boot into SPI

I haven't found a way of booting Debian without flashing uboot into SPI flash. IN this forum thre is someone who did, but it results in a more additional steps during the Debian installation. Check U-Boot version with serial connection. If it is too old, flash a recent u-boot to SPI. My installation worked with u-boot v2021.04 from the latest Sigmaris u-boot fork release. Instructions: Flashing U Boot to SPI

Flashing steps:

cd ~/projects/hardware/pine-rockpro64/uboot
wget https://github.com/sigmaris/u-boot/releases/download/v2021.04-rockpro64-ci/flash_spi.img.gz
gunzip flash_spi.img.gz
sudo dd if=./flash_spi.img of=/dev/sdd

Connect serial via USB and boot from sdcard, until Wrote U-Boot to SPI Flash successfully. appears.

Install

Follow the Pine64 wiki: Official Debian Installer install instructions (see also the README.concatenateable_images):

export RELEASE=bookworm
mkdir ~/projects/hardware/single-board-computers/pine-rockpro64/debian/$RELEASE
cd ~/projects/hardware/single-board-computers/pine-rockpro64/debian/$RELEASE
wget https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/${RELEASE}/main/installer-arm64/current/images/netboot/SD-card-images/firmware.rockpro64-rk3399.img.gz
wget https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/${RELEASE}/main/installer-arm64/current/images/netboot/SD-card-images/partition.img.gz
zcat firmware.rockpro64-rk3399.img.gz partition.img.gz > ${RELEASE}.img
sudo dd if=${RELEASE}.img of=/dev/mmcblkX bs=4M

Make sure to no use (guided) encrypted LVM partitioning, since the installation boots, but the USB keyboard is not recognized (as of 2023-08-14, Debian Bullseye).

Bookworm

  • Working installation

Trixie

  • Pine wiki: ROCKPro64 Software Releases/Debian still doesn't list Trixie as supported release, recommending bookworm (as of 2025-09).
  • After booting U-Boot the (HDMI) screen goes black.
    • Installation via USB serial is possible.
    • Workaround: Install bookworm and upgrade to trixie for the time beeing.

Monitoring

Install prometheus-node-exporter-collectors which monitors md-raid:

apt install prometheus-node-exporter-collectors smartmontools

Install md details cronjob:

echo '*/5 * * * * root /usr/share/prometheus-node-exporter-collectors/md_info_detail.sh | \
  sponge /var/lib/prometheus/node-exporter/md_info_detail.prom' > /etc/cron.d/prometheus_md_info_detail

Issues

No HDMI output

Conclusion: It depends on the display - some work, some don't. My main display (LG 34WK95U) only showed HDMI output until I saw starting kernel, while my TV also showed anything after this.

Old: ATA bus errors

Caused by a faulty SATA controller, fixed by switching to the JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller !

Update: From https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=6932&pid=56075#pid56075:

Like others, I switched to a Marvell-based SATA card, and the issues are gone even at 3Gbps or 6Gbps. I guess some ASM-based cards are crappy (jumpers related ?).