Web Browser

This guide shows how to install the Chromium browser with or without MPP support, including Flatpak alternatives.

Patched Chromium Browser with MPP Support

Install the version optimised for Realtek hardware acceleration :

Yet for Fyde to reveal a working patched chromium browser - there is a rockchip alternative but with no working changes on for this chipset.

Official Chromium

Install the latest official Chromium from the repositories has no HW acceleration:

sudo apt -y install chromium-browser

Chromium via Flatpak (Cross-Distro)

Set up Chromium using Flatpak :

sudo apt install flatpak -y
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
sudo flatpak install flathub org.chromium.Chromium -y
sudo flatpak update -y

Flatpak ensures a sandboxed, up-to-date Chromium experience across most Linux distributions.

🪁 Fan options

Manual Fan Control on (Armbian)

These instructions help you to manually control the fan on a SBC running Armbian .

Set Fan Speed Manually

echo 204 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/pwm-fan/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm1

Note:

• Armbian uses hwmon10 for the ROCK5B+
• Armbian uses hwmon8 for the ROCK5B
• You may need to adjust the hwmon* wildcard accordingly based on your device.

Enable Fan Heat sink Support (Optional for Armbian)

You’re now able to manage the fan manually.

Prevent System from Overriding Fan Control (Automatic Mode)

To stop the system from interfering with manual fan control:

sudo apt install i2c-tools -y
echo step_wise | sudo tee /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/policy
echo user_space | sudo tee /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/policy
sudo i2cset -y -f 2 0x18 0x8A 0x2

Fan Speed Hex Values

Wifi and BT Tricks

AX210 WiFi & Bluetooth Firmware Setup (Armbian)

To get AX210 WiFi and Bluetooth working on your rockchip borad, follow these steps.

Ethernet connection is required during setup.

Install WiFi Firmware

# Download AX210 WiFi firmware
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-59.ucode

# Backup existing PNVM file (if present)
sudo mv /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0.pnvm /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0.pnvm.bak

Install Bluetooth Firmware

# Download Intel Bluetooth firmware files
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware/intel https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/intel/ibt-0041-0041.sfi
sudo wget -P /lib/firmware/intel https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/plain/intel/ibt-0041-0041.ddc

Bluetooth Fix for Intel WiFi/BT Modules

1. Edit the module blacklist file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

2. Add the following lines at the bottom of the file:

blacklist pgdrv
blacklist btusb
blacklist btrtl
blacklist btbcm
#blacklist btintel

3. Press Ctrl+X , then Y to save and exit.

Final Steps

# Optional: Install Bluetooth stack (may already be included in latest Armbian)
sudo apt install bluez  # or: sudo apt install bluetooth

# Check Bluetooth service status
systemctl status bluetooth  # Press Ctrl+C to exit

# Start Bluetooth service
sudo systemctl start bluetooth

Finally, reboot your device to apply changes:

sudo reboot

📢 Audio options

Audio Tutorial for Bluetooth Devices

Note: This tutorial is not required for the latest Armbian versions, as audio support is built-in. However, if you’re facing issues with Bluetooth audio, feel free to explore the following steps.

Fix Audio Issues with PipeWire

1. Add PipeWire Repository

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream

2. Install PipeWire and Audio Dependencies

sudo apt install pipewire pipewire-audio-client-libraries gstreamer1.0-pipewire libpipewire-0.3-{0,dev,modules} libspa-0.2-{bluetooth,dev,jack,modules} pipewire{,-{audio-client-libraries,pulse,media-session,bin,locales,tests}} -y

3. Disable PulseAudio and Enable PipeWire

# Reload systemd user daemon
systemctl --user daemon-reload

# Disable PulseAudio services
systemctl --user --now disable pulseaudio.service pulseaudio.socket

# Enable PipeWire services
systemctl --user --now enable pipewire pipewire-pulse

4. Check PipeWire Status

pactl info

5. Reboot to Apply Changes

sudo reboot

💽 Flashing Software

Flashing Images

This guide explains how to flash images:

Installation

1. Download the image from the Releases page.
2. Flash it to a microSD card using balenaEtcher.
3. Insert the card into your XpressReal T3 board.
4. Connect a monitor, network cable, and power supply.
5. Boot up and wait for the System to appear.

More Information

For additional information on SPI to NVME boot from SD card , refer to the official documentation.

🥛 App Manager Hubs

Raspberry Pi App Store for Open Source Projects

1. Install Raspberry Pi App Store :

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Botspot/pi-apps/master/install | bash

FlatHub - Hundreds of Apps and Games for Linux

1. Install Flatpak and Add FlatHub Repository :

sudo apt install flatpak -y
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
sudo flatpak update -y

Bauh – A Manager for Your Multi-Package Needs

1. Install Dependencies :

sudo apt install git python3 python3-full pipx python3-pyqt5 python3-pyqt5.qtsvg python3-setuptools qtbase5-dev qtchooser qt5-qmake qttools5-dev-tools

2. Set Up Virtual Environment and Install PyQt5 :

source venv/bin/activate
pip install pyqt5 --config-settings --confirm-license= --verbose

3. Install Bauh Using Pipx :

pipx install bauh

Graphics Acceleration / Performance

This guide helps you set up Graphics Acceleration on your system, using Panfork on Wayland and OpenCL runtime with libmali.

Install Graphics and OpenCL Dependencies

1. Add Required PPAs :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rockchip-linux/ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liujianfeng1994/rockchip-multimedia

2. Update and Install Required Packages :

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mali-g610-firmware rockchip-multimedia-config glmark2 glmark2-es2 glmark2-es2-wayland mesa-utils malirun -y
sudo apt upgrade -y

3. Remove Unneeded PPAs :

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:liujianfeng1994/panfork-mesa
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:liujianfeng1994/rockchip-multimedia

4. Check OpenGL Status :

glxinfo | grep OpenGL

Install libmali for OpenCL

1. Create a Directory for libmali :

mkdir -p ~/tmp/libmali && cd ~/tmp/libmali

2. Download and Install libmali :

wget 'https://github.com/tsukumijima/libmali-rockchip/releases/download/v1.9-1-55611b0/libmali-valhall-g610-g13p0-gbm_1.9-1_arm64.deb'
sudo dpkg -i ./libmali-valhall-g610-g13p0-gbm_1.9-1_arm64.deb

Max Out the SoC Performance (Optional)

Warning: This will provide maximum performance at the cost of higher temperature and power consumption.

1. Set Performance Mode for CPU, GPU, and NPU :

sudo echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy6/scaling_governor
sudo echo performance | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor
sudo echo performance | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor
sudo echo performance | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/fdab0000.npu/governor

2. (Optional) Add to Startup Script ( /etc/rc.local ) for automatic performance on boot.

Create Aliases for Performance Modes

To easily switch between performance, ondemand, and powersave modes, add these aliases to your .bash_aliases file:

1. Edit .bash_aliases :

nano .bash_aliases

2. Add the following aliases :

alias performance="echo performance | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"
alias ondemand="echo ondemand | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor && echo dmc_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor && echo simple_ondemand | sudo tee /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"
alias powersave="echo powersave | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor"

3. Save and Restart :
   Press Ctrl + X , then Y , and restart your terminal.

Now, you can easily switch between the modes by typing performance , ondemand , or powersave in the terminal.

Mali Blobs Vulkan WSI Layer

1. Start with Noble / GNOME / Vendor
   Make sure the gpu-panthor overlay is disabled and that you don’t have Mesa installed (especially mesa-vulkan-drivers ).
2. Install libmali and WSI :
   Then, simply install libmali and WSI , and reboot.
3. Check Vulkan Support :
   After rebooting, you should be able to run vkcube-wayland and other Vulkan-based emulators.

Install GNOME Tweaks and Extension Tools

sudo apt install gnome-tweaks gnome-shell-extension-manager chrome-gnome-shell -y

Open GNOME Tweaks

Launch Tweaks , and under the “Titlebar” section:

• Enable Titlebar Buttons (e.g., minimize/maximize)

(Why is this even disabled by default…)

Install and Manage Extensions

Visit extensions.gnome.org to browse and install GNOME Shell extensions.

You can now install popular extensions like:

• User Themes – Load custom GTK/Shell themes.
• Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock – Enhance the GNOME panel/dock experience.
• Freon or Vitals – Show temperature, CPU/GPU/RAM usage, and more.
• Compiz-like Wobbly Windows – Add window wobble effects for nostalgia.
• Burn My Windows – Add animated window closing effects to spice things up.

Rice your Desktop

Rice Your Desktop – Themes, Icons, and Shell Style

Customize the look and feel of your Linux desktop using themes, icon packs, and wallpapers.

Step 1: Download Customization Files

• Download your preferred .themes files
• Download matching .icons files
• Download your chosen wallpaper

Save them to your Downloads directory.

Step 2: Extract Themes and Icons

cd Downloads

# Extract theme
sudo tar -xf Graphite-teal-nord-rimless.tar.xz -C /usr/share/themes

# Extract icon pack
sudo tar -xf Zafiro-Nord-Black.tar.xz -C /usr/share/icons

# Optional: Use another theme
sudo tar -xf Cold-Metal-No-Logo-GTK.tar.xz -C /usr/share/themes

Step 3: Create User Theme & Icon Folders (If Needed)

mkdir -p ~/.themes ~/.icons

You can also change ownership/permissions if needed for easier access:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ~/.themes ~/.icons

Step 4: Enable User Themes Extension

Use GNOME Tweaks and GNOME Shell Extensions to enable the User Themes extension.

Step 5: Apply Themes in GNOME Tweaks

1. Open the Tweaks application
2. Go to the “Appearance” section
3. Select your desired:

• Applications theme
• Shell theme
• Icon pack
• Cursor

Your desktop is now riced and stylish!

Your Login Manager

Not all SDDM themes found on GitHub work on non-Arch Linux systems. If you find a solution, let me know!

Install Requirements for Different Distros

sddm qt6-svg qt6-virtualkeyboard qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg     # Arch
sddm qt6-svg qt6-virtualkeyboard qt6-multimedia            # Void
sddm qt6-qtsvg qt6-qtvirtualkeyboard qt6-qtmultimedia      # Fedora
sddm-qt6 libQt6Svg6 qt6-virtualkeyboard qt6-virtualkeyboard-imports qt6-multimedia qt6-multimedia-imports        # OpenSUSE

Install Requirements for Debian/Ubuntu

(Note: This may not work for all systems, but give it a try!)

sudo apt install -y sddm qtdeclarative5-dev qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects qml-module-qtquick-controls qtquickcontrols2-5-dev libqt5svg5-dev qt6-wayland-dev qt6-5compat-dev qtcreator -y
sudo apt install --reinstall sddm qtbase5-dev qtdeclarative5-dev qml-module-qtquick-controls qml-module-qtquick-controls2 qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects qml-module-qtquick2 -y

Fix: Login Manager going black randomly by typing or mouse pressing Debian/Ubuntu

If SDDM (Simple Desktop Display Manager) causes the screen to go black when entering input (especially with virtual keyboards or IMEs), apply this fix:

sudo sed -i '1iInputMethod=' /etc/sddm.conf
reboot

This clears the InputMethod variable that might be misconfigured or conflicting, which is a common issue on ARM systems or custom builds.

Enable SDDM and Disable Other Display Managers

Make sure only SDDM is active to ensure proper functionality:

sudo systemctl disable display-manager.service ; sudo systemctl enable sddm

Test Your SDDM Themes (Before Applying)

Preview how themes will look with the greeter:

sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/maya
sddm-greeter-qt6 --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-astronaut-theme

Recommended Theme: SDDM Astronaut Theme by KeyitDev

KeyitDev’s Astronaut theme is highly recommended for a stunning login screen!

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-astronaut-theme
sudo git clone https://github.com/Keyitdev/sddm-astronaut-theme.git /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-astronaut-theme
sudo cp /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-astronaut-theme/Fonts/* /usr/share/fonts/
sudo tee /etc/sddm.conf > /dev/null <<EOF
InputMethod=
[Theme]
Current=sddm-astronaut-theme
EOF
sddm-greeter-qt6 --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-astronaut-theme

KeyitDev’s work delivers an elegant, modern login experience.

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-themes
sudo git clone https://github.com/DarkevilPT/sddm-themes.git /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-themes
sudo tee /etc/sddm.conf > /dev/null <<EOF
InputMethod=
[Theme]
Current=sddm-themes
EOF
sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/sddm-themes

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/sddm/themes/simple-sddm-2
sudo git clone https://github.com/JaKooLit/simple-sddm-2.git /usr/share/sddm/themes/simple-sddm-2
sudo tee /etc/sddm.conf > /dev/null <<EOF
InputMethod=
[Theme]
Current=simple-sddm-2
EOF
sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/simple-sddm-2

Your Linux Terminal

Installing Zsh and Oh My Zsh

1. Install Zsh and set it as the default shell:

sudo apt install zsh nano -y
chsh -s $(which zsh)

2. Install Oh My Zsh :

Run the following command to install Oh My Zsh :

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

When prompted, type Y to set Oh My Zsh as your default shell. This will also create a ~/.zshrc file in your home directory. You can edit this file later.

Make Zsh the Default Shell for Bash

If you’re still using Bash, you can set Zsh as the default by running:

echo 'exec /usr/bin/zsh' >>~/.bashrc

Install Powerlevel10k Theme

1. Clone the Powerlevel10k repository :

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k

2. Add the Powerlevel10k theme to your ~/.zshrc

echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

3. Change Zsh theme :Open your ~/.zshrc file:

nano ~/.zshrc

Change the ZSH_THEME line to:

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

Save and exit by pressing Ctrl + X , then Y .

Final Steps

1. Open a new terminal window with Ctrl + T and type zsh .Your terminal should now look something like this:

Configure Powerlevel10k

To enter the Powerlevel10k configuration wizard, run:

p10k configure

Update Powerlevel10k

To update Powerlevel10k , run:

git -C ~/powerlevel10k pull

Uninstalling Zsh and Oh My Zsh

If you want to remove Zsh , Oh My Zsh , and Powerlevel10k :

1. Remove Installations & Configurations :

sudo rm -f ~/.p10k.zsh
sudo rm -rf -- ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k
sudo sh ~/.oh-my-zsh/tools/uninstall.sh -y

2. Remove Zsh and related packages :

sudo apt remove zsh -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

3. Delete Zsh Configuration Files :

sudo rm -Rf ~/.zsh*

With this setup, your terminal should now look sleek and modern with the Powerlevel10k theme. Enjoy!

Desktop Environments

Installing UbuntuCraft (Unofficial) on ARM

Note: ubuntucraft for ARM isn’t officially released yet. Use with caution.

Step-by-Step Installation

1. Extract the archive:

tar -xzvf ubuntucraft.tar.gz
cd ubuntucraft

2. (Optional) Edit the customization script:

nano customize.sh

3. Run the installer (default username/password is archcraft):

sudo bash ./install.sh

Choose sddm when prompted — not gdm3.

Fix Polybar Top Bar Modules

To customize the top bar modules for your Openbox theme (e.g., default), follow these steps:

1. Open the Polybar config file:

nano ~/.config/openbox/themes/default/polybar/config.ini

2. Find the line that begins with:

modules-right =

This is typically line 147.

3. Replace the battery module with temperature.

Example Updated Line:

modules-right = temperature dot volume dot network dot LD sysmenu RD

JaKooLit - Ubuntu Hyprland Setup

Installation Steps

Clone the repository and run the installer:

git clone -b 24.04 --depth=1  https://github.com/JaKooLit/Ubuntu-Hyprland.git ~/Ubuntu-Hyprland-24.04
cd ~/Ubuntu-Hyprland-24.04
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

Adjusting SUPER Key for Compatibility

Some environments may require using FN+SUPER instead of just SUPER .

Edit Hyprland Config Files

Open these two config files:

nano ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf
nano ~/.config/hypr/configs/Keybinds.conf

Find and Replace

Locate the following line:

$mainMod = SUPER

Replace it with:

$mainMod = FN+SUPER