Some troubleshooting I have found usefull to help new members (like myself who came from Windows and ChromeOS).
For the fan heatsink to work:
(Armbian)
git clone https://github.com/pymumu/fan-control-rock5b
cd fan-control-rock5b
make package
sudo dpkg -i fan-control*.deb
sudo systemctl enable fan-control
systemctl start fan-control
https://github.com/pymumu/fan-control-rock5b
Or Non-GPIO 4012 Fan Fix (Archlinux) (not for armbian).
git clone https://github.com/XZhouQD/Rock5B_Naive_Pwm_Fan
cd Rock5B_Naive_Pwm_Fan/
cp fan_pwm /usr/local/bin/.
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/fan_pwm
cp fan_pwm.service /etc/systemd/system/.
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl start fan_pwm
systemctl enable fan_pwm
A8 Module Bluetooth:
sudo su
nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
then add these lines somewhere (at the bottom of the file is fine):
blacklist btusb
blacklist btrtl
blacklist btbcm
#blacklist btintel
Then press Ctrl+X, then Y.
sudo apt install bluez or bluetooth – not needed to install since latest armbian version
systemctl status bluetooth CTRL+ C
systemctl start bluetooth
Then reboot .
For AX210 Wifi/BT to Work - Not sure if we can activate this without internet at all.
cd /usr/lib/firmware/
sudo remove iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0.pnvm
Audio Tutorial for Bluetooth devices: – (not required since armbian latest versions)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream
sudo apt install pipewire pipewire-audio-client-libraries
sudo apt install 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}}
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user --now disable pulseaudio.service pulseaudio.socket
systemctl --user --now enable pipewire pipewire-pulse
pactl info
reboot
(Short guide) SPI flashing on the board itself would be:
wget https://dl.radxa.com/rock5/sw/images/others/zero.img.gz
gzip -d zero.img.gz
sudo dd if=zero.img of=/dev/mtdblock0
Wait ~5 minutes for the command to complete, check that sudo md5sum /dev/mtdblock0 returns 2c7ab85a893283e98c931e9511add182. Then:
wget https://dl.radxa.com/rock5/sw/images/loader/rock-5b/release/rock-5b-spi-image-g49da44e116d.img
sudo dd if=rock-5b-spi-image-g49da44e116d.img of=/dev/mtdblock0
Wait ~5 minutes for the command to complete, check that this time sudo md5sum /dev/mtdblock0 returns 46de85de37b8e670883e6f6a8bb95776. Then:
sync
reboot
For more info: https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock5/install/spi
More info (Spi to NVME boot from SD Card):
http://www.fieldday.io/armbian-rock5b/
Issues with Google Apps Device Isn’t Play Protect Certified? (On Android OS)
Install an android id apk and register the id on this website https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/
Wait 5 minutes,reboot and google playstore will work.
Use this apk ,install it and open it then use the number in the top left corner to register
Also: https://forum.radxa.com/t/solve-google-play-device-is-not-play-protect-certified-issue/229
Apps:
sudo apt install fonts-emojione -- Emojis to work
sudo apt install btop -- Control temperatures etc.
Rock 5B Graphics Panfrost/fork on Wayland
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liujianfeng1994/panfork-mesa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:liujianfeng1994/rockchip-multimedia
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt install glmark2 glmark2-es2 glmark2-es2-wayland
sudo apt install mesa-utils
sudo apt install mali-g610-firmware
sudo apt install malirun
---
reboot (better shutdown and start again manually for safety)
glxinfo|grep OpenGL -- check actual status of things
--sudo apt install libegl-mesa0 libegl1-mesa-dev libgbm-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libgles2-mesa-dev libglx-mesa0 mesa-common-dev mesa-vulkan-drivers
Try some benchmarks - Ubuntu Wayland
PAN_MESA_DEBUG=gofaster glmark2
Expected results: 1st Line - 1669fps - Score: 1249fps - you are good.
PAN_MESA_DEBUG=gofaster glmark2-es2-wayland
Expected results: 1st Line - 3527fps - Score: 4067fps - you are sorted.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/mali glmark2-es2-wayland
Expected results: 1st Line - 4229fps - Score: 3933fps - what a legend.
For Mali to Work on Armbian on X11
Do GPU acceleration works in X11 with malirun !
malirun chromium-browser
Switching Between Mali Blobs and Panfrost - for experts to run X11 like a Pro
https://gist.github.com/stvhay/5654368e73f93349c3ffae395eccd892#switch-between-mali-and-panfrost
Max out the 5B performance (Optional) - That’s if you want some real performance at the cost of being hot and power-hungry.
echo performance | sudo tee /sys/bus/cpu/devices/cpu[046]/cpufreq/scaling_governor /sys/class/devfreq/dmc/governor /sys/class/devfreq/fb000000.gpu/governor
Once you’re done with your benchmarks, you may want to go back:
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
This https://github.com/jiangcuo/Proxmox-Arm64
Allows you to Run Windows 7 on Rock 5B Virtualized
The soup is served 
and credits are not mine this soup was given by the most talented members of this community.
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