Radxa ROCK 5C

gonciarz · November 14, 2024 at 1:38 PM

Hi, I'm considering buying a budget SBC (~90-120 USD including all accessories to launch it) for my family:

Tech spec: https://radxa.com/products/rock5/5c/

There are two variants:
- Radxa ROCK 5C (SoC: Rockchip RK3588S2, GPU: ARM Mali G610MP4)
- Radxa ROCK 5C Lite (SoC: Rockchip RK3582, no GPU)

Multimedia:
H.265 / VP9 / AVS2 decoding up to 8K@60fps, H.264 decoding up to 8K@30fps, H.265 / H.264 encoding up to 8K@30fps

Kernel:
RK3588S2 is merged to mainline kernel 6.3.

I'm not sure about Mali support. Google mentions:

Quote

As of March 2017, proprietary drivers for Midgard devices (including Mali G610MP4) have been packaged in Debian’s non-free section. However, starting from Debian 11 (Bullseye), the proprietary driver packages have been removed due to the inclusion of a free driver in Mesa.

Do you have a support for this device on your road map?
It has platinum support in Armbian.

What do you think?

**chewitt** · November 15, 2024 at 3:32 AM

Quote from gonciarz

RK3588S2 is merged to mainline kernel 6.3.

Current state for RK3588 upstreaming is tracked here: https://gitlab.collabora.com/hardware-enabl…nline-status.md - the Mali GPU has been supported since Linux 6.10 but LE images also need HDMI support (1080p is merged/queued for Linux 6.13) and once 4K is working we'll need HEVC/VP9 media codecs working (WIP).

Quote from gonciarz

It has platinum support in Armbian.

Feel free to use Armbian then. It's a project that undertakes commercial work to support devices; meaning they will tolerate vendor kernels with horrible code and patching to make something work. Their primary user audience is developers of industrial products who have use-cases that don't need media features, and hobbyists needing a desktop environment who again aren't so needing of the media capabilites. I have no knowledge of the current state of their RK3588 support .. but since most of the media stuff is simply not upstream yet, they are either managing a load of WIP patches and/or the media features aren't in great shape.

RPi5 proves that a fast board can handle software-decoding everything at 1080p so a little patching on Linux 6.12 can probably result in a usable but basic LE image, but I doubt anyone on staff or community will take serious interest in trying to assemble images until HDMI 4K support lands. So the realistic target will be after LE13 ships (2025/Q1).

If you want a functionally complete and well supported SBC for LE use, it's an RPi5. The 2GB board is enough for normal use. You only might need more RAM if you want to run Docker containers with other services in the background. The spec on paper isn't as impressive as the Rockchip board, but it shipped with functional support on day1 of release vs. RK3588 is now 3-years on from it's release and the board only just got upstream HDMI support. Hardware specs are nothing without supporting software

gonciarz · November 19, 2024 at 12:13 AM

Hi chewitt
Thank you for sharing that detailed explanation; it's really helpful in understanding the broader context. I wasn't fully aware of how Armbian operates, especially in terms of its approach to vendor kernels and patches. I can see how their focus on industrial use cases and hobbyist needs can lead to some compromises that wouldn't suit everyone. Like you, I also much prefer working with changes directly in the mainstream kernel—it feels more robust and future-proof.

I do appreciate LE for its clean and lightweight approach, similar to Gentoo in its philosophy of building from scratch. While it's excellent for running Kodi as a dedicated appliance, I've often thought about ways to integrate it more seamlessly into a general-purpose system, perhaps via AppArmor or similar. The idea of not wasting resources on dual setups is appealing.

Regarding the RK3588S2, I misunderstood the relationship between it and the RK3588 at first, thinking it was a bit different SoC and GPU. Thanks for pointing me to the GitLab link. I have seen it before. It's great this SoC becomes so well supported.

I'm not in a rush to replace my Odroid C2—it’s still serving me well for now—but I’m exploring options for when I do need an upgrade. Actually my NanoPC T6 LTS (RK3588-based with AV1 support) has just arrived, so I’d love to contribute to testing where possible. Let me know how I can help!
But thanks for pointing RPi5. That may be a great fit for my family.

Thanks again for your insights, and my apologies if I misunderstood or came across as dismissive earlier.

**chewitt** · November 19, 2024 at 4:18 AM

This PR will add support eventually add support: https://github.com/LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv/pull/7864 - note that the RK3588 device does not have HDMI support currently (will come in a future kernel bump) and the PR is already 18-months old, so unlikely to be merged soon.